06/02/2026
We’re wrapping up our spring camps out at James Creek Ranch, and it’s been a good reminder of something I think often gets overlooked in horsemanship:
So much of what shows up under saddle starts long before a horse is ever ridden.
This spring, Zee has started stepping into his role as a riding horse, and I’ve really enjoyed the process of bringing all those foundational pieces together.
Things like softness, direction, confidence, emotional balance, and understanding pressure don’t suddenly appear the day you swing a leg over. They’re built in all the small moments leading up to it.
What’s interesting is how often the answers to bigger riding problems are hiding in those earlier conversations on the ground.
A horse that braces, rushes, bolts, or feels reactive is often telling us something long before the behaviour fully shows up.
Sometimes it comes down to subtle things — timing, positioning, pressure, clarity, or whether the horse truly understands where comfort and connection live.
That’s part of what inspired this month’s featured blog and several of the conversations we’ve been having inside the Open Field membership lately. We’ve been diving deeper into concepts around pressure, positioning, and helping horses think through situations instead of reacting to them.
These are the kinds of conversations that really matter because they help us better understand the horse underneath the behaviour.
Stay Inspired by Horses®,
— Jonathan
*Thank you to Denver Deschenes for capturing the moment 📷
**Head to our website for full blog post and more info about Open Field!
