Harmonized Horsemanship

10/15/2026

Feeling extra grateful for our indoor arena during weather like this! It's so nice to be able to get inside and away from the wind, rain and chilliness!

We have a couple of board openings, including one where you can work off almost all of your board without having a set schedule -- super flexible! Get in touch if you're interested! ☺️

10/10/2026

Pedestal/platform work is one of my favorite things to teach to horses early on in their halter training. It presents a puzzle that truly requires the horse to slow down and think instead of just reacting to your halter pressure, whip cues, etc.

When I first started doing pedestal work with horses, I would pick up their front foot for them and set it on the pedestal the first time so that they had an idea what I was asking for. It expedited the process for sure, but I felt like I was cheating them of the experience of trying to figure out what I wanted and working toward the solution.

Most horses will get mildly stressed during the first session because they have no idea what I want. Their horse brain thinks it makes much more sense to go around (or over) an object in their way. I give them 2 sides of the pedestal to work from. I do not escalate pressure and I don’t expect them to do anything specific other than move towards or investigate the pedestal in some way.

I’ve found this helps teach the nervous system how to truly look to me for guidance and gets them to slow down and tune in. So many horses are box checkers who want to get the answer right as quickly as possible and then move on. This becomes increasingly difficult when a horse has no idea what the right answer, so it gives me an opportunity to un-box the box checker 😉

Yesterday, I introduced honorthehorse’s Koda to our introductory pedestal. It’s just 4” high, which actually creates more of a challenge because it’s very easy to just step over. I held the question and space for him when he got stressed and confused about what I was asking and made sure to keep the question the same as he tried out different things. This is a horse who desperately wants to get the answer right, but he has such minimal education that he doesn’t have many tools in his toolbox to pull from. It took him about 10 minutes, but he finally pieced together what I was asking for and then he was hooked!

So go try something new with your horse! Facing challenges together is such a great way to improve your relationship as long as you are able to control your own emotions, expectations and behavior!

10/09/2026

PSA: Stop deciding your horse is too expensive to keep now that you can’t ride him anymore.

I get it. Horses are expensive. Board is expensive. Hay is expensive. Vet bills are expensive. I understand and am knowledgeable in the costs of the industry.

But if I get one more message from someone asking me to take their horse because he’s retired and can’t be ridden anymore, I’m going to explode. 🤯

You’ve had no problem figuring out how to pay his bills when he was rideable. Why is he suddenly too expensive to keep now that he’s not?

I get it. You want the money to get another horse that you can ride. As someone who has a knack for finding horses with medical issues who can’t be ridden, I get the disappointment and sadness of not being able to ride your horse.

But that’s not his fault. And it’s not his fault it costs a lot to keep him.

👏 you made a commitment to an animal 👏

See. It. Through.

You don’t rehome your dog because he gets too old to go on long walks anymore. You buy him an orthopedic bed and cuddle him on the floor when he’s too weak to jump on the bed anymore.

It’s not your horse’s fault hay is expensive. And it’s not his fault he can’t be ridden anymore. He gave you his all for years.

You don’t need to find a retirement home for him.

You need to give him one.

This is not about people who are facing legitimate financial hardship in these insane times. This is about the people who don’t want to pay for a horse as soon as that horse can no longer “fulfill their obligation.”

Conditional love is a bad look. Enjoy the golden years with your friend. They’re some of the most magical years of a horse’s life.

10/06/2026

Rare Boarding Openings at Harmonized Horsemanship! 🥳 Brand new indoor arena, huge outdoor and lots of room to ride around in the country! It’s a good place to be a horse! 😉

I have a couple of rare openings for board here! We offer truly horse-first boarding, where horses live on track systems with free choice grass hay in well-regulated herds. However, unlike traditional pasture boarding, we can provide 2x/day grain, 2x/day hands-on wellness checks to check for injuries, blanketing, specialized care, medication administration and more! Our Care Team learns the temperaments, preferences and habits of each horse so we notice changes and any problems that arise!

Openings:
1. Work-Exchange 💪 We’d like to find someone who could work off the majority (or all) of their board in exchange for 10-15 hours/week of mucking. We muck our tracks to keep them clean and we need extra help! Specific hours are not required, but we need someone who can help a minimum of 3 days per week, just so the p**p doesn’t pile up. This is a great opportunity for someone who wants to have their horse at a full-service facility and loves to spend lots of time at the barn!
2. Board-Only: Typically, we require horses to be in training to board here, but we are opening up one spot for someone who shares our beliefs and commitment to ethical horsemanship but doesn’t need or want a full training package. You would be welcome to join in on group lessons that happen throughout the week, but it is not required. Board is $1200/month.

If you have questions or think you might be a good fit to join our barn family, get in touch! 🤍

10/05/2026

What will we actually cover inside Confidence, Clarity & Connection: Intuitive Horsemanship for the Real World? This 16-week mentorship is organized around four core areas:

- Seeing the horse in front of you
You will learn how to evaluate your horse’s nervous-system state, emotional well-being, physical comfort, and capacity for learning. We will look beyond labels like stubborn, lazy, disrespectful, or dramatic and begin asking what the horse’s behavior is actually communicating.

- Changing how your horse experiences you
We will explore how your horse experiences touch, handling, movement, training, equipment, and human interaction. You will learn how to build safety and positive associations without avoiding boundaries, discomfort, or necessary conversations.

- Developing feel, intuition, and confident decision-making
You will learn to feel energy, recognize subtle communication, and strengthen your intuitive awareness. More importantly, you will practice confidently choosing what to do next without depending on a rigid formula or waiting for someone else to give you the answer.

- Carrying the relationship into ridden work

We will explore how to carry communication and positive associations into saddling, mounting, and riding. You will learn how to preserve two-way communication while helping yourself and your horse navigate the added responsibility and pressure of a ridden relationship.

This is not about memorizing another method. It is about learning how to observe, listen, make a thoughtful choice, receive your horse’s answer, and choose again.

Virtual and hybrid options are available. The program runs January 6 through April 28, 2027.

Learn more, join virtually, or apply for one of the 8 remaining in-person spaces here: https://harmonizedhorsemanship.com/confidence-clarity-connection

10/04/2026

Whether you’d like to admit it or not, your horse is a prisoner.

They live within the confines of inescapable barriers. You control when they eat, what they eat, how they eat. You control what they have access to do during the day, their access to medical care, their ability to receive education, enrichment, or recreation.

They are quite literally, prisoners.

You put a halter on their face and hold the end of a lead rope. If trained properly, the horse understands that they cannot escape the halter and lead rope and are therefore attached to you and must go where you go. It’s one of the most important aspects of training and is what will keep horses safe in a domesticated world.

Stick with me here.

Now, when we are children, we are also prisoners. We live within the confines of inescapable barriers. Our parents control when we eat, what we eat, how we eat. They control what we have access to during the day, our access to medial care, and our ability to receive education, enrichment or recreation.

However, in a healthy home, we do not fear this confinement. We do not fear our safety at the hands of our parents. Instead, we actually exist with quite a lot of freedom, whimsy and love because our needs are met and our attachments are solid. We are, quite literally, prisoners…yet we don’t feel like we are. We just feel free like children.

In all interactions with your horse, from the moment you lock the gate behind them or slip the halter on their face, you have the distinct responsibility to either make them feel like a prisoner or free and safe like a child.

You can choose to be a prison warden. Or you can choose to be a guardian, a protector, a guiding force.

As you grow up, you are faced with more capacity to make decisions for yourself. You begin testing boundaries, pushing against the confinement, and seeing what the world has in store for you. You do this because you feel safe enough to do so. And, how your parents react will either leave you feeling like you need to rage against the machine and bust out, or will leave you feeling empowered to make choices for yourself in a way that is safe for yourself and for others.

You can create this same environment for your horse…if you have the self awareness, control and mindfulness to do so.

A boundary-less relationship is not safe for either party. Neither is one based on coercion, fear or abuse. As humans, we must find it within ourselves to set boundaries for our horses that empower them to feel safe, secure and free like a well-raised child. We must create an environment for them that feels like the safety of home, not like the sterile, cold environment of a prison.

We must, as we stand at the end of the lead rope, ensure we are not acting as a prison warden.

This is not about training techniques, styles, exercises. This is about self-control, awareness and empathy. About realizing the limitations we inflict on a horse’s world and making sure we show up in a way that allows them to feel safe and free to be, while behaving in a way that is mutually respectful and secure.

If you asked your horse, would they tell you that you’re a prison warden? Would they say that they’re floating in an abyss of fuzzy boundaries and ill-defined freedom?

Or would they say that, when you arrive with a halter in hand, they feel like they get a break from being a prey animal? That they get to feel safe and secure and free? That they feel like a child in the arms of a protective, caring parent?

You have the power to show up the right way in any given moment. Choose wisely. 🤍✨

10/02/2026

January through April can be some of the hardest months to stay motivated with our horses.

It is cold. The days are short. The footing is unpredictable. Sometimes simply getting outside and deciding what to work on feels like the hardest part.

That is exactly why I created Confidence, Clarity & Connection: Intuitive Horsemanship for the Real World as a 16-week mentorship running from January through April.

The practices we will explore do not require fancy footing, a perfect arena, or a long training session. They can be incorporated into grooming, leading, groundwork, tacking up, walking together, or the everyday moments you already share with your horse.

Because real life with horses does not always happen in ideal conditions!

This mentorship will help you stay connected and motivated through the colder months while learning how to:

- Evaluate your horse’s nervous-system state, emotional well-being, physical comfort, and capacity for learning
- Positively influence how your horse experiences touch, handling, movement, training, and human interaction
- Develop feel, intuition, and confidence choosing what to do next
- Carry communication and positive associations into saddling and ridden work

Most importantly, you will learn how to build a relationship that does not depend on everything being calm, controlled, and going according to plan.

Virtual and hybrid options are available, so you can participate from anywhere or join us for four in-person days with your horse at Harmonized Horsemanship.

Enrollment is officially open! The details, schedule and specifics are all on my website!

Learn more, join virtually, or apply for the hybrid cohort here:

CONFIDENCE, CLARITY, & CONNECTION INTUITIVE HORSEMANSHIP FOR THE REAL WORLD A 16-week mentorship for people who want to move beyond simply teaching their horse what to do and learn how to truly understand, communicate with, and respond to the horse in front of them. JANUARY 6 THROUGH APRIL 28, 2027....