HHF-Harkey Horsemanship

10/22/2026

Cowponies and fall colors starting on the mountain. It doesn’t get much better than this 💕🍁

Tentatively starting our lesson schedule back up! We’re still adjusting to life with a newborn, so bear with us as we get that future assistant trainer squared away 🍼

10/19/2026

I am a firm believer that horses should have lives outside of their careers.

I love a talented horse. I love developing young horses, setting ambitious goals, and seeing what they might be capable of accomplishing.

But I also think it’s important to remember that our horses have absolutely no idea what their résumés say.

They don’t know what their breeding suggests they should be good at. They don’t know what level they’re supposed to reach, what scores they’ve earned, or how much money we’ve invested in their futures.

And I think they deserve lives that are about more than those things.

I want my horses to have friends. I want them to spend time in fields, play, explore, scratch each other’s withers, and occasionally make questionable decisions about which mud puddle looks the most inviting.

I want the young ones to have time to be young. To be a little scraggly. Have a few scrapes on them.

And I want the older ones to have lives where their entire sense of routine doesn’t revolve around being ridden.

Because as much as we love these horses for what they can do, I think we have a responsibility to remember that they are living, feeling, social animals first.

Their athletic careers are something we have chosen for them.

Their need to be horses isn’t.

And I don’t think those two things have to compete with one another.

We can have big ambitions for our horses AND give them lives that are rich in experiences that have absolutely nothing to do with advancing those ambitions.

In fact, I think those things often complement each other beautifully.

I hope the horses in my program become successful athletes. I hope they go on to do wonderful things, make their owners proud, and have long, fulfilling careers.

But I also hope they have horse friends that they love.

That they get to roll in the sunshine.

That they spend plenty of hours doing absolutely nothing sport related. Doing the only things horses were actually designed to do… walk around in groups and eat forage 😆

Because a horse can have an impressive résumé and still be missing some pretty important parts of a good life.

And at the end of the day, I want to be proud of more than what my horses accomplish.

I want to be proud of the lives they get to live 24/7, not just when I’m with them.

10/16/2026

Harkey Horsemanship is proud to offer a sneak peek at “Maxwell”
If you’re in the market for a gentle giant with the personality of a golden retriever, look no further!
Max is a 5 year old Percheron cross gelding standing at 15.3, with a little room left for growing still.
Max is in age appropriate work for a still maturing draft cross. He is walk/trot/canter, with a comfy jog and simple lead changes. Very soft in the bridle, riding in a simple snaffle on a loose rein.
Stands for crossties, the vet, and farrier (without stocks). Sound barefoot. Easy keeper on 24/7 turnout currently but does well stalled, low man in a herd, solid ground manners.
Max is a young and large guy, but incredibly willing to please with unlimited try, ready to go any direction. Whether you need a hefty ranch horse or a sturdy future foxhunter, this guy is worth a look!

Video⬇️ (more coming soon)

https://youtu.be/vFhD7qXjxRc?is=-nMFFmaz3mDsegt5

Low 🖐️s starting with a 2
PPE welcome at buyer’s expense
Located in Ellenboro, NC (30 minutes to Tryon)
PM or TEXT 864-775-1363 ONLY

10/08/2026

A quiet horse isn’t always a happy horse. And an obedient horse isn’t always a confident one.

We have gotten really good at measuring good horsemanship or training by how little a horse reacts.

Stands still? Good horse.
Doesn’t question anything? Good horse.
Does exactly what it’s told, when it’s told? Even better.

But I think we’re missing a pretty important question.

WHY is that horse so quiet?

Is it because it understands what’s being asked? Because it feels safe, confident, and comfortable in its environment? Because someone took the time to teach it how to navigate pressure instead of just flooding it until it complies and doesn’t react anymore?

Or is it because it learned that expressing an opinion wasn’t worth the trouble?

Those are two very different horses. And sometimes from the outside they look similar.

I’ve worked with horses that were loud and reactive about everything and horses that barely said a word. And the quiet ones aren’t necessarily the ones that have it all figured out.

Sometimes the horse that pins its ears, gets frustrated, walks away, or tells you something isn’t working is giving you far more useful information than the one that just goes through the motions.

Before someone runs off with the idea that I’m advocating for horses to have complete creative control over the program, I’m not. But they should have a say in it.

Boundaries matter. Expectations matter. Accountability matters. Horses still need to learn how to handle pressure, regulate their emotions, and participate in a world that doesn’t revolve entirely around their personal preferences.

But there’s a difference between teaching a horse to work through something and teaching it that resistance or feedback is pointless.

I don’t want a horse that’s afraid to make a mistake. I want one that’s comfortable enough to try.

I don’t want a horse that’s quiet because it’s shut down. I want one that’s quiet because its mind is actually at peace.

And I don’t want obedience at the expense of curiosity, personality, or confidence.

Some of the most rewarding moments in training aren’t when a horse finally stops doing something.

It’s when a horse starts offering something.

The goal shouldn’t just be a horse that does what we ask. It should be a horse that understands what we’re asking and feels capable of doing it.

I don’t think good horsemanship should only be measured by what we can get a horse to do.

I think it should also be measured by what the horse gets out of the experience.

10/08/2026

Currently in the newborn trenches and first week of postpartum, so if you reach out, please know it’s basically this with less sleep and more milk on the other end of the line🙃😂. Not that it’s much more professional anyways…😬

09/30/2026

Y’all know it’s been a minute since we’ve had one like this to offer, and this is a very special not-so-little guy!

Sneak peek of Maxwell, a 5 year old draft cross gelding! Standing at 15.3 with a couple years of growing and maturing left, this is the perfect size guy for those of us that don’t dream of a bird’s-eye view from the saddle😂
More to come on this big cuddlebug, (including some not just fresh out of the pasture pics) but we were too excited to keep him to ourselves!

Ellenboro, NC
Low 🖐️s when offered officially

09/25/2026

There are few things I love more in this world than a crisp fall morning and a freshly dragged arena💕

09/21/2026

“Good training isn’t about winning the argument” 👏🏽

One thing I wish more people understood about horse training is that making a behavior uncomfortable enough that a horse stops doing it isn’t always the same thing as actually fixing it.

Rearing, biting, striking, pulling away, running through pressure. Yes, those behaviors can be dangerous and absolutely need to be addressed.

But sometimes the first question shouldn’t be, “How do we punish this enough that they never do it again?”

It should be, “Why is this their answer in the first place?”

Some horses have holes in their foundation. Some never learned appropriate boundaries. Some never learned how to handle pressure, frustration or confusion. Some have learned that a big reaction gets them out of situations they don’t understand.

Understanding the reason doesn’t mean allowing dangerous behavior.

There’s a pretty big difference between making excuses for a horse and understanding what you actually need to teach them.

You can use force to stop the behavior. You can lay one down. You can make the wrong answer really, really uncomfortable.

But if the horse still doesn’t understand what the right answer is, what did you actually teach?

Sometimes good training isn’t about winning the argument.

It’s about figuring out why you’re having the argument in the first place and giving the horse a better answer.