10/06/2026
Some unsolicited horse advice from Twin Pines…
Buy the horse that fits your actual life.
Not your aspirations. Not your ego. Not the rider you plan on becoming after watching three clinics and subscribing to a trainers weekly YouTube videos.
If you want to trail ride twice a week and drink a b**r afterward, you probably don’t need the 3 year old futurity reject with “a lot of buttons.”
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a horse that’s safe, sane and maybe even a little boring.
You know what is boring? Owning a horse that makes you think “You know what? Today actually seems like a great day to scrub water troughs.”
Moving on.
Stop asking everyone you’ve ever met what they think about your horse.
Your trainer says one thing. Your vet says another. Your farrier has an opinion. Your friend’s cousin used to barrel race in 2009 and has thoughts.
Then you ask Facebook.
Now you have 73 opinions, six diagnoses, someone wants you to test for EPM and a woman in Arkansas is concerned about one blurry screenshot of his left hock.
Pick people you trust and listen to them. Otherwise why are we paying these people.
Not every mare needs to reproduce. And way more c**ts need to become geldings.
I said it.
“She’s so pretty.”
Great.
“She’s registered.”
Wonderful.
“Her great grandsire is….”
We are absolutely crushing the prerequisites.
But does she actually possess qualities that should be reproduced?
And on the other side of it, your c**t having testicles is not evidence that he should keep them.
“He’s really sweet.”
Great. He’ll probably make a lovely gelding.
“He has good papers.”
So do thousands of geldings. And there are plenty of stallions with even better papers.
“He has a pretty head.”
It’ll still be attached after you geld him.
There are plenty of very well bred, well built, proven stallions available to breed to.
We do not have a stallion shortage.
We may however have a gelding shortage.
Breeding should make the next generation better, not just make the next generation exist.
And while we’re at it, give young horses some time.
Your 3 year old is not behind because you saw somebody else’s 3 year old doing lead changes on Instagram.
You saw 34 seconds of that horse’s life.
You did not see Tuesday when it forgot how steering worked.
Sometimes they’re brilliant.
Sometimes they wake up and discover the mounting block has apparently been replaced overnight by a mountain lion.
Sometimes you spend an entire ride fixing something they could do perfectly three days ago.
Welcome to horses.
You don’t get the nice seasoned broke horse without somebody putting up with all the weird little unfinished horse nonsense first.
Do the boring stuff.
Build the foundation.
Let them grow up.
And stop acting like every ride needs to end with a breakthrough.
Sometimes everyone leaves the arena slightly better than they entered it.
Sometimes everyone just leaves the arena.
Both count.
— Twin Pines Performance Horses
