Forward Farm South

Forward Farm South Certified Riding Instructor, Equine Artist & Photography, Cert Equine Sports Massage Therapist. We also offer Corporate Leadership and Teambuilding.

Forward Farm
Riding Academy
Established 2014

Basic Horsemanship, Introduction to Horses, Horse Safety - and beginner/intermediate riding classes.
• Intermediate Riding Classes for riders able to trot and canter.
• With riding discipline focus on English, Western and Hunter/Jumper Education.
• Summer Riding Camp for ages 6-13 yo
• Forward Farm Equine Services makes house calls! Melissa is an eq

uine sports massage therapist/holistic practitioner intern with Cherry Baldridge of Healing Touch of Alabama and hopes to gain her certification by September 2014. She has 10 years experiences in teaching therapeutic riding and caring for over 40 therapeutic service horses during her career. By using ground activities to interact with the horses, people from all backgrounds can learn to overcome obstacles in their lives.

We have made it through most of Winter without a single post. We’ve been pretty busy!! Hope everyone is ready for Spring...
02/07/2026

We have made it through most of Winter without a single post. We’ve been pretty busy!! Hope everyone is ready for Spring, we sure are!!

08/08/2025

📣 Don’t miss out❗️🐎 Come say hi to Katie 👋🏼

Even started some flowers!
07/30/2025

Even started some flowers!

July photos! We have been super busy this Summer, excited for another season down South and can’t wait for the first coo...
07/30/2025

July photos! We have been super busy this Summer, excited for another season down South and can’t wait for the first cool morning.

Farm life lately! Ain’t life grand?
07/17/2025

Farm life lately! Ain’t life grand?

04/23/2025

It’s Good Friday at the Co-op and Bonnie Plants are on sale 5 for $20! Y’all come see us 👋🏼




04/23/2025

FIRST, DO NO HARM

This goes for people, too, not just horses.

I’m sure, by now, almost everyone has learned of the veterinarian who took his own life after a social media backlash when video was shared of him losing his temper with a horse.

‘First, do no harm’ was disregarded in a moment of human error, and ultimately, was something that was not extended to him by humanity.

I’ve seen responses to this tragedy that range from, ‘Good riddance,’ to incredible compassion.

I’ve seen people who are denouncing the bullying of this vet who have bullied myself and others in the past, and I hope they are genuine in their concern, and have grown in their humanity, and aren’t just jumping on the bandwagon.

I think this is an opportunity for us all to grow in our humanity.

This story has been highly publicized even in the mainstream, and I think it could be a tipping point for a change that goes both ways.

If we use it as a tipping point, maybe this tragedy doesn’t have to be in vain.

I think we can use it as an opportunity to ask ourselves…

How do we call out behavior that is causing harm to horses, without causing harm to humans?

Growing up in cattle country, working in feedlots, I’ve seen good human beings do things that were difficult to watch, whether out of necessity, or out of anger and error.

There have been times when I was in a position where I could call it out, and there were times when it was better not to.

I’ve also seen those same people go on to educate themselves about low stress cattle handling and grow as human beings.

I don’t have to justify their behaviors and mistakes to acknowledge them as human beings.

We’ve all lost our temper and done something we later regret.

To err is human. To have it shared en masse on social media is not.

But at the same time, publicly can offer a certain amount of accountability.

Problematic trainers and gurus, and practices that range from outright abuse, to under-training that leaves horses struggling in the human world, all need called out, but it must be done with humanity.

At the end of the day, horsemanship is just a microcosm of our humanity, and it’s up to us to make sure its future is a good one.

Stop letting fantasy horsemanship and the promise of having an emotional experience put you in danger! Programs that pro...
04/23/2025

Stop letting fantasy horsemanship and the promise of having an emotional experience put you in danger! Programs that promise healing through horses, just remember, the horse didn’t ASK for the job.

Fantasy Horsemanship: Where ‘Doing Nothing’ is Marketed as Mastery 💸

“A safe space for humans. A weird time for horses.”

Once upon a time in a paddock not-so-far away, a horse dragged its owner across the arena to a hay bag.
And lo, the guru said:
“Did you see that? He’s finally feeling safe enough… to express his autonomy.”

And the crowd nodded.
For they were moved.
And the horse, dear reader, was not. 🙄

Welcome to Fantasy Horsemanship — where dragging, balking, spooking, and shutting down are framed as spiritual breakthroughs.
Where confusion is revered, clarity is oppressive, and stillness is sold as “deep integration.”
Where your horse is not trained — but interpreted. 🎭

Let’s take a closer look…

1. The Guru Speaks (And You Stop Thinking)
In this world, the guru is your translator.
You don’t learn to read your horse — you learn to believe his reading of your horse.

A tail swish becomes trauma. A head toss? “Reclaiming boundaries.”
And a shut-down horse staring into space?
That’s “sacred integration through parasympathetic recalibration.” ✨

It’s not horsemanship.
It’s interpretive spirituality with a rope halter. 🧘‍♀️🐴

Sprinkle in some polyvagal jargon, somatic buzzwords, and vaguely-academic pseudoscience, and suddenly everything makes sense… except your horse.

2. Feeling > Function
“I feel more connected.”
“My horse gave me a soft eye.”
“We just stood together and cried.” 😭

Lovely.

But did your horse stop spooking at the mounting block?
Can he walk forward when asked?
Did you learn anything… practical?

Of course not.
Because in Fantasy Horsemanship, progress is an emotional experience, not a behavioural outcome.

If you cried, it counted.
Even if your horse is still stuck, shut down, or silently screaming for guidance. 🐎💤

3. No Tools, No Plan, No Problem
“I could use a tool… but that would betray the trust.”
Translation:
I don’t know what to do, and I’ve built a philosophy around that.

No leadership? Enlightened.
No aids? Ethical restraint.
No plan? A bold rejection of the patriarchy. ✊

Doing nothing is rebranded as depth.
The guru has no method, no map, and no measurable outcomes — and that’s exactly how he likes it.

Where there’s no criteria, there’s no failure.
Only more feelings. 😌

4. The Guru Believes His Own Bull$h!t
And here’s the real kicker:
The guru isn’t running a con — he’s running a one-man theatre production he believes in deeply. 🎤🎭

You’ll see a horse lurching, lame, shut down, clearly miserable —
and he’ll whisper, misty-eyed:

“Wow. That was amazing.” 😍
He’s not evaluating the horse.
He’s performing a show.

And he’s too high on his own narrative to notice the horse is tragically unsound and about to file for emotional leave. 📋

5. Your Horse Is Not Your Life Coach
“I’m forever changed.”
“He unlocked something in me.”
“We breathed together under the stars.” 🌌

Lovely.
But your horse still won’t load on the float.

He’s not your therapist.
He’s not your mirror.
He’s not your trauma doula.

He’s just a horse — trying to survive a training session that’s turned into a TED Talk narrated by someone who’s read one too many somatic healing blogs. 💻🐴

He doesn’t want to co-regulate.
He wants clarity.
And maybe a carrot that doesn’t come with a full emotional disclosure. 🥕

6. Bonus Truth: When Fantasy Replaces Vet Checks
Here’s what Fantasy Horsemanship won’t tell you:

The only time horses aren’t easy… is when they’re unsound. 🚫🏇

Pain changes behaviour.
Discomfort makes horses emotional, evasive, or disengaged.

But instead of checking for pain, lameness, or imbalance, the fantasy reframes it all as “emotional blocks.”

And for women — especially those not feeling strong in their own bodies — this becomes a trap.
When movement feels hard, stillness feels safe.
When strength feels distant, softness becomes the story. 🧘‍♀️🕯️

And suddenly, both human and horse are stuck.
One in pain.
One in fear.
Both being told they’re “healing” — when really, they’re just avoiding.

7. And Still, the Horse Pays the Price
Behind the hashtags and healing mantras is a horse who didn’t ask for this.

He doesn’t get trained.
He doesn’t get listened to.
He gets filmed mid-meltdown while someone whispers,

“This… is integration.” 🎥😬
He’s confused.
He’s burdened.
He’s trying.

But nobody notices.
Because everyone’s too busy being deep.

8. Epilogue: The W**d That’s Spreading
This isn’t just one guru.
Fantasy Horsemanship is everywhere. 🌱🔥

It spreads through spiritual marketing, emotional manipulation, and the promise of transformation without accountability.

It appeals to those who want connection but fear discomfort.
It flatters women conditioned to be agreeable, self-doubting, and endlessly apologetic —
those trying to people-please their horse into loving them,
dreaming of a ba****ck beach ride with wind-blown hair and 100% safety. 🐎🌊💨

But your horse isn’t looking for magic.
He’s looking for someone who knows what they’re doing.
Not someone side-tracked down a rabbit hole to nowhere.

Final Thought
Horses are beautifully simple.
They don’t need make-believe — they need meaning.
They don’t want therapy — they want to be understood as horses, not projected humans.
They don’t care about your journey — they care if you can help them feel safe. 🧠❤️🐴

They are easy to train.
Easy to make feel secure.
Unless they’re unsound — or the human is untethered.

So if the fantasy is fading… if your horse is still wary, still stuck, still waiting…

That’s not failure.
That’s reality knocking. 🚪

Answer it.

Find someone who teaches real horse training and treats you with respect.
Learn to understand horses — and build the skills to influence them.

Because when the fog lifts and the narrative dies…

It won’t be the guru standing with you.

It’ll be your horse.
Still confused.
Still waiting.
Still hoping you’ve finally shown up —
not with a story…
but with a plan. 🐴✔️

If you’ve climbed out of the fantasy rabbit hole — or realised your horse biting you wasn’t over zealous engagement but frustration — you’re not alone. Tell your story. Let’s talk about it.❤

If this said what you’ve been thinking — share it. If it said what you wish you wrote, still… share it. With credit. You’re welcome. 🐴😉

02/28/2025
02/21/2025

Your touch is impatient.

Your body doesn’t believe me.

It feels like you’re running away but you’re physically getting closer and closer.

Now I can smell you. You’re not breathing.

Tell me, why is your anxiety more important to you, than my safety when I am with you?

You ask me questions and give me no time to think and then already there’s a tap, a swing, a push, a nudge, and urge to comply.

Comply with what?

With that? Ok, you say you want lightness then why do you build it up and break it down again a hundred times an hour?

If you want it light, feel the unbearable lightness of asking quietly and waiting for me to think.

If you wait for me to think, you’ll have to feel your own body whilst you wait.

This is exactly what I am hoping for.

If you don’t like how you feel, I want you to know that belongs to you, not me. And you can change it. But you have to feel it first.

I want you in your body. The same way I am in my body- it’s all I have. My body, my space, my memories and my hopes.

Still I hope.

Then you yell. Not with your voice, with your body. Like I am deaf to your body you yell. You make weird and intimidating movements and keep your face calm.

Relaxation, apparently.

You say to the others, that this rehearses an emergency.

To me, you’re the boy who cried wolf.

I am already aware. Emergencies emerge- they are not rehearsed. When a true emergency arrives, and you have not dulled me to your vain rehearsed loudness, I will respond. All creatures on earth understand the primal cry.

But what I understand now, is that deep down, you’re actually in an emergency. Always. Just by standing next to me you’re in an emergency.

I’ve heard that your kind live a very hard existence. And I am roped into that with you. I am compassionate to you.

Because I can see.
I can feel.
I can sense.
I can smell.
I can hear.
And I know. You’re in an emergency just by being here.

That doesn’t mean I am too.

01/23/2025

Address

McKenzie, AL
36456

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 12pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 8:30am - 12pm

Telephone

+13347994598

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