Balanced Connection Horsemanship with Devon Roffler

10/19/2026

If you own horses are ride or do anything with horses, I implore you read this. You will learn a lot and your horse will thank you!!
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A HORSE OF A DIFFERENT COLOR
PART 1 OF 2
HORSE #1

In this series of photos, Horse #1 hasn't completed the transformation yet but you can see how much he darkened!

There is only 18 days between photo one to photo two.
Once the nutrition gets in it rapidly takes over and gives the body what it needs!

The next horse in this series has completed the 'transformation'. Wait till you see tall, dark and handsome!
Anyways, let's begin!

This is something I'm extremely excited to share as I finally have had two cases that I can share really great before and after photos of- here we go!!

The fact that we live in Southwest Florida, not that you don't hear it other places, but I think you especially hear it down here, is that my horse is 'bleached out' and it's the sun and my horse needs to be in a stall or have a shelter etc.

I am here to share with you that that is completely inaccurate and untrue.

Your horse is not a piece of furniture that gets left outside in the sun and bleaches out.

The horse is a living, breathing animal.
And just like our own hair and nails, it is an indicator of health, or lack thereof, within.

When color becomes dull or lighter, it is because they are not getting the right amount or not enough of certain minerals or vitamins for them to thrive.
This means a horse is in a deficit.
This means a horse is deficient.

The coat you could say is the canary in the coal mine and I have found this to always be true.

Something else that's quite fascinating is if you see a coat that is rough or has curled ends or even burnt ends, you can especially see this on lighter colored horses, that indicates they need fats.

I do believe that the curled and burnt ends can also be deficiencies, but I have found it to be more of lack of good fats.

And remember your horse doesn't need a lot of fats but does need a dose of healthy ones.

I am not a vet nor do I pretend to be, but I have had enough experience to see this be true.

If you want to know your horses true actual color, look at their knees and hocks- that's their color.

Yes, there are certain horses that due to breed or the actual coloring that they do have black points.
But you can obviously see from these photos, these are solid bays and they're supposed to be the same color throughout.

I have been wanting to share this information for a long time so I was glad I finally had two horses to clearly show this with and know that less is more and that removing grains from your horses diet and letting them be a horse with freedom, forage and friends is the best way.

Also, if your horse is genuinely getting a good and clean and horse-friendly diet and they still fail to look as good as you quote feed them, this is an indicator that there would be a gut or metabolism issue because somehow the horses not absorbing what you are giving them.

Though again, every creature on this planet, including ourselves, was built to be healthy and homeostatic.

So again I still find that giving the body the right nutrients and 'building blocks' helps everything else get back into alignment.

So people will typically ask when I discuss this with them, well, how is my horse deficient? I don't understand?

Traveling takes more resources from the horse.
Training takes more resources from the horse.
Change in weather can take more resources from the horse.
Being stressed takes more resources from the horse.
Being stuck in a stall takes more resources from a horse.
Change in herd dynamics or losing a pasture mate can take more resources from the horse.

But again, if they're given a diet and lifestyle that puts them in balance, everything helps everything.

If your feed label has:
Molasses
Wheat middlings
Corn
Grains
Soybeans
You need to use something else.

They used to be a phrase 'healthy as a horse', yet you don't seem to see a whole lot of healthy horses anymore...

I really do love it because it's something that is easy to see.
And also, if you see that, you know that you are then likely to also have hoof issues because nails and hair are made of the same materials.

Every horse I've seen with a 'bad coat' also ends up having hoof issues.
This is not a coincidence.

So I ask you to step out and check out your horses and see what you actually see.
And please stop blaming the sun as horses are animals and meant to be outside and they are not a lawn chair that bleaches.

And also, while we are at it with nutrition, do not ever give your horse salt blocks.
These were designed for cattle that have much rougher tongues.

And if your horse is consuming and loves salt it means they are mineral and vitamin deficient.

And these poor horses that are deficient will keep licking and licking and licking a salt block. But because they don't have a cattle tongue they will never get what they need from it even if they stood there all day.

Always have free choice, loose salt available.

And given that we live in Florida, I do also give my horses two tablespoons in their food all year long as when it is summer, they need more salt and then when it's cooler out we want to encourage more drinking.

So it's a win-win all the way around, but at least that way by feeding some in their food you guarantee they're getting some salt and then having the free choice, loose salt they can then get more as necessary as I know all of my horses have started eating more salt and they really hadn't touched it until the last week or so.

They know what they need and they know best.

Anyways, I hope this was helpful to even just one of you as its information that has been hard earned on my part and I had lots of questions and it was lots of research and trial and error.

And sadly, nutrition is not really something you hear people talk.
A horse can't be healthy on the outside if they're not healthy on the inside, it is impossible.

And I have finally come to this place where I get to see a horse and then help them become healthy from the inside out and quite literally, see them bloom.🌼🏵️🪷

10/18/2026

TIME TO TIE
PART 2 OF 2

This horse was here for a short while to learn some ground manners and learn a few things about the human world.

Generally speaking, there are two things that encompass everything in horsemanship which is the discerning energy for them and not for them and knowing where the end of the rope is.

This also happens to be the very two things that most horses have no idea about and are the worst at because humans dont know and don't understand.

Before we ever contemplate a soft tying of a horse and showing them how to be comfortable with that, they must check those two boxes.

He must have an understanding of the end of the rope and coming off feel as well as discerning energy for him and not for him and having life without trouble.

If your horse understands the above paragraph, you will always stay out of trouble in everything and every way possible.

Even though this horse has supposedly never been tied, he had learned that the human at the end of the rope meant nothing and you can see small braces in the soft tieing in these videos.

This is important to note because everything is everything and everything transfers.
Even though the horse had never been tied, he had learned how to brace and he thought he would try that ever so small here and I was ready to support him and say no, not that, keep searching.

These two videos are from his first day of soft tying and you can see him thinking and learning. But you also see there's no difficulties as he's been prepared for this moment.

Too many times you see people tie a horse and let them 'figure it out'.
That's not how it works.
That's not how any of this works.
That's how you set up for failure and potentially breaking your horse.

You wouldn't give your young child a sheet of paper with math problems on them and just leave them to figure it out- you teach them how.
And they don't get it immediately either, they need time, patience and consistency; horses are no different.

Peace by peace.✨

"Theoretically the human is supposed to be the smart one so as you get acquainted with the horse, you explore what it’s going to take for him to understand what you would like him do, with as little trouble as possible. You’re trying to avoid conflict, not trying to create it."
-Buck Brannaman

"It's really quite amazing what a horse will do for you, if he only understands what you want. And it's also quite amazing what he'll do to you if he doesn't."
-Bill Dorrance

"The thing you are trying to help the horse do is to use his own mind. You are trying to present something and then let him figure out how to get there."
-Tom Dorrance.

10/16/2026

TIME TO TIE
PART 1 OF 2

This horse was here for a short while to learn some ground manners and learn a few things about the human world.

Generally speaking, there are two things that encompass everything in horsemanship which is the discerning energy for them and not for them and knowing where the end of the rope is.

This also happens to be the very two things that most horses have no idea about and are the worst at because humans dont know and don't understand.

Before we ever contemplate a soft tying of a horse and showing them how to be comfortable with that, they must check those two boxes.

He must have an understanding of the end of the rope and coming off feel as well as discerning energy for him and not for him and having life without trouble.

If your horse understands the above paragraph, you will always stay out of trouble in everything and every way possible.

Even though this horse has supposedly never been tied, he had learned that the human at the end of the rope meant nothing and you can see small braces in the soft tieing in these videos.

This is important to note because everything is everything and everything transfers.
Even though the horse had never been tied, he had learned how to brace and he thought he would try that ever so small here and I was ready to support him and say no, not that, keep searching.

These two videos are from his first day of soft tying and you can see him thinking and learning. But you also see there's no difficulties as he's been prepared for this moment.

Too many times you see people tie a horse and let them 'figure it out'.
That's not how it works.
That's not how any of this works.
That's how you set up for failure and potentially breaking your horse.

You wouldn't give your young child a sheet of paper with math problems on them and just leave them to figure it out- you teach them how.
And they don't get it immediately either, they need time, patience and consistency; horses are no different.

Peace by peace.✨

"Theoretically the human is supposed to be the smart one so as you get acquainted with the horse, you explore what it’s going to take for him to understand what you would like him do, with as little trouble as possible. You’re trying to avoid conflict, not trying to create it."
-Buck Brannaman

"It's really quite amazing what a horse will do for you, if he only understands what you want. And it's also quite amazing what he'll do to you if he doesn't."
-Bill Dorrance

"The thing you are trying to help the horse do is to use his own mind. You are trying to present something and then let him figure out how to get there."
-Tom Dorrance.

10/06/2026