Footloose Farm LLC

04/09/2026

03/27/2026

Yes yes yes!

My Number One Lunging Prerequisite

Horses are not designed to go round in circles.

So the moment we put them on a circle, we are asking them to do something that requires balance, coordination, and organisation through the whole body.

And most horses are not ready for that.

The biggest problem I see with lunging is not behaviour.

It’s compensation.

Most commonly:
Too much bend in the neck.

When the neck is overbent, it is no longer sitting centrally in front of the chest.
And when that happens, the shoulders lose their balance.

The horse will then:
– Fall in over the inside shoulder
– Or drift out and collapse onto the outside shoulder

At that point, the spine is no longer aligned.

The horse might still be going in a circle…
But the body is no longer organised within that circle.

And if you keep going like that, step after step, you are reinforcing dysfunction.

This is where the common problems on the lunge come from:
– Rushing and getting faster
– Curling or overbending through the neck
– Falling in or out
– Bucking or tension
– Stopping and turning in

These are not random behaviours.

They are the result of a horse that cannot balance its shoulders on a curved line.

Which is why my number one prerequisite for lunging is this:

You must be able to communicate with the shoulders.

Before lunging, you need to be able to:
– Move the shoulders in
– Move the shoulders out
– And lift them enough to rebalance the horse slightly off the forehand

Because the shoulders determine whether the horse can stay organised.

If you cannot influence them, you cannot maintain alignment.

And without alignment, the circle will always fall apart.

This is also why I don’t follow the traditional model of lunging.

Standing still, holding a line and whip in a fixed triangle, and sending the horse around you…
This makes it incredibly easy to create overbend in the neck and loss of balance through the shoulders.

Because you are not guiding the front of the horse.
You are simply driving it forward.

The horse then hits the line, loses balance, falls in or out…
and the cycle repeats.

Lunging should not be static.

It should be dynamic.

Your position changes.
Your body influences the shoulders.
Your communication adapts moment by moment.

You are not just sending the horse around —
you are organising the movement.

But that communication has to be established first, at a closer distance.

You cannot expect to control the shoulders from the end of a line
if you cannot influence them when you are stood next to the horse.

So before lunging, you should already be able to:
– Recognise when the shoulders are losing balance
– Adjust them quickly
– And prevent the neck from becoming the place where correction happens

Because no correction on the lunge should come from overbending the neck.

It should come from organising the shoulders.

Done well, lunging can be an incredibly effective way to build strength and improve movement.

Done badly, it is one of the quickest ways to create tension, imbalance, and long-term dysfunction.

If your horse struggles on the lunge,
look at the shoulders first.

That’s where the problem usually starts.

03/22/2026

❤️. Riding by feel is so important.

01/27/2026

💧 𝐃𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬?

Soaking feed or utilizing mashes is a common practice intended to increase water intake in horses - but does it actually help?

I decided to take a dive into the research, as many horse owners soak feed in the winter, particularly during cold weather snaps, to encourage water intake. And while digging, I came across two studies you may find interesting!

🧪𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟏 (𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐚 𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥., 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓)
The first study took place in Florida, where the average ambient temperature during the study was 55°F (13°C). This research evaluated horses consuming soaked pelleted feed, alfalfa cubes, or beet pulp in a 2:1 ratio of water to concentrate.

This study found that horses rapidly self-regulated voluntary water intake based on the amount of water provided in the meal. This means, when water was added to their feed, they voluntarily drank less so total water consumption remained the same.

This was shown as horses on dry feed had a voluntary water intake of 32.2 L while horses on soaked feed reduced voluntary water intake to 25.4 L to accommodate the ~6 L of water provided in the mash, for a total water intake of 31.5 L.

But that brings us to the second study 👇

❄️ 𝐒𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐲 𝟐 (𝐑𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐲, 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟑)
This study evaluated seasonal differences in water intake during the fall (55°F; 12.8 °C) and winter (-4 to 33°F; -20 to 0.67°C) in Wisconsin. Horses were fed a pelleted concentrate at 0.5% body weight, with soaked feed provided at 2 L water/kg feed.

This study found that horses drank:
🍁 29.3 L/day in the fall
❄️ 24.7 L/day in the winter

This decrease supports previous findings that water intake drops by approximately 6–12% during the cold winter months.

However, this study also evaluated soaked vs dry feed.

While no difference in voluntary water intake was observed during the fall trial, horses in the winter consumed more water when eating a mash (26.9 L) compared to when consuming dry feed (22.4 L), a difference of about 1.2 gallons per day. The study found that horses consuming the mash drank equal to or more water than horses consuming the dry grain, in addition to the water they consumed in their feed.

✨𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞-𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞
Cold weather can reduce voluntary water intake in horses, but feeding a mash during winter can help combat that decline. In more mild weather, however, soaking feeds likely does not increase total water intake, as horses will self-regulate.

Will these studies make you more likely to soak you feeds - why or why not?

Stay warm out there!
Dr. DeBoer

Ferreira N, Binder D, Garbati IH, Lance JM, Warren LK. Effect of soaking feed on water intake and hydration in horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2025 May 1;148:105449.

Rucker NK, Hiney KM. Voluntary water intake in horses when fed a dry versus mash grain in two different seasons. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 2013 May;33(5):355-6.

01/13/2026

Why is your back so integral to riding well?

As I was riding the other day, tuning into my body as I was sitting my horse's trot down the long side of the arena, my attention was drawn to my back. In particular, in this moment, how my shoulder blades were drawn downward into my waist and my lats were firing. I wondered to myself, how many coaches are talking to their students about the massive influence a functional back has on our riding? So, I decided I will talk about it in one of my mini-series.

If you have questions, pop them in the comments below and I'll ensure they are addressed in the series.

As always, thank you for coming along for the ride!❤️

01/02/2026

Before backing your youngster, please read.

🐴 Horses mature very differently to humans.
A rough way to understand it is that horses age around three times faster than us, but their bones, joints, and spine take much longer to fully develop than many people realise.

This is where things often go wrong.

Older horses for context:
•A 30 year old horse is like a 90 year old human.
Stiff, worn, and well into retirement. These horses deserve comfort, gentle movement, and rest but still to be active for the mind and joints

•A 25 year old horse is like a 75 year old human.
Still capable, still willing, but strength and recovery are limited. Careful management is key.

•A 20 year old horse is similar to a 60 year old person.
Mentally sharp, experienced, and often keen but the body may be sore, stiff, or slower to recover.

•A 9 years old to 13 year old horse is like a 39 year old adult.
This is prime time. Physically mature, mentally settled, and strong enough for consistent work.

Now the important part youngsters
This is where patience matters most.

•A 3 year old horse is like a 9 year old child.
Growth plates are still open, balance is poor, and muscles are underdeveloped. At this age, learning should be about handling, confidence, and calm exposure not carrying weight.

A 4 year old horse compares to a 12 year old child.
They can cope with very light work in short sessions. Their bodies are still changing, often unevenly, which is why they feel awkward and inconsistent.

•A 5 year old horse is like a 15 year old teenager.
This is the risky stage. They may look strong and capable, but internally they are still developing. The spine, joints, and soft tissues are not finished growing, even if the horse “seems fine.” Shouldn’t be jumping 110cm classes!!!!!

•A 6 year old horse is like an 18 year old adult.
The skeleton is far more mature, muscles can be developed safely, and the horse is mentally better able to cope with pressure.
This is the correct age to begin proper, consistent work.

Pushing young horses too hard, too early doesn’t always show immediate damage.
The problems often appear later as:
•Lameness
•Joint disease
•Kissing spines
•Behaviour issues labelled as naughty or lazy
•Horses breaking down far too young

One extra year of patience can easily add ten more years of sound, useful working life. Good training isn’t about how early you start.
It’s about how long the horse stays comfortable, willing, and happy. And it’s bloody high time age classes at big highs at young ages were banned!!

My own Connie Storm, age 6❤️

12/20/2025

Why contact?

Years ago, I was bought into the notion that anything worth doing should be done on a loose rein. I really struggled in my lessons to hear about contact because I had poor associations with it - people telling rider's to hold against the horse, like fighting a big fish on a line into a boat. It appeared to me a contest of wills, and I was completely uninterested in that feeling.

My teacher often talked about the connection being like dancing, but I had never felt anything like this. She talked about funneling the hind leg without ever trapping it, and keeping the full length of the neck intact in the contact. "Hold the horse's hand, but don't ever restrict the movement," she'd say.

It all sounded good, but every time I picked up the reins I just felt heaviness, resistance, or my horses hid from my hand. She would bring my awareness back to my seat every time and away from my hands.

"The fingers just capture what the seat creates" she would say -

But it was years of practicing with my seat before I would understand the contact.
A following seat, a directing seat, a seat that was soft but very stable: my teacher had this, and I spent years and years working toward it, understanding finally just what it meant to feel the hind leg through my seat but not always able to stay with it, and often blocking it.

But those times when the contact feels good is magical - unlike anything I've ever achieved on a loose rein. It was like being in close with someone you love very much - taking their hand and swinging in a dance. Feeling everything there is to know about them through your hand: their thoughts, their breathing, the way they feel about you and eveyrthing to do with you. There is no hiding from each other on the contact.

Exactly where the hind leg is in what phase of each stride - where it's going and how that connects to how they're feeling inside. Recieving the fullness of their trust from hind leg all the way into my hand.

You don't NEED contact for riding - you can walk trot and canter on a loose rein. But it's like any relationship - it can go as deep as you want it to go, as intricate, nuanced and beatiful as you'd imagine and more.

And like anything else, it can be poisoned. Like all tools, it can be flatted and cheapened, and downright misused. It can be weaponized against the horse or even against a student -

But it also bridges us into a flow, a beauty, a magic, available for anyone with the discipline to work toward this kind accurary - available to anyone who can be trusted with the power of having thr entirety of a horse's body in your hand and use it only to create art.e

11/25/2025

This is great!

11/14/2025

10/03/2025

Good stuff

07/27/2025

Love this!!

07/26/2025

❤️It's definitely a different way of doing thing. Than the mass, which is sad. It just feels lonely at times, but I know it's the right way to do things.

In some ways it’s disappointing being a trainer who puts the horse first, goes at their pace, does an incredible amount of useful ground work, focuses on biomechanics and correct movement and wants the horse to feel happy and confident.

It’s hard to find clients who not only want the same thing, but realize that doing it correctly takes time.

Everyone is in a race to the show ring to try to beat the other guy.

Every horse I train gets worked with at their pace. 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there and it’s little bits at a time. They get the days off that they need. I never wear them out, drill or over do it. I want them to get it, think about and come back again fresh in the afternoon or the next morning to try the next step for a few minutes. It’s slow and steady building blocks with me.

There’s no fluff and frill. There’s no 5 and 6 year olds practicing Grand Prix movements - that takes years and how many years depends on each individual horse.

There’s no race to the show ring. No competition to see who can climb the levels the fastest.

It’s about building a happy, healthy athlete who feels confident in their body and in their work. Those are the horses who last - physically, mentally and emotionally. Those are the horses that I train and put out into the world.

I wish more people were in it for the right reasons.

The horse first. The date of the show is unimportant.

🌻 © Cara Blanchard

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography