Horse Training With Bria

07/16/2025

This is super important!

Human emotions have no place in training horses, whether you’re working with a rescued horse or a horse that has had good handling all his life. Learn why in this short tip ➡️ https://ow.ly/BMML50WlmIi

07/05/2025

🌾 𝕄𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕁𝕠𝕝𝕖𝕟𝕖 🌾

A 19 year old registered quarter horse rescued from auction

𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻
➢ Jolene is a 19 year old registered quarter horse rescued from auction by her owner. Shipping Jolene from Texas only a few weeks ago, her owner planned on training her. But due to personal reasons, she has called on me to help! ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ Jolene is unhandled (not halter broke) and is skittish of people. She will be taken through my training program from our first touches together to hopefully riding consistently under saddle. ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ By the time we are completed with our training together, she will be taken through C**t Starting, Fundamentals Groundwork/Riding, Hobbling and Leg Restraints, Trailer Training, plus more if that’s what we decide! As well as her training, we plan to get weight and muscle on her. ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
➢ Weight and Health: As well as her training, we plan to get Jolene to an overall healthy state, putting some weight and muscle on her, and caring for her main, tail, coat, and whatever else is necessary to help her become as healthy and comfortable as possible.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

➢ The Plan: This mare’s owner knows me from college, so after I work with her here at my ranch at home for the summer, I plan to continue her training as I am at college since I am now at UC Davis.

✰ Follow me to see how he does! So far, we’ve made great progress.

📸 ⇨ .bot ⇦
•
•
•
———————————————————————————

07/04/2025

🎶 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 🎶

✰ Jagger is an 11-year-old Quarter Horse gelding currently in training with me to build a stronger foundation in groundwork and address a few specific behavioral problem areas.

𝗔 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱
✰ Recently brought home by his owner, Jagger comes from a cutting background but is in need of a tune-up when it comes to ground manners. He struggles with patience when tied (and in general), general pushiness, is reactive to fly spray, and has some trouble loading into and standing calmly in the trailer.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻
✰ Since Jagger has previous formal training, we’ll start by revisiting foundational groundwork, filling in any gaps and reinforcing the skills he already knows. From there, we’ll transition into problem-solving work: desensitization to fly spray, trailer loading, standing tied, and hobble training. We’ll also build confidence in bridling and explore saddle fit to ensure both Jagger and his owner are set up for success.

𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹
✰ Ultimately, the aim is to prepare Jagger’s owner to confidently handle and maintain him at home. Jagger is intelligent, well-bred, and has a solid foundation, the goal is to equip his owner to support and continue his progress with confidence.

Looking forward to sharing more of Jagger’s journey with you!

📸 ⇨ .bot ⇦
•
•
•
———————————————————————————

04/06/2024

Whisper and I were on the news today! Learn a little bit about Wonder Wood Ranch on the Good Day Sacramento news!

Here’s the link:
https://youtu.be/vo1T5c1owt4?si=4bdz8gE1AOcICQAo

08/30/2023

🤷‍♀️😆

Whisper learning to not be bothered by anything. He looks like a lunch lady! (After this he went into juvenile hall and gave his first rides to the youth there. What a good boy!)

07/29/2023

💜 𝕄𝕖𝕖𝕥 𝕎𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕡𝕖𝕣 💜

A little late in the game for an official introduction but here it is!

🪻 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🪻
➢ Whisper is 2 Year old Mustang Gelding from the Black Hills Wild Horse Sanctuary in South Dakota. Half-Brother to Pocket (now Chico) Coco Bruce (Now Dakota), Lucero, and Dakota Moon! ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ Whisper is in training with me in hopes of making a solid program horse for Wonder Wood Ranch in serving at-risk youth through animal therapy. While also being a fun horse for my mom. ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ Whisper is going to be taken through my training program: C**t Starting, Fundamentals Groundwork/Riding, Hobbling and Lcleg Restraints, Training on the Trail, Trailer Training, plus more if that’s what we decide! ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ Whisper is staying here at the ranch where he’s being trained but I’m treating him like any client horse I have in. ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ Our primary focus is foundational training/colt starting. So our goal to get him quiet, soft & supple, and to be solid citizen for the ranch!

✰ Follow me to see how he does! So far, it’s been amazing.

📸 ⇨ ⇦
•
•
•
———————————————————————————

07/16/2023

🏜️ 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜 🏜️

The most incredible experience

🪷 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🪷
➢ Back in mid-March, I attended the first-ever public Downunder Horsemanship Advanced clinic! It was a 4-day clinic in Tuscon Arizona run by Professional Clinicians, Shayla Smock and Jeff Davis. I went with Martini!

➢ When I first found out about this clinic, I was actually at Jeff Davis’ Fundamentals clinic with Dakota in Woodlake. I was super bummed. I couldn’t possibly make a 14+ hour trip. To another state? No way!!

➢ But… it fell into place!! My DUH friends and I decided to make the trip together. And although it was a little outside my (and Martini’s) comfort zone, I’m so glad we made it work!

➢ Not only did Martini and I learn and progress SO much in a matter of 4 days, but the people I met and the connections I made were absolutely incredible. I met the most amazing Downunder Horsemanship people. REAL Downunder Horsemanship people!

➢ It was so fun to hear all the stories of their experiences with the method and Clinton himself. And although I was the youngest there, with my little rescue Arab that I started from scratch that knew very little of the Advanced series, Jeff, Shayla, and my fellow participants made me feel totally included and comfortable.

🌷 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸𝘀 🌷
✰ Thank you Jeff and Shayla for making this work! It was life-changing for me. And thank you Morgan Foster and Katlyn Triano for bringing me along with!! Until next year? I hope so!

Also, thanks for letting me borrow your spurs Shayla 😆

📸 ⇨ Marlo Schalesky ⇦
📸 ⇨ Bethany Schalesky ⇦
🐎 ⇨ Jeff Davis ⇦
🐎 ⇨ Shayla Rae Smock ⇦
•
•
•
———————————————————————————

02/27/2023

🌵 𝕄𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 🌵

✰ “Keep looking up… that’s the secret of life” — Snoopy

➢ This was only a few sessions in with Dakota. A wild mustang that is now trained and has found his forever home.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐓𝐢𝐩: To prepare your horse for riding, get them used to you being above them! Here, we were waiting to take intake photos. So we used this as an opportunity for some desensitization.
•
•
•
———————————————————————————

02/20/2023

🌵 𝕄𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕒𝕝 𝕄𝕠𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 🌵

✰ “If you want it bad enough, you come back no matter what happened the day before” — Clinton Anderson

➢ Frustrating days are normal! But the important part is coming back and continuing to learn and grow.

𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫: Use the tough days as an opportunity to grow and progress.

📸 ⇨ ⇦
•
•
•
———————————————————————————

02/17/2023

🌵 ℙ𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕜𝕖𝕤 ℙ𝕣𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 🌵

Practice Makes Progress not Perfection!

“Don’t Ruin Excellence in the Pursuit of Perfection” -Clinton Anderson

𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧:
➢ In horse training, there is no ‘perfection’. I am definitely a perfectionist so I struggled with eliminating perfection completely from the picture. ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ By always trying to achieve perfection, you often get frustrated! Because it is an impossible goal. By practicing with your horse, you will make progress. And when training, celebrating progress is 100% effective. ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ By trying to achieve perfection, I got frustrated! But by trying to achieve progress, I got confidence. Which is key with horses! ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ This doesn’t mean lower your standard. Expect the right amount from your horse. If you are just starting an exercise, don’t expect much. Then expect more and more as they start to understand the lesson. ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ If you expect low of them, they will stoop down to that level. Expect high, but don’t be disappointed if they don’t achieve that! ⇩ ⇩ ⇩
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
➢ In some sessions, you won’t even see any progress! And that’s okay! It’s all apart of the learning process.

✰ But when you see progress, make sure to celebrate it! Celebrate the small things!

📸 ⇨ ⇦
•
•
•
———————————————————————————