The Chase

04/26/2026

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Spend enough time at any barn, and you’ll start to notice a pattern. The riders who are drawn to horses aren’t casual about it. They are all in. They care deeply, feel deeply, and often seem to carry a level of responsibility and emotional awareness that goes beyond their years.

There’s actually a term researchers use to describe this: supernurturers.

In the study “They Ease Your Mind: Horses as Co-Agents in Supernurturers’ Self-Care,” researcher Laura Sanchez explores young riders in the hunter/jumper world who demonstrate an unusually strong drive to care for animals, not just in action, but emotionally and ethically. The participants, girls and young women ages 10 to 23, were developing a way of relating to horses that emphasized empathy, responsibility, and connection.

The phrase “horse girl” is often used as shorthand, sometimes affectionately and sometimes dismissively. But what this research makes clear is that many of those riders share a distinct way of engaging with the world.

Supernurturers, as defined in the study, are individuals who are highly committed to caring for animals and deeply invested in their well-being, both in time and emotional energy. At the barn, it appears in the way riders think about their horses, interpret their behavior, and prioritize their needs.

From a young age, the riders in the study described a strong sense of duty toward their horses’ physical and emotional well-being. As they grew older, that responsibility expanded into a more complex understanding of partnership, one that included not just care, but communication, trust, and mutual awareness.

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2026/04/25/why-horse-girls-feel-everything-so-deeply-and-why-thats-a-strength/
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03/26/2026

Hey! Look everybody! We got a brand new water trough.

11/22/2025

A young boy and his unicorn.

11/15/2025

This is our philosophy at The Chase.

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Horses don’t ask for the lives that we give them.

In fact, they don’t have any say.

They’re at the mercy of the life humans decide for them.

Their access to socialization with other horses, freedom to move, access to forage… all determined by their caretaker.

The horse’s world exists within the parameters of what people allow for them.

Humans hold the keys to the quality of the life that horses have access to.

We shouldn’t squander that responsibility.

Allow your horse freedom to move.

Allow them to build friendships with other horses.

Let them feel the sun on their back.

Let them get muddy.

Don’t opt for painful equipment, even if they’re being difficult.

Give them the benefit of the doubt and ask yourself WHY they are behaving that way — it isn’t just for no reason.

Offer your horse a full life, make sure it’s a life worth living.

A life with no autonomy is no life at all.

11/05/2025

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These days, everybody seems to have grooms, but “R” judge and trainer Geoff Case thinks many riders are missing the quiet time spent simply doing for their horses. “Horsemanship doesn’t just happen in the saddle,” he said. “It’s everything you do around the horse that teaches you who they are.”

Case believes that the best riders, the ones who seem effortlessly in sync with their mounts, aren’t just great athletes. They’re great caretakers.

Case came up in a generation where riders did everything—groomed, bathed, wrapped, and tacked up their own horses. He still believes those habits are the foundation of success. “When you groom your horse, you start noticing things,” he said. “You feel the muscle tone. You feel if something’s tight. You learn their reactions.”

That kind of attention builds awareness and empathy, two things that can’t be taught in a lesson. “If you only ever show up to get on, you’re missing half the education,” he said. “It’s in the details. How they stand, how they breathe, how they look at you when you walk up with the halter.”

He encourages his students to spend as much time on the ground as they do in the saddle. “The more you do yourself, the more connected you are,” he said. “You start riding differently because you understand who’s under you.”

Case recalled working with Peter Wylde, who won the World Championship and an Olympic gold medal, but still did all his own care. “Peter was the perfect example,” Case said. “He could have had ten grooms if he wanted, but he still groomed, tacked, cooled out—everything. He knew every bump on those horses.”

That level of attention was about pride and partnership. “Peter didn’t separate the care from the riding,” Case said. “He knew they were part of the same thing.”

For Case, that mindset is what defines real horsemanship. “When you spend time doing the basics yourself, you stop thinking of the horse as a piece of equipment,” he said. “You start thinking of them as your teammate.”

📎 Continue reading this article at https://www.theplaidhorse.com/2025/11/03/why-doing-the-basics-yourself-builds-better-riders/
📸 © The Plaid Horse

05/21/2025

And that's the long and short of it.

01/05/2025

It was a good year for The Chase, with our riders winning numerous year-end awards at the OHJA banquet. Congrats to Jilly Barnett, Izzy Tegtmeyer, Kaia Wagner, Kindy Pool, and Sarina Farhangi. Good Luck in 2025.

01/05/2025

The 2024 show season was a good one for The Chase with multiple year end awards earned by our horses and riders. Congratulations to Jilly Barnett, Izzy Tegtmeyer, Kaia Wagner, Kindy Pool, and Sarina Farhangi. Best of luck in 2025.

11/29/2024

Thanksgiving dinner at The Chase

11/06/2024

Spontaneous Combustion. This is perfect example of why you don't stack wet hay in a barn.