Twin Pines Performance Horses

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10/08/2026

Desensitizing (I actually hate that word and prefer to call it exposure) isn’t about teaching horses to tolerate things while mentally checking out. It’s about building confidence, encouraging curiosity, and learning to think through uncertainty instead of reacting to it.
The goal isn’t to eliminate worry. It’s to teach them what to do with it. Even when the problem is a pool noodle with absolutely no ill intentions.

A quiet horse isn’t always a happy horse. And an obedient horse isn’t always a confident one.We have gotten really good ...
10/08/2026

A quiet horse isn’t always a happy horse. And an obedient horse isn’t always a confident one.

We have gotten really good at measuring good horsemanship or training by how little a horse reacts.

Stands still? Good horse.
Doesn’t question anything? Good horse.
Does exactly what it’s told, when it’s told? Even better.

But I think we’re missing a pretty important question.

WHY is that horse so quiet?

Is it because it understands what’s being asked? Because it feels safe, confident, and comfortable in its environment? Because someone took the time to teach it how to navigate pressure instead of just flooding it until it complies and doesn’t react anymore?

Or is it because it learned that expressing an opinion wasn’t worth the trouble?

Those are two very different horses. And sometimes from the outside they look similar.

I’ve worked with horses that were loud and reactive about everything and horses that barely said a word. And the quiet ones aren’t necessarily the ones that have it all figured out.

Sometimes the horse that pins its ears, gets frustrated, walks away, or tells you something isn’t working is giving you far more useful information than the one that just goes through the motions.

Before someone runs off with the idea that I’m advocating for horses to have complete creative control over the program, I’m not. But they should have a say in it.

Boundaries matter. Expectations matter. Accountability matters. Horses still need to learn how to handle pressure, regulate their emotions, and participate in a world that doesn’t revolve entirely around their personal preferences.

But there’s a difference between teaching a horse to work through something and teaching it that resistance or feedback is pointless.

I don’t want a horse that’s afraid to make a mistake. I want one that’s comfortable enough to try.

I don’t want a horse that’s quiet because it’s shut down. I want one that’s quiet because its mind is actually at peace.

And I don’t want obedience at the expense of curiosity, personality, or confidence.

Some of the most rewarding moments in training aren’t when a horse finally stops doing something.

It’s when a horse starts offering something.

The goal shouldn’t just be a horse that does what we ask. It should be a horse that understands what we’re asking and feels capable of doing it.

I don’t think good horsemanship should only be measured by what we can get a horse to do.

I think it should also be measured by what the horse gets out of the experience.

I had ONE training spot open up for October/November or longer! C**t starting, tune ups, problem solving, confidence bui...
10/05/2026

I had ONE training spot open up for October/November or longer!

C**t starting, tune ups, problem solving, confidence building, exposure, finishing work or addressing those little holes that have somehow become significantly larger holes.

I focus heavily on creating confident, mentally balanced horses with a solid foundation and an actual understanding of what’s being asked of them.

📍 Sisters, Oregon

Message me with a little info about your horse if you’re interested. Once it’s filled, I’m back to putting people on the waitlist for December/January/February!

Some unsolicited horse advice from Twin Pines…Buy the horse that fits your actual life.Not your aspirations. Not your eg...
10/05/2026

Some unsolicited horse advice from Twin Pines…

Buy the horse that fits your actual life.

Not your aspirations. Not your ego. Not the rider you plan on becoming after watching three clinics and subscribing to a trainers weekly YouTube videos.

If you want to trail ride twice a week and drink a b**r afterward, you probably don’t need the 3 year old futurity reject with “a lot of buttons.”

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a horse that’s safe, sane and maybe even a little boring.

You know what is boring? Owning a horse that makes you think “You know what? Today actually seems like a great day to scrub water troughs.”

Moving on.

Stop asking everyone you’ve ever met what they think about your horse.

Your trainer says one thing. Your vet says another. Your farrier has an opinion. Your friend’s cousin used to barrel race in 2009 and has thoughts.

Then you ask Facebook.

Now you have 73 opinions, six diagnoses, someone wants you to test for EPM and a woman in Arkansas is concerned about one blurry screenshot of his left hock.

Pick people you trust and listen to them. Otherwise why are we paying these people.

Not every mare needs to reproduce. And way more c**ts need to become geldings.

I said it.

“She’s so pretty.”
Great.

“She’s registered.”
Wonderful.

“Her great grandsire is….”
We are absolutely crushing the prerequisites.

But does she actually possess qualities that should be reproduced?

And on the other side of it, your c**t having testicles is not evidence that he should keep them.

“He’s really sweet.”
Great. He’ll probably make a lovely gelding.

“He has good papers.”
So do thousands of geldings. And there are plenty of stallions with even better papers.

“He has a pretty head.”
It’ll still be attached after you geld him.

There are plenty of very well bred, well built, proven stallions available to breed to.

We do not have a stallion shortage.

We may however have a gelding shortage.

Breeding should make the next generation better, not just make the next generation exist.

And while we’re at it, give young horses some time.

Your 3 year old is not behind because you saw somebody else’s 3 year old doing lead changes on Instagram.

You saw 34 seconds of that horse’s life.

You did not see Tuesday when it forgot how steering worked.

Sometimes they’re brilliant.

Sometimes they wake up and discover the mounting block has apparently been replaced overnight by a mountain lion.

Sometimes you spend an entire ride fixing something they could do perfectly three days ago.

Welcome to horses.

You don’t get the nice seasoned broke horse without somebody putting up with all the weird little unfinished horse nonsense first.

Do the boring stuff.

Build the foundation.

Let them grow up.

And stop acting like every ride needs to end with a breakthrough.

Sometimes everyone leaves the arena slightly better than they entered it.

Sometimes everyone just leaves the arena.

Both count.

— Twin Pines Performance Horses

If you’re using AI generated photos to promote yourself as a professional in the horse industry, I do have one small que...
10/02/2026

If you’re using AI generated photos to promote yourself as a professional in the horse industry, I do have one small question…

Are the qualifications AI generated too or just the evidence?

Because sure use AI for fun.
Turn your horse into a witch.
Put him in a saloon.
Make yourself gallop down a beach at sunset on a Friesian you’ve never met.

But generating a realistic photo of yourself doing a sliding stop and putting it on your professional training page when neither you nor the horse have ever slid a day in your lives is absolutely sending me.

We used to have to exaggerate our resumes the old fashioned way.

Now apparently you can just order the photographic evidence.

And the possibilities are endless.

Never worked a cow? Not anymore.
Never shown? Congratulations on your imaginary buckle.
Never started a c**t? Give AI 30 seconds.
Never ridden bridleless? You have now.

Meanwhile your actual horses are standing in the barn.

I’m all for using AI for entertainment.

But your professional page is supposed to show people what YOU can do.

Not what ChatGPT thinks you’d look like if you could.

The internet may believe the picture.

But apparently we now need to ask “Is this your work, or is this your vision board?”

📸 Pictured: an actual event that occurred in real life. Vintage, I know.

If you think groundwork is boring, I fear you may just be running your horse in circles.Which to be fair, does sound bor...
09/30/2026

If you think groundwork is boring, I fear you may just be running your horse in circles.

Which to be fair, does sound boring.

Groundwork is basically finding out if your horse has any life skills when you’re not sitting on them managing the situation.

Can you use your body without me physically putting it there?

Can you respond to a cue that isn’t attached directly to your face?

Can you get a little worried, process it, and return to society?

Can you figure out where your own feet are?

Can you move your shoulders and your hindquarters independently, or are we currently operating as one large rectangle?

Groundwork is where they learn to balance their body, follow cues, handle pressure, regulate their emotions and problem solve without a rider up there quietly doing half the assignment for them.

If all you’re doing is sending them around the circle until they look tired enough to ride…

I agree.

That IS boring.

Stop the mindless circles! There is approximately 847 other things your horse doesn’t know how to do yet.

I’m not sure when teaching horses to tie became optional.I see more and more horses that “don’t tie.” Someone has to sta...
09/29/2026

I’m not sure when teaching horses to tie became optional.

I see more and more horses that “don’t tie.” Someone has to stand with them while they’re being saddled. They can’t be left at the trailer. They panic the second they feel pressure on the halter.

But instead of teaching them, we just keep rearranging their entire world so they never have to.

Teaching a horse to tie isn’t about making them stand there because we said so.

It’s teaching them how to handle pressure without panicking. How to wait. How to be patient. How to stand quietly even when their friends leave, something changes around them, or they’d rather be somewhere else.

Those are skills that translate far beyond the hitching rail.

Obviously, you don’t take a horse that has never learned to give to pressure, hard tie it and hope for the best. There’s a process to teaching it safely.

But avoiding it altogether isn’t training.

At some point, our horses need to learn that being mildly uncomfortable, impatient or unsure doesn’t mean the world has to rearrange itself around them.

Teach your horses to tie or find someone to help you teach your horse how to tie.
It’s not an outdated cowboy skill.

It’s part of making a good citizen

I didn’t show a single horse this year.And I had horses I could have shown.I’ve thought about that a lot lately because ...
09/28/2026

I didn’t show a single horse this year.

And I had horses I could have shown.

I’ve thought about that a lot lately because in the horse industry, we put a LOT of weight on what someone is doing in the show pen. It’s almost become the easiest way to prove you’re a “good” trainer.

But is it?

Because I know people who can tell you exactly where they placed last weekend and exactly what horse they’re taking to the next show.

Cool.

But can you help the horse that actually needs help?

That question interests me a whole lot more these days.

I love showing. I’m competitive. I’ll absolutely show again. This isn’t an anti-show post.

I just don’t think a buckle automatically tells me what kind of horseman you are.

Training horses is so much bigger than preparing one to perform a pattern for a few minutes.

A lot of the best work happens quietly at home with horses nobody will ever know the name of.

And this year, that’s where most of my work happened.

No show photos. No placings to post. No buckles to add to the wall.

But a whole lot of horses left my barn better than they came in.

I’m okay with that being what I have to show for my year.

I think we spend a lot of time asking “How do I stop this?” and not enough time asking “Why is this happening?”Horse sta...
09/25/2026

I think we spend a lot of time asking “How do I stop this?” and not enough time asking “Why is this happening?”

Horse starts bucking? Find a method to stop the bucking.
Horse is spooky? Find a desensitizing program.
Horse is reactive? Change the bit, change the tack, change the exercises.

And then six weeks later, when that didn’t really fix it, we’re chasing the next method.

Sometimes the answer IS training. Sometimes it’s a hole in the foundation.

But sometimes it’s pain. Weakness. Fear. Confusion. Poor saddle fit. Or simply a horse that doesn’t know how to handle what’s being asked of them yet.

We get so focused on correcting the behavior that we never stop to figure out why it’s happening in the first place.

And that’s how we end up chasing random methods every six weeks instead of actually solving the problem.

Sometimes the best training question isn’t “How do I fix this?”

It’s “Why is my horse doing it?”

I’m starting to wonder if we’re loving horses into fragility.Seriously.When did good horsemanship turn into micromanagin...
09/23/2026

I’m starting to wonder if we’re loving horses into fragility.

Seriously.

When did good horsemanship turn into micromanaging every single aspect of a horse’s existence?

The perfect feed.
The perfect supplements.
The perfect footing.
The perfect temperature.
The perfect turnout schedule.
The perfect routine.
The perfect environment.

Everything analyzed. Everything optimized. Every tiny change immediately “fixed.”

And then we take that same horse somewhere new, they’re stressed for five minutes, and our first instinct is to remove them from the situation.

But how are they ever supposed to learn that they’re okay?

How does a horse learn to settle in a new barn if we take them home because they’re anxious the first day?

How do they learn to stand quietly somewhere unfamiliar, haul somewhere new, handle a different routine, be separated from their buddies or experience the world if we never give them enough time to work through being uncomfortable?

Being stressed for a moment isn’t the same thing as being harmed.

Learning to regulate after stress is a skill.

And we can’t expect horses to develop that skill if we continually remove every opportunity for them to practice it.

Obviously there’s a line. There is absolutely such a thing as overwhelming a horse, and good horsemanship means recognizing when something is too much.

But somewhere between flooding a horse and preventing them from ever experiencing discomfort is a really important middle ground.

Horses are supposed to adapt.

Physically AND mentally.

Different weather. Different footing. Different routines. Different places. Different horses. Different expectations. Sometimes things simply not going exactly how they’re used to.

We spend so much time trying to eliminate stress that sometimes I wonder if we’re accidentally eliminating resilience right along with it.

Not every uncomfortable moment needs an intervention.

Not every stressful moment means something is wrong.

Sometimes they need us to give them enough time to realize:

Oh. I can handle this.

Maybe the goal shouldn’t be creating a life where our horses never experience stress.

Maybe the goal should be raising horses that know how to come back down from it.

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NA
Sisters, OR
97759

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