Kaylie Eaves Horsemanship LLC

09/05/2026

What Does Your Monthly Board Actually Pay For?

I recently saw a comment in a local horse group suggesting that boarding rates are far higher than the actual cost of caring for a horse. From the outside looking in, it can be easy to assume that board simply covers hay, feed, bedding, and basic daily care. In reality, operating a safe, well-maintained equine facility involves many additional expenses.

Along with the direct care of each horse, monthly board helps cover:

• Property rent or mortgage
• Business and liability insurance
• Electricity and utilities
• Facility, arena, and equipment maintenance
• Fuel for the equipment used around the farm
• Manure removal
• Repairs and replacement of items damaged through normal wear and tear
• Water and feed buckets, hoses, pitchforks, cross-ties, and automatic-waterer parts
• Cleaning supplies and everyday necessities for shared areas
• Payroll for the dependable people who help provide daily care

The list is nearly endless—and many of these expenses continue to rise.

Board is not simply payment for a stall and a few bales of hay. It supports the people, equipment, facilities, and behind-the-scenes work required to provide consistent, professional care while maintaining the safe and comfortable amenities horse owners expect.

There is an enormous amount of time, responsibility, and expense involved in properly caring for horses and operating a quality facility. Boarding rates reflect the true cost of providing that level of care—not just the items that are easiest to see.

09/04/2026

Had a fun little afternoon visiting the girls 💚💜

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

Horses don’t care about the script you wrote yesterday.

If you walk into a round pen clinging to a plan, a belief, or a feeling that no longer fits the moment, the horse will tell you immediately. They don’t hold it against you if you change your mind—they actually require it. They demand that you drop what wasn't working, adapt, and meet them where they are right now.

Somewhere along the way, we started treating human consistency like a badge of honor, as if changing your mind is some moral failure.

"So you think people should just be allowed to contradict themselves?"

There’s a world of difference between contradicting yourself and evolving.
Inconsistency is pretending your past self never existed while frantically trying to patch the holes in your old narrative. It’s doubling down on a broken method just because you’re terrified someone might catch you being wrong, or rewriting history to claim you "knew it all along" while quietly changing your tune behind closed doors. With horses, it’s holding onto a rigid training cue long after the horse has told you it creates fear, just because you committed to that drill on Tuesday.

Growth looks completely different. It’s being able to look back at a stance you held a year ago—or yesterday—and saying, "I did believe that once. But I don't anymore." Growth doesn't need a smoke screen or a defense mechanism. It lets you walk away from an old mindset with open hands, unbothered that you used to see the world through a different lens.

People are allowed to change their minds and believe different things than they used to. In fact, it's pretty much the definition of progress. If you’re standing in the same place with the same perspective you had five years ago—or five months ago—you probably haven't been paying attention to what life is trying to teach you.

Give yourself the grace to outgrow your old self. It’s not inconsistency; it’s just learning.

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

Responsive handling isn't about quick, twitchy corrections; it’s about fluid, intentional movement. As Brent put it during his clinic last weekend, “It's not about being snappy it's about being smooth. Responsive is smooth, snappy is reactive.“

That distinction completely shifts how we need to think about timing and pressure, whether we're working with horses, training athletes, or refining our own mechanics.

Being reactive usually means we're caught off guard. We rush to fix a problem after it happens, which creates bracing, tension, and a hurried rhythm. It looks sharp on the outside, but underneath, it's just panic disguised as speed.
Being responsive, on the other hand, comes from preparation and connection. It’s quiet, timely, and steady. Because there's no rush, the movement stays continuous and uninterrupted—which is what makes it feel effortless to anyone on the receiving end.

If you're chasing that kind of consistency in your own practice, stop trying to react faster. Just stay present enough to respond cleanly.

09/02/2026

09/01/2026

🔥IT’S LIVE🔥 PLEASE SHARE 🐴

I’m VERY excited to announce that our Free Spirit Select Sale website has officially launched today! Check it out and let me know what you think!!! Tons of details about this incredible event we will have next July. Approved consignment also opens today. Looking forward to sharing this incredible adventure with all of you as we go! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!

https://www.freespiritselectsale.com/

09/01/2026

🌿Welcome Sage!🌿

We are thrilled to welcome our newest broodmare addition to the program officially, Bandits Two Eyed Doc—who will go by Sage around the barn. Launching a brand-new herb and spice naming tradition here at the farm (following Basil and joining my friend's new filly Rosemary, who rode along with Sage from TN), Sage brings an incredible blend of foundation performance and cow-horse bloodlines to our breeding operation.

Sage’s Top Side Influence: Sired by Docs Shining Bear, carrying the legendary performance power of Shining Spark and Doc Bar, known for high-octane athletic ability, cow sense, and exceptional intelligence.

Sage’s Bottom Side Influence: Out of Bandits String, blending classic Two Eyed Jack and Blackburn heritage renowned for dense bone, hardiness, and sensible, level-headed working dispositions.

And the best part? She arrives already pregnant with a 2027 foal! That upcoming baby is sired by Iconic Pl***oy (APHA)—bringing an incredible cross of athletic color, classic cow/performance foundation, and great bone to the ground next year. We can't wait to see what this pairing produces. (More details on the baby to come!)

We are excited to see how Sage's exceptional build, disposition, and bloodlines shape the future of our breeding program as we focus on producing versatile, feel-based equine partners! Sage will stay with little Rosemary at my friend's for quarantine before fully arriving at KEH!