Carousel Stables

10/07/2026

Maybe 😊

🐴 SAVE THE DATES! 🐴

Get ready for the Phoenix on Killian Winter Ranch Shows! Three exciting events are coming your way:

📅 November 21, 2026
📅 March 7, 2027
📅 April 24, 2027

Plan ahead and mark your calendars now!

✅ A current Coggins test and up-to-date vaccinations are required.
✅ Outdoor stalls will be available.

The showbill is coming soon—stay tuned for more details and get ready for an exciting winter season!

10/02/2026

Just a little insight

Patr 1: Why equestrian sports are so much more expensive than other youth sports (hint: it is not because we are greedy).

The three things most equestrian facilities factor into the equation (and there are more we SHOULD factor in) are:

1. Horse
2. Instructor
3. Facility

I am going to do a series on these factors, today let's focus on the horse.

As a "consumer", you want a healthy, well-educated, safe, happy horse to ride. We want that for you, too! This industry is expensive and dangerous, we want you to get the most for your money and be as safe as possible doing it. The question at hand is what does it cost to accomplish all of those things?

We all know horses are expensive, but most don't know how expensive a good lesson horse truly is.

So let's break it down into what you want:

1. Healthy: the basics are feed, hay, feet, teeth, medical. We'll use my horse Brooke, a fairly easy keeper. She costs me about $350 on an average month. But it really goes far beyond that. A beginner lesson horse, no matter how well I do my job, will have their mouth yanked on, imbalanced riders, etc. Bodywork and retraining are necessary. That adds another $150 plus hours of my time. Then we add in the necessity of properly fitting tack - saddle, bit, bridle, girth - and regular fit checks and adjustments. Now that is thousands. Does the horse need a targeted nutrition plan to handle mineral and/or gut deficiencies? Most likely. Monthly supplements? Yup. Now we are at $650/month minimum. None of this includes the costs of having a farm where I can keep her, she can graze, etc.

2. Well-educated: this takes years. A lesson program is either buying these years or making the years. Let's say your average horse costs about $5k per year before training, showing, etc. Let's say it traditionally takes at least 2 years of intensive training for a young, green horse to get the experience to be "well-educated" (the length is debatable, but traditionally military programs had an intensive 2 year program for military horses so we will base this off that). If a program does all the training for a young, green horse, they still have the purchase price and another $10k+ into the horse before it earns a dollar.

3. Safe: This is different than well-educated. Some horses have safer personalities than others, but we can also create safe horses. This takes a lot of time, training, and exposure to different environments (including hauling off-site). So add more cost to the "well-educated" baseline.

4. Happy: This requires a hands-on, observant manager and a diligent instructor. Is the horse getting off-balance, frustrated, bored? How do we catch it before it becomes an issue? How do we build time into the horse's week outside of lessons for rebalancing, for play, for connection? Who does that and with what time? What is the limit on the number of lessons they can teach and be happy? My horses do 3 - 5 lessons a week and I keep it that way because they are happier. Which means lessons have to be more expensive because I am not a barn requiring my horses do 10 lessons a week.

So, if I get cheap/free and spend 2 years cultivating a healthy, well-educated, safe, happy horse that costs me, minimum $16k before I put in an ounce of my time.

We put a dollar sign on a lot of these things, but not on my time. If I sent that horse off for training for 2 years it would cost me $24k more on top of that $16k. If I paid myself as barn manager (a job I do, but don't get paid for) to do basic care, prioritize good handling, hold for the farrier/vent/dentist/bodyworker, use the info from those professionals and my own observations to constantly adapt care and training for the horses, etc. that would have to be a full-time living wage. Luckily, I spent years paying to educate myself so that I don't have to pay someone else to do those jobs (we will get into the cost of instructor education when we do part 2 on the instructor). It just means I need more hours in my day.

None of this takes into account what it costs when we ethically retire that horse on our property because she gave everything for years.

Every time someone complains about a price, this all floods my mind. I know that people do not understand the amount of time and money that goes into creating a healthy, well-educated, safe, happy horse. I think we need to change that.

Lesson horses are incredibly valuable because the rider does not have to absorb these years of costs that allow them to enjoy horses once a week. Most barns are DYING (sometimes almost literally from the work we put in and financial debt) to give you access to horses. Horses have been such a big part of our lives and we want to share that with you. But, we will not compromise the well-being of our horses or your safety. I think that standard is something we can all agree on!

09/16/2026

Some riders seem to know exactly when to ask, when to wait, when to correct, and when to leave a horse alone. They make difficult patterns look simple. They quietly reorganize a nervous horse before anyone else notices something is going wrong. They pick up the correct diagonal without looking, guid...

08/30/2026

There's something so powerful about having a "hard conversation" with a horse. About bringing up something for them that challenges a belief they've held for their whole life, or something that scares them. Having a container in which hard conversations can happen freely, without the horse or human having to fear for their lives, is what sets this type of training apart from others.

Safety is not the same thing as avoiding discomfort, activation, or conflict forever. A relationship that can only function while everyone is calm is not actually prepared for real life, nor is it giving either party enough credit.

I do not believe in keeping horses under threshold always. I don't think this is beneficial for them, nor do I think it's responsible or sets them up for success. Because, as we all know, they are horses. They will spook at something, they will scare themselves when they believe a horse-eating troll is hiding behind that tree. And they will, undoubtedly, go over threshold.

And when they do, if you have not trained your own nervous system on how to handle yourself around a horse over threshold, you will also go over threshold.

And when you go over threshold, you will speak to your horse in a way that makes no sense to them. You will be in your sympathetic nervous system; you will be operating in fight or flight, and you will make big corrections and do big things with your body without control of your emotions.

And when you do this, your horse will have absolutely zero idea how to react. They might be terrified of you suddenly, because you got bigger than you've ever gotten with them and reacted from a place of fear or anger. They may resent you, because they assume that you are angry at them for something they did not believe they had control over. They may fight back, simply because they think you are attacking them.

There are countless combinations of what might occur, if suddenly on a Tuesday, you and your horse go over threshold together in a parking lot when neither of you have any practice in speaking to each other in a heightened state.

This is why it's crucial that we work with our horses in all kinds of situations, nervous system states, environments, etc. This is why it's imperative that, when they begin to go over threshold, we sit in that space with them and help them find their way through it, instead of immediately backing out and dropping them back down below threshold.

Your nervous system will not be able to learn how to stay regulated in the face of a panicking 1200-pound animal until you practice. And, as we all know, you have to put your own oxygen mask on before you help others. If you cannot regulate yourself, your horse will not be able to trust your guidance or your training, and you will both be stuck in a cycle of avoiding hard conversations and staying below threshold because it's too scary for both of you when s**t hits the fan.

So, how do you do it?

You create scenarios in which you know your horse will up-regulate, and you do so in a space where you can feel safe, supported, and held. I am not saying to terrorize your horse and send them into a full-fledged panic state. You need manageable activation. Choose a mid-level trigger. The horse still gets to communicate, and you still listen. The difference is that communication does not automatically mean you make the hard thing disappear. A set of eyes observing and helping to coach you through it is wildly helpful. You hold your ground, you set your boundaries, and you help teach your horse what it feels like when:

1. Your nervous system gets up-regulated, too.
2. Your intention changes from "please can you do this" to "I need this from you right now."
3. Your boundaries, voice, and body language gets louder, not from a place of anger/fear, but from a place of "What you are doing does not work for me, and I need you to hear me."

Spoiler alert: You will not be perfect at this when you first start. Take it from someone who has gone into full fight/flight mode in front of a horse and acted from a place of frustration, fear, etc. You will be triggered and likely will go over threshold yourself, which is why it's crucial to do this in a setting where you can bail yourself out if needed and tag in a friend while you breathe and re-regulate.

I remember as a child the feeling I would get in my body when my mom would use her "mom voice" and tell me to stop moving when we were out for a walk in the neighborhood. In that moment, I did not fear that my mother was going to kill me, but I sure as hell stopped in my tracks and looked at her for guidance because I knew something was not right.

THIS is what your horse can learn to do in moments of up-regulation, panic, fear, etc. They can learn that your intention getting bigger, your voice getting louder, and maybe even your physical cues getting stronger does not mean they need to fear for their lives, but instead means they need to stop and look at you for guidance.

They will never learn this if you don't practice it. They will never learn that you can indeed save them from themselves when they hit the panic button if you avoid the hard conversations. YOU will never learn that you can save them from themselves if you avoid it, either. They cannot learn how to communicate with you through activation if the two of you never practice communicating through activation.

The goal is not to teach the horse to tolerate being terrified. The goal is to teach both nervous systems that activation does not have to mean the loss of communication, relationship, or safety. Nor does it mean that there is something wrong or that they are being bad. It's simply a part of life.

Escalation is not the enemy. Being incapable of controlling your own emotions, regulating your own nervous system, and trusting yourself and your abilities is, though. And choosing to avoid the hard stuff and never teaching your horse how to handle a big change in intention, a louder aid or a reasonable demand is robbing you both of a relationship in which you can navigate the human world together.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. 🫶🏻