You're an inspiration. You were there to help me. You just saw me and said, Can I help you? We learn a lot from watching other horses and watching other riders. Hey, everyone. This is Julie's podcast producer, Megan. A few minutes into this episode, you'll hear Julie's much anticipated update that her little Mariani isn't all. She was so excited to share this with all of you. And unfortunately, just yesterday, after her vet exam, we found out that Annie is no longer pregnant.
The reality is that with horses, things don't always go the way we want or expect them to. Though difficult. Julie wanted to share her old journey with you and hopefully help some people out there who are thinking of breeding to understand that it's not an easy one. As Julie says in the episode, at least I tried. Julie, thanks you all for the love and support You've shown her nanny throughout this process as she figures out how she should move forward from here. I'm Julie.
Goodnight and thank you for listening to my podcast. About horse training, equestrian sports and building a better connection with your horse. It's time for a ride on with Julie. Good night. Let's start with some updates from the ranch. Summer has finally arrived here in the mountains of Colorado. It's been a very long, cold winter, followed by a cold, wet spring around here. But the good news is our irrigation is running hard with the snowmelt from the mountains.
And that means the grass is really green and growing fast and the horses are getting fat. It's always tricky this time of year in terms of herd management for us because we're transitioning the horses from a hay based feed plan to grazing green grass. And it's, you know, one end of the spectrum to the other in terms of their digestion system. And you've really got to take it slowly. They do tend to gorge themselves on the grass.
At first they haven't even had a single bite of green grass for, you know, nine months, eight months, something like that. And so they just eat themselves silly. And that can easily lead to a bellyache. I think we had to. Two of the five horses end up with bellyache this year, so that that wasn't too bad. Just just a few of them.
But we have to manage manage it very closely, easing them up into it, letting them out only an hour at a time at first, etc.. And when we first start turning them out, we make sure they eat a full ration of hay first so they go out with full bellies and we only leave them mouth for a short amount of time. So hopefully they don't overeat and then the next week we bump them up to about 2 hours of grazing a day. And then in another week or two, we can generally work them up to grazing all day.
And and by then they'll be eating very little hay as long as we do it over a 2 to 3 week period. Their digestive systems tend to handle it pretty well and also then their cravings adjust a little bit too there. They're not so enamored of the grass and and feeling like they have to, you know, stuff their face with it or they're never going to get to eat it again. And so they start moderating their their own intake.
And and then after actually a month or maybe six weeks on the grass, they actually start looking for some hay. It's funny how their cravings act, but pretty soon they'll be coming in from the dry lot to get out of the bugs and get in the shade and eat some hay so it'll balance out in time. Recently we had a three day photo shoot and a video shoot. That's why it took three days for two different photographers.
We were shooting for Troxell Helmets and it was three horses, three riders, photographer, videographer, camera assistants and it was a lot of planning and a lot of hard work. But we had some good fun and we got some tremendous photography. And we shot at Sunrise and sunset up in the mountains around the ranch, and that was beautiful. It's fun to get up in the mountains for sunrise. I've seen a few of the photos and some of the video clips and I'm really happy with the content we got.
So keep your eye out for that. You never know where you're going to see it. If you've been following me online or on social media, you probably already know that for the last few months I've been working to get my mare Annie Bread through artificial insemination. I've not actually been doing the work. I've just been paying for it and orchestrating it. We're bringing Annie to the outstanding quarter Horse Stallion called, but he's a cat. He stands at the four Sixes ranch in Texas.
It's been quite a roller coaster of a ride. Given that she's an older mare, she's a maiden mares. Well, meaning she's never been bred and an older maiden mare is very difficult to get settled into pregnancy. And they tend to require a lot of medical support. Pharmaceutical support. So she's been away at the breeding facility for the last six weeks. The first time we breeder was actually in early May and she didn't take.
So after he did some extensive treatments to clean out her uterus, flush it out, medicate it, and I would say with a huge amount of optimism, she was bred again at the end of May, but she didn't take that time either. I was super disappointed after the second breeding failed and I was beginning to wonder if it was just a total waste of time and money. And let me tell you, it was a lot of money. And I was thinking, what was I doing?
Why did I spend all that money and what am I going to do if I can't get her pregnant? But by the beginning of June, we were also facing the end of horse breeding season, and there was really only one more heat cycle which we would be able to even get semen for. And pretty much by this point we had too much invested to give up on it anyway. And if we wait another year until next breeding season, she's going to be a whole another year older. So that would be even more challenging.
So we went ahead for a third round of insemination early in June. We had a two week wait period before her first pregnancy check. And you know, during that time, I just kind of got used to the fact that she may not ever get pregnant and have a foal and that I might have to rethink that plan. And I lowered my expectations a lot. And I began to accept the fact that although it may have been a giant waste of money, at least I tried. And so I started thinking about alternative plans for Annie.
And after fully accepting the idea that I might never get a full out of Annie, I got a call informing me that Annie was pregnant. She's at home now. She's getting all the special treatment, all the spoiling, everybody's pet nurse a little bit more, and she is in hog heaven. We will, of course, be monitoring her very closely. And I've got my fingers crossed that she holds on to this pregnancy. Well, this summer, I'm going to be taking a little bit of time off.
I'm going to be away from the ranch for a few weeks and I'm going to be making sort of an epic voyage aboard my beloved boat called The Legacy will be underway actually any day now. I'll be traveling, transiting in the boat from Saint Louis, Missouri, down the inland river system. It's about a thousand miles to get down to the Gulf of Mexico. But we're going to be taking our time.
I'll be cruising south until early August and we'll park the boat while I take a break from cruising to travel to Ireland for two clinics. And I have a couple of clinics at the Sea Lazy Ranch in Colorado, a couple of horse expos. I'll be an equine affair at Massachusetts, and by the way, there are still a few openings in the October ranch riding adventure and the horsemanship immersion programs at the Sea Lazy U Ranch, my programs at Sea Laser.
You are all inclusive of meals, lodging, horses and the clinic. I promise you'll have an incredible experience with daily lessons, trail riding in the mountains and luxurious accommodations and gourmet meals. So for details on all my upcoming events, please visit Julie. Good night dot com slash events and to get the latest training, advice and updates from me, be sure to sign up for my weekly newsletter at Julie. Goodnight dot com slash news.
You can find my online training resources memberships and one on one online coaching program at Julie Goodnight dot com slash academy plus find innovative grooming tools, tech bits, training equipment, videos and more at shop dot Julie Good night dot com follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube add Julie Goodnight. We are now seven months into horse goals or bust. That's about setting goals and planning, training, practicing and preparing for them.
It's prime riding season in most areas, so now is the time to put our plans for all the activities we've been scheming about into action. For some of you, that may mean going to a clinic, a competition, or hitting the trail. Or you might be more focused on bonding with a new horse. Maybe you're regaining your mojo after an accident. Or maybe you're accomplishing a singular feat with your horse, something you've been wanting to do for a really long time, and you're finally tackling it.
My horse goals for the year have mostly revolved around breeding Annie, and I've already told you about that. I also had the big photo shoot to plan and execute. That was a big focus of my thinking and my planning for the first part of the year, and we completed that a couple of weeks ago. The only thing I have left on my personal horsemanship goals was to go on a camping trip with the horses to my friend's ranch, and I'm still hoping to do that this fall when I get back from Ireland.
Right now I'm more focused on my boating trip, actually, and throughout this process of getting ready to embark on this big voyage on the boat, I'm going on. I've been reminded of the many lessons I've learned throughout my career with horses. And today, I'm going to share some of the most important lessons I've learned to help you make the most of your equestrian endeavors. And I hope you're coming along for the ride with horse goals or bust.
We've offered a step by step guide to help you achieve your horsemanship dreams and whether your goal is modest or incredibly ambitious. It takes time to accomplish anything worthwhile. And that's why we got started last December. We're now seven months and and I've put together some helpful and by the way, free resources for you on goal setting, horse and rider fitness and skill assessment.
You can find everything you need all in one place at Julie goodnight dot com slash horse goals if you haven't already. Go ahead and check it out and start now. It's never too late. And later in this episode in the what the Hay Q&A, I'll answer questions from listeners about teaching an old horse a new behavior about a mother and daughter who have different boundaries with their horses and a horse that gets anxious and reactive in a particular setting. Now let's get started on the main topic.
It's go time. After a lifetime of riding and training, horses, going to competitions, clinics, trail rides, coaching riders of all disciplines, and most breeds of horses. I've learned some important lessons for being the best I can be and getting the most from my horse throughout my career. I've worked with literally thousands of horses and riders. I've worked with horses and riders on four different continents.
There's a lot of commonality in the mistakes riders make and in the way horses react and respond. So these lessons that I'm about to share with you, they also reflect the lessons that I've learned are important to teach to others. Now I want to share five important tips for you to get the most from your horse and to help you achieve your horsemanship goals. Tip number one Ride the horse beneath you. You have to remember that your horse is not the same every day. You're not the same every day.
Your horse is not the same in every situation. Don't ride the horse you think you should have. And don't ride the horse that you rode yesterday or last week. Ride the horses underneath you right now. You know, I do clinics, as I said, all over the country, all over the world. And it always surprises me how shocked some people are when they arrive at a clinic and they unload their horse and they come into the clinic and the arena is full of a lot of horses.
This horses never sees, never seen the arena, never seen the people. He's never seen the horses. He doesn't know what he's doing. And he understandably becomes emotional, confused, reactive acts in a different way. And sometimes the owner is shocked by the horses reaction and they're like, he never acts this way at home. And I know too, which I always say, But you're not at home, are you? And so it it really surprises me that people can get taken aback by that.
And your horse is very either familiar or unfamiliar with his surroundings. But he's you know, he's very adjusted to everything that goes on at home, their routines. You do the rides, you take, the things you ask him, the little patterns that you have in your everyday interactions with the horse that you don't even know you're having. But he has, because that's the way horses are. They remember all the little details. And when something is amiss, they react to it.
So then when you take your horse somewhere different and you're in a whole new situation, you should expect the horse to act differently. Or at the very least you should be open to the idea. So don't ride the horse. You think you should have or the horse that you last rode. But the horse is actually present in front of you right now. You have to be aware of your horses energy level and how to manage it. Is he, you know, tired and lazy? Is he emotional and nervous? Anxious? Is he confused?
Is he frustrated? He's he's an animal with emotionality. In fact, I often say sometimes I think horses are even more emotional animals and humans. And that's saying a lot. But and that's because, you know, of course, they're prey animals. So a lot of their emotion is based on fear. They kind of that's their default emotion when things are a little bit awry. And so, you know, perhaps we notice it a little bit more.
But you're horse that the same horse that yesterday at home when you're riding in the arena might have been, you know, kind of lazy and complacent and bored. And then tomorrow you haul him to a strange arena to take a clinic and he's surrounded by 20 strange horses and asked to do things he's never been asked to do before. He can easily reach his emotional threshold very quickly because he's, you know, confused and getting nervous and strange horses and, you know, things are growing in his mind.
Next thing you know, you have a horse is having a meltdown. You should be shocked by that. You should have been watching and expecting it to begin with, watching it from the beginning and being aware of how your horses emotional state can change. It can change quickly or it can build slowly over time. And Mark Rashford, who is a very prolific horsemanship author, he's a horse trainer and clinician and a friend of mine. He's also like me from the great state of Colorado.
And one of Mark's things that he says a lot that's always stuck with me is that he says, if you think about a scale of 1 to 10, with one being a low energy, you know, the calmness and mellow as a horse could be and a ten being a horse is having a complete meltdown is cross the emotional threshold. And he says you have to adapt your own energy level to meet that of the horse. And if your horse presents as a nine on that scale, you better make yourself present as a one.
And if your horse is presenting as a one, you might need to bring yourself up to a nine. And I think it's a really good way of understanding that this scale of 1 to 10 is fluid. It's constantly changing. There are times when you have to bring your energy up. There are times when you have to bring your energy down in order to compensate for the horse's emotionality or energy level. So riding the horse beneath you is about awareness.
It's about being able to adapt your energy level and how you're actually riding the horse or working with the horse. In other words, what are the needs of the horse right now? It's important that you ride your horse proactively during these times. The what your horse needs when he's becoming confused and anxious, is directed, gives from you stuff he knows how to respond to give me cues I know and understand. Make my life have some order to it.
Also in terms of riding the horse beneath you, anyone who's ever done a clinic with me has heard me talk about the golden moments. There's something I bring into every clinic that I teach. It's something I practice myself and I believe a lot in it, and it's about riding proactively in the first few minutes that you're on a horse. And it's really a good habit to get into and you can get a lot of information about that on my website.
I will put some links in the show notes for you to check out the golden moments and that will really help you get a feel for and understanding and make a connection with a horse that might be a little bit different than he was yesterday. Underneath you. And it's a way to check out their emotionality, their responsiveness, their obedience level, right when they first get on the horse and to sort things out, make sure this ride goes okay. Lesson number two, we are not in Kansas anymore.
You know, when you're riding in unfamiliar situations, it can be really challenging. Horses often act differently in new locations than they do at home. They're very location specific and what they learn and how they act. Seasoning takes time. Seasoning refers to a horse that has had a lot of experience in different situations and different locations, and it takes time and effort and money to season a horse because you got to haul them somewhere, you got to expose them to different environments.
It doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen after one outing with your horse. It takes many. If your horse takes more time to settle in when you go to new places, he's disconcerted that or any time a horse comes and goes, he's disconcerted. You need to get some more seasoning on that horse. You need to look for opportunities when you're in a new situation with a horse. And he's you're starting to notice because you've become aware you're riding the horse underneath you.
You're watching that emotionality scale. If he starts becoming unraveled, you need to look for opportunities to remind the horse of what he already knows. Maybe it's ground manners. Maybe it's doing some simplistic riding maneuvers, walk to trot, trot to walk. Let's make a circle. Let's turn left less turn right. As I start asking the horse to do things that he knows how to do really well, his mind will come back into, Oh, this.
Oh, I don't have to be afraid here because everything's normal here. Oh, I don't have to be worried because these are normal things that I know how to do. So you want to ride very proactively in these times. Look for opportunities to remind the horse of what he knows and look for any opportunity to praise the horse. In other words, if I ask you to trot and you trot, I say, Good boy. And then I ask you to walk and you walk and I have another opportunity or a good horse and I pat you on the neck.
And now you start to feel like, Oh, everything is okay. Oh, I am a good horse. Oh, this place isn't so bad. So these are how we work. When you when you do bring a horse to a new location and he starts to become anxious and unraveled. We want to use these techniques to encourage the horse to stay calm and focused and to get him back in a responsive frame of mind.
So the bottom line is when you're taking your horse into an unfamiliar situation, you need to keep your expectations in line with your experience level, with your skill set, and with those of the horse. Don't expect your horse to perform at his peak the way he does at home when he's away from home for the first few times, or when he's in a new place, that's just too much to ask of the horse.
So part of this is about lowering your own expectations patterns and becoming more aware that when you're in different situations, the horse is prone to act differently and expect it and deal with it. Lesson number three get the lay of the land. So whenever you're embarking on a new adventure, maybe you're going someplace you haven't been before. Maybe you're doing a sport, a clinic, a competition, or a trail ride with a horse that you've never done before.
You want to do as much as you can to be prepared ahead of time. It's going to be hard enough on your horse to be in a new situation, a new location. The more you can know ahead of time, the more comfortable you can be. The more of a plan you can have, the easier it's going to be on the horse. So here's a few things to think about. First of all, arrive early scouting locations ahead of time if you can.
It never ceases to amaze me that in most clinics and I do it, let's say it's just starting Saturday morning and there are some people that pull into the parking lot with a loaded horse trailer, 8:00 and they're supposed to start at eight and now they're hurriedly unloading the horse and they're running over and they're, you know, they forgot everything. And the whole beginning of this endeavor starts in a frantic pace and confusion and rushing and sort of jamming your horse into a situation.
I, I feel about this like I feel about going to the airport. I would rather be sitting around and waiting for a long time than rushing to the airport and stressing about whether or not I'm going to make it through TSA and time. So I really think it's important when you're traveling and doing activities with horses that you arrive abundantly early. So that you can take your time to saddle a horse, to saddle yourself, to look around, to get the lay of the land.
It's a great idea to make a dry run if you can, and depending on the situation or if you even need to. But if you're going to a clinic, let's say at a place it's not too far away, maybe you want to drive your horse trailer over there, or maybe you want to take the horse and ride if if that would be allowed. You know, the week before. There's, you know, use your imagination that in most situations you can to find the time to check it out.
If it's a competition, go watch one that happens before yours that you don't take a horse. You just kind of lurk in the background. Meet some people, look around, find the lay of the land, break it down. If you're going after some activity that you haven't done before with your horse, be sure to break it down into the smallest steps you can and practice those small steps so you build confidence along the way.
So when you do leap into that, okay, I'm now going to finally accomplish this, you have made yourself as comfortable as you can. You know, I have a online coaching student who joined the program as she was getting to know a new horse. And it's a great program for that because you don't know the horse and horse doesn't know you. And we don't you know, sometimes you don't even have the history on the horse or much of it.
And the curriculum gives you assignments that do a lot of analysis and assessment and try this and work on these ground matters, work on this and work on that. So it's very structured and it's a great way. It's a great program for someone to get to get somewhere with a new horse to to form bond and to kind of figure out what they need to work on. And I have one student who's pretty far along into this new horse has been, I would say, at least a year.
And the one thing remaining that she hasn't done yet is take the horse out on a trail ride. And she's accomplished a lot. She's done a lot of ground work, a lot of riding in the arena, some riding around the ranch. And she's got this one remaining thing on her check off list in terms of her horse goals or bust. She's actually, I think, made a bigger, bigger thing of it in her mind because she's put it off all this time. So it's like the one remaining thing.
And so she has become anxious about it and is part of her plan. We we talked about breaking it down into smaller steps. So she is going to first walk the trail herself and look around herself and imagine being there with her horse. Then the next thing she's going to do is take her horse in hand down the trail, and then she's going to have a friend pony her horse on the trail and then she will go accompany that same horse down the trail with her riding the horse.
And so rather than jump in and that sounds like a lot just to simply go on a trail ride, but it's something that she has anxiety about. And I thought that was a great example of how you can break things down into the smallest possible steps and work on those little steps until you find some confidence there. And then you finally get to put it all together. So those are things that you can do to help you get the lay of the land ahead of time before you embark on this big endeavor.
Lesson number four Self doubt is normal. Everyone has it, and you're going to have it too, especially if you're doing something new. If you haven't done it with your horse or you haven't done it yourself or whatever, there's so many different possibilities, you know, no matter how confident or competent or talented you are, you're going to experience self-doubt. At times. It's just a human condition.
Learn to ride out those moments, to think through the stressors and to have faith that it will pass. You know, sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night and I think this is probably true of everyone. When I've got a big thing coming up, a big trip I'm taking and and then I'm going to or as I have right now, there's this huge boating trip that we're about to take. I wake up at 2:00 in the morning and I start thinking, what if this what if I am I should should I be doing this? Am I crazy?
And it's kind of a normal human condition. And I have learned to first of all, one thing I've learned is that if I work in the middle of the night stressing like that, I'm probably not going back to sleep. So if I get on that stress train, I'm as well just get up and start working. So I do work on trying not to go there. But let's face it, when we've got something big coming up, we tend to wake up in the middle of the night and that's when we face our demons.
And instead of just laying there stressing and worrying, I like to start thinking through what are the things that are stressing me right now? What are the very specific parts of this that I am feeling anxiety about? Once I break it down, then I can start thinking through strategies. Jeez, that will help me remove those stressors.
Okay. If I don't feel prepared enough to do this particular thing, well, I'm going to take a couple of extra days here at home to work on that specific thing until I build a little more confidence there. So think through the stressors, come up with a plan, and then you have to have faith that it will pass.
Know every single time I've woken up in the middle of the night stressing over something later that morning when the sun is up and I'm going about my daily routine, all of a sudden everything seems fine. I feel fully confident and I think back on the way I felt last night in the middle of the night, and I think in broad daylight, once you're out doing what you do, sometimes those middle of the night fears seem ridiculous once light is shut on the subject.
So that's what I mean by having faith that this self doubt will pass. Trying to think it through as best you can, do everything that you can do that will help you alleviate the things you're anxious about, but then also have faith that it's going to pass. For me, I have noticed throughout my career most people think of me as a pretty confident person, and I am. But that doesn't mean there aren't certain things that don't make me nervous.
And there are, like anyone, a certain situations I'm in where I'm unsure of myself and I have plenty of self doubt, I'm probably going to wake up in the middle of the night, 2:00 in the morning, wondering why I'm leaving on this boat trip. But one thing I've learned is that these moments of self-doubt will always be followed by some sort of positive affirmation.
So at some point, the next day, I'm going to have a moment where I say, I've got this, Oh, I am a I am a confident person, or Oh, what was I thinking? I couldn't do that. Of course I can do that. So you have to in the moments of anxiety and self-doubt, you have to also have faith that this too shall pass. You're going to feel better about this later. Think it through as best you can.
Come up with some strategies that will help alleviate anxiety and then have faith that this moment of self-doubt is going to pass. Lesson number five is simple It's just slow down and breathe. You know, there's almost never a situation where it isn't a good idea to just slow down and breathe whatever your undertaking is, whether it's a major horse show, a multi-day packed trip, maybe it's a single trail ride in a big group or a single trail ride with a couple of friends.
Maybe you're going to a clinic or maybe you're moving forward after some sort of confidence shaking experience. Whatever the moment is, it never hurts to slow down and breathe, be present in the moment. I remind myself of this when I'm doing anything exciting, nerve wracking, or even fun, and I'm getting a little over excited. Any time I feel myself getting cranked up, I remind myself to slow down, look around, take a deep breath, review the plan and think before you act.
Even in the case of an emergency, it's actually a good idea to slow down and breathe. Think before you act. So those are my five tips for you to prepare for game day with your horse. Number one ride the horse beneath you. Number two horses are location specific and situational in their behavior. Number three, get the lay of the land plan ahead. Number four, self-doubt is normal. Number five, slow down and breathe. Remember, before you do anything with your horse, especially any new activity.
Assess your horse, assess the situation and the plan. Then move ahead with awareness, with intention, and with determination. This will help you accomplish your horsemanship goals. And now it's time for my favorite segment. What the heck? Q&A. Each month we pick a few unique questions from our listeners and answer them on the air. If you'd like to submit a written question for what the Hey, please message me on Facebook at Julie Goodnight. Or email podcasts at Julie.
Goodnight. Dot com. Some of these questions are edited slightly for clarity or length. The first question is from Barbara. Can an old horse learn a new behavior? My 27 year old will stand ground tied perfectly until her BFR of four years is out of sight. I must admit I haven't really tried to correct this. Is it too late or can it be helped? Well, it's a good question, Barbara. And of course, you know, they old can teach an old dog new tricks.
Is a good question. And I think for the most part, horses never stop learning. But, you know, horses can reach an age where they're becoming geriatric and their mind is not functioning, maybe as it was when they were younger. So I can't say that, you know, till the last breath the horse takes. He can continue learning at the same rate he did when he was younger and definitely young horses are learning at a higher rate and they're easier to teach.
And also, I want you to think, first of all, 27 is a pretty old horse, and I would definitely call that geriatric and one horse. 27 might be pretty spry and maybe still being ridden and another horse may be long dead at 27. So that's getting up there at the far end of the horse's lifespan. And there can be a huge variance in a horse's capability at that age.
And I obviously I'm not there to see your horse, but just in general, the older horses get, the more they need and rely on the security of their herd. And so as horses age, I would say from middle age on a having their herd mates and particularly bonded herd mates around them becomes increasingly important.
And I would say, you know, not to anthropomorphize, but I would say if you can kind of think about human society the same way as our human seniors get to a certain age, they start need needing more care and needing someone to look out for them and and help them with the basic necessities of life. And so you can understand then, why as horses become geriatric, they become even more reliant on the herd. So this kind of herd bound behavior is normal and understandable.
Also, as I said just a moment ago, yes, younger horses are in general much easier to train than older horses who are set in their ways, who have preconceived ideas and notions, who aren't really looking for new adventures and activities. But still, older horses are capable of learning. Horses are very rapidly learning. Animals. It's just the nature of their their being. So as I said, 27 is pretty old horse and I'd be looking for ways to make this horse's twilight years more peaceful.
I think it's important to be realistic about how much you ask of this horse and how much you expect of her. I would treat it in terms of this herd bound issue. I would treat that more like a mental health issue and less like a training issue at least in terms of the separation anxiety. You need to, first of all, consider how you can mitigate it. Is it okay to bring the other horse out? Does she have to be separated from this horse to accomplish what you want?
If she could just be inside of it, maybe you can accomplish what you want. And so, you know, it gives some consideration to how good a idea is it really to separate her from her emotional support? I think being more of the emotional needs of a geriatric horse is a good idea, and also that you should consider what your endgame is. I mean, you know, I. What are you training for? You're not going to be going to an endurance ride with this horse.
I don't know if you're riding this horse, but if you are, you're not going to be riding it for much longer. It's very old. So consider what your endgame is. And if this is just about you wanting to work with a horse and expand your own skill set and your own training skills, then I would find a way to do it with a younger horse that it's a little bit more fair to. Yes, you can train an old horse new tricks.
But to what end? And at what point is this horse going to be allowed to just retire and no longer have to give of itself to people? So I know those are kind of hard things to hear and people want to hang onto their horses forever. But I think you have to be fair to the horse as well. And so I'm looking at a horse that age, particularly if it's a horse I've had for a long time. A horse has given a lot to me over years. What I'm looking at at that age is how do I make this horse comfortable?
How do I make this horse feel more secure? How do I deal with the health challenges of a geriatric horse and make sure this horse's end of life is the best and highest quality it can be? So that's my advice for training at all Horses. A New Trick. The next question is from Judi. She says, I share the care of our nine horses with my 26 year old daughter, but we have different ideas about boundaries. Is that fair to the horses? And I would say the short answer is no now.
But right away I go, Wow, you have nine horses between you. That's a lot of horses. So that's interesting. But we don't have a lot of information on that. So I can't pontificate on what you're doing with that many horses by the way, thank you for being succinct in your question is, you know, maybe goes down in the history as the shortest question that's come through with only sentences. So unfortunately, it leaves me wondering a little bit about what your differing ideas are.
I'm just going to go out on a limb here and guess it probably has something to do with one of you wanting to keep space between you and your horse. That kind of boundary and the other one thinking it's okay to let a horse lick on you and put his mouth on you or hand-feed treats or something like that. Or maybe one of you is overindulging the horses, kissing on his face, doing all that kind of stuff.
So I'm just kind of guessing that that's what you're talking about in terms of different ideas about boundaries. And yeah I would say, no, it's not. It's not at all fair to the horses. And it leads to potentially to their anxiety, to their confusion and to their frustration. And they're frustrated about the people and they're frustrated about the horses. So what happens is horses get handled differently by different people who have different expectations.
In other words, if you allow one of the horses to say, move into your space or bob into your or put his lips on you with no penalty, and then I come along and I say No, that is absolutely a line you cannot cross. You do not sling your head at me. You do not move your shoulder into me. When we're walking, you do not bump. And to me you do not put your lips on me. And I admonish the horse when he acts that way you can understand how that leads to confusion and frustration for the horse.
Because with one person there are one set of rules and with the other person he's actually getting admonished for stuff that is okay with the first person. So it absolutely leads to a lot of anxiety and confusion and frustration for the horses and for the people. The truth of the matter is horses thrive off consistency. They love sameness and they love routine. I'll tell you a little story about the horses at Disney World and at Disneyland. Now, I've had the opportunity.
I did some consulting a number of years ago with the horse barn at Disney World in Florida, and then I was taken on a tour of the facility in California where they do the horse training for the horses in the park at Disneyland. And it was awesome. In both instances. I had an awesome behind the scenes look at their programs and it was amazing to me the procedures and policies they have about handling the horses.
I've never seen anything like it from the way you put the halter on the horse to the way you lead the horse to the order at which you turn them out to the place. You tie them to the way you pick up their feet, to the order of the brushes you use on them in grooming the time of day they go to exercise. Everything is incredibly regimented with these horses and they require, because of course the horses are handled seven days a week, but the same handlers don't work seven days a week.
They require this exact sameness. But if there are two or three different people handling the same horse, they do every single thing the exact same way, strictly to reduce the anxiety on these horses and to keep them in a consistent top level routine. So these horses, you know, always know what's happening to them and what's going to happen next. And it was really and the comfort level that brings the horses is just tremendous, is absolutely amazing.
So the routine they follow and the consistency between the different handlers really help the horses. And that was enlightening to me. I mean, I've known all my life the importance of routine and consistency and all of that. But to see the level that they brought it to at Disney was really amazing. And it was also very enlightening on how much that helped the horses.
And so I think that's probably good evidence for you, Judy, that the more consistency you guys can agree to on the handling of your horses, the better off the horses are. And the happier that both of you will be, too. So good luck on that endeavor. I know working with your family members sometimes can be a challenge. So good luck with that. And the final question for today is from Alan. I ride down the road at the barn, my horses at.
It's a big facility, sometimes quiet, sometimes busy, and my horse has been lucky, but fine. But now I return on the same road and depending on the direction we're going or the time of day, he gets extremely anxious as his head goes up and he speeds up as though he is waiting for something or someone to jump out at him. Why is he okay? Sometimes, but not okay other times in a place that is very familiar to him, what do you recommend I do?
Well, Alan, this is a great example of what I was talking about earlier when I said that horses are very location specific in their behavior. They tend to adjust line or remember certain actions or activities or emotional outbursts, and they associated with that on location. And so if you were walking by a certain location, maybe you'd been by that location many times before. But this time you walk by and let's say a loud bang occurred, something like that startling.
Now, the next time you walk by that location, the horse is going to be in a state of mind waiting for that loud bang to occur. So he assigned that shock value, that emotional impact with that particular place. And that's what I mean by location specific in their behavior. But you also need to keep in mind that horses can be a little bit superstitious as well. And by that I mean some horses, by their temperament, are overly suspicious.
So when something like that happens, they really start thinking, Oh my God, you know, it's going to happen again. And I know it. So they can assign a fear response to a certain location. And sometimes we don't even get to know why. And it can even be the absence of something that frighten them. So maybe it was something you didn't even notice that had been there, an object that had been there for a long time.
And last night somebody came and picked that object up and took it away and your horse noticed it and it shocked him. And so he became superstitious about that area, thinking this is a place where something can change at any time. You have to be careful here. So sometimes these things happen and you don't necessarily get to know why. What can you do about it? Well, you can plan ahead and ride more proactively in this area.
It sounds like you have a pretty good idea of where it's going to happen, but it might not always happen there. But you can still be thinking ahead, planning ahead and start riding more proactively before you get there. Check in with your horse, take up a little bit on the reins, close your legs a little bit, put your knuckles down on his neck, scratch him, talk to him, ask him to do a couple of things. Turn right, turn left, Stop. Go back up.
Whatever these my asking him to do things, get him back into thinking frame of mind. It brings a connection between you and the horse. That's what I mean by riding more proactively. I would also make sure that you keep the horse's head down low if you do not have the cueing capability to ask your horse to lower his head. That's something you can work on out.
Plenty of information about that on my website, but you need to be able to get the horse's head down and you need to admonish the horse for looking around a suspect. Cautious or superstitious horse, is going to raise his head and start looking around excessively. And this is behavior you want to disallow. Get the head down and correct him with the opposite rein when he looks around.
When I'm riding you, you're at work, you have a job to do and looking around and acting superstitious is not a part of that. So get your head down and look down the road. Right. And proactively keep the horse engaged with changes of speed and changes of direction.
And if if the horse is getting really fearful in a particular spot because of who knows what happened there, but it created some kind of trauma in his mind, you might consider taking the horse to this place on mounted and just asking the horses put his head down to the ground, stroke him praise, or maybe even feed him a little bit.
There, try to get him try to build a different association with this place, one that is more relaxing and calm and and fit and feels good and then finally, I would say, Alan, make sure that you are not contributing to the problem, because oftentimes when riders think a horse is going to do something and they start anticipating, Oh, this is a place where my horse gets spooky, or this is a place where my horse acts up. Or last time I came in the show ran, my horse did this.
So you start thinking about the bad thing and in your anticipation, you can easily, inadvertently send the wrong cues to the horse and you can end up sort of, you know, clenching up on the reins and tightening up. And the worst thing you could do is stop at that place where he's starting to get anxious when what you should be doing is riding forward and riding proactively.
So make sure you're not contributing to the thing by also becoming superstitious about the area and anticipating something bad happening. So take a moment to center yourself. Take a deep breath, Remember my tips. Slow down and breathe, but ride that horse proactively through the area. And I think you'll find when you do these things, this little superstition of your horses will all just go away. Well, that's all we have time for today. I want to thank you for listening to my podcast.
I hope you're busy working towards your horsemanship goals for this year and that you're inspired to accomplish something that's important to you. And if you feel like sharing it, I'd love to read your comments. Next month we'll talk about your game day, mental toughness and how to deal with anxiety, improve your confidence and develop strategies to perform at your best. So be sure to subscribe to this podcast if you haven't already so you don't miss a single episode.
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No matter where you are in your horsemanship journey, whether you're new to horses or an old hand, whether you're training a green horse or refining your upper level skills, have you found some helpful information here to make your horse life better? I'm Julie. Goodnight. Thank you for listening and please stay safe and enjoy the ride.