Salty Horse Ranch

At this time we plan to attend the show, if you are interested in going please reach out to me and let’s get a plan together!

Drum roll please! The moment we've all been waiting for is finally here! Made in the Shade I, II, & III is open for entries TODAY, June 20th on https://www.horseshowoffice.com/ #/events

Get your entries in! CLOSING July 20th! Closing date is early this year!

3 DAYS!!! 3 SHOWS!!! AUGUST 7-9, 2026 at South Carolina Equine Park, in historic Camden, SC.

Breeders - Qualify for USDF Breeders Championships and compete in the South East Series Final ALL IN ONE WEEKEND!

Dressage Riders - QUALIFY FOR REGIONALS IN ONE WEEKEND!

You can find the Prize List here: https://bit.ly/4uUDwSD

And the website here: https://www.elhananequestrian.com/mits

We had a FANTASTIC SHOW last year & this year is even better!
FOOD & BAR EVERY NIGHT! Special night classes! Get your Prix Caprilli and Quadrille entries in!!! PUP PARADE! Upgraded Awards Presentations EACH NIGHT! BIGGER PRIZES!!! SO MUCH FUN you'll wish we had these shows more than once a year!

DON'T WAIT!!! GET YOUR ENTRIES IN NOW!

In the horse industry, the customer is always right. Thing is- the customer is the horse, not you. So... *you* are not always right.

Unlike most businesses, there is a third party involved that doesn't get a vote. The horse. And sometimes there's a fourth. The rider.

My job isn't to tell people what they want to hear. My job is to make decisions that are in the best interest of the horse and rider, even when those decisions are unpopular.

Sometimes that means telling a client their horse isn't ready.
Sometimes it means telling a rider they aren't ready.
Sometimes it means refusing to do something that I don't believe is right, even if someone is willing to pay me to do it.

If you ask me to push a horse beyond where I think they can succeed, I'm not doing it.
If you want me to skip steps because you're in a hurry, I'm not doing it.
If you want me to use equipment, training methods, or management practices that I don't believe are in the horse's best interest, I'm not doing it.

Not because I'm stubborn.

Because that's what you're paying me for.

You're not paying me to agree with everything you say. You're paying me because somewhere along the line you thought I knew more about this topic than you do. You're paying me because you trust my judgement.
And judgment only has value if you're willing to stand by it when it's inconvenient.

The older I get, the more I realize that good trainers spend a lot of time disappointing people in the short term.

We slow horses down when owners want to speed them up.
We tell riders to go back to basics when they want to move forward.
We insist on foundations when everyone else is focused on results.

And yes, sometimes that hurts feelings.

The rider is ready when the rider is ready. The horse is ready when the horse is ready.

And a trainer's first responsibility is protecting both of them.

Even when that means saying no.

Especially when it means saying no.

GROUNDWORK
GROUNDWORK
GROUNDWORK

ONE MORE TIME…. GROUNDWORK!!!
Groundwork and perfecting your groundwork is honestly our answer to most riding problems! Get a really good system of groundwork with your horse and at least 50% of your riding problems vanish! Groundwork is the means of developing a partnership with your Horse. It’s a time for the two of you to discuss how you expect to treat each other before you are even in the Saddle.

So many people say to me, while my horse doesn’t need groundwork, he is so good when I’m riding him that he doesn’t need it …. 🤦‍♀️…. Then can you imagine how AMAZING YOUR HORSE WOULD BE WITH IT?! 

On young horses, let’s say at least under five years old, I don’t even let people get on their horse anymore unless they’re willing to do a few minutes of groundwork before they put their foot in the saddle. It’s really easy all you need is a couple of simple exercises but you owe it to your horse to be the best possible partner for them! And groundwork is the answer to that.

Position
Salty Horse Ranch, located in Monroe, NC. We are in need of a person. First choice would be a border that wants to work off their board. We are in need of about eight hours of help per week basically a couple of shifts just so that you’re familiar with the farm all the time.
***Probably ought to be somebody that isn’t big on showing since we need you to cover on the weekends that we are out of town.
*** must be comfortable with stallions and foals, young training horses, large warmbloods and horses that are on stall
rest.
*** first priority would be given to somebody that would like to board their horse here because that would allow you to be intimately familiar with how the farm works as things change daily.
***We are not a “boarding facility” we specialize in medical rehab, full training and breeding as well as our own competition horses. As far as disciplines… we do it all… dressage, ranch, hunters, jumpers, Liberty, groundwork
***pay will be $20/hr, we can be flexible for weekly hours but will not be able to be flexible for our vacations and showing.
Please DM if interested.

After running hard and preparing for (and winning 🥇) the Region 1 Youth Team Dressage Challenge for the past week and 14 hours of windshield time that resulted in us getting back around 1 o’clock yesterday, we are back at it today. Being a trainer is hard but I wouldn’t choose another job. It means taking one set of horses to a horse show, trying to manage your barn while you are hours away, returning home and then getting up the very next morning to catch up on the Horses that stayed home that you are now behind on.
Although about five years ago I said I was semi retiring, I seem to keep running hard 😂
It’s now 10:45 AM and with the help of my girls we have managed to get seven horses done this morning !!! In the summer we try to get started around 6:30 AM although I was a little behind this morning and what hasn’t been done is stalls getting cleaned 😝 now back to start my lessons and Veterinary appointments for medical Horses!
**** the picture is of our whiteboard that changes approximately 17 times through every day!!! but I use it to keep myself and my clients in the know! 

We are definitely running at full speed ahead these days! This past weekend we made a trip to the USDF show at the Camden Equine Park … we did not get many pictures or videos because from 5 o’clock in the morning until two or 3 o’clock in the afternoon we did not stop! Somebody was always in the ring or sometimes I had one student in each ring 😂
The horses were great, this was the first dressage show of the year so there was definitely a bit of knocking the dust off and finding opportunities.
 Carson and Frank did well in their first level tests and Carson received the last score she needed at first level towards her bronze medal!!! Wahoo 🎉 and they dipped their toe into second level! And they are qualified for finals in the DSE!
Charlee and Boone had some great moments and some struggles but still came home as reserve champion in the national dressage pony cup class ♥️
Carter and Doc did well  with a clean sweep of all of their first level classes. They are now qualified for the dressage seat equitation finals. Doc was also high Point AQHA horse for the show and we got to bring home a fantastic basket of Ezium products!  thank you very much too Teena Middleton for going above and beyond and making sure that the AQHA horses are recognized. 
Kim and Wyn braved going down their first USDF center line this weekend and I could not be more proud of them! You guys have come a long way in the past year and you have a great and bright future ahead!
Roosewelt had a great show and was the best and most patient of the whole group! Getting pulled in and out of his stall, gotten on and off, held by who ever was closest 😂 maybe I should have let Charlee ride him instead or Boone! but we felt it was best to not push it on the harder footing with a recovering abscess. Rosey is owned and bred by Angie Mirarchi and he has a full competition schedule this year ahead of him! 
Junior (Cool Enough) owned and bred by Georgia Coyle made is USDF debut and did well at Second Level, winning two out of his three classes. Our trot work certainly had its difficulties but by his last test on Sunday (second level test 3) the judge commented on his amazing Canter work and he received several 8’s 😊 
After the long weekend all of the horses that went got a full MagnaWave session including feet, legs and body! Thank you very much Chelsea for coming yesterday and treating all the boys!
Thank you Carol and everybody from SCDCTA for the tireless work you put into the show!

Amen!!!

The Illusion of the Missing Piece

There’s a resistance that shows up when you try to teach people something simple. It sounds too simple to be true, and often people believe that can't possibly be the whole picture.

Because simple requires staying, and staying is something we are no longer societally conditioned to do. But progress and results, unfortunately, require just that - a simplicity in putting one foot in front of the other, staying until you understand it, and staying until it works.

Instead, there’s this constant reaching for something else. A better tool. A different method. A new system. Something just out of reach that promises to make the whole process smoother, faster, easier. More effective. More interesting.

It’s rarely said outright, but the question sits just under the surface:

“Is there something I’m missing?”

And in today’s world, the answer is always—conveniently—yes.

There is always something to buy. Something to add. Something to optimize. A device to improve your meditation. A supplement to fix your focus. A program that promises results in half the time. The message is constant and subtle: if it’s not working, it’s because you don’t have the right thing yet.

With every post I make or clinic I teach, there is always the question about what gear to buy. It is extremely easy to get people to buy products, gear, or subscriptions, but very difficult to get people to stay in skill building long enough for it to work.

So people keep looking, and that’s where teaching gets difficult.

Because real progress usually lives in the exact place people are trying to leave.

It lives in the repetition they’re bored of.
In the basics they think they’ve already done.
In the quiet, unremarkable work that doesn’t feel like progress—until it is.

But that kind of work doesn’t sell.

There’s nothing flashy about riding the same circle until it’s actually balanced. Nothing exciting about refining timing, feel, awareness—things that can’t be packaged or shipped or upgraded overnight.

So instead of settling in and working through it, people start to drift. They change approaches too soon.
They interrupt the process before it has time to produce anything.
They trade depth for novelty.

And the hardest part, from a teaching perspective, is that it doesn’t look like resistance.

It looks like curiosity.
Like dedication.
Like someone who’s “trying everything.”

But underneath it, there’s a lack of trust—both in the process and in the idea that the answer might not be new.

It might be right here. It might be doing the same thing again, but better.

Doing it slower, with more awareness.
That’s a hard sell in a world that rewards acceleration and constant input.

There’s also a kind of discomfort people are trying to avoid.

Because when you strip everything else away—no new tools, no new systems, no distractions—you’re left with your own ability. Your own timing, your own abilities, your own feel, and all the emotions that stir under the surface. All the places where those things fall short.

It’s much easier to believe the problem is external, that something is missing, rather than sit in the reality that nothing is missing—except refinement.

So people keep searching, and in doing that, they unintentionally stay stuck.

Not because they aren’t trying, but because they’re never staying in one place long enough for anything to actually change.

Good teaching, then, becomes less about adding information and more about holding the line.

About bringing people back—again and again—to what matters.
To what works -
To what is already in front of them.

And asking them to stay there just a little longer than they want to.

Long enough to get past the boredom.
Past the doubt.
Past the feeling that this simplicity repeated until perfection can’t possibly be enough.

More often than not, the simplest is the most effective - though that does not make it easy, and therein lies the challenge: to hold the line long enough to develop real feel, real skill, and to make it all look effortless, knowing that beneath that lie hours of dedicated effort to the same basics.