Soulstriders

You can tell within seconds... 😅

The first time you sit in a saddle, one of two things happens:

🐴 "Get me off this thing!"
OR
🐴 "I never want this to end!"

All it takes is one ride for the horse bug to bite... and that's it. You're hooked for life. 💙

Judging by this little guys shouting, I'd say he's officially been infected. 🤣

Who remembers their very first pony ride?

"Why are her ears moving so much?"

Because it's windy. 🌬️🐴

One of the most common questions I get when people watch horses is about their ears.

In this moment, she's not worried, distracted, or being naughty. She's simply using her ears exactly as nature designed them—constantly adjusting to pick up sounds from all directions.

The strong wind means there are sounds coming from everywhere: rustling trees, moving grass, shifting objects, and distant noises carried on the breeze.

A horse's ears are incredibly mobile, and on windy days you'll often see them working overtime.

Sometimes the answer isn't complicated horse psychology.

Sometimes it's just windy. 😉

Foals first saddle in under 3 minutes!!!

Please don't try this at home. This little filly is one of a kind which is the only reason I took such a risk. Horses should always be properly prepared for girthing to ensure as smooth and easy a process as possible.

But I just couldn't help myself 🙈

Starlight's first saddle!!! Too bad I still have to wait a few years before I can ride her 😅

What do you guys think? Was this a fluke or can I consider her saddled?

“You can’t judge a horse or a trainer from a few short clips edited together.”

Social media gives people snapshots.
Seconds.
Moments.

But real horsemanship lives in the spaces between those moments.

In the quiet.
In the consistency.
In the time spent doing “nothing”.
In the way a horse starts choosing to stay near you when they don’t have to.

A horse learning to trust again doesn’t always look pretty.
Sometimes it looks awkward.
Sometimes it looks emotional.
Sometimes it looks like resistance, uncertainty, shutdown, confusion, curiosity, or tiny moments of trying.

And trust cannot be rushed.

If a horse doesn’t fully trust my touch yet…
then my job isn’t to force compliance.
My job is to become safer.
Clearer.
More consistent.
More worthy of that trust.

Because training isn’t just about teaching horses to listen to us.

It should also be about teaching them that we are listening to them too.

The best parts of the process are usually the parts nobody films, because those are the "boring" parts, the parts that don't get likes and shares.

Be careful to lay such harsh judgments before getting all the details or seeing the whole picture.

If you know enough not to buy a horse from a few videos, you should know enough not to judge a trainer from a few short clips either. (barring obvious abuse of course)

“What’s the most important tool to have in your training toolbox?”

Time.

Not gadgets.
Not gimmicks.
Not force.
Not pressure.

Time.

Time spent existing together with no agenda.
Time spent in their space without always asking for something.
Time spent learning each other outside of “work”.

Some of the most important moments in training don’t look like training at all.

They look like this:
A foal grazing while you sit nearby.
Quiet company.
Soft conversations.
Hands pulling at grass.
No expectations.
No performance.
No pressure to “achieve” something.

Because trust is built in the moments where nothing is required.

Horses learn who we are long before they learn cues or movements. They learn whether our presence brings peace, tension, safety, frustration, consistency, comfort.

And that foundation changes everything.

A horse that feels safe with you will try for you in ways force can never truly create.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do with a horse…
is nothing.

Just sit around and “waste time” with them.

Because if we’re honest…
that “wasted time” is often the most valuable and meaningful time to them.

Please excuse my riding 😅🙈 I haven't ridden English in years, had a baby 11 months ago and was recently diagnosed severely anemic so I'm just trying my best to get back into what I love!

This poor pony was entrusted into the wrong hands, tied up super low and super tight with grass reins and forced to learn to jump in that set up with beginner jumpers on him 😢. His owner and his rider have been working very hard to get him back on track but last week his rider fell ill just before a show and I was asked to step in last minute.

Needless to say it didn't go well but I cut the session short thinking at least he isn't fresh, I'm sure him and his rider who knows him will be fine at the show... Little did I know the next day I'd be asked to fill in for her at the show as well!! If I'd known, I might have tried a few more jumps with him... Can you guess how the show went? Stay tuned for part 2: Show Day!

P.S this boy is son of the GORGEOUS Kiewiet so he has some big shoes to fill! And don't let his current confusion and clumsiness fool you, this one totally has huge potential!

When you get home late from the barn but the excuse "the horse wouldn't let me leave" doesn't fly... You can pull out this video proving that a horse can physically try to keep you at the barn longer than you'd said you'd be!

Just gotta love this amazing little filly. Not even 2 years old and willing to climb in anywhere and handle anything as long as human mama is close by 💕💕💕 absolutely love this girl and it broke my heart to be driven away from her... I'd spend forever with her if I could!

POV: When your horse won't let you leave

This horse is not evil, this horse is not even all that dangerous. He is not threatening.

While his body language seems almost identical to a horse displaying anger/rage/aggression... This boy is in fact not showing any of that. This is just pure learned behavior.

But why would a horse LEARN to behave in a way that could be seen as disrespectful, rude, dangerous? Why would a horse "fake" being these things? Because he has learned it works. When he acts nasty and evil, people back off away from him... So he continues.

But why does he want people to stay away? Is it because he doesn't want to work? Should we respect him for it and just leave him to be a horse?

In this boys case.... No.

Its an easy no because there is only 1 reason that he is acting like this. He was abused. From one session with him I can practically guarantee that at some stage in his life he was smacked hard, more than once through the face and most likely had his ear twitched - both disgusting, abusive actions!

So no, this horse doesn't need to be "made" to respect anyone. He doesn't need to LEARN his place. No, what he really needs? To be shown that people can be trustworthy.

He needs to learn to trust again, the only way to do that is through love, kindness, patience... And to keep on pushing, to not give up. To be willing to go back to the basics, as basic as just a groom or even just a touch and start again from there.

Show him he can trust me, rebuild his confidence... And then the judges can come label him if they feel the need.

Trying to "make" a horse like this respect you, or giving him a whack for "being disrespectful", trying to dominate him into submission... None of these things will work, they will only make things worse... To a point where he may actually become dangerous and or unmanageable.

So I choose a different route, the best route... The one that always works... Trust first, the rest later. I don't back off for 2 reasons 1, he needs to learn that behavior won't get rid of me and 2, if I want him to trust that I won't hurt him, I first need to trust that he won't hurt me.

This is a VERY dangerous job if you don't know what you are doing. If you can't read the difference between aggression and fear, you shouldn't call yourself a trainer. If you can't tell the difference between "empty threat" and "now you die" please don't choose horse training as a career.

This job isn't for those who fear a bit of pain and it's also not for those who want to use pain to "gain respect".

Force -> Fear -> Injury

Trust -> Partnership -> Behavior

The choice should be obvious.

P.S The last answer: No I did not get bitten or hurt in any way while making this video.

It really upsets me when creators load videos that the KNOW is showing things wrong but they just load it just like that with no explanation... Then you literally get thousands of people thinking just because this video went viral that means it's good and that this is the way to do it.

Its NOT! Please do not do this at home, sessions like this DO NOT desensitize a horse, they traumatize it, making things even harder in future. This is not the way to teach a horse to overcome fears or be brave, this is not the way to get a horse to trust you and take cues from you in stressful situations.