Do you ever feel overwhelmed with the amount of information that is out there?  How do you know if a technique will work for you?  In this episode Ashley explains her method of testing out new information and how she is able to sift through massive amounts of new useful information without allowing herself to become totally overwhelmed.    Join the waitlist HERE for Ashley's online lesson library! Visit our YouTube Channel for more free content! Ashley's Bio --- Send in a voice...

We expect so much from our horses - for them to be completely ambidextrous.  We want everything the same from left to right.  We want every maneuver to be just as fluid from one side as the other.  But do we ever stop to consider why a horse might be struggling on one side?  Usually that's a balance, strength, flexibility or proprioception issue - not a training issue.  And yet trainers (myself included unfortunately) have been known to over pressure horses in the effort of building symmetry...

Update on recent happenings and I walk you through a groundwork session on a training horse and how I reframed my own expectations of what that session would be and how I would fix a connection problem.  I am thinking about connection in such a different way than I ever have before.  It used to be I would look for what I needed to change in the horse when I mentally "lost" them.  Now I look for what is going on inside me when my horse loses connection and the insight I found was interesting...

Do you ever stop to consider what it is you have been consuming mentally?  You may be unwilling to put yourself in a place right now of self-reflection.  And that is ok.  Life is seasonal.  Sometimes we just need to sit in the mess.  But we have to consider how that affects our horses.  We don't get to wallow in self-pity and at the same time expect greatness from our equine friends. Our horses have this tendency to reflect our state-of-being back at us and if we are willing to listen we can...

Fear can feel like an impossible barrier to your goals with your horse.  It is your brain's job to keep you safe so it compiles all of the the information gained from the past to draw conclusions of whether you should feel safe or be in a sympathetic state (flight, fight etc...). In this episode I will walk you through the first steps in retraining your fear patterns and regaining your confidence.  Awareness and knowledge are where this process begins!  See you in the episode!  Join us...

The freeze response is an often overlooked side of horse behavior.  Horses that have learned to go into freeze get labeled "unpredictable", "counterfeit", "dishonest" etc... when actually it is an involuntary neurological response to fear, flooding, pain, overstimulation, confusion.  Your horse can't control whether it goes into freeze mode.  But you can learn how to recognize the signs and change your perspective on this tricky  defense response!  In this episode Ashley talks about the first...

What is it that makes some people learn so much faster than others?  Is it natural ability, skill, intelligence?  All of those things can play a role but what really levels the playing field may surprise you.  What can you do to make yourself more coachable and cut your learning curve down?  Ashley answers all of these questions and more as we dive into another episode.   Show Links: Join the waitlist HERE for Ashley's online course! Visit our YouTube Channel for more free...

"We are not in charge of our horses timeline: they are. And whenever possible, if our horse is really struggling with a concept, I think it's critical that we spend the time on it until we're able to, at the bare minimum, plant a seed that we can then start developing and growing in the upcoming sessions."   Show Links: Join the waitlist HERE for Ashley's online course! Visit our YouTube Channel for more free content! Ashley's Bio --- Send in a voice message:...

This episode is about Regaining our momentum when it has been lost.  If you have owned a horse for long enough you have experienced a loss of momentum or a roadblock, of sorts, placed in the way of your goal.  How you manage your thoughts, emotions and expectations during this time is critical to your wellbeing, that of your horse and your long-term success as a rider. Show Links: Join the waitlist HERE for our online course!   Visit our YouTube Channel for more free content! Ashley's...

Do you find it hard to mentally move past bad experiences with your horse?  Do you end up in a spiral of self deprecating thoughts and guilt?  ME TOO!  In this episode I will share with you how to shift you mindset to be the most effective and reliable partner for your horse!  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYzJhPlTrmq5CTjJvnjqWkg https://wwwpioneerhorsemanship.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ashley-purdin/message