Sarah's Equine Services

31/07/2025

The Basics are the Basics Because they are HARD not Easy.

That is why we do them first.

And last.

And everyday in between. Because good basics are difficult to do.

They are made more difficult if the human has a prejudice against them. Such as;
- "Basics are for beginners."
- "I am better than these elementary things. "
- "I want something less boring more exciting than basics."

Advanced or Intermediate skills sure are exciting if your Basics are not consolidated. But they might be exciting, with the wrong Emotional Biomechanics attached. Such as, Unsafe Exciting, Anxious Exciting, Disconnected Exciting, Dysfunctional Exciting, Inappropriate Exciting. Still exciting. Exciting with emotional baggage that frankly... keeps me with more work on my hands than I can handle alone, fixing the emotional baggage of horses worldwide. But I digress.

Basics are done first because they are hard, not because they are easy. Simple, clean building blocks that bring about progressive and advanced skills later that also FEEL GOOD to you and the horse. Advanced skills, without the volatile horses attached. Without the human ego infiltrating. This also happens to be one of my definitions of Play, and Joy. Advanced skills without volatile horses or human ego. How fun. How... civilised.

Beginners want to work on intermediate skills.
Intermediates want to work on advanced skills.
Advanced want to work on their Basics.

Then creatively put them together.

Can you list what your basics are? This is someone all horse people need to be able to say succinctly and to the point. List them like a dot-point list. What are yours?

31/07/2025

🌾 Find Yourself in the Saddle 🌾

Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere,
and sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself. 🐎

There’s nothing like a quiet ride under open skies to reconnect with who you are. Let the rhythm of the horse lead you home.

31/07/2025

23/07/2025

9am is to early to get out of bed apparently.

22/07/2025

Another great post from Cara.

I never got to retire Jordan.

Jordan was my first dressage horse. We went from nothing to Grand Prix together. We won 8 national championships, countless national top tens and regional championships, my Bronze Medal, Silver Medal and 3/4 of my Gold Medal. I could hop on him from the fence with nothing, not even a halter, and he would carry me everywhere.

It would have been the honor of a lifetime for me to get to spoil him in his retirement.

But he died.

I tried everything. I begged. I screamed. I cried. I prayed. And still, he died on the floor in that hospital.

He probably never would have wanted to retire. He loved our daily time together and he loved to show more than any horse I have ever known.

But still, it would have been an honor to let him retire. He certainly didn’t own me one more ride or another ribbon.

So when I have decided to retire any of my other horses, it’s in his honor. I listen to them. I pay close attention to their needs. When they tell me they’re done or when I feel as though they have given enough, I listen.

Life doesn’t really change much around here when they retire. They still eat the same, they go out daily with their friends, they come in for the night in their safe and comfortable stalls, they get groomed, bathed and loaded with cookies. Every day.

They’re still part of the family. They’re still taken care of just like the show horses. They get handled at least twice a day. They don’t get sent off or ignored. They get their vaccines and their feet trimmed every 5 weeks. They get a massage, acupuncture or chiro when needed.

They get to just be happy, spoiled horses because they deserve it.

And it’s an honor to give that to them.

Like I said the other day, I’m not to be lumped in to the norm of other trainers. So the nasty comments and negativity will be deleted.

The horse first, always.

🌻 © Cara Blanchard

📸 Gary Cline

22/07/2025

One of the hardest things to learn about in hand work is focus on our own balance. I’ve learned so much about how I walk, when I lock my knees, when I rush or scramble, or when I tune out my body. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about moving in a better way for my back and knees, and because of years of serious in hand lessons, my body feels better than ever.

It gives me huge insight into how I aim to make the horses feel- rhythmic, balanced, light on their feet and able to go in any direction with ease. Soft bend in the knees, breathing deeply and focused.

It sounds simple, but learning to master your own body is far, far harder than getting a horse to do anything. People come to in hand hoping to learn to teach the horse something, but if you take it seriously, you find a world of lessons about yourself and your own balance opened up to you.

21/07/2025

Apparently I’m the one trotting circles today?

20/07/2025

Things I want my ‘breakers’ to be comfortable with before I add the rider

1.The ability to lunge with the ribcage rotating correctly and all four feet staying in their track
Why? Balance problems magnify when the rider is added. Training for stability protects the young horse from needing ‘loud’ aids simply to keep a line.
2.The ability to ‘lunge straight along the fence line’
Why? I can start to transition the lunge support with fence support. It habituates following the outside track and teaches the horse not to feel trapped. Horses with that step ‘installed’ ride far easier those first solo rides
3.The ability to be approached and touched while moving. An important step for training the horse to different perspectives as well as a safety net, so the horse may stay calm when approached, for example to help the rider with a tack issue. Adrenalised horses that can’t be approached are very dangerous for everyone.
4. Ponying. Beats long reining by miles for adding confidence, how to move in a ‘herd’, learn commands, stay in your spot, pay attention and see the world, navigate different terrain and tight spots.

The first few rides the rider acts like ‘tack’ and doesn’t influence the horse. As the horse gets comfortable walking and trotting, the trainer and rider work together to help the horse understand the basic aids. The horses are most often still bitless.
Young or compromised horses tend to stabilise easier in the trot than the walk, so I add trot as soon as possible. Canter work depends on the horses ability, a warmblood will start breathing in the canter while a friesian might be overwhelmed

I would say the above points are more important to me than any softness or yielding.
📷 Riding Sherlock, ponying the 4 year old Azteca gelding Calvados at Randalls Bay

20/07/2025

The otherday I came across a horse that was used to being in the push/pull relationship with humans.

The magic of practicing Inhand allows you to develop a feel for asking the horse questions and how to wait on them.

It didn’t take long. It wasn’t very obvious. But the horses eye softened and it began to move out of brace.

That’s why I do Inhand. Because it makes a difference to the horse. Sure the higher level stuff is fun, but the biggest differences for the horse can be made at the very beginning.

18/07/2025

The benefits of training a horse to be balanced goes beyond a pretty square halt. But when they do it without you asking, it sure is nice 🥰

Yeah the camera angle ain’t great but he took me by suprise 🤣

18/07/2025

I really need to start making better content.
But all I have on my phone is pictures of Tolly in various stages of being muddy 😅