Big Dark Horse Development

Big Dark Horse Development šŸ“ Creating confident horses & wilder humans
šŸ“ Helping riders develop their horses
šŸ“ Documenting my horseā€™s starts & restarts
ā¬‡ļø Stay & train with us

09/04/2026

ā€œHis power and size and my experience level can make it really challenging.ā€

Galaxy and Dorothy were working walk, trot, canter under saddle and even starting to play out cross country schooling together.

After several months off due to an injury, small holes in his relaxation and responsiveness turned into refusing to go forward under saddle and turning and burning on the ground.

After staying and training with us through our residency program in Austin, Texas, Dorothy has decided to keep Galaxy in full training here. Their goal is to get connection, relaxtion, and responsiveness back at walk/trot/canter under saddle, and build their safety and confidence in groundwork.

Dorothy will participate alongside Galaxy as we address the needs of both the rider and the horse. There is little point in doing problem solving with a horse and sending them back to a rider without a warm handover. Dorothy needs and wants to see how we address the behaviors that are coming up in her horse, what changes the behavior, and then how we preserve the softness and willingness once we find it. Then she needs to be able to keep it going herself.

He might be a little too much horse for her today, but we have confidence that with the right support and some deep, focused development, sheā€™s fully capable of rising to what Galaxy needs from her.

Follow along their journey and see how we go from shutdowns and explosions to understanding and eagerness.

If youā€™re struggling with a challenging behavior and want intensive 1-on-1 training with mentors who will create a change with kindness, respect, and understanding for you and your horse, come stay and train with us in person. Link in bio.

09/03/2026

Horses are meditation incarnate.

They make my hyperactive, anxious mind go blank and all of a sudden Iā€™m just aware of breathing, of the sun and wind on me, the sand underneath me, and my sweet friend next to me.

I woke up this morning thinking about doing a jump school. But this happened instead.

Try being less goal-oriented. Goals are in the future, and the future never comes. Pay attention to what fills you up instead. Maybe thereā€™s magic in front of you right now.

Sometimes I think if you are ā€œtryingā€ to be happy or peaceful, youā€™re off the trail. Itā€™s like ā€œtryingā€ to sleep. You donā€™t work for it. You let it come.

09/02/2026

Building a young horseā€™s confidence with a tarp is about more than the tarp - itā€™s about reinforcing curiosity and *thinking* when a scary sound, silhouette, or movement shows up in the environment.

Itā€™s not really about desensitizing; itā€™s about conditioning her to relax herself and think her way through challenging situations instead of relying on her flight instinct.

The basic flow for playing with potentially triggering sights and sounds is:

āœ… can the horse touch the object?

āœ… can the horse follow the object? (Usually I do this first, but the tarp makes noise and blows in the wind, so I started by weighting it down instead)

āœ… can the horse let the object touch them all over?

āœ… can the horse walk calmly over the object?

I also like to use the clock shape to help a horse relax their body through bending and organizing their feet if they get too triggered. I do a lot of TRT Method with the horses I work with and get a ton of value from those exercises.

If youā€™re looking for in-person support with your young horse or want to learn to work with young or green horses, come stay and train with us at our ranch in Austin, TX for a 1-2 week residency program. Itā€™s like a private clinic, structured around you and your goals.

Young horses | training tips | liberty training | horse vacation

09/02/2026

I bought Bubbles thinking Iā€™d resell her as a recipient broodmareā€¦ but I found out selling horses isnā€™t for me.

I really admire trainers who take on horses, help them, and re-home them into better situations. If you do it well, itā€™s one of the best ways to help a lot of horses.

But every time Iā€™ve tried, I accidentally fall in love instead. Iā€™ve learned that I can help clients with their horses, but once a horse truly becomes mine, they stay mine.

Bubbles will continue to be a broodmare here, but sheā€™s also going to be a riding horse.

She has been an interesting challenge. Ultra sweet, but prone to exploding in tense situations. And because I donā€™t have much info on her history, I donā€™t have a roadmap to what those situations are.

But I believe that all horses can overcome their problems; that they are never ā€œruined,ā€ that they always forgive when we start showing up better.

If you have a ā€œproblem horseā€ and need help from someone who puts the horse first, and also gets results, come stay and train with us at our ranch in Austin, TX.

Our 1-2 week residency programs are designed for deep, focused development for the horses and humans who come to stay with us. Itā€™s like a private clinic, just for you. Link in bio.

08/28/2026

I do not have another horse on my property who would go out this far, alone, to investigate big trucks making loud noisesā€¦ while the entire rest of the herd is in the barn waiting to eat.

Herd-bound behavior, separation anxiety, ā€œbuddy sourā€ or ā€œbuddy sweet.ā€ All are extremely common behaviors in horses, and have their root deep in the instinct that programs a horse to seek safety and comfort in the herd.

Itā€™s been surprising and fascinating to see my yearling regularly engage in behaviors like this. It seems as though thereā€™s almost nothing that phases her within the borders of the home sheā€™s grown up in. It will be interesting to see how she approaches new places, as I begin taking her for trips off property.

There is so much that can be done for young horses to prepare them for lives as riding horses. Iā€™m raising this baby to be my second personal ā€œeverythingā€ horse. In the course of her life sheā€™ll do trails, cross country, dressage, jumping, liberty, play with vaulting, cows, and anything else I can think of.

For now, we build confidence and understanding in every way we can.

If youā€™re interested in working with young or green horses but donā€™t know where to begin, come stay and train with us at our ranch in Austin, TX. Our 1-2 week residency programs offer deep, focused development designed around your goals. Link in bio.

08/19/2026

Cruellaā€™s take on the ā€œkinda chicā€ trend šŸ¤£šŸ§”

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Georgetown, TX
78626, 78627, 78628, 78633

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