Chappell Horsepower Productions

06/08/2026

Divisional barrel racing and bracket drag racing 🤷‍♀️

06/07/2026

💯

The more I study horses, the less patience I have for people charging professional prices for amateur understanding.

And I’m not just talking to farriers. I’m talking to trainers, clinicians, dentists, bodyworkers, riding instructors, and anyone else taking money from the public to work on, ride, teach, shoe, fix, or influence horses.

Continuing education should be part of this job. And no one should blink at it.

I understand being busy. I understand being booked out. But if education is always the thing that gets sacrificed, eventually the horse pays for that too.

Not because everyone should know everything. None of us do — including me. But if you are working on horses for the public, the horse is always the one who pays for what you don’t understand yet.

A farrier who does not understand balance, leverage, negative plantar angles, breakover, soft-tissue consequences, or how the foot affects the entire horse is not just “putting shoes on.” They are influencing the whole animal.

A trainer who does not understand timing, pressure and release, biomechanics, the horse’s footfalls, or the difference between confusion and disobedience is doing the same thing.

Different job. Same responsibility.

If you are taking money from the public, you should still be learning. You should be taking lessons. Going to clinics. Studying biomechanics. Asking better questions. Calling someone who knows more than you. You should have a mentor.

You should be studying the horse more honestly than you study your own ego. I see so many trainers whose egos get in the way of their ability to learn and improve, and it’s both maddening and sad to me.

Because confidence is not continuing education. Followers are not competence. Years in business do not automatically equate to knowledge, feel, or understanding.

And being “good with horses” is not the same thing as being committed to getting better for them.

My concern is not that people are still learning. We all are. My concern is that people are not chasing education with the same energy they are chasing clients, followers, or a professional title.

There are farriers, trainers, and vets I would hand a horse to and never worry, because I know they are still studying, still questioning, still refining, and still willing to say, “I need to look at this differently.” These are the people who put the horse first.

And yet there are others who have been doing the same thing for twenty years and call that experience, because they can’t get their ego out of their own way.

That is not the same thing.

The horse always deserves better than our unexamined confidence.

05/24/2026

Every breath you take is a new beginning ❤️

𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙.

Clinton Anderson held free clinics just so people would show up. Now he’s the most famous man in the industry.

John Lyons didn’t ride his first horse until he was 24. Now he’s known for revolutionizing the clinician industry.

Melanie Smith got divorced, had to leave her home, and start entirely over. From that, Solo Select was born and now she’s a household name.

Jill Irving did not make her international FEI debut until she was 50 years old. Now she has a Pan American Games gold medal.

Taylor Sheridan didn’t pivot to screenwriting until he was 40. Now he holds a multi-million dollar western media empire.

The PBR was founded by 20 members in a motel room chipping in $1,000 each to make it work. Now it’s transforming the bull riding industry.

McDonald’s was bought by Ray Kroc at age 52… and became a household name.

Morgan Freeman landed his first major movie at age 50 - and now everyone knows who he is.

Andrea Fappani was not raised in the western world, riding english as a child in Italy. Now he’s the first to have over $10 million NRHA earnings.

So if you feel behind…
Trust me. 𝙔𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙.

All it takes is one choice. One decision. And life can change in an instant.

05/10/2026

Wishing all the moms, near and far, a beautiful Mothers Day ❤️

04/25/2026

Warm up etiquette at a barrel race is definitely a good topic. While everyone loves to point fingers at everyone but themselves, we are all responsible

There was a conversation yesterday (which involved a comment from an NFR qualifier) about the *lack* of warm-up pen etiquette at Better Barrel Races - BBR… and honestly, it’s worth talking about.

Because if you’ve ever stepped out of a futurity warm-up and into a big open show like BBR World Show/NBHA/any other super-show, you know exactly what I’m about to say.

The difference is… noticeable. 😅

At a futurity or pro rodeo, the warm-up pen tends to run like a quiet, unspoken agreement:
We’re all going the same direction.
We’re all paying attention.
If someone needs to switch directions, they communicate it.
If a horse is working through something, people give them space.

It’s not fancy. It’s just awareness and respect.

Now contrast that with what we sometimes see at bigger open races…

We’ve got seasoned riders on green horses.
We’ve got youth riders doing their best (and sometimes just trying to survive the moment).
We’ve got handy teenagers multitasking like it’s an Olympic sport.
And we’ve got a whole lot of folks who have never been taught what a shared warm-up space is supposed to look like.

And that’s where things get western in all the wrong ways.

The warm-up pen is not the place to:
– drift aimlessly across the middle and hope for the best
– cut people off like you’re merging onto the interstate with your eyes closed
– scroll your phone like you’re sitting on your couch
– or be Snapchatting and texting your friends while you’re supposed to be getting your horse ready

Because that one? It’s not helping you *or* your horse prepare for what’s coming next.

It *is* the place to:
– pick a direction and stick with it
– keep your head up and your awareness on
– and ride like the other horses around you matter (because they do)

Also… we do, in fact, turn right. 😉

If everyone only practices to the left, we end up with a whole pen of horses (and riders) that are less prepared than they should be. Be the one who can go both directions and do it with intention.

At the end of the day, most of this comes down to education—not ego.

Not everyone was brought up in an environment where this was taught, and it shows. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do better moving forward.

Because a good warm-up pen isn’t just safer… it sets the tone for better runs, better horses, and better experiences for everybody in there.

And honestly? It makes the whole place feel a lot more professional—even when it’s a 5D on a Saturday night.

Let’s ride like we share the space… because we do.

04/08/2026

Arabian people call it “presence” I call it CONFIDENCE 😍

04/05/2026

We do this a lot in our program, even with the rope horses

🔗: bhnmag.co/the-ladder-drill

This drill teaches a horse to move in a straight line while concurrently moving away from rein pressure, so that when I’m teaching a horse to go in a straight line between the barrels, when I move my inside rein or use any sort of leg pressure, they move off of it but also continue to move forward.

04/02/2026

This will definitely get one to get their hip under them

“I want my horses to take the fewest number of steps around the barrels – 3-2-1 and then go on,” she explains.

The 3-2-1 she’s referring to are points she aims to cross three feet from the barrel as she comes into the turn, two feet from the barrel, behind it, and one foot from the barrel as she completes the turn. This drill focuses on closing that gap through the turn, aiming to have a square shot at the next barrel by the time she reaches the 1-foot point.

🔗: bhnmag.co/shoot-me-straight

10/27/2025

We need to see more “horsemen” caring more about the horse than the win