I’ve judged a few 4-H shows this year, and most recently their State show. I always offer advice at the conclusion of the shows in case any of the kids are interested in why they placed the way they did. This year I was surprised to hear how many kids told me they could not
Time for a reflective moment! It’s been a busy couple of weeks folks, and I apologize for slowing down on our posting here! But now, the holidays are coming, a baby is coming, and it’s time for me to slow down a little! I’m going to start back with a short Thanksgiving themed post; just
I started my own official business at the age of 20. That means that I have had my own business for 10 years now! Happy 10 year anniversary to Samantha Walker Performance Horses! I feel like I could write a book on the last ten years, but here are just a few highlights. (Young and
My last post was about doing the most with the ponies that you have, no matter where they end up in the long run. In that last post, I explained how I was late to the game but in the end, I felt like I had done right by a pony that ended up in
Sometimes, things just don’t work out Every once in a while, a horse comes into a training program that doesn’t end up working out for whatever people needed it to. Not because of anything the horse actually did, sometimes that horse just doesn’t grow enough, sometimes the family decides not to be as involved as
Nervous in front of your judge? I’d like to think most adults understand that the judges who judge our horse shows are actually just people like the competitors. In fact, many judges have spent more time learning how to judge, putting hours of studying and apprenticing in and going to clinics to keep up on
As humans, we have a tendency to become creatures of habit. Often times, we become slaves to our routines without even knowing it. Now, in the horse world, routine certainly isn’t a bad thing. If the routine is involved with the daily feeding/care ect of our horses, routine can be important for your horse’s health
"You can't teach feel, you have to experience it” -Bill Dorrance So much of exceptional horsemanship is feel. We can be told the right thing to do but without feel behind it, we won’t be effective horseman. It’s hard to explain to someone who hasn’t grasped the idea of feel for themselves… there’s no
This month has given Rebekah and I a good amount of time working together on some training horses. Rebekah has been learning how to start horses and how to look for success and progress in her young horses in order to quickly move further in their training on her own, rather than wait for me
Sometimes you just have to take a step back and look at life through the bigger picture. As team SWPH was getting ready for the 2018 POA National Congress, things got a little chaotic around the barn. It seemed like we were (ok let’s be honest, usually always ARE) always one step behind. As if
