Salty Horse Ranch

04/28/2026

We are definitely running at full speed ahead these days! This past weekend we made a trip to the USDF show at the Camden Equine Park … we did not get many pictures or videos because from 5 o’clock in the morning until two or 3 o’clock in the afternoon we did not stop! Somebody was always in the ring or sometimes I had one student in each ring 😂
The horses were great, this was the first dressage show of the year so there was definitely a bit of knocking the dust off and finding opportunities.
 Carson and Frank did well in their first level tests and Carson received the last score she needed at first level towards her bronze medal!!! Wahoo 🎉 and they dipped their toe into second level! And they are qualified for finals in the DSE!
Charlee and Boone had some great moments and some struggles but still came home as reserve champion in the national dressage pony cup class ♥️
Carter and Doc did well  with a clean sweep of all of their first level classes. They are now qualified for the dressage seat equitation finals. Doc was also high Point AQHA horse for the show and we got to bring home a fantastic basket of Ezium products!  thank you very much too Teena Middleton for going above and beyond and making sure that the AQHA horses are recognized. 
Kim and Wyn braved going down their first USDF center line this weekend and I could not be more proud of them! You guys have come a long way in the past year and you have a great and bright future ahead!
Roosewelt had a great show and was the best and most patient of the whole group! Getting pulled in and out of his stall, gotten on and off, held by who ever was closest 😂 maybe I should have let Charlee ride him instead or Boone! but we felt it was best to not push it on the harder footing with a recovering abscess. Rosey is owned and bred by Angie Mirarchi and he has a full competition schedule this year ahead of him! 
Junior (Cool Enough) owned and bred by Georgia Coyle made is USDF debut and did well at Second Level, winning two out of his three classes. Our trot work certainly had its difficulties but by his last test on Sunday (second level test 3) the judge commented on his amazing Canter work and he received several 8’s 😊 
After the long weekend all of the horses that went got a full MagnaWave session including feet, legs and body! Thank you very much Chelsea for coming yesterday and treating all the boys!
Thank you Carol and everybody from SCDCTA for the tireless work you put into the show!

04/04/2026

Amen!!!

The Illusion of the Missing Piece

There’s a resistance that shows up when you try to teach people something simple. It sounds too simple to be true, and often people believe that can't possibly be the whole picture.

Because simple requires staying, and staying is something we are no longer societally conditioned to do. But progress and results, unfortunately, require just that - a simplicity in putting one foot in front of the other, staying until you understand it, and staying until it works.

Instead, there’s this constant reaching for something else. A better tool. A different method. A new system. Something just out of reach that promises to make the whole process smoother, faster, easier. More effective. More interesting.

It’s rarely said outright, but the question sits just under the surface:

“Is there something I’m missing?”

And in today’s world, the answer is always—conveniently—yes.

There is always something to buy. Something to add. Something to optimize. A device to improve your meditation. A supplement to fix your focus. A program that promises results in half the time. The message is constant and subtle: if it’s not working, it’s because you don’t have the right thing yet.

With every post I make or clinic I teach, there is always the question about what gear to buy. It is extremely easy to get people to buy products, gear, or subscriptions, but very difficult to get people to stay in skill building long enough for it to work.

So people keep looking, and that’s where teaching gets difficult.

Because real progress usually lives in the exact place people are trying to leave.

It lives in the repetition they’re bored of.
In the basics they think they’ve already done.
In the quiet, unremarkable work that doesn’t feel like progress—until it is.

But that kind of work doesn’t sell.

There’s nothing flashy about riding the same circle until it’s actually balanced. Nothing exciting about refining timing, feel, awareness—things that can’t be packaged or shipped or upgraded overnight.

So instead of settling in and working through it, people start to drift. They change approaches too soon.
They interrupt the process before it has time to produce anything.
They trade depth for novelty.

And the hardest part, from a teaching perspective, is that it doesn’t look like resistance.

It looks like curiosity.
Like dedication.
Like someone who’s “trying everything.”

But underneath it, there’s a lack of trust—both in the process and in the idea that the answer might not be new.

It might be right here. It might be doing the same thing again, but better.

Doing it slower, with more awareness.
That’s a hard sell in a world that rewards acceleration and constant input.

There’s also a kind of discomfort people are trying to avoid.

Because when you strip everything else away—no new tools, no new systems, no distractions—you’re left with your own ability. Your own timing, your own abilities, your own feel, and all the emotions that stir under the surface. All the places where those things fall short.

It’s much easier to believe the problem is external, that something is missing, rather than sit in the reality that nothing is missing—except refinement.

So people keep searching, and in doing that, they unintentionally stay stuck.

Not because they aren’t trying, but because they’re never staying in one place long enough for anything to actually change.

Good teaching, then, becomes less about adding information and more about holding the line.

About bringing people back—again and again—to what matters.
To what works -
To what is already in front of them.

And asking them to stay there just a little longer than they want to.

Long enough to get past the boredom.
Past the doubt.
Past the feeling that this simplicity repeated until perfection can’t possibly be enough.

More often than not, the simplest is the most effective - though that does not make it easy, and therein lies the challenge: to hold the line long enough to develop real feel, real skill, and to make it all look effortless, knowing that beneath that lie hours of dedicated effort to the same basics.

04/04/2026

I had some amazing rides on some young horses today but unfortunately I did not bother to change my clothes after we gelded Merle 😡 so if I did a close-up and color you would see the blood on my clothing 😂 but I didn’t want to waste time.
The distance between least two photos is 13 years. The first photo was taken by Daniela Snyder in 2013 …. The second photo where Doug and I look significantly older was taken today. 13 years later we are still starting horses together ♥️ keeping each other safe.
I just can’t believe it but days like today are super special.
It’s unique that both Doug and I truly believe that each horse is an individual. We tailor a program for each one. Some horses are walk trot canter and easy in 90 days. Others take time but doing what’s in the best interest of each horse is what is incredibly important to us. 

04/03/2026

04/03/2026

Ahh springtime 🌺
Foaling, breeding ANNND castrating!!
Don’t forget, very few c**ts should make it to breeding stallions!

03/31/2026

This is a very nice mare for sale that would make a great first horse for a kid wanting to do something like 4H! Or an adult rider that wants a very nicely broke horse!

03/28/2026

Early this morning Miss Salty Senorita foaled a very large bay roan stud c**t with two socks and a big star!!!

03/25/2026

First baby of 2026 … a nice healthy blue roan c**t!!