Be Your Best Horsemanship

In this episode, I'm joined by Shane and Allyson Eliason of Eliason Performance Horses in Snowville, Utah. As fifth-generation ranchers, Shane and Allyson run an impressive cattle and performance horse breeding operation in the high desert country of Utah, spanning tens of thousands of acres with 30+ broodmares and three stallions.
Join us as we discuss how their program came together, the unique aspects of breeding and raising horses on the ranch, and how this foundation influences their horses' training and development. We also talk about the genetics and crosses behind their program, what they're looking for in the horses they're producing, and some of the things I've noticed in the horses I'm riding from their program today.

This episode is inspired by a question from one of our loyal listeners and Be Your Best Membership members. Her question is: What’s something you see good riders doing that they don’t realize is actually creating anxiety or resistance in their horses?
Tune in to hear my take on this question as I share some hidden habits that even the most skilled riders fall back on from time to time that can create undesirable responses from their horses.

There are always going to be things we can’t control—the weather, our circumstances, or how quickly progress comes—but we can control how we approach them. In this episode, I talk about adjusting our training through the summer heat, the difference between happiness and joy, and why learning to enjoy the process matters both in horsemanship and in life. I also share some thoughts on gratitude, resilience, and making the most of the season you’re in.

In this episode, I’m talking about what it takes to build both the mental and physical toughness needed to perform when the pressure is on. Tune in as I share how to prepare horses for the situations they’ll face in competition, how a horse's physical and mental performance are connected, and how repetition helps turn the right responses into habits. Whether we’re preparing ourselves or our horses, the more comfortable we can become in those game-time situations, the better prepared we’ll be to handle them when they count.

The better we become at reading the horse in front of us, the better we can apply what we know to help that horse succeed.
In this episode, I’m sharing examples from some of the rope horses in our program and how the same training principles can require a different application from one horse to the next.
Tune in as I talk through scoring, rate, positioning, stopping, release points, and using different disciplines to fill in the gaps—all while learning to adjust your approach to fit the individual horse.