KEL Equestrian

07/11/2025

🚨 Last-Minute Openings! 🚨
We have a few unexpected spots open for next week’s beginner/intermediate summer riding camp!
🐴 Safe, kind horses
🧠 Confidence-building horsemanship
🎯 Real skills that stick (plus tons of fun)
Perfect for kids 8–12 who love animals and want real connections this summer!
📍 Gilroy, CA , Mon-Fri, 9-3
🎟 Message me ASAP to grab a spot - limited availability (and luckily the weather is looking gentle)!

01/03/2025

🌟✨ Happy New Year from all of us at KEL Equestrian! ✨🌟

As we step into 2025, we’re taking a moment to reflect on an incredible year. In 2024, we:
🏆 Helped another student achieve their Prix St. Georges debut
🐴 Imported four stunning horses from Ireland, expanding our team of equine partners
🏇 Matched clients with successful equine partners domestically, helping them achieve their goals
🎉 Celebrated numerous successes and jumping championships at all levels of rider—from first-time competitors to seasoned show stars
📅 Hosted clinics, lessons, and shows that built confidence and created lifelong memories

We’re so proud of everything our team, riders, and horses accomplished this past year, and we’re even more excited to see what 2025 holds!

Whether you're aiming for the next level of dressage or jumping, preparing for your very first show, or learning how to get in the saddle for the very first time, we’re here to help you grow. With options like:
🐴 Virtual lessons for flexibility and focus
🎥 Asynchronous video reviews for personalized feedback
🌟 In-person training, whether on our horses or yours
🏆 Clinics to refine your skills and build confidence

Let’s make 2025 your best year yet. Reach out to learn how we can support your equestrian journey!

02/28/2024

Yesterday, as the sun was setting, I took my dogs for a walk around the neighborhood. We marveled at the trees, in the curious way each of the houses is built to manage the mountainous plots we live on.

One house we walked past, very near to the center of the neighborhood, two deer were standing in the yard, so rigid and still that after a moment I questioned if I just had never noticed those statues there before.

One turned and bounded off, disappearing behind the house, and the other stayed paused, I walked back along the road so I could see the entire stretch of fence behind this house, as I wanted to see the deer jump over it as she inevitably followed her friend. Even though I could see the entire fenceline from my new vantage point, she managed to vanish around the corner of the house.

I am undertaking a new challenge to be better about not disappearing like those deer. I am going to be sharing my writing daily, sometimes here, and sometimes on an email list.
If you would like to receive those emails, here’s the link to sign up.

Welcome! My name is Kate Little and I'm a writer who loves horses. I'm writing daily about what I'm learning in my horsemanship, coaching, and life at large. Add your email to my list and you'll get these daily musings delivered right to your inbox!

02/26/2024

🎉🏕️ Summer Camp Dates for our Horse Camp at KEL Equestrian are now LIVE on our website! 🏕️🎉

🌞 Are you ready for an unforgettable adventure filled with hoofbeats, laughter, and friendship? Join us under the summer sun as we embark on an enchanting journey at KEL Equestrian Horse Camp! 🌞

🐎 Saddle up for days filled with grooming galore, mastering challenging arena patterns, and magical moments spent bonding with our gentle equine companions. Whether you're a seasoned equestrian or a curious beginner, there's something for everyone at our horse-lover's paradise! 🌿🌺

📅 Mark your calendars and round up your fellow horse enthusiasts because spots are filling up faster than a pony at feeding time! 🐴 Don't miss your chance to trot into summer fun with us. 🌈

👉 Head over to our website now to secure your spot in the saddle and let the summer adventures begin! 🌟🐴✨

09/16/2023

Rudy Horsemanship says

"Having a level of awareness of higher than the level of your ability kinda sucks, but you need awareness first.
It can be so frustrating!!! Back when you didn’t know your horse was blowing through the shoulder, or not bending, or not maintaining tempo, or didn’t bother you. Once you barely learn it, it becomes the bare minimum standard, yet you are not actually capable of doing it consistently!

I’ve written before about subconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, subconscious competence…. (I’ll put a chart in the comments in case you’re not familiar with this idea, but it runs across all sports and all skill sets so you can easily Google it.)
When you get to where you are consciously competent (meaning if you concentrate really hard, you can effectively do something) for a few fleeting moments, but for the most part reside in conscious incompetence (meaning you are aware of the fact that you are incompetent at something) that is a seriously frustrating place to be!!!!

For example, you thought you knew how to bend a horse properly but then someone points out that you’ve been bending the horse’s neck at only the base of the neck, and the rib cage and the poll joint are not actually participating. Crap. Maybe you had a lesson where you achieved more correct bend for a few moments but it was with your trainer guiding you through it. Now you’re trying to ride on your own and you can’t get it to save your life!!!

Guess what, if you want to be good at anything, you are going to hit these types of moments a lot - and they don’t exactly give you the warm and fuzzy’s.  Some riders are excellent at recognizing that this is a great moment because they are about to dramatically increase their knowledge and skill set, but that doesn’t make it any easier to work through learning this new skill. It might, however, give you the patience to work through it, and stick with it, and give you the grace to know when to ask for help. Realize that you are about to make a huge improvement and it’s going to take a while! 

Pic of a student Learning just how much her OTTB requires of her!"

Having a level of awareness higher than the level of your ability kinda sucks, but you need awareness first.
It can be so frustrating!!! Back when you didn’t know your horse was blowing through the shoulder, or not bending, or not maintaining tempo, or didn’t bother you. Once you barely learn it, it becomes the bare minimum standard, yet you are not actually capable of doing it consistently!

I’ve written before about subconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, subconscious competence…. (I’ll put a chart in the comments in case you’re not familiar with this idea, but it runs across all sports and all skill sets so you can easily Google it.)
When you get to where you are consciously competent (meaning if you concentrate really hard, you can effectively do something) for a few fleeting moments, but for the most part reside in conscious incompetence (meaning you are aware of the fact that you are incompetent at something) that is a seriously frustrating place to be!!!!

For example, you thought you knew how to bend a horse properly but then someone points out that you’ve been bending the horse’s neck at only the base of the neck, and the rib cage and the poll joint are not actually participating. Crap. Maybe you had a lesson where you achieved more correct bend for a few moments but it was with your trainer guiding you through it. Now you’re trying to ride on your own and you can’t get it to save your life!!!

Guess what, if you want to be good at anything, you are going to hit these types of moments a lot - and they don’t exactly give you the warm and fuzzy’s.  Some riders are excellent at recognizing that this is a great moment because they are about to dramatically increase their knowledge and skill set, but that doesn’t make it any easier to work through learning this new skill. It might, however, give you the patience to work through it, and stick with it, and give you the grace to know when to ask for help. Realize that you are about to make a huge improvement and it’s going to take a while! 

Pic of a student Learning just how much her OTTB requires of her!

03/13/2023

We aren't headed to any shows in the immediate future, but this photo came to mind as I've been working through an exercise a business coach put to me. "What are the core values of your business, and can you keep the list to 3-5 values?"

I can't answer that question just yet, but I think some answers are in that picture. I have my students' attention, both horse and human. I'm trying to convey something. We're probably all wearing sunscreen. I've probably been talking for longer than my student needed to understand the point, but I also likely stopped talking before my student stopped paying attention. We're out there, doing the thing. Setting foot in the ring. Showing off what we've practiced and discovering the next steps for all of us. At the moment captured in this photo, all of us were very present. We were attending to the task at hand, making decisions, and discussing the future.

I think there are some core values here. What do you think?

Offering riding lessons and horse training in San Martin, CA.

03/02/2023

I’m excited to announce that my book The Principles Of Training has finally been launched!

“As to methods there may be a million and then some, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.”
Harrington Emerson~ Early 20th Century Efficiency Expert

I’ve always been in my head, especially the logical, analytical and orderly left brain, eschewing the feeling right brain. While it certainly caused some of my depression issues over the years, it also helped me a great deal training horses. Because of my lack of emotion I was able to stay calm and level-headed when training and working with horses. This right-brain centric process allowed me to do something else as well…

It helped me recognise patterns where others might not see them.

Over 3 decades of training horses I noticed a common thread between many effective techniques I witnessed. Whether they were done by an Olympic Dressage Gold Medalist, a World Champion Reining Trainer, a C**t Starter or a Positive Reinforcement Clicker Trainer. I could see WHY they were doing what they were doing at the time, not just the how. I started to organise these techniques into groups with a similar underlying rationale. After many years of this practice, and explaining them at clinics, I started giving these similar groups of ideas, or principles, names.

Thus the Principles Of Training were born.

1. The Work With The Horse You Have Today Principle
2. The Don’t Go To Bed Angry Principle
3. The Make The Right Thing Easy Principle
4. The Donkey Kong Principle
5. The Choose Where You Work And Choose Where You Rest Principle
6. The Create A Tool Before You Use A Tool Principle
7. The They Need To Know The Answer Before You Ask The Question Principle
8. The Change One Thing At A Time Principle
9. The Anticipation Is Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy Principle
10. The Do The Opposite Principle
11. The Application of Your Aids Principle
12. The Isolate, Separate, Recombine Principle

Understanding WHY a certain technique is used in any situation gives you the tools to be able to better determine WHAT to do and WHEN to do it. Once you firmly grasp these principles you can respond to situational changes in the moment, like the little shifts you make riding a bike, once you’ve learned to ride one.

With my shift in how I view things in the past few years I have added another principle, which is the 13th chapter of the book, Relationship Before Horsemanship. This chapter ties everything together and makes the training process easier and faster in the long run.

The book is available on our website (you can even get a personalized copy). This is the best place to purchase if you are in the US.: https://the-principles-of-training-book.myshopify.com/
We want to make the book as accessible as possible. International Shipping is appallingly expensive and in order to get you the best price we recommend you purchase your book from your respective country. Here’s a quick and easy guide to help those international orders:
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BW344W1L
UNITED KINGDOM: https://www.amazon.co.uk/?ref_=icp_country_from_au
CANADA:https://www.amazon.ca/Principles-Training-Understanding-Relationship-Effective/dp/B0BW344W1L/ref=sr_1_1?crid=T39SQ3V20VE2&keywords=the+principles+of+training+warwick&qid=1677710184&sprefix=%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-1
For those of you e-readers, there is also a kindle version available on Amazon.

09/30/2022

"You can't learn to drive a parked car," wise words in the caption below from the inestimable Lockie Phillips.

06/07/2022

At some point last year, Leslie Desmond said to me, "the bridle represents everything you want to do with your ridden horse. If the horse resists the bridle, he resists you and your ideas and your feel."

I definitely am paraphrasing and I absolutely had heard it from others. It was her voice in my mind though this morning when I spent a half an hour talking with a mixed up mare about understanding how to work her jaw, lower her neck so I could move the headstall over her ears, and then how to wait with me as she thought about spitting the bit out again. I gave her a role to play in this tacking process rather than force her to submit to something being done to her.

I'm looking forward to helping her see all of riding as an engagement again, as something to participate in rather than withstand.

Lockie Phillips said to me last week, "as soon as you put out that energetic invitation to participate, it's not a door you can close again. You can never unsee what's possible and the horse might have an awful lot to tell you about how they feel about their participation."

This is also true!

What am I getting at here?

Slow down for a minute today or tomorrow or the next day when you're preparing your horse to ride. When your horse hears your inquiry about how he feels, tell him that you see he's frustrated with you when you mash his ear on the far side during bridling. See if you two can come to an agreement about it; to help you protect his ear, he might need to try not pulling away from you. Try slowing down and seeing rather than rushing through and moving past it.

Then tell me how it goes. What new are you able to notice?

03/03/2022

Summer camp season is just around the corner! KEL Equestrian will be offering camps the following weeks this summer:

June 13-17
June 20-24
July 11-15
July 18-22
August 1-5
August 8-12

Shoot us a message about which weeks you're interested in and we'll send you the appropriate registration link!