Katy Negranti Performance Horsemanship

09/04/2026

09/02/2026

The lesson I’m learning…

Time to force myself to step back and let people earn their own opportunities. I’ve about had it with helping people grow their clientele in their horse business only to have them metaphorically spit back in my face.

The phrase "no good deed goes unpunished" is a tough one and I’m definitely guilty of being an enabler and giving people more than they’ve earned.

I know how hard it is and I know how much power an opportunity or a referral is. Yet, when you haven’t earned it with your own 2 hands, you’ll fail to appreciate the reward of giving more than you take.

I become the villain in their stories.

I just want to ride my horses and help deserving people.

People complain about how hard it is to be self employed and I see their behavior and don’t need to wonder why.

When you act like a jackass, life is hard.
When you help people, life is also hard 😂

09/02/2026

Learning from others…

Observation is such a valuable skill. Sitting quietly and watching someone skilled do their work, is a great way to learn.

We all have our biases, opinions and experiences. Holding on to our ways is good but can keep us stuck in the same negative loops. Opening yourself up to change, trying a different approach, unlocks potential. The hardest part is releasing the grasp of where you are.

08/25/2026

Horses!

08/19/2026

🙌

Maybe the reason it feels like good horse trainers are getting harder to find is because somewhere along the way… we stopped letting trainers actually train horses.

We want young horses started, but preferably without them ever being confused.

We want problem behaviors fixed, but nobody’s feelings can be hurt in the process.

We want confident, safe horses, but we’d rather they never have to experience anything mildly inconvenient on their journey there.

And naturally, we’d like all of the above accomplished in 30 days. 😂

Good training isn’t about picking fights with horses or seeing how much pressure they can take. It’s knowing when to ask a little more, when to back off, when to correct something, when to let them figure it out and when tomorrow is a better day.

Sometimes progress looks beautiful.

Sometimes it looks like standing in the arena wondering which one of you needs a snack and a break.

Horses are individuals. Training isn’t perfectly linear, and the answer isn’t always going to look Instagram-pretty.

If you’ve trusted someone enough to put your horse in their program, there also has to be a little room for them to actually use the experience and judgment you hired them for.

Maybe good horsemanship isn’t disappearing.

Maybe we just need to give it a little more room to do its job. 🤍

08/18/2026

When I first dove into improving my horsemanship, it seriously started with a tv show episode on RFD TV. Each week the trainer put up an exercise and for the next week I practiced it. I got really excited because it was helping!

Then I collected the DVDs! Sooo many DVDs 😂

I studied and watched and rewatched the same stuff over and over again. I basically had it memorized. It was my ONLY option.

It started with 1 broke horse that I learned how to ride and train with more finesse.

Then I bought a weanling.

Then I adopted a wild horse.

Then the neighbors started to hire me to ride their horses.

Then the community hired me to teach their kids.

I got in the show pen. I won some cool stuff.

I spent 50-60 hours a week gaining hands on experience that taught me far more than any dvd could.

I didn’t have access to a trainer to take lessons but I was a determined student. Trial and error was my teacher.

Most people don’t have the opportunity I had. I was young, no commitments, hungry for success but also no money 😂

When people want help learning to do what set out to do 30 years ago, my advice is watch the videos to create a narrative in your head. Learn the rules. Learn a process. Commit to your bookwork. THEN… get as much hands on help as you can!

I spend 200-300 hours a month getting hands on experience with horses. I trial and error on a regular basis. This IS my job. I don’t have a 9 to 5 job to work around.

For people who have a career and horses are a hobby, you physically don’t have time to do it the way I did. Spend your time on what matters. Lay out the goal and have an “expert” lay out the road map. You don’t have to suffer with experiments, setbacks, bad luck, etc. if you have access to competent help and take full advantage of their wisdom.

Get as much hands on help as you possibly can. It’s 100% money well spent. Saves you time, money and heartaches. Horses are so much fun but there are no quick fixes, cheap is expensive and limited help gets poor results. ❤️

08/11/2026

“It’s hard to work on your own horse”

I’ve heard this a lot, especially when it comes to do “professional” type work such as bodywork, training, trimming/shoeing, doctoring, etc.

When an emotional connection exists, it can be hard to separate feelings from truth.

When helping people train their horses for example, most owners struggle to do the hard things. Things like boundaries, consistency, repetition, etc. It doesn’t feel good to have conflict or resistance with a horse you’re connected to. It can feel like betrayal. It can feel like a dictatorship at times because the walls are loose.

Then because you can’t assert the “professional” side of yourself, that same horse will do things that feel like betrayal! They walk all over you, they’re “lazy”, they don’t listen, etc. This is where it’s hard to work on your own horse. There is a shift that needs to happen. Step outside the friend role and step into being a parent.

To get big results, you must do big things… and most times, the big thing is simply “stop”.

-Stop enabling
-Stop tolerating “disrespect”
-Stop feeling sorry for your horse when he has to work at something.
-Stop making excuses!!!
-Stop putting off the lessons!!!!

There’s such a gift in working on your own horse. The learning is endless. The relationship growth is vast. The depth goes even deeper. You begin to hear your horse on a much deeper level.

Learn how to be objective, even if it kills your loving vibes.