Empowered Equines

Empowered Equines A horse rescue dedicated to spreading education about positive reinforcement and force-free animal care.
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Creating the next generation of ethical and empowered animal care-takers. Our Mission:
For the animals: Our goal as a rescue and sanctuary is to provide a soft landing for animals in need. While we tried to focus on draft horses, we struggle to say “no” to an animal in need. So now we are filled with a variety of breeds and species! While some animals may find a good home elsewhere, most come here

with major issues that make them unlikely to be rehomed. We provide sanctuary for horses with disabilities, emotional trauma, or behavioral issues that would make them inappropriate to place. we have been using and teaching positive reinforcement training techniques and progressive equine welfare approach to ethical horse keeping for over a decade! For the people: Our major focus for humans is to spread education about ethical animal care. With more education and information out there, less animals will need rescue, and more quality homes will be available for the animals in need. We teach positive reinforcement animal training, backed by behavioral science, psychology, ethology of horses, and neuroscience of emotions. We also try to provide a safe haven for humans to come build caring relationships with animals. Many of our students and volunteers work regularly with the same horses, focusing on relationship and progressing through the physical or emotional challenges they are working on together. Many of the people who find themselves here are LGBTQ+, BIPOC, neurodivergent and/or people with disabilities. We aim to ensure this remains a place where everyone will feel supported as individuals and build safe friendships with the animals and other humans!

Lots of hard work today! We got the mustang panels wirebrushed clean of rust and paint chips. Got them mostly set up (bu...
05/31/2026

Lots of hard work today! We got the mustang panels wirebrushed clean of rust and paint chips. Got them mostly set up (but we have to pick up a few parts at the store and finish tomorrow). And started painting! So exciting!! If anyone has time tomorrow between 3-6 we could use a few hands to help finish up. Mostly just spray painting left :)

Equine Empowerment Workbook:The Art and Science of Positive Horse TrainingPartnership begins with understanding how hors...
05/30/2026

Equine Empowerment Workbook:

The Art and Science of Positive Horse Training
Partnership begins with understanding how horses feel, learn, and experience the world.

This interactive, relationship-centered workbook is designed for families, camps, lesson programs, and horse lovers of all ages who want a thoughtful, science-informed foundation for working with horses.

Inside, you’ll explore:

• Horse anatomy with practical, real-world applications

• Welfare needs through checklists and scavenger hunts

• Body language and emotions with coloring pages and observation activities

• How horses learn, explained through engaging behavioral science games

• Training session planning, including guidance and ready-to-use plans

• Problem-solving common training challenges using positive reinforcement

This isn’t just theory - each section includes field practice exercises, end-of-section review games, and hands-on activities that bring learning off the page and into real-life experience.

Whether you are introducing young riders to ethical horsemanship or strengthening your own understanding, this workbook provides a structured, compassionate approach to building confidence, trust, and true partnership.

Get it in print: https://a.co/d/0jhXoUuy
Get it digitally for printing your favorite pages: https://buymeacoffee.com/empoweredequines

05/30/2026

I hear all the time from parents how they can't even get their kids to clean their room. But tell them we need to put up the 6ft fences for the new mustang, these kids find all the energy in the world! 😆

Ok team, we need a few extra hands this Sunday! We are hoping to get our 6ft fences up for the new mustang coming soon :...
05/29/2026

Ok team, we need a few extra hands this Sunday! We are hoping to get our 6ft fences up for the new mustang coming soon :) we would like to get them up and refresh the paint job, any extra hands would be a big help!

I just watched a video where a person had a horse tied to a patience pole (bad enough). Let's have a gentle reminder, tr...
05/29/2026

I just watched a video where a person had a horse tied to a patience pole (bad enough). Let's have a gentle reminder, training a horse to stand tied is a valuable life skill beneficial for horses to learn. Hard tying a horse to an unbreakable object by their head is not an ethical way to train a horse to stand tied. It's dangerous, a cause of many serious injuries and deaths. Even the most famous creators of these tools have killed many horses using these devices. Then the horse wouldn't stop pacing circles around the pole, so they added wood logs to block their path.

When a horse is stressed and full of anxious energy and you block every outlet for it, not allowing them to move in anyway - where do you think that goes? Do you think the horse ACTUALLY gets calm because you physically stopped their ability to move? Does anyone think this actually teaches "Patience" and not just a horse bottling up their emotions, not regulating them, but containing them, where they'll come out in unwanted ways in the future.

If you were scared, stressed, feeling isolated, and someone locked you in a small closet until you stopped trying to escape, would that calm you? This used to be common practice with children, lock them in a small, quiet room to let them cry it out. But we've learned the mental and emotional trauma this does to the brain - as told by the victims of this practice. Why would we think this is an OK practice with horses?

05/29/2026

All the time, all the care, all the chores, all the training, all the rough days. 20 minutes of hugging your horse ba****ck while you get to just breath. Its the most valuable moments, what its all for.

05/28/2026

People say R+ horses aren't safe because you can't stop them if they spook. Girl, R+ horses don't spook!! (just playing around) but really, we prepare our horses for sooo much, we empower our horses with communication, choice, language tools, that spooking is so rare. And when they do, they always run TOO us, they run for our support, to help them re-regulate. They are seeking out our guidance to help them regather themselves, rather than avoiding the potential consequences.

Join us for a fabulous learning opportunity with Shawna Karrasch Equine and Jessie Hillegas!This event will be June 20+2...
05/26/2026

Join us for a fabulous learning opportunity with Shawna Karrasch Equine and Jessie Hillegas!
This event will be June 20+21, 9AM-5PM, at Wild Ride, 130 Old Cranston Rd. Sterling, CT 06377
Sign up here: https://www.wildridect.org/event-details/shawna-karrasch-clinic-2

This event will have everyone getting hands-on time participating and learning as a group. You can use one of Wild Ride's special mustangs (any one you like, from wild to rideable), or bring your own horse (we only have 4 spots available for trailer in so this is FCFS so book quickly!). This is a fabulous opportunity to learn to work with positive reinforcement!

Learn to utilize positive reinforcement systematically in your training both on the ground and under saddle by learning from one of the top equine behaviorists in the world as well as a former traditional professional trainer who has started hundreds of horses.

From trail riding to upper level horse shows, a clinic with Shawna and Jessie is going to help you teach your horse to be confident, relaxed, and to improve things that will give you an edge in your riding. When horses see the world optimistically, they tend to make better choices and develop the ability to stop and think before reacting.

Want a better lead change, piaffe, or to have a more relaxed partner on the trail? Is your horse struggling with getting injections or standing quietly for the farrier? We can help you reach any goal you'd like to achieve.

Learn the science and theory of positive reinforcement, including classical and operant conditioning and how it applies to your horse in training.

Establish clarity by having a detailed plan for your goals, ridden or on the ground.

Watch as Shawna and Jessie work to create clarity and build relaxation in each session where things won't always be going according to plan!

Learn how to address the specific issues your horse has by changing the way his brain works… it's neuroscience!

Join us for a fabulous learning opportunity with Shawna Karrasch Equine and Jessie Hillegas!This event will be June 20+2...
05/26/2026

Join us for a fabulous learning opportunity with Shawna Karrasch Equine and Jessie Hillegas!
This event will be June 20+21, 9AM-5PM, at Wild Ride, 130 Old Cranston Rd. Sterling, CT 06377
Sign up here: https://www.wildridect.org/event-details/shawna-karrasch-clinic-2

This event will have everyone getting hands-on time participating and learning as a group. You can use one of Wild Ride's special mustangs (any one you like, from wild to rideable), or bring your own horse (we only have 4 spots available for trailer in so this is FCFS so book quickly!). This is a fabulous opportunity to learn to work with positive reinforcement!

Learn to utilize positive reinforcement systematically in your training both on the ground and under saddle by learning from one of the top equine behaviorists in the world as well as a former traditional professional trainer who has started hundreds of horses.

From trail riding to upper level horse shows, a clinic with Shawna and Jessie is going to help you teach your horse to be confident, relaxed, and to improve things that will give you an edge in your riding. When horses see the world optimistically, they tend to make better choices and develop the ability to stop and think before reacting.

Want a better lead change, piaffe, or to have a more relaxed partner on the trail? Is your horse struggling with getting injections or standing quietly for the farrier? We can help you reach any goal you'd like to achieve.

Learn the science and theory of positive reinforcement, including classical and operant conditioning and how it applies to your horse in training.

Establish clarity by having a detailed plan for your goals, ridden or on the ground.

Watch as Shawna and Jessie work to create clarity and build relaxation in each session where things won't always be going according to plan!

Learn how to address the specific issues your horse has by changing the way his brain works… it's neuroscience!

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York, ME
03909

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