Lady Sue is a rescue horse being trained by Bernie Wilimitis to compete in the Bluebonnet Equine Rescue Trainers Challenge on October 22, 2016 at the Bluebonnet Horse Expo in Austin, TX. Lady Sue will be up for adoption at that time. Lady Sue was not started to ride and had minimal handling when she started with Bernie. He has until Oct. 22 to develop her to be ready for adoption after he competes
with her showing what she has learned. Bernie follows the principles of master horsemen Tom Dorrance, Ray Hunt, and their protégé's.
“In all communication, the most important and respectful act is to Listen”. Bernie has been blessed to have learned from some of the greatest master horsemen and horsewomen throughout his lifetime. He enjoys gaining a deeper understanding of the behaviors of the horse starting in their wild natural environment throughout their life span. He is a practitioner of “with respect comes trust” and in order to have a willing horse partner, each party must have mutual respect and trust in the relationship. Everything done with the horse should have respect for the horse first, from how we catch them in the pasture, to how we halter, to how we saddle, to how we ask them to perform, to even how we lead them. The simplest things become the foundation we build the relationship upon. “Exercise the mind 1st, and the body will follow.” Give the horse the respect to make its decision and then trust it will make the right one. We all learn by making mistakes. “Make the Right thing easy, and the Wrong thing difficult.” Bernie remembers a Ray Hunt quote, “you did too little, too late”, when working with horses, which always leads him back to “Listening” to the horse 1st.
