Mystic Ranch

Mystic Ranch We offer a natural horsemansip heaven for horse and human. We board horses in stalls and partially covered paddocks with daily herd turnouts.

Mystic Ranch was a horse - human paradise where people learned to read the horse, bond and ride with body language from 2002 until 2019 when we sold it and moved to Prescott Valley, Arizona. We give riding lessons ba****ck and without bits. Childrens lessons are $25 an hour; adult lessons are $50 an hour. Learn to understand the horse's point of view, communicate with body language and earn its tr

ust and respect. We train horses using the same techniques. Check out our web site for more information at www.mystic-ranch.com Watch videos of horses and people doing this style of horsemanship on youtube.com by searching mysticpasos or clicking on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChfrbtOVy9IM8idqC3bcpZg?

Liberty Trailer Loading a Green C**tWe picked up Antares and Amadeo with my horse trailer a year ago when we bought thes...
11/16/2025

Liberty Trailer Loading a Green C**t

We picked up Antares and Amadeo with my horse trailer a year ago when we bought these feral colts in Utah. While the colts had not been in a trailer in a year, I had taught both colts at liberty to step up onto a 4 foot pedestal, to pivot around to the right and left on the pedestal without falling off of it and to step down from the pedestal on request, all things I would ask them to do in the horse trailer.

With those skills in place, I wanted to get them accustomed to the trailer as a good place to hang out and play at liberty. I parked my three horse slant load horse trailer behind my paddock, putting some hay inside it. The door to the trailer was open, parked flush to the fence, with the paddock gate providing a four foot wide entrance to the trailer.

This morning I opened the paddock gate and walked inside the trailer and asked Amadeo if he could step up into it. It was not his pedestal so he hesitated, then stepped up with his front hooves, hesitated again and then walked into the trailer. I gave him some cookies and told him he was brilliant. He examined the inside of the trailer, fairly calm, and I asked him to turn and leave the trailer before it occurred to him that he might be trapped inside.

I asked him to turn to his right as that side was completely open for him to leave. If he turned to his left, his nose would come against the fence blocking part of the trailer entrance. Since Amadeo already knew the request “pivot” from pivoting on a 4 foot wide pedestal, he stayed calm through that tight fit of turning to face the trailer opening. I then asked him to “step down”, another request he knew from when I asked him to step down off the pedestal, and he hopped down out of the trailer. The best part is that as soon as he stepped down, he turned back around to see if I wanted him to step up back into the trailer.

I succeeded in getting him to view the trailer as another obstacle for play, not a potential trap! We will be doing lots of liberty trailer loading, pivoting and unloading to ensure he is completely comfortable with the trailer before I ever take him anywhere in it.

Interestingly, Antares stayed at the gate, watching Amadeo entering, turning and leaving the trailer, not an all certain his brother was not being recklessly overconfident in the safety of this activity. Doing this exercise at liberty allows each horse to decide on his own timeline that he can safely load in the trailer. I will wait for Antares to come explore the trailer on his own before I ask him if he can step up into it. I will keep a little alfalfa in the trailer to reward such curiosity.

Amadeo Liberty Trailer LoadingWe picked up Antares and Amadeo with my horse trailer a year ago when we bought these feral colts in Utah. While the colts had...

Second Gotcha Day Treasure HuntWe celebrated the second anniversary of Amadeo and Antares joining our herd with a Treasu...
11/16/2025

Second Gotcha Day Treasure Hunt

We celebrated the second anniversary of Amadeo and Antares joining our herd with a Treasure Hunt. We invited Rocky (the acknowledged herd leader) and Journey (a newcomer to the herd) to join in the fun. We are just integrating Journey into the herd so Rocky appointed himself guardian of Journey, cuddling with him and making sure all was peaceful.

The horses loved the treasure hunt, investigating all the objects to find their favorite cookies, apples, bits of alfalfa and cookie studded supplements to be found on top of, around, inside or under the objects. Most of the horses explored all the objects without fear or favor.

Antares still limits himself to cones, barrels, feed buckets and pedestals, the things that always live in his paddock, but seeing his herd mates push the objects around makes them less scary to him. Among the things that he still finds scary are horse blankets and ba****ck pads so Amadeo wore the blanket and Kami wore the ba****ck pad as they did their treasure hunt, demonstrating that there was nothing to fear.

This is a favorite enrichment activity for my horses. Do your horses enjoy treasure hunts?

Second Gotcha Day Treasure HuntWe celebrated the second anniversary of Amadeo and Antares joining our herd with a Treasure Hunt. We invited Rocky (the ackno...

Antares Park PleaseI climbed onto the fence and had Janet walk over to me with her bucket of treats. Antares joined her...
10/26/2025

Antares Park Please

I climbed onto the fence and had Janet walk over to me with her bucket of treats. Antares joined her, angled towards me at a safe distance.

I started rubbing him with my hands, then my foot, always stopping if he indicated by stiffness, or moving his head or hoof away, that he was concerned by what I was doing. This is critical because it shows him that I am paying attention to him becoming uncomfortable. By stopping at signs of discomfort, Antares learns he does not need to leave me to get me to back off on behavior he is starting to worry about. A moment’s pause usually had him deciding my hand and foot rubs felt pretty good and that he was OK with them.

Janet walked back and forth, causing Antares to change sides as he practiced park please and I rubbed him with my hands and foot and even sat sideways on his back with a little of my weight. He was quite comfortable with the exercise and I ran out of steam climbing on the fence and rubbing his back with my foot, long before he did! We both made progress. I am becoming more agile and fit and Antares is becoming more trusting and comfortable with me on top of him.

Antares Park PleaseI climbed onto the fence and had Janet walk over to me with her bucket of treats. Antares joined her, angled towards me at a safe distanc...

Two People Get 12 Hoof Please JackpotsWe played the Hoof Please Game with Antares again this morning, the Intimacy Bucke...
10/26/2025

Two People Get 12 Hoof Please Jackpots

We played the Hoof Please Game with Antares again this morning, the Intimacy Bucket version. Janet held his bucket of supplements and I walked around him, asking for him to give me each hoof in turn. If he lifted the hoof, then put it down, we gave him one cookie. If he handed us his hoof, we added a Jackpot handful of cookies to his bucket of supplements.

After he gave me his four hooves, I took over the bucket and Janet asked him to give her his four hooves, something she had never done before. Her body language was different from mine, as every person’s body language will be different. That caused a few more hesitations, hoof moved, but not immediately handed to her, but he did not leave, stayed calm, figured it out and gave her his hoof to support and rub.

We could have ended the session after 8 perfect hoof please jackpots, but I handed the bucket back to Janet and asked for a third round of hooves. The trimmer will be asking for hooves multiple times as he trims the hooves. Antares needs to be comfortable with just handing over his hoof, trusting that we will not hurt him and indeed will reward him. Antares stayed calm, handed me his hooves and allowed me to lean on and rub his back, things that a month ago would have caused him to walk away from us. 12 perfect hoof please jackpots and a very contented relaxed horse. A great day.

Two People Get 12 Hoof Please JackpotsWe played the Hoof Please Game with Antares again this morning, the Intimacy Bucket version. Janet held his bucket of ...

Antares Plays the Hoof Please GameAntares came to us off the Utah range 2 years ago, highly skeptical of humans. He lea...
10/22/2025

Antares Plays the Hoof Please Game

Antares came to us off the Utah range 2 years ago, highly skeptical of humans. He learned to trust us, loving our cuddles, playing with us, but walked away when I asked for his hooves. Over the last couple of months, he would hand me his hind hooves if I was seated, but would walk away if I asked for them when I was standing.

This week I introduced the Hoof Please Game. The rules are simple. Janet sits in a chair with a bowl full of cookies, arms crossed over the bowl, putting them out of reach to a questing nose. Antares stands in front of her at liberty, because, well, she has a bowl of cookies in her lap. I walk up, rub his leg, then pause with my finger touching the back of his knee or hock and ask for “Hoof Please.”

He may walk way if he likes, but If he walks away, he gets no treats, and I will repeat the rub, touch and ask.

If he lifts a hoof, then puts it back down again, Janet gives him one treat for his try, then the bowl is closed again. “Really, just one treat?”

If he lifts the hoof and places it in my hands, Janet opens the bowl up for a JACKPOT and while I hold his hoof, Antares can grab all the cookies he can stuff into his mouth, letting the excess fall to the ground. We praise him and let him chew his well earned reward, then I move on to the next hoof.

On Day One of this game, he was highly skeptical, left me several times, gave me one of his hind hooves a couple of times, earning a jackpot, stamped his front hooves and generally conveyed that he did not like this game where he earned so few cookies. On Day Two of this game, he gave me each of his hind hooves, earning jackpots, and brought his front hooves up at a right angle, but put them down rather than into my hands. “Dang it, what does it take to earn that jackpot?” Today, his confidence soared. He figured out what was required to earn those jackpot mouthfuls of cookies and handed all four hooves into my hands as he earned four jackpots in a row. A red letter day and a marvelous gift of hard earned trust from Antares.

Antares Plays the Hoof Please GameAntares came to us off the Utah range 2 years ago, highly skeptical of humans. He learned to trust us, loving our cuddles,...

Whoa Wait Go Path DirectionThe goal of this exercise is for the horses to stop square when asked at liberty, to wait in ...
10/20/2025

Whoa Wait Go Path Direction

The goal of this exercise is for the horses to stop square when asked at liberty, to wait in place without fidgeting or moving while I go to get them a cookie, to take a step backwards and then Go in the path I direct them to. When done in a larger space, alone, they actually do it better than together in this smaller space.

That said, Antares is less confident that Amadeo about being directed by me so I brought in Amadeo to model the desired behavior. That did help Antares become less anxious about my requests, but it did make requests less clear because they weren’t sure who I was talking to.

They both understand “whoa” and are pretty good about stopping when I say “Whoa”, but want to turn and face me, not stop square. I would appreciate suggestions for improvement on this. Since that was their desire, I started to ask them to turn and come to me. Amadeo did so without hesitation. Antares had to think about whether it was safe.

Wait is a work in progress. They understand the request, but still fidget or move about half the time. Suggestions?

For “Go”, and “Path Direction” I ask the colts to back a step or two to break loose their hooves, point in the desired direction and lift my supporting hand when necessary. Antares was quite concerned about the send and I was pleased to see him relaxing into it as a result of seeing Amadeo accept it without worry.

Looking forward to suggestions on improvement.

Whoa Wait Go Path DirectionThe goal of this exercise is for the horses to stop square when asked at liberty, to wait in place without fidgeting or moving whi...

Liberty, Leading and ParkingWe started with Antares, doing some liberty figure eights, halts and back ups, then Val brou...
10/14/2025

Liberty, Leading and Parking

We started with Antares, doing some liberty figure eights, halts and back ups, then Val brought out the lead line and when he showed no concern following her as she gently swung it, snapped it on to his halter. Antares had been following Val slowly, even stalling occasionally, so rather than wait on him, Val picked up her pace. This resulted in Antares feeling the first contact with the lead line, but it did not concern him and his flow improved. This was a big deal, because Antares has had panic attacks when he felt any pressure on his poll. This time he just followed that more forward feel.

Next Val climbed the fence, I brought out a bowl and some treats to see if we could get Antares comfortable with parking next to Val above him while she scratched his back and butt. The cookies were helpful at the beginning and Antares started to pick up the feed bowl to give it to me, one of his favorite games. Play and fear are incompatible so him choosing to initiate play told us he felt fine having Val above him scratching his back. I walked away with the bowl and treats and Antares stayed in place with Val scratching his back. Park please was more important to him than the cookies and play!

Next up, Amadeo got a chance to play park please at liberty. I scratched his back and butt with my foot, which did not concern him. I next stood on the fence and gently lowered my butt onto his back, just lightly touching him. His head popped up to that and I stood up again. I want him to be completely confident at each step of the process, so I start by scratching with my hands, then my feet, then lightly sitting sideways, then letting my leg rest on his back. If he ever shows concern, I immediately stop when he asks, repeat again, until he realizes it is all OK. If he leans away or moves his feet, I send him away, then invite him to return if he feels confident. He moved his feet at some point and I asked him to leave me and follow Val to re-approach me. He refused to leave, cuddling back in. We asked him to leave again and he simply pivoted and parked next to me on the other side and I scratched his back with my foot.

The point of park please is to create a horse that wants to park next to you and looks forward to you being above him, then on him, scratching him and making him feel good. Both colts voted with their feet on this exercise, because when given the opportunity to leave us on the fence, they chose to stay with us, rather than follow food away from us. They are not yet ready for us to slide on, but we are well on our way to achieving that.

Liberty, Leading and ParkingWe started with Antares, doing some liberty figure eights, halts and back ups, then Val brought out the lead line and when he sho...

Mystic and I don’t do much riding any more, other than short ambles around his paddock ba****ck and without head gear. ...
10/10/2025

Mystic and I don’t do much riding any more, other than short ambles around his paddock ba****ck and without head gear. He does shoulder in and haunches in to my verbal request and body language, then Kami joins us to do sideways right and circle at liberty. Our sessions are short, but fun for us all.

In this short clip I am riding Mystic ba****ck and without head gear, asking him to do shoulder in and haunches in to verbal cues and my body language, then ...

Antares Neck String PlayYesterday I had played with lunging Amadeo with a neck string around his shoulders. I had thoug...
10/03/2025

Antares Neck String Play

Yesterday I had played with lunging Amadeo with a neck string around his shoulders. I had thought to try the same exercise with Antares, but Antares moved away from the neck string approaching any part of his body except his head. I can’t have him afraid of the tools I use so…. Today’s project became having the neck string on me, asking Antares if he could touch it, grab it, give it to me, use it to ask him to move, raise it to block him from following me, and rubbing his neck with it as I gave him praise and cookies for doing a good job on the exercises we were playing with. The neck string became part of my communication and over our short session he became much more accepting of it. Still not ready for me to put it around his neck, but well on our way.

Our session was at liberty and included having me lead him from behind, ask for halts and waits, walk together, stop together, ask for back ups, draw him to me, do some figure eights and do a couple of short walk - gait - whoa transitions to bring up his life and fluidity.

As always, Antares gave me his all, but the best part was that his eyes were bright and when I left him, he followed me to my chair and was willing to grab the neck string off the ground and give it to me. Compliance to my requests will come, if I can ensure that Antares believes in us and enjoys our sessions together. How I love this horse.

Antares Neck String PlayYesterday I had played with lunging Amadeo with a neck string around his shoulders. I had thought to try the same exercise with Anta...

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