Howling Hills Horsemanship

24/10/2023

This little potato has been so fun to work with. We worked with rope in her second session, getting used to it all over her. She’s very smart, and is taking everything in stride. I love her confidence.

13/10/2023

10/10/2023

A horse is a horse.

Edit for clarification. I am not talking about circumstances that made your horse the way it is. If your mustang was abused and is reactive and has a high sense of self preservation it’s not because the horse is a mustang, a horse of any breed of those circumstances would have the same heightened self preservation instincts due to circumstances. When I say untouched unhandled horses I’m meaning born and raised feral in a range setting with little to no human contact. Not even fed by people. The untouched horse you got that is simply JUST untouched but has been around people is not what I’m meaning. When I say those who’s only experience with unhandled or recently domesticated horses I really truly mean born and raised on range just like a mustang, not the 2 year old that was dumped on a pasture and still fed and around people.

This is not about getting a untouched mustang and treating it as it’s a born and raised paper horse handled from birth. This is about not treating mustangs special because it’s a mustang. If it won’t load in the trailer there’s no special mustang trick that only works for mustangs. It’s the same tips and tricks for ANY hard to load horse.

So many times I’ve seen people asking how to go about training a horse particularly because it’s a mustang. The answer is simple, a horse is a horse no matter what age, breed or gender. If I were to put Quarter horses out into a pasture of purebred imported Arabians they aren’t going to interact and communicate any differently with each other than any other breed. If a horse doesn’t want another horse by it’s food it pins its ears and kicks the other horse. Horses don’t treat each other special because one is a mustang and neither should you. If the way you went about getting the Quarter horse, Arabian, Appaloosa or pony to load into the trailer worked, it’ll work for the mustang too.

The only people out there who will tell you mustangs are any different than the next horse are:

People who have built this stigma around mustangs that all of them are unpredictable and dangerous horses and are afraid of them.

People who their only experience with untouched horses or ones recently introduced to human interaction are mustangs.

Any trainer who has worked with untouched horses in general will tell you a mustang is no different than a domestic bred horse with little no no human interaction either. All 4 of my personal horses have lived “feral” lives. What I mean by that is that they weee raised on a range setting with little no no human interaction at all. Two of them being BLM mustangs gathered off range. Two of them being domestic bred out of papered horses by ranchers and completely untouched until we had gotten them. The approach I went about training all of these horses is no different because two of them had a BLM brand on their neck.

All horses communicate the same and interact the same. Each breed does have some distinct personality traits to them yes, but that does not change the true basis of how horses communicate with each other. If horses don’t treat each other special according to breed you shouldn’t be either.

Pc: Andi Harmon.

06/10/2023

🙏🏼

🙏😂

04/10/2023

Loved every word of this so much:

“I was scared today.

I was scared to get on, scared to walk out the yard because I had a bad ride the day before. One bad ride, and it made me scared.

I didn’t know why. I’ve had 1000 bad rides. I’ve had 1000 falls. I’ve broken bones and bruised my pride on countless occasions, but today I was scared.

Why? Because confidence is fragile. It takes months and years to build and seconds to lose and yet we are so careless with it.

When we get on a horse, we wear a hat to protect our head. We wear body protectors, gloves, boots...

We pay so much attention to protecting ourselves physically, we forget that our minds are not invincible, and our confidence certainly is not.

Your bank of confidence needs regular deposits, not just from others... but from you. Self confidence is the most valuable currency in life.

When you go to get on, and you hesitate, you falter and you start to ask yourself “can I do this?”, chances are, your account is almost empty.

Every time you laugh and say “oh no, I’m no good” or “so and so is 10x better than me”, you make a withdrawal from that account, and before you know it, your account is empty and you’re scared to get on.

But every time you say “I’m really pleased with how that went” or “I think I rode that really well”, your balance increases.

We need to learn to give ourselves a break, pat ourselves on the back and allow ourselves to feel proud of where we are - after all, most of the time we’ve worked bloody hard to get there!

Recognising your strengths is just as important as recognising your weaknesses. Never allow yourself or anyone else to empty that account.

Confidence is valuable, don’t bankrupt yourself.”

29/09/2023

24/09/2023

7 yr old AQHA appendix gelding. “Tito’s” is sweet as can be. Stands 16.1 hh. Puppy dog personality, loves people and gentle as can be. He’s running bred and would excel in a barrel or working home. He was started on the pattern as a 3 year old but hasn’t seen it since. He was ranched on for a couple years prior to us owning him. We have rode him all over in the back country, Frank Church Wilderness, he’s extremely sure footed. Not spooky, but aware of his surroundings. Saddle up and get on and go type. Wouldn’t recommend for a beginner as he is big and has a motor and still has a young mind. Soft in the face, moves off legs decent. If you put him back on barrels I would consider him a free runner. He’s never done anything dangerous. No Buck but or kick or rear. He’s been a tough choice to sell, but our focus is in other places right now, and he deserves to be able to do the job he’s bred for. Located in Notus, ID 💲8️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣

24/09/2023

New pens are all set up! Love these Brazzen panels and gates. Huge thanks to Emily Hickey and Mitch Hickey for the help getting them up.

23/09/2023

A dull horse is a dangerous horse.

Responsiveness is what keeps you and your horse safe in all situations.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to trail ride, arena ride or have a performance/sport horse- your horse needs to be responsive.

End of story.

19/09/2023

Am I crazy? Yeah probably. But what can ya do? 🙃 This cute girl is soon to be joining the Vegas Mustang Challenge party too 🎉 🤪

This little mare is a 4 yr old from the Nevada Wild Horse Range, and I’ll be making the trek down to Palomino Valley to get her toward the end of October with Hickey Horsemanship 😍 I was in love with her build and how she moved in her video. Excited to see her in person and watch her transform.

19/09/2023

Now that I have hands on, it’s name reveal time 🤩

Meet “Don Julio” 👨🏻 aka “Julio”

Those who know me, know I name all of my horses after alcohol. 🍻 I figure we like to have a good time around here, so the horses’ names might as well match right? 🤣 cheers to the next 296 days with him 🍾

19/09/2023

Just two curious kids 💛

18/09/2023

“The horse needs to respect you, but sometimes people confuse respect and fear. And they’re not the same at all.” - Buck Brannaman

18/09/2023

Handsome boys right there 🤩

15/09/2023

Emotional support goats for the win 😎 these two have zero fear. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. This guy isn’t really too sure what to think of these weird little bossy horned things 🤣

14/09/2023

Well, I’m one for one on Eagle horses.. let’s see if we can go 2 for 2 🙃 pretty excited to bring this, skinny tailed, tall boy home. He’s very athletic and has looks to boot. 4 yr old from Eagle NV

14/09/2023

Thank goodness for coffee ☕️ excited to share my pick for the Mustang Challenge in Las Vegas next year in July!

08/09/2023

Val’s first day with me. Love a horse that thinks and tries. She’s got such a good mind on her. Looking forward to the next few months on her and making her into everything her mama needs and wants.

14/08/2023

Good thing we have these 6’ panels, wouldn’t want any wild horses jumping out 🤣

This little dude will be available soon! He’s 5 years old. Goes good under saddle and my son has lead line rode him. Working on some fear quirks he’s got and getting better with being caught. He’s a smart boy though, it won’t take much!

02/08/2023

~DUTCH~

This handsome boy was introduced into my life about 8 years ago by a good family friend. At the time, I just had the amazing opportunity to ride him and use him as I pleased. This is the horse who opened my eyes to what a true athlete, truly broke, and truly finished horse was. He was the fanciest horse I’d ever swung a leg over. He set the bar high for me for what I wanted any horse I owned to be like. Because of this guy, I’ve studied, and shadowed, and spent hours of lessons under other trainers so I could just dip a toe into what it takes to make a horse be just like him. Codigo, my Mania Mustang, has been a true testament to what this boy brought to my life as a horseman. I will forever be grateful for meeting him, and now having the opportunity to own him. Thank you Janet Allcott for all of the years you have given me and my family with him.

05/07/2023

🥹♥️

04/07/2023

Codigo did her first parade this morning. We decided to go bridleless, that’s her happy place. You’d have thought I drugged her she was so relaxed. Happy 4th of July! ♥️🇺🇸

23/05/2023

The things you’d never see on a mustang until you’re up close and personal. Codigo has the cutest spots under her belly and at the crease of her flanks. The first time I was able to get get close to her when I got her I had mentioned she had white strands throughout her mane, and for being jet black I thought it was strange, along with her white inner ears. But once I was able to start brushing her and tacking her up I was able to see the middle belly spot, and as she shed out saw more of the others.

07/05/2023

Still have so much to work on. Both me as a rider, and Codigo. She has made me want to ride better, and at a whole different level than I ever have before. She has too much potential and grit for me not to want to be the best I can be. I can see so many things I did wrong when I watch this, but I’m posting to show her progress and so I can look back and see the difference in me as I figure it all out as her jockey.

07/05/2023

Some cute little 11’s Codigo is making ❤️‍🔥

01/05/2023

She cleans up good 🔥

14/04/2023

Learning some new tricks. She has such a quirky personality, she’s always got that nose up in my business 🤣 had to keep pushing her head away so she would focus 😅 this was about 10 minutes into us trying out getting this trick. She took it so literal she started laying down later on 🤦🏼‍♀️ going to have to really differentiate those cues as we go!

13/04/2023

Little miss got her lamborfeeties done. She was a little rockstar for the whole thing. No drugs needed. Mr. Dutch, the ladies man (or so he thinks) was there for moral support, and a few b***y bites 🥴 he managed to sneak a few of those in at the worst times 😅

A few days prior she had some chiropractic work done. She loved every second of it. She was out pretty bad on the front end, especially her right side, which explained some of our issues with getting smooth flexing and nicer circles to the right. She was also out through her ribs on both sides. It’s amazing what discomforts horses will work through, she should be feeling quite a bit better now.

She also had some dental work done a couple days ago. Had both wolf teeth removed, one was broken. And she also had a crooked smile that got fixed after filing down some sharp edges.

It’s been a week of self love for Codigo.
✅ feet trimmed/shoes
✅ chiropractor
✅ dental work

05/04/2023

Had our first big outing today. Went to a little open ride/clinic. She did so good with all the other horses going different speeds around her. Stayed so relaxed. She REALLY liked looking at herself in the mirror. She knows she’s 🔥

03/04/2023

Ride 9. We introduced sport boots, she didn’t care too much, a few high steps and she was past it. After a short round pen session I asked my mom, “how dumb should I be today?” 🤣 my moms facial reaction says I must do a lot of dumb stuff 😆 so I told her I wanted to try her bridle-less because I wanted to know how much Codigo truly was understanding my stop and back cues. After the first flawless stop I told my mom my goals of being Stacy Westfall were happening 🤣 in case you haven’t heard me say it before, this horse is so dang cool. I’m obsessed with her. She LOVES to work and it’s clear in every session. She knows more in her 9 rides than most of the domestic horses I’ve rode 😅

30/03/2023

I believe this is ride 6. Gotten a bit behind on posting. This was the first solo day. She has a lot more confidence when I’m on her than she does on the ground. Not much phases her from up there. We also adventured to the big pen today. Still kept her nice stop just by saying “whoa”, which was nice to see that she kept her mind even in a big open space. We rode back into the round pen and even closed the hat from on her back. She was really digging the scratches under the breast collar. This was the most personality I’ve seen from her since bringing her home. She’s got a goofy personality that’s really starting to break through and that’s fun to see, especially since she’s been all business since day one and hadn’t cared much for being “loved” on.

30/03/2023

Today’s ride. #7. A lot more was done today but didn’t get it all videoed. This girl stops on a dime, don’t even have to lift the reigns, just stops at “whoa” and stopping my seat. She’s starting to get a back without having to use the reigns, just by leg cue too. We introduced a new rider today too. She really likes my mom so I knew they’d click well once my mom got comfortable. She has such a nice relaxed collected lope, it was fun to watch from the ground this time. Took mom a couple times of stopping on her before her body trusted that Codigo would stop without having to touch the reigns. But when she finally kept her hands down and just asked for the “whoa” and got that big stop her face lit up. This horse is dang cool, and I’ll probably wear that out saying it as much as I do. She has more try and talent in her than most I’ve swung a leg over.

28/03/2023

Out here making friends. Clearly we have a type 🙃🖤

27/03/2023

Ride #4. She’s too cool for her own good 😎

25/03/2023

Second ride. Enjoy watching us do lots of small circles 🙃 she’s very soft and really figured out direction today along with learning to move from leg pressure. We picked up a little speed as well, didn’t get it all videoed. But she’s so relaxed, as she should be.

24/03/2023

First ride ✔️

Our place is a swamp so we hauled to an indoor to get some things done! I love that we are in a place in our training that I can load her up so easy and go where we need to. our first ride was nice and easy. She was so calm, and the wheels in her head were turning like crazy trying to figure out what she needed to do. And she took it all so well and quickly figured it all out. Really looking forward to what she is going to accomplish.