A valley of wild horses is where I wish scientists, trainers, and horse lovers would spend more time trying to understand the equine species.
It was incredible to witness how quickly the energy shifted around a group of fifty or more horses with the arrival of just three rowdy bachelors when we went out to study the Canadian Wildies of Alberta.
I don't know that any one has yet captured all that there is to learn of the equine language, psychology, and motivations. When at the only true liberty that exists, (if one were trying to really define that word with horses) their interactions are so rich with unique intention, it feels that us humans really are only scratching the surface to all that there is to know about these wonderful creatures we are so drawn to.
Nevertheless, so much of observing is at the hands of human interpretation.
A while back, a popular wild horse behavior post was going around about how caring stallions are, taking in abandoned foals and protecting them. The sad reality was most likely they were observing a desperate stallion that probably stole a young filly from her family band. Or even if he did indeed find her, prevented her from returning.
And they don't just keep fillies. In Australia studying brumbies, we witnessed first hand, a bachelor group attempting to breed a young colt repeatedly. The colt could not escape and run back to his natal band. It was both shocking and disturbing. The wild ways of horses in freedom feels often distorted.
Still, there are some truly great stallions as well.
On one of countless tours to study wild horses around the world, my close friend, Kelly Wilson, came across a remarkable occurrence. She had found a mature wild stallion in Canada that faithfully protected his friend, an older stallion with an unrecoverable broken leg from harassment of other horses and predators alike. It was an old injury. Clearly bringing to attention that against the odds, in a land shared with a high population of w
Clips of Junnali's 6th ride which was probably about two miles ridden and still bridleless since her very first ride. The most technical portion of the trail I walked her in the neck rope just to set us up both for success.
She got biggest reward of winter pasture turnout with Rosette and Amadora. And I head out today to make it to Equifest in New Zealand. Then next month, Australia's EQUITANA .
Junnali has really exceeded any and all expectations! In five rides she now has added bridleless trot and canter to her list of achievements.
As lovely as she is, she was not exempted from being a little senstive to a rider bareback in the canter so to make that smooth and set her up for success I added a bareback pad. Typically I will even transition to a saddle at this point but I wanted to try and see if I could still stay semi bareback to some extent.
She did attempt to turn things a little western. Not having much mane to hold on to also added to the challenge but we quickly managed to work through it and have nice confident strides each way!
And for those wondering, no, I fortunately have not had any unplanned dismounts in all our rides together.
In the past, I've had a lot of fears around riding and colt starting in general that I've spent a lot of time working on. Although unexpected happens even with the best of preparations, my goal is to do things as safely as possible without letting fears over shadowing my passion and desire to learn to be the best horsewoman I can be.
I'm thankful to Junnali in her willingness to help on this quest and all the many individuals who also are a part of my support system.
Highlights from Junnali's first trail ride. It was so lovely to see her carry the same softness and connection from the arena, into the forest.
This was also only her fourth ride and somewhere around an hour combined time of having a rider in her pervious rides. And so far they have all only been bareback and bridleless.With that said she's had a good bit of ground preparation including walking on the trail in the neck rope on the ground.
With that said, just a few months ago she had a hard time just leading on her own in these same woods. I've spent the last couple weeks in my time home finally working on that issue. However I still had no idea we would do a solo ride bridleless out there any time soon!
She is a very exceptional young mustang, passing my pre bridleless test with flying colors. Although I rode in a lead rope as a neck rope, fully prepared to dismount and school her if needed, I did not have to get off once to show this blue-eyed curly girl anything. ♡
A fall bridleless ride in the mountains with Rosette. ♡
Highlights of the end of Junnali's third ride which was her very first ride in the arena and with obstacles. After the first two rides were mostly focused on body control, I decided to use the obstacles as a way to create a visual for forward and a clear task of why forward is needed.
Junnali pieced that together very quickly, overcoming each one that I presented to her. In the past I typically also ground drive before the first rides, so she didn't have that extra skillset prior to trying it out but that did not seem to slow her down at all. She did amazing.
Junnali's second ride! This time we focused on full hindquarter yields and full pivots before putting too much forward. She did excellent even with asking big questions of her. Also in this second ride, she gained more confidence with forward, plus softening more with the neck rope in her stops and back up.
Junnali's first ride! She really amazed me in how much she offered today. Yesterday was her first time coming to the mounting block and the first with me sitting on her.
Typically I break up the body control into separate sessions, however when she nearly flawlessly offered all the correct answers on the ground, I decided if she seemed confident I would let her excel forward.
She backed beautifully off the neckrope, yielded her hind end, moved her shoulders, and also offered lateral! And not only did she do body control but she also started putting forward and stop together.
An amazing filly she is. The total of the ride was less than fifteen minutes for her to piece together so many buttons and ideas.♡
Junnali's first ride! She really amazed me in how much she offered today. Yesterday was her first time coming to the mounting block and the first with me sitting on her.
Typically I break up the body control into separate sessions, however when she nearly flawlessly offered all the correct answers on the ground, I decided if she seemed confident I would let her excel forward.
She backed beautifully off the neckrope, yielded her hind end, moved her shoulders, and also offered lateral! And not only did she do body control but she also started putting forward and stop together.
An amazing filly she is. The total of the ride was less than fifteen minutes for her to piece together so many buttons and ideas.♡
It's not just Ella's bridleless advancement in the arena that we've been working on. This week we've also progressed to bridleless trail riding out on a variety of trails! This mustang continues to impress, overcoming vast amount challenging task I ask her to navigate. My goal when training isn't to just have a great trail horse, just a one trick pony, or one that can only do arena work with. I believe all these areas are all important.
Ella really embodies what a partnership between horse and human can look like, where the horse can be safe, clam, free to express themselves, and happy. She was not always this way and has taken several years of dedication to help her transform from a nervous and reactive young horse into one of the most reliable steeds.
As always it is always and absolute pleasure and honor to get the opportunity to work with her in my annual visit to Germany. ♡
#espanasilk #montanapremiumforage #FreeformTreelessSaddles #EquusTelevison #SteadyHorse #AmericanMustangGermany #mustangheritagefoundation #demandthebrand #foreverbranded
#libertyhorse #libertyhorsemanship #bridleless #positivereinforcementtraining #clickertraininghorses
Ella's bridleless has developed so beautifully this week. So often I am spending time refining the gentling and liberty foundations that getting to work on these more advanced trainings has been a real treat with Ella! I'm grateful for the opportunity to partner with her for a short time each year.
Mustang school, trailer loading edition. These four boys have been sharpening their skills with the trailer. After cleaning up their obstacle training, the trailer is merely another obstacle. With that mentality, leading on is always a breeze.
However with flighty mustangs turning in the trailer can trigger a bolt response so learning to turn and stand quietly, waiting to be asked off is another valuable skill set. For those horses, I send them on until they are a little quieter till going on with them.
And when in doubt, making the trailer a really neutral place is a bonus. Which means free feeding buckets and tastey alfalfa. I love this style of training because the horses can continue to learn on their own without a person being a part of the equation.
