I came to Natural Horsemanship initially after purchasing a very beautiful horse named “Tucker” for all the wrong reasons. Color and breed. He was pretty! I had always wanted a horse that looked just like him, so I bought him. This proved to be a very poor basis for choosing a horse and one which catapulted me on a life long journey with numerous mistakes and an outcome I never expected. I can say now, it was a good thing for my growth in horsemanship. However the lessons along the way were painful at times. Had I have known then, what I know now, I either would never have purchased him, or would have been better prepared for the challenge that was ahead.
Years of Rescue work After learning how to succeed on the ground with Tucker I stumbled into horse rescue. As I worked with rescue horses I became passionately involved with horse rehabilitation. Over the course of the next 7 years my family and I began a journey and helped place well over 200 rescue horses of various backgrounds. Let me just say that typically rescue horses had issues, either mental or physical or both. We worked with and placed everything from young horses, stallions, unhandled older horses, mishandled horses, ring sour, barn sour, buddy sour, aggressive, shy, timid to very dominate horses.
As a family we became skilled at problem solving, correcting behaviors and my personal strength became matching an adoptive person to an appropriate horse. One year we placed 65 horses in a 12 month time period. Most of the knowledge and skill I have acquired has been in the last 15 years by immersion in dealing with troubled horses. Working with so many types of horses accelerated my learning beyond that of the average horse owner. (Most horse owners may only own a total of a handful of horses in their lifetime.)
Anyone that has taken learning about horses seriously realizes you NEVER stop learning and you NEVER know it all. I am an avid trail rider and ride many miles a year. My passion however is groundwork. One of the things I enjoy most is teaching people to work with their horses and watching them discover the joy of partnership that can be achieved.
Transition from Rescue work to Equine Facilitated Learning… and healing.
As I think about the paths in life the Lord has led me down as he prepared me for this mission to help people find healing through relationships with horses, I am amazed because I too have found a healing and a passion I never knew existed. Many years ago our family adopted some of our children through the foster care system. Our children came with some significant emotional issues, learning challenges and other special needs. Having missed the formative years of nurturing in a loving family they displayed some very extreme behavior issues. I had served as the Director and Horse Manager of Horse North Rescue for 7 years. During that time I developed my Horsemanship skills through clinics, classes, videos and most of all hands on experience with literally hundreds of rescue horses. As the children and I participated in the daily care of the rescue horses together our adopted children began to realize how important “correct care and nurturing” was to the healing of the broken animals. These experiences helped our children empathize with the abuse and neglect some of these horses had endured. They began to learn to show compassion for the animals now under our care. Many conversations arose that helped the children to verbalize their own emotions about their past abuse and neglect. We watched as healing began to come to the children and the rescue horses simultaneously. I began to realize the life changing value of all types of equine assisted learning experiences with our children and decided to make the transition from rescuing horses to getting more involved in using relationships built with horses to help people heal. Horses are an amazing mirror for people. They offer instant feedback to our actions, emotions and intentions. They communicate non-verbally. Using body language they can respond to the slightest suggestions. I enjoy using my experience working with horses and my passion for teaching “Relational Horsemanship” at Reining Liberty Ranch. My focus at Reining Liberty Ranch is working with area Veterans suffering from PTSD and other traumas. We have served their since the founding of the ranch. We have seen healing, purpose and passion come to many of our clients from learning these techniques and having these experience with various personalities of horses.
We have seen first hand the healing that can come to both (horses and humans) who have had the opportunity to experience human and equine relationships. It is a relationship built on trust, fair expectations and clear communication. It is an incredible feeling to have a 1200 lb. animal choose to be with you, not because you force them to, or even because you have a lead rope on them, but simply because of the relationship you have formed with them!