“Once I came to this realization, I knew the course of action I needed to take to keep my dream alive!”

In my search to master the horse-human connection, I was able to successfully rehabilitate “untrainable” horses, train never-before-saddled colts to ride walk, trot, and canter in 3.5-hour colt starting competitions, and start a completely wild mustang to ride at a walk, trot, and canter in a big arena — without ropes or tack, in 7 days. I am a 3x Extreme Mustang Makeover Freestyle Champion and 2017 Mustang Magic Champion (where trainers have 100 days to train a completely wild horse). I have performed with my team of mustangs at liberty all over the country, and have been asked to speak, judge & teach all over the world. My work has been featured on Animal Planet, COWGIRL magazine, and Horse & Rider Magazine.

ENTER POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT

I reached the peak of my career using “Natural Horsemanship,” (pressure and release) until I came across a previously untrainable mustang and a feisty zebra who stopped me in my tracks. To train them with pressure & release, I would have to use a LOT more pressure than I was comfortable with… and that just didn’t align with me.

So I was back to the drawing board, and I dove headfirst into the wondrous world of positive reinforcement training, specifically clicker training. This completely turned my world upside down. I looked to world-renown experts in the realm of positive reinforcement training with equines and other species and even spent time working with marine mammals and other exotics to learn their secrets and bring this knowledge back to the horse-training industry.

JOY AND ENTHUSIASM

Using pressure and release in an ethical way, my horses were impartial about our training sessions. Fine if we trained, fine if we didn’t. They felt safe and relaxed… But they were missing that sparkle in their eye that I longed for them to have.

After trying clicker training, I could never go back! I have rehabilitated an “untrainable” mustang out in a huge field, completely at liberty, successfully gentled 4 more mustangs using positive reinforcement, and witnessed a joy and enthusiasm in my team of well-trained mustangs that I had never seen before.

“Most importantly, my horses WANT to be with me! And everyone who saw this started asking how they could replicate the same results with THEIR horses, too.”

So, I put together a program to teach my signature methodology that has allowed me to train & connect with any horse, using methods that honor the horse in the process. That is how the “Horse – Human Connection Academy” was born.