Wild 2 Mild: The journey of gentling mustangs

08/07/2025

Voting ends today! Im currently in 2nd place! Please take a moment to vote!😊

Please vote for my photo in the America’s Favorite Photos competition: https://americasfavoritephotos.com/v/6phfbznlt

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08/06/2025

Accurate 🤣

Except horses...

08/06/2025

Come out and support our youth trainers! They will be demonstrating how they partnered up with these previously unhandled young Mustangs over the summer! 

08/06/2025

Make time for the things that fill your cup.

08/06/2025

Love this…Gulliver did this for me! He was my first mustang, and first horse i ever trained.

To the horse who’s lived through every version of me

“You stood by me before I knew who I was.
Before I had the timing, the feel, the understanding. Before I knew how to speak to you in a way that made sense to you, and long before I knew how to listen.

You felt every phase of me.
The eager beginner.
The perfectionist.
The one who tried too hard,
and the one who didn’t try hard enough.

You learned to interpret what I meant when I didn’t say it clearly. You held space for my missteps, and gave me the chance to rewrite the story each time I came back with more clarity, more kindness and more understanding.

You didn’t walk away when I was still learning how to show up.
You didn’t shut down or told me off
when I was still figuring out how to open up and find better ways. You offered grace when I hadn’t earned it.

You met me in the mess.
And you grew with me, anyway.

I softened and listened deeper, because of you. You taught me that softness isn’t a flaw. That a real reciprocal partnership doesn’t come from control, but from trust, built slowly, in the quiet moments when neither of us had anything to prove. And all the other lessons you tucked gently into the spaces between heartbeats, the ones I’m still uncovering, even now.

Some of these lessons didn’t finish teaching when the moment ended, they unfold over time, revealing more each time I return to them with new eyes.

You shaped the best parts of me and I will carry that gift for the rest of my life.

To the horse who walked beside me through every version of who I was, thank you. You didn’t just change my horsemanship skills,

You changed me”

-Julia Williamson, The Horse Center, 2025
Photo credit-Tina Thompson

08/05/2025

🤣

1494 likes, 24 comments. “Share with your favorite addict😅🐴”

08/05/2025

Can’t tell you how much I miss this mustang! Definently was my soulstang as they say!

08/05/2025

Where there’s a will, there’s a way! ❤️

08/05/2025

Please vote for my photo in the America’s Favorite Photos competition: https://americasfavoritephotos.com/v/6phfbz

I’m currently in 2nd place! If you haven’t voted could you please take a moment to vote for my photo! It would mean a lot! Also you can vote DAILY!!😊

America’s Favorite Photos: Discover your new favorite photos!

08/04/2025

Red and Green Lights: Respecting what the Horse tells me how far I can go

The key is to get really good at reading the subtle signs the horse gives:

I always check for red and green lights:

Red Lights tell me to slow down, to give the horse a bit more time.

The horse is telling me: "Hey, wait a moment I am not ok with this."

A horse that doesn't move isn't necessarily relaxed and ok with what I am doing. It can also be frozen and ready to explode.

How to know the difference? By reading the horse.

Red lights are:

- raised head, stiff neck,
- not blinking the eyes
- moving stiffly and abrupt
- cocked hindleg in combination with raised head
- eyes wide open
- skin shivering when touching
- moving away from the mounting block as I get ready to mount or moving away from the saddle, flag, whatever...

When I see any of those, I know that I shouldn't go to the next step.

First, I make sure that I get green lights with the step I am working on.
A green light is as if the horse is saying: "I am ok with this now, you can go to the next step."

Green lights are:

- lowering of the head
- eyes resume blinking
- horse is checking in with me, bending his nose
- lick and chew
- sigh, blow out

If I get a green light, I know the horse has accepted the step I have been working on and is ready for the next step.

Working like this ensures that I proceed in the rhythm of the horse and don't push the horse too far. This is what keeps me safe and the horse confident as a learner.

Yes, this approach might take a little longer than if I would just push the horse through little worries - but it does create a very confident and happy horse that trusts the rider.

And isn't this what's most important?

Being able to Read the Horse right is one very important Key to Success when starting Horses.