I train Stangs

04/17/2025

Calvin and Jennifer Lane after a fantastic lesson.
Owner - Nathan Allan Williams-Bonner

12/23/2024

This is why I do what I do! My heart is so full!
Music is a very special horse and his owner Shari shared a special bond with him for several years. Unfortunately he had passed through multiple hands and when she had the opportunity to purchase him she did so excitedly. However, upon receiving Music into her care he was no longer the same horse. He exhibited signs of trauma and fear that would cause him to turn away from people in his stall, face the corner, and tremble uncontrollably when they approached. Despite all of this, he was never aggressive.
I worked with Music for 60 days to re-establish his trust in humanity. My focus was on relaxation, trust and giving him an environment that supported those things; as well such as a hygienic area, natural surroundings and exercise as well as companionship from other horses.
My first time mounting Music during the first week I was under the impression that he was more rideable than he actually was. I mounted him not, as a first-time Mount, but as an experienced horse and he panicked,bolted and bronced all the way down the arena until the stirrup snapped and I bailed off in the corner which may or may not have resulted in a fractured clavicle LOL it's still sore to this day LOL. I remounted him the same day with more caution, as if the first time ride and ever since then my focus with him had been on relaxation and trust. He was never met with aggression or reprimanded. When he was too fearful to complete a task or made a"mistake", he was only met with compassion, then we would back up several steps and work there for a while. I routinely told him, " I'm never going to hurt you". Eventually, he started to believe me.

Over the 60 days we bonded considerably and Music began to trust and be able to enjoy interacting with people.
He became my daughter's favorite horse in training with her eventually able to ride him on a lead as well( she is 7).
We are going to miss him and wish he and Shari many years of happiness together!

12/08/2024

Music is a new man. He came to me trembling in a corner a bit over a month ago and we have since become fast friends 💜❤️. Rebuilding a horses trust makes my heart full 🌝

11/26/2024

11/17/2024

https://www.facebook.com/572919596/posts/10161700513459597/?mibextid=CDWPTG

This advice will NOT be popular with those who want it RIGHT NOW, but nevertheless, here goes---

If the goal is to become two things, a good rider and a good horseman/horsewoman, be willing to think in decades rather than in years.

That first decade, from whatever age you began, will take you only so far, and may even take you to the Olympics, but riding skill alone won’t give you all you need to know and be able to do. The next couple of decades will let three components, your physical skills, your control over your emotions and your knowledge, all intertwined to complement one another.

That’s why many of the best riders and trainers are in their 40s, 50s and in some cases in their 60s, even 70s. They didn’t get those tens of thousands of hours overnight.

There are ever so many riders and trainers who gave up too soon. They just needed to have hung in there another ten years, maybe twenty. Which sounds insane, but actually isn’t.

11/15/2024

We must stop normalizing things that are wrong

*mares are thin when they are feeding babies

*tack that doesn't fit but it's my favorite saddle

*horses in shoes the wrong shape with broken back angles

*you can't keep weight on an old horse

*this deeply sloppy 20 x 15 area is the only pasture I have

*4 out of 10 horses were lame at yesterday's show

*extreme sunbleaching just happens

*Those long toes make her gait better

*that eye waters all the time but it doesn't bother him

*extremely skinny horses in the 4th of July parade

*a lot of horses are lazy when they eat and drop their feed

*bridling a horse by slamming the bit at the mouth and wrestling the head down out of the sky

Some are said and done out of ignorance.

Some are said and done out of tradition.

Some are said and done out of a lack of caring.

But if we are people who love horses, we have to train ourselves to know better and not see any of these as normal.

We must learn how we can do better because what is labeled as normal often is not actually what is Right