For the past 10 days, I have been training at the amazing Montgomery Creek Ranch, up in a remote part of Northern CA. This 2000 acre ranch is sanctuary to over 200 wild horses, and also a training facility for mustangs that are then sold to their forever homes. These mustangs are gentled first and foremost, bringing them into the human world full of their curiosity and confidence. I’ve seen amazing work done here by the head trainer Nancy O’Neill. She is a skilled horsewoman, gentling the wild horses in a way, that they are fully nurtured and educated. This art takes time and knowledge. In my life working with mustangs, I’ve seen more botched trainings than good ones. Mostly due to the lack of knowledge from the human/trainer, and their lack of understanding the importance of deep trust building that it takes with a wild horse. There are no shortcuts and there’s no one technique that will make a mustang trained. If you want it done right, come check out what Nancy is doing, she’s the real deal.

During my time here, I have taken five gentled horses that are of age, and am starting them under saddle. These young horses have a foundation from their gentling, so that moving the education from the ground to on their backs is not a far stretch. It is such an honor to guide a horse through this process. I get to support and challenge them, know when to move them and when to pause, when to ask them to lope off and when to step off. It’s a fine dance, one that never gets old and never feels like the last one. My goal is always to have a colt feeling bold and curious, knowing deeply that they were heard throughout their whole session. If their foundation is strong, these horses can go anywhere, and make riders of all disciplines feel connected and communicating, making the horses valuable and safe.

These days feel timeless and so rewarding!

I’ll be here at MCR through the weekend (3/14/22), then next stop will be down to San Luis Obispo area, for a few more colt starts and endurance training.