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Last Updated 08/12/2008
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| Testimonials |
E W ! |
Gentle Horse Training
by Misty Waters
"It's real surprising how few horsemen ever bother to encourage a horse or give him praise.
They jest stick to using harsh words when he's done something wrong. They never realize
a horse likes praise and responds to it jest like he responds to being found fault with.
A horse that feels his man's really his friend'll work hard for praise and take pleasure in deserving it."
~Richard Adams in "Traveller,"the story of the Civil War told through the eyes of Robert E. Lee's horse~
My current training fee is $450 per 30 day period beginning in the
months of May-September and $500 per 30 day period beginning
in the months of October-April. Add $100 per month for stallions.
Limited openings.
Click here to see my training contract
Move cursor over images to see results.
Click here to see short video clips of some of the horses in training.
Image Intensive! Dial-up users BEWARE!
Cody is a 2 year old Pinto filly that was brought in for training so she could be resold. She started off being very timid and over re-reactive to everything. Before being sold, she accepted tarps over her head, cap guns, and various other "goofy" things.
Wow!
This girl can really buck, when she wants to!!
Once she figured out that nothing was going to hurt her, she was a very intelligent and willing student.
Geronimo is a 3 year old pinto gelding, owned by Pat in Marion Springs, MI.
He had lived a "life of leisure", with no rules or guidance , so he started off being a bit on the lazy side and REALLY resentful of the new demands that he was encountering.
We worked through his issues and became a willing student.
Leroy is a halflinger cross gelding owned by Grant and his family in Wheeler, MI. They wanted him to be a good safe horse for riding on trails and roads, as well as possibly being shown in 4-h. He's a super nice little horse that happily accepted everything that I asked of him..
Brody is a beautiful 2 year old paint gelding that is owned by Shelby, in Nashville, MI. He is here for initial saddle training, and de-spooking. He is very nervous, but also extremely intelligent. He started out being frightened of everything, but caught on very quickly on his first de-spooking day. He's going to be a good one.
Update: After receiving 30 days of initial saddle training and de-spooking, Brody is now home for his owner to ride.
Sky Hawk is a gorgeous registered Arabian stallion owned by Rebecca in Wayland, MI. He is here to learn some ground manners and learn to be respectful to his handler, even when the "ladies" are around. He is very friendly and loving and is a true pleasure to work with.
Due to my husband's illness, he was sent home for a short time and will be returning soon to continue his training.
Kisses is a beautiful tobiano filly that is owned by Jenni in Midland, MI. Jenni wants her to be a quiet and dependable trail horse for her to enjoy. I was working on de-spooking her and getting her over her terror of plastic bags and making her road and trail safe.
She was returned to her happy owner on May 30th.
Bandit is a Paint gelding, owned by Chris in Grand Rapids, MI. Chris wants him to be a laid back dependable trail horse. She also wanted him to "self load" into a trailer and back out willingly. He arrived here on May 2nd, went on his first ride down the road on May 15th, and as of June 14th, will walk, trot, canter, and go from canter to a walk on cue! His training is complete and he was picked up on June 18th.
Odie is a beautiful arab/paint gelding owned by Sharon, in Midland, MI. She wants him to be a good safe horse for riding on trails and roads. Odie has now been ridden at a walk, trot, and canter, and is doing very well. He's very smart and a pleasure to handle. Training complete and he is now home.
Cash is a gorgeous Missouri Foxtrotter gelding. When he arrived, he was spoiled, scared of nearly everything, and wanted his handler to "hold him" when he was frighten. He's MUCH too big for that. lol
He was here for 30 days and was taken down the roads and onto trails. He needs to mature before he'll be considered road and trail safe, but he's well on his way.
Dallas is a gorgeous red dun APHA mare that is owned by Dani in Linwood, MI. She send Dallas to me to be bred to Magic, and to get some behavior issues straightened out, so she would be safe for her children to ride. Dallas had no flexibility in her neck and was similar to riding a saw-horse. She has since learned to flex and is in the beginning stages of neck-reining.
Peaches is a gorgeous palomino APHA mare owned by Dani in Linwood, MI. She wanted her bred to Magic, as well as get a refresher course and some lessons on neck-reining and being more flexible. She,like Dallas, was very stiff at first, but has since learned to flex and bend while turning.
Sarah is a 9 year old BLM "last chance" mustang mare that is owned by Beverely in Olivet, MI.
Sarah was delivered to me with no halter or lead rope and my job is to halter train her and get her to accept every day type handling and hoof trimming, within 2 weeks time.
She proved to be a bit of a challenge, but is now coming along nicely. She is leading and allowing her feet to be picked up without problems.
Breeze is a nice little paint mare that is owned by Janice in Roseville, MI.
Breeze was started under saddle by her owner, who wants me to do the advanced training, including cantering, nice stops, neck-reining, and backing, as well as trail and road safety.
Joanie was previously started under saddle, but her new owner needed her to have a refresher, because she had been used as a broodmare after training.
Mandy is a nice little paint mare that is owned by Amanda in Merrill, MI.
She was brought in for winter training and wanting her here to learn to canter smoothly, but not slow, have nice stops, neck-rein, and back smoothly, as well as additional training in trail and road safety.
Texas is paint mare that is owned by Brian in Ithaca, MI. She was here for initial saddle training. Her owner wanted her to be a kid safe riding horse, and unfortunately, I had to tell him that she did not have the disposition for that. She was here for 30 days and on day 28, she went on a 15 mile trail ride in Ionia, where she not only encountered the normal trail riding obstacles (creek, hills, deer, etc) but also experienced tracking dogs, helicopters, and police cars with sirens and flashing lights. She did great, but still not a kids horse.
Glow is a registered Morgan mare that is owned by Melissa in south central Michigan. Glow was very nervous and could hardly be touched behind her shoulders, wouldn't behave for the farrier, and hated her ears and mouth touched. By the end of her training here, she had been ridden safely down the road and out on trails. She will gladly lead or follow, which shows how much confidence she has gained. She is no longer scared of being touched anywhere and will stand for farrier work .
A trainer in the area, who tried to train Prize for Darlene, told her that "Prize is crazy and needed a Cowboy to throw her down and force her to accept things". Angry, as she should be, Darlene called me. She has improved greatly, as you can see by the roll-over image.
