We started working with Stella when she was a yearling. She and her mother were rescued by the Santa fe Horse Shelter and adopted by EQ505, another rescue organization in Santa fe. Stella was friendly, but only on her own terms. She preferred to rear or kick out when asked something specific. She was emotional at times, and shut down at other times. Luckily we were able to work with Stella twice a week for about a year, until she turned two and a half years. At that time, we took her into full training. Like many young horses, Stella needed consistent attention/training to help her become an emotionally solid and confident 3 year old. Stella was adopted to her new home late in the summer of 2023 and now has an owner who is trail riding her in hopes of making her his Hunt horse.

Penasco is a 16-hand mustang from a small band near Huerfano, N.M. He was adopted from the Santa fe Horse Shelter when he was almost 2 years old. He is now 7 years old. Penasco is a smart (sometimes too smart), seemingly confident horse who also holds a good amount of worry in his body. On the outside he looks as if he is indifferent, but on the inside, he needs his person to be confident and clear, without escalating his worry. He is a tricky horse to work with, keeping his attention is a full-time job – but worth it as he is a big, beautiful, and an interesting horse to get to know. His owner is an avid student of the horse and continues to learn as much as she can from this very interesting partnership.

Baza is a 14 year old Andalusian mare. In 2019 she was determined to have a cervical spine issue. She would trip and stumble to her knees regularly and at that time her owner and the Veterinarian involved decided she should not be ridden. When Baza was 12 her owner decided to try stem cell treatments at the C7/T1 junction, as her new Veterinarian suggested. The following fall after the treatments her owner was able to start riding her again. Leela, my business partner who is a Masterson Method Certified Professional, then started giving Baza body work sessions twice a month. Soon after we started working with Baza and her owner using the classical exercises to help Baza learn to use her body with better balance. Baza has now been under saddle without any neurologic symptoms for 2 years. She continues to improve her balance under saddle with the correct work. Baza is a good example of how great Veterinary diagnostics and classical exercises can help bring a neurologically challenged horse back into health, alongside an owner who has shown a great and loving commitment to this very beautiful mare.

Garth is a 10 year old Off the Track Thoroughbred that EQ 505 (a Santa fe Rescue Organization) rescued from his owner in Taos. After the track, Garth was owned by at least three other owners leaving Garth dull and detached from humans. We worked with Garth for about a year, getting him back to enjoying his work with riders, developing his groundwork skills (which he had none), and helping his body recover from the one-sidedness of racing, and barrel racing (one of his ex-owners tried to barrel race him). He is now a solid-minded, happy horse for EQ 505’s owner, Lori Kunkle.

Zazu was a rescue weanling from EQ 505 in Santa fe, where she was adopted along with her mother from Four Corners Rescue in Colorado. Zazu was an unhandled filly with a mean kick in her. When we first met her a few other trainers had attempted to halter her with no luck, which gave her some great skills for evasion. We did not have to rope Zazu to finally get her halter broke. But it took some creative wrangling, using her mother as a buffer so she couldn’t kick us. Once haltered we went to work touching her all over her body, having her learn to give to pressure, keeping the sessions short and interesting for her so she could develop more curiosity towards humans. Zazu is now three years old. She is under saddle at the walk, trot, and canter, as well as going out on the trail. Late this fall she was adopted by her new owner who is an avid horse woman who loves to ride into the wilderness.

Finley is a year-and-a half old Quarter horse gelding who came to us because of some ground handling issues at home. His owner said he was nippy, wouldn’t stand for the farrier, and extremely dull when asking him to do an exercise. Finley also had a lower limb development issue that the farrier really needed to address every 3 weeks. Some horses need more pressure, some need much less. Finley required his handler to access the amount of energy it would take to push a big truck up a steep hill! In order to get his attention and build his desire to do an exercise, we had to bring a boat full of energy. But once he was awake and in the game, Finley was so much fun to play with. As his ground skills came around, so did the other side of his sweet personality. Finley was never mouthy with us, and by the end of the month we could work him in the round pen easily, lunge him quietly, move his HQ and his forehand around each other, pony him on the trail off another horse, and have him stand quiet for me as I trimmed his feet. Finley is now in his new great home in Albuquerque.

Lola is a 12 year old Lusitano mare owned by Legacy’s Leela Brightenburg. Lola was started late, at 9 years old. She was for sale for many years when Leela purchased her. She had limited handling and training. Her first thirty days in training was with a cowboy trainer who rushed the training, leaving Lola anxious and lacking in confidence. We post her here in our “Horses in Training” because Leela has basically treated her as a horse in training for three years. Working with her at least 3 to 4 days a week, many times 5 days a week. Lola has flourished with this kind of attention and consistency, and is now a very friendly, confident horse who loves people and other horses. She is in training for dressage, as well as an all-around trail and pleasure horse.

Kenzie is a 10 year old Gypsy Vanner mare. She was 6 years old when our client purchased her in Colorado. She was ridden as a dressage prospect with no trail experience. Kenzie is sensitive and has a lot of “go”. Our work with Kenzie centers around allowing her to move forward without rushing, to use classical exercises to help balance her off her forehand, and to give her holistic exercises that help her body stay in balance. Like many horses, Kenzie is different side-to-side, as are most horse owners. We work closely with both Kenzie and her owner to help progress their development.

Cersei was a 5 year old Icelandic mare who had never been haltered and had lived in a herd of Icelandic horses at the breeding farm where she was born. Her new owner bought her without being able to catch her. She was brought to us inside a trailer, where she was run through a squeeze shoot to get her loaded. We unloaded her in our round pen and worked with her for about 45 days total. She was extremely distrustful and guarded, throwing her rear end at us when we would get too close. It took us 5 days a week, 3 short sessions a day(twenty-minutes) to get her to trust us, allow us to halter her, groom her, and touch her all over her body. We did groundwork/leading lessons, some lunging, and basic round-pen skills in order for Cersei to trust not just us, but her new owner as well.

Guinness is a 3 year old Warmblood/Irish Sport Horse cross gelding. At three he is already 16 hands and growing fast. We had Guinness in training for a month this summer (2023) cleaning up a few holes in his earlier start. Guinness is a kind, willing, and talented young horse who at first had an enormous attention deficit, not able to pay much attention to the rider on his back. Being specific in his groundwork really helped him retain his attention when he was under saddle. The more the rider paid attention to the specifics of where Guinness put his feet, the more Guinness became a partner under his rider. Guinness is a great example of what a young horse needs in his early training, before they can become the athlete they are bred to be.

Pro is a 9 year old Quarter Horse gelding. His owner bought him at 6 years old from Texas. He was a very trained and well-minded trail/mountain horse for her for their first year. At 7 years old Pro began to act anxious on the trail and began to lose his balance climbing, acting out in unusual ways. Eventually, his owner stopped riding him because it wasn’t safe. She had him tested for EPM and his levels were very high. She treated him for EPM for over a year. During that time Pro had enormous muscle wasting. We met Pro in the spring of 2022. By then his musculature was looking back to normal but he still had some behavioral issues. When we asked for some movement, either trot or canter, he would blow-up, bucking and trying to run off. Using classical exercises, pole work, and exercises that helped him build his small postural muscles (the ones closest to the spine) Pro began to be able to balance himself better. He came back to a normal balance after about 2 and half months of re-training. At that time Pro was able to be ridden in the arena and on the trail with no physical or behavioral symptoms. Pro has continued to be a healthy and solid riding horse for his owner on the trail and in the mountains.