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Training |
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My journey into horseman- ship began a couple of years ago when I tried starting my first colt. I got in way over my head but this is what it took for me to finally start searching for a better relationship with my horses. I ended up selling my colt as soon as I saw that we were not doing each other any favors. After finding a good home for him I had time to reflect on exactly what I was looking for in my horsemanship. I wanted to learn how to clearly communicate with my horse in a way that was non-threatening and that could be encouraging. Then I came across Alex through a friend. When Alex talked about working with the horses' mind and thoughts, I knew I had met the right trainer for myself and therefore my horses. She has an amazing ability to teach the human what the horse needs. She was the first person to show me the importance of getting to the horse's mind. A concept that seems so obvious to me now. How can you have a strong, equal, relationship with your horse if you do not consider what is going on with them as a whole; mind, body, and spirit? Alex has become this amazing bridge of communication between my horses and I as I continue down the road searching for more knowledge and better understanding of my horses. Thank you Alex for all that you do for the horse. —Paige Morris, Virginia City, MT
My horse Phoebe was a pushy in-your-face horse. She had no respect and she scared the life out of me. Honestly, I didn't even like her and I wanted her gone. Alex was my last resort to getting her ready to sell after four years of owning her. Since she has been in training and after only three weeks, she has completely transformed. I have never felt a love for this horse the way I do now. It is a complete miracle she is loving, respectful, and an absolute dream to ride. I could not believe how well she turned out. It is like she isn't the same horse. She is everything I have wanted in a horse. I will ALWAYS recommend Alex as a trainer. Words cannot express the gratitude I have for the turn around she has made in my horse. What a dream come true. This horse will have a forever home with me. Thank you so much. I am so completely satisfied with Phoebe. —Jill Safken, Quarter Horse/Paint, Great Falls, MT
My horse was always sweet and easygoing, and perhaps because of that, I had allowed him to push me around — just a bit. Within the first week, Alex had captured his mind, and he started to become a tractable and engaged companion. 'Gus' loves going to work, and learned quickly to respond to pressure from the halter, then the bit, and to energy and impulsion from his handler. Alex has spent many more hours than I have in the saddle, and was able to derail bad habits from the beginning, like head-tossing, and running up hills. My colt is a pleasure to ride — having Alex start him out right was a great investment in our future together! —Elizabeth Heppler, Tennessee Walking Horse/Fox Trotter, Manhattan, MT Wanting you to know how incredibly pleased we are with our 4-year-old Rocky, Chessie, that you started for us. He is just a great horse! We have been riding him in the mountains and he has no fears whatsoever. We spray him with fly spray before we go out and he just stands there as if we've been doing it for years. My husband put his slicker on while riding down the trail and Chessie just kept going as if it was nothing. No fear! He is just perfect! So thank you for your great start with him and we recommend you highly to everyone we know! —Joe & Nicki Arcangeli, Rocky Mountain Gaited Horse, Three Forks, MT THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I just had to let you know how great a trainer and teacher you are. My ride on Spirit was beyond my expectations. You were right, I was scared I would do something wrong but your way of explaining things is so perfect that I soon became more confident — just like your horses! I was concentrating so hard on all the important things you had to say that I was afraid if I let out my emotion about how wonderful I felt that I would forget something critically important. As soon as we got into the truck, I wrote down everything I felt I needed to improve on and then went home and immediately got on both horses to practice. They picked it up right away and already I feel I have better communication with them. (I no longer BACK up!) I still can't quite believe that I had such a responsive, happy and gentle ride on my colt after only 30 days! I definitely want to have some more lessons down the line and to learn all I can from you. You are so smart, kind, and such a great communicator. You have been truly blessed with so much talent. You have put together such a great plan to put the horse and rider together as a team. I will recommend you to EVERYONE looking for a trainer! Filled with JOY and GRATITUDE —Cathy Dicharry, Paso Fino, Belgrade, MT I had a horse that I purchased as a weanling at a production sale. I wanted to use him for trail riding in the backcountry. He had basic ground work done until he was 4 years old and I did not feel comfortable starting him under saddle. I saw that Alex had experience working with trail horses and outfitting stock. After discussing her training methods, I felt that they would work well with the colt's laid-back attitude. The colt has always had a willing attitude, and I did not want to see that go away. After training with Alex for three months, it is amazing how responsive and willing the colt is. The other part of the training process required me to improve my skill level also. It seemed silly to invest training in the colt, and then take him home and possibly ruin all that time and effort put into starting him under saddle. I have ridden for years, but felt the need to correct some bad habits and focus on important details regarding the horse’s mind and riding a young horse. Alex was able to get me on the right track and on the same page as my colt. This made the riding and communicating much easier. Alex is able to understand both the horse and rider's comprehension of the lesson and enable the two to work better together. I will send Alex all my new colts to be started under saddle, and my older geldings for refresher training periodically ... I feel it is one of the best initial investments you can make after finding a good horse. —Tim Lelo, Quarter Horse, Lincoln, MT |
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