Natural horsemanship teaches humans the language of the horse instead of trying to force the horse to learn our language. Once we have the basics of how to communicate with our horse the possibilities are endless.
Case in point is Lex, a 3-year-old Thoroughbred stallion rescued in 2007. Lex had never been handled and had never been separated from his pasture mates. At a temporary barn he jumped out of a stall and when placed in a high walled stall he ran the stall or climbed the wall non-stop. After moving to full time turnout with his male farm mates, and after castration, Lex settled down quite a bit. However, when he was moved to the HPAF farm months later he became out of control once he saw his former herdmates and ran straight through fences to get to them, even if they were directly across the fence from him. Lex was sent to top notch natural trainers and was going under saddle a year later but he still had minimal focus and was not a calm horse by any means. Lex was adopted by Kim Pundai and they began their journey together. The process was turbulent at times; Kim was injured and almost gave up on Lex until she found teachers to help her and Lex. Sandra Vaughn and Nancy Slater became their mentors and with their guidance and Kim’s dedication to building their relationship the team blossomed and transformed.
In 2014 Kim and Lex began taking part in ACTHA obstacle competitions around Florida. They ended up 2014/2015 ACTHA Novice National Champions. Cantering was still a challenge for the pair at this point. Lex’s race breeding still came through at the canter.
Once healthy and strong, the horses begin development or retraining using the principles of natural horsemanship. Physical rehabilitation is the easy part of the horses’ progression. Their training and development is the longer process and the key to the horse having a secure future. Developing a horses potential is a long, expensive prospect for an organization with so many young and unstarted horses. HPAF has found that the Parelli program gives the horses the most solid and lasting foundation on which adopters can build a relationship with their new partner. Adopters that become students of Parelli learn that what the horse does and how they respond is created by their person and that person’s ability to communicate with their horse in a way that the horse understands.
communicate with our horse the possibilities are endless.
Case in point is Lex, a 3-year-old Thoroughbred stallion rescued in 2007. Lex had never been handled and had never been separated from his pasture mates. At a temporary barn he jumped out of a stall and when placed in a high walled stall he ran the stall or climbed the wall non-stop. After moving to full time turnout with his male farm mates and after castration Lex settled down quite a bit. However, when he was moved to the HPAF farm months later he became out of control once he saw his former herdmates and ran straight through fences to get to them, even if they were directly across the fence from him. Lex was sent to top notch natural trainers and was going under saddle a year later but he still had minimal focus and was not a calm horse by any means. Lex was adopted by Kim Pundai and they began their journey together. The process was turbulent at times; Kim was injured and almost gave up on Lex until she found teachers to help her and Lex. Sandra Vaughn and Nancy Slater became their mentors and with their guidance and Kim’s dedication to building their relationship the team blossomed and transformed.
In 2014 Kim and Lex began taking part in ACTHA obstacle competitions around Florida. They ended up 2014/2015 ACTHA Novice National Champions. Cantering was still a challenge for the pair at this point. Lex’s race breeding still came through at the canter.
Lex, was a 3-year-old Thoroughbred stallion when he was rescued in 2007. No one would ever guess what an out of control panicker Lex used to be.
Kim Pundai and Lex
Photo by Sandra Vaughn
Merlin on left May 29th 2014. On right August 13, 2014 after 76 days of progress.