Traveling Horse Trainer

Traveling Horse Trainer and/or Riding Instructor
*~* Specializing in Natural Horsemanship and Positive, Patient Training Techniques*~*
~Travel~
Are you weary of paying hundreds of dollars to send your horse to an unfamiliar person and place for training?
Are you unable to afford the hundreds of dollars it cost to send your horse to training?
Do you worry/wander what the demeanor of the individual working your horse is like? Is it rough and cruel? Is it kind and understanding?
Do you ever wander, "Is this person really working with and doing the things he/she says with your horse or is your horse just sitting in a stall/pasture?
Have you spent hundreds of dollars on training, only to bring your horse home and have no the slightest idea how to ask/do the things that he/she was in training to learn?

Great News! It's your lucky day! Here's your chance to ease all your worries. Instead of horses coming to me for training, I will come to your place, ideally transforming a stressful situation for both horse and owner into a familiar and comfortable one that allows your horses training to be a team process, in which the owner is included. Basically, my goal is to avoid stressing a horse out, especially those who are in need of training to be comfortable with handling alone, by allowing him/her to remain in the environment in which he/she is comfortable. My job doesn't stop there either, though my passion is to train horses, what good does training do in the owner is in the dark. So my ultimate goal is to work with a horses owner during their horse's training to help build a partnership thats unbreakable. i say build a partnership, instead of teach the owner how to get their horse to behave, because a horse may respond differently to the owner, than me. That's why I encourage the owner to partake in the training process because I am able to help coach him/her through the process of becoming partners with his or her horse.
The politics of horse training have become completely over whelming. Personally, I look at it from this point of view, "Every trainer has their methods that he/she believes and that work for him/her. Though, I may not agree with some methods and techniques, it doesn't necessarily mean they are wrong." My philosophy, simply put, is I have always believed that a horse that is forced into something will not do it correct every time, but a horse that is given the time to understand and find what it is you are asking of him/her through positive corrections to mistakes that are made will preform their best every time. I have repeated this probably over a million times since I was about ten years old. The perfect example of this, in which i just happened to be involved occured December 2012, I was starting a soon-to-be two year old, barrel prospect filly, for my little sister. This filly had and still has a reputation of being ornery, crow hopping, biting, bucking, bolting, laying down (Literally, when she didn't want someone mounting up on her, she just lays down and rolls, saddle and all.), I could go on forever. She just has a one-of-a-kind personality, for example, my little sister and I are the only two people she will let ride her without constantly pulling stunts. Anyways, when I first started riding her regularly, my sister was also starting her more advance horse, by a few years, on the barrel pattern. My sister had been giving me a hard time for wearing spurs on a horse that was so green. Never did I kick, or even jab, I just used them as a slight correction when I was unable to get the response I wanted with simple leg cues. At the same time, my sister was having a horrible time getting her horse to respond to any leg pressure at all and if he did he went against it, not away from it. Even after giving her a hard time about how sending a horse off to training takes the challenge, fun, and self satisfaction out off the improvement in the horses' ability and preaching I could do the same training as the trainer for her for free, she ignored me and sent her horse to a trainer to get him more responsive to leg commands. When her horse returned home five days later, he was lame, extremely hot headed and skittish (he left calm and extremely level headed), head shy, extremely heavy on your hand and reins, unresponsive to the bit, and over reactive to most situations. In the week he was at training being worked into the ground and put through rough and inhumane exercises, which over corrected the problem that was suppose to be fixed and caused countless problems that took 6 months to fix, I taught my sisters, eighteen month old filly, to flex and bend around my legs, soften in her poll and head, and use her back, all in a positive and patient manner. Needless to say, the filly was more advanced and willing to move correctly everytime asked, while my sister's gelding needed consistent correction in order to move properly. Also the filly only became more confident and her gelding developed a variety of issues. In the end, my sister admitted she was stupid for not letting me work with him. In conclusion, though the trainer taught my sisters gelding what he was sent there for, in a short period of time, I feel that the unfamiliar environment, short time-fame of training, and rough handling stressed her gelding out to the point of lameness and caused him to not learn what was taught correctly because he feared responding incorrectly and began trying to anticipate cues. This ultimately caused him to not respond correctly everytime he was ask to yield to the riders legs, and even when he responded correctly, he was stiff in his back and poll and falling on his forehand. Where as my sister's filly was less stressed because she was in a familiar environment, allowing her to be more responsive to what was asked of her. Rather than starting to ask her from her back, I worked with her on moving away from pressure from the ground, practiced relaxing her back and poll from the ground, and practiced bending her neck and body from the ground. I spent the first 30 minutes of every workout doing this ground work, while tacked before riding. When I asked for the exercises from her back, I did so as lightly as possible, but in a constant manner. When the smallest response was given by the filly, even if just a weight shift, I immediately released my cue and praised her for her effort. Very slowly I asked for a little more each time (for example I first wanted a weight shift, then movement of one foot, then two feet, three feet and so on... Each response was praised several time before I asked her for more). If she responded incorrectly, I just continued asking, giving her a chance to respond to my leg correctly, allowing her to figure it out on her own in a positive fashion. Needless to say, though I worked with the filly at a slower pace than the trainer did with the gelding, she was more responsive and relaxed than the gelding after three riding sessions and was not stressed from all the factors the gelding faced and didn't develop other behavior issues either.
The experience above shows the benefits of a trainer traveling to the horse in need rather than bring the horse to them. I feel it provides no only piece of mind for the horse, but the owner as well. Also, eliminating the pricey monthly cost for training and board for horses that are sent off, allows thoughs who can not afford training, but need help more than most, the chance to pay for the training by session and not the complete month of sessions and board. Horse owners can also ensure they are receiving their money's worth of services and can facilitate the frequency of their horses training sessions. Most importantly, horses are much happier, more responsive, and owners are invovled when they are trained at their home.
~Horse Training~
There is no need for harsh and cruel training methods, with the use of patience, consistency, and positive reinforcement, ANY horse can be trained to do anything and respond correctly EVERYTIME asked.
With thorough groundwork and natural horsemanship/positive training techniques, there is no need for excessive, hard working, training sessions because horse provide correct responses much quicker and more willingly when they are not forced/rushed to learn.
With the use of less stressful training methods and a less stressful environment, the horse becomes confident, willing, and will actively perform their best on a regular basis.
There is less wasted-time when positive training methods are used, allowing more thorough and detailed exercises to be taught to the horse and less time is spent correcting behavioral problems that harsh training techniques often cause.
Explaining my training technique is a tough task. I use techniques I have learned throughout my 18 years of experience in combination with eachother. Personally, I often amaze my self with what I can do. I definitely tend to sell myself short of the credit I deserve. Many people have said that I have a special gift for training horses (Particularly horses deemed to be untrainable, completely useless, and/or completely lame. To sum my training methods up the simplest possible though, I am extremely passionate about NEVER forcing any training because it is not necessary with ANY horse and doing so only creates other issues. I also am a firm believer in groundwork because when a horse has a solid foundation of groundwork training under saddle is simplified. Next, I am passionate and a strong advocate for involving a horses owner in their training because, any well rounded horse person should know that every rider cues differently and rides differently and horses respond differently to various people. I feel it is a trainers responsibility to not just teach horses, but also guide and assist the horses owner through the process of finding the key connection with his/her horse that allows the owner to get the desired response for the horse as well as if not better than the trainer. I believe that every horse can be great if they are give a chance (Below are more personal stories of mine as proof that this is true.) Lastly, Ignorant and unresponsible pairing of rider experience level and horse training level is extremely danger, in my opinion. I have personally witnessed a 7 year old little girl lose her life because she was riding a green 3 year old horse. Though the horse was very well behaved and trained for her age, an accident occurred when the horse's lack of experience, in which the horse spooked at an unfamiliar loud noise. The girl fell off, but her foot got hung up in a stirrup, the green horse kicked 2 times at the dragging girl because it wasn't desensitized properly and never had something drag from its side. The horses natural fight/flight instinct caused the horse, who was very submissive and well-mannered, to take a little girls life all because of irresponsible horse and rider pairing. I would never ask an owner in this situation to get rid of their horse, my response would just be that I personally would spend the needed time exposing the horse to any areas of work needed, on a very consistent and patient time schedule (which is different in every situation). I would ensure that the horse be completely comfortable with as many situations as possible, paying attention to every detail while doing so. Once I was comfortable the horse wouldn't pose a threat to the owners safety, I would closely work with the owner on improving his/her riding skills, responsiveness, horse body language readings skills, and teaching techniques that minimize and/or correct unwanted behavior from the horse. With CONSISTENT effort from all parties, patience, and proper timing both horse and rider can become great partners.
~Riding Instruction~
Positive and individualized instruction is provided to the owner on the horse being trained to help him/her develop the skills and knowledge to benefit from the horses training, instead of being left in the dark, guessing how to get their horse to respond to their cues correctly.
Riding instruction for the owner, helps teach the owner the skills to make corrections to the horses behavior without creating more unwanted behaviors.
While Instructing the horses owner, the trainer is able to provide ideas and feedback to the owner to help them find what work for the owner, when asking for specific movements.
Ultimately, when the a horse's owner is involved in the training process, a bond is created between horse and owner, allowing them to become partners in all that they do together.
When beginning to work with a horse's owner, I first strive to correct any mistakes in the owners equitation because such mistakes often are causing the horse to perform poorly. Rather than solely telling the owner the changes he/she needs to make, an explanation of how such riding mistakes cause the horse to perform poorly. Tips and techniques are provided to the owner in detail and in a way that they are fully understood. I will help tweak all techniques/cues instructed to the owner, until a desired outcome is reached. Once the horse and owner begin working well with one another, I begin providing necessary tools needed for advancing training and avoiding the development of unwanted problems.
I feel that in order to be successful, the confidence of the owner, in his/her riding abilities is important. During riding lessons, new exercises are introduced as the owner becomes comfortable with previous exercises. I feel it's important to master one skill completely, making it second nature, before moving on and advancing. Challenges are always provided during riding lessons, but students are never forced to do anything they are not comfortable with.
Riding instruction may take place after a training session or in place of one. Lengths of sessions will vary from session to session. Owners are instructed using the equipment in which the prefer (English saddle, western saddle, dressage, etc.) Instruction will be tailored to fit the owners discipline of focus (hunt seat, western pleasure, barrels, etc.). Fundamentals of dressage that appear across all disciplines will be mastered during riding lessons, through my instruction.

~A Little About Me~

My name is Lindsey Mills. I am 26 years old and horses have been my passion since I was 3 years old and my world has completely revolved around them since. Growing up, I have gained tons of experience in many, many areas. I have been training and breaking horses since I was ten. I had the world best riding instructor that allow students to begin riding the school bus to the stable at age 8, to help with daily chores and everything thing entailed in caring for a horse. It is to Nancy Carr, of Silver Wind Farm, that I owe for teaching me the hard work and determination it takes to be good at what I do. Not only did I just learn to ride, she taught me to imprint raise a foal from birth, break a horse to ride, recognize improper performance from horse and correct it, first aide care for injuries, deal with colic, deliver a foal, recognize a horses confirmation and determine what activities a horses body is suited for, and so many other important pieces of knowledge. Most of all, I developed a confident and fearless, yet gentle and patient attitude for working with horses. Since my time at Silver Wind Farm I have researched, studied, and strived to increase my knowledge as much as possible in all areas of the equine world, from trainers, to bits, to breeding, or to equine business management skills. I have been lucky to have got the chance to experience many different things. After 23 years of being absolutely horse crazy, my passion to learn more and train horses and riders burn brighter and stronger than ever. i plan to follow my dreams as far as they will take me, hopefully positively impacting many horse/owner lives on my way.

~Experience~
My sister and I's, childhood babysitter, spawned our life long love of horses, which began when I was 4 and my sister was 2.(We were picked up by the police walking down the road with dog leashes on our way to get a horse from a farm.)
I began riding at age five.
I began taking hunter/jumper lessons at 7 years old, continuing until my long time riding instructor said she could no longer teach me new things at age 15.
Participated in a vaulting team at age 10.
At age 12-14, I was a lead pair in a Drill Team.
I began showing hunter/jumpers, dressage, western pleasure, and halter at age 8.
I began breaking horses to ride at 10 years old.
I raised my first foal, my first horse, in which I solely trained, at age 12.
At age 16, I work as a stable hand, in charge of feeding, watering, and other general care, on a 50 acre, warmbloods farm.
At 17, I purchased my first warmblood and work on a boarding and lesson farm in Georiga, working various horses of the owner for him.
At age 17, I gave up showing after becoming busy breaking and training horses deemed untrainable and horses owned by clients.
When horses began coming regularly, at age 17, I began homeschooling, to allow more time to teaching riding lessons, breaking and train horses, and manage a boarding facility.
Starting when I was 15, various local trainers, brought imported warmbloods and other high dollar performance horses to me, to show at horse shows around Central Florida.
I moved 1000 miles away from my parents, at 18, to manage all training, horse sales, boarding, lessons, and summer camp at a facility in Martinsville, In.
From age 18-26, my focus has been learning proper and the most effective ways to train barrel horses.
Managed a 54 acre Quarter Horse Breeding Farm in Florida.
Participated in a working student position, under horse master, JP Giacomini, former US Equestrian Team Coach, learning Grand Prix Dressage on Andalusian and Lusitano Horses.
I helped in the breeding process at JP Giacomini's Farm.
I can perform basic farrier work.
I have worked with all types, genders, and age horses.
I have experience in almost all riding disciplines and working with a WIDE variety of challenges.
I have taught riding lesson for 11 years.

(References are available upon request.)

~Rates~
4-5 : 2 hour sessions per week ~ $25.00 per session
2-3 : 2 hour sessions per week ~ $30.00 per session
Travel Charge of $5.00 will be charged for travel distances over 20 miles.

~Contact Information~
Lindsey Mills
[email protected]
(352) 322 2378
(765) 342 5453
(Facebook Page Coming Soon!)