Haven Horsemanship Results
The holistic approach used at Haven Horsemanship has demonstrated profound results for both horses and humans. See below for a detailed story about a horse that's been retrained here, recommendations/evaluations from supporting professionals, as well as some reviews from human clients.
Major
Major arrived in September of 2017...
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First, here is a video of him in 2011 when he was for sale that gives you an idea of what he was trained to do (stepping pace) and how his brain and body were doing: https://youtu.be/6g-yBOMlQ3I
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A woman bought him who loved him dearly for 5+ years. Sadly, she became ill and passed away. One of her dear friends promised to take care of Major and find him his person. She is his guardian angel! Most horses in Major's position aren't half this lucky. At this point he had not worked consistently for quite some time, had body issues, feet handling issues, and significant anxiety.
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Here he is soon after arriving, probably early October 2017. I believe it took us a couple of weeks to get this trot, it took him a couple months longer to get a canter. I used various pole configurations, cavaletti and small jumps learned from my jumping days to shape each gait with clicker training: https://youtu.be/3avl4aPNQSA
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Here he is around the same time as the last video, but pacing, which is what he preferred to do: https://youtu.be/460otUM8ilM
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Here he is in April 2018. You get a glimpse of his stepping pace (I learned through a lot of research that this is the most physically damaging gait for a horse's body to perform), then pace, and then you'll see that he was confident breaking from the pace to the trot to pop over a small jump to pick up the canter: https://www.facebook.com/Equusynced/videos/1114791361985813/
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Here he is in October 2018 playing some games on the ground, free lunging at the walk, trot and canter, riding at the walk, running walk and a small clip of trotting. You'll see what's left of his "lameness" (or imbalance or?) when he turns hard to the left at the trot while free lunging: https://youtu.be/hTVY49ioOOQ
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Here he is in November 2018 showing off his fox trot/trot: https://www.facebook.com/HavenHorsemanship/posts/2216430025245406?hc_location=ufi
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And here he is in March 2019 after a couple month break from riding due to weather: https://www.facebook.com/HavenHorsemanship/videos/303034497057810
I am so proud of him for his resilience and heart, and so grateful to his guardian angel for believing in him and knowing that his person is out there.
Evaluations from Supporting Professionals
"Haven Horsemanship is an excellent example of a successful, socially oriented management system that provides outstanding mental and physical well-being for the horses living there."
- Chrysann Collatos, DVM, PhD, High Desert Veterinary Service.
Click on the PDF to see the full evaluation.
Experiences from Human Clients
Ari is an incredible riding instructor. She is [an] experienced, calm, steady, and supportive teacher. She is
beautifully tuned with her herd and students - and this translates to professional, progressive learning in a fun and safe environment.
Ari is the only person I know who is uses a tool called Emergenetics to identify how her horses are 'wired' to think and work with students. She also learns the thinking/behavioral preferences of her students and can match them with the perfect horse for the best learning. That said, the horse Uno picked me to work with - and we are wired much the same. So much fun to learn from a four-legged being that thinks like me!
This is my first experience with a skilled instructor, and it has been fabulous. I was a nervous learner, due to some previous experiences, and that is all behind me now. I'm looking forward to my future lessons and moving forward in my riding skills, thanks to Haven Horsemanship, Ari and Uno.
I highly recommend Ari and her herd for young and old, new and skilled riders looking to enhance their skills with a humane, well run organization.
- Chris Cox, Founder & CEO at Amplitude LLC, Partner and Master Trainer at Emergenetics International
I had such a positive and educational experience at Haven Horsemanship! Ari is really great at gauging your experience level, and making sure that you’re comfortable and confident to perform different tasks. She’s also great at matching you with a horse with similar personality traits so that you can better thrive as an individual and as a pair. This makes for a great overall experience in a very comfortable environment. I would highly recommend Haven Horsemanship to anyone ranging from beginning to advanced horsemanship skills, whether that be to start working with horses or better your riding techniques.
- Amber Frohlich, Pre-Vet student at Utah State University
Ari is very knowledgeable and patient with both horse and rider. She goes much deeper into horse behavior and psychology than any other trainer I am aware of to come up with a customized training plan to identify and achieve progressive goals for both horse and rider. I have a mustang that was "cowboy" trained that was so uptight and distrustful when we started working together. Now he is an "in your pocket" willing partner! Thanks Ari!
- Susan Dunt, Risk Manager at University of Nevada, Reno
We were so lucky to find Ari! I've loved horses all my life, and I wanted to be able to introduce my sons and my husband to horses and riding. We met Ari and knew from the first moment she was the one for us and her business was where we wanted to keep our horses. We have 3 now and they are all happy, healthy, and well-loved. She has done wonders with Rhia, the horse we adopted from a rescue. Thank you Ari and your wonderful business for making such a lovely impact on our lives!
- Patricia Lichter, Compliance and Risk Manager at Microsoft
Ari was AMAZING with my 10-year-old nephew. He had never been on a horse before and was very hesitant to get near it.
After slowly and methodically working with him for 2 hours, he was happily talking to the horse, leading it on a walk and riding it with a HUGE smile on his face.
His family back east said they wouldn't have believed it, were it not for the photos and videos I took.
Thank you doesn't come close to how much we appreciate Ari's patience and expertise!
- Charles White, Church Business Administrator at Sparks United Methodist Church