Mustang Leadership Partners


Training Philosophy

Wild American mustangs and performance horses at Mustang Leadership Partners benefit from dedicated, world-renowned trainers who are influenced by classical dressage training methods and natural horsemanship philosophies.Sometimes described as “ballet on horseback,” classical dressage provides the foundation for a horse to execute any other technique and gives the horse the necessary focus, strength, athleticism, balance, grace, and poise required to advance in any discipline. Because mustangs naturally have all of these qualities, they are very easily trained to accept all of the requirements of a dressage education. Classical dressage does not limit itself to specific methods but uses many different techniques from around the world to develop a relationship between horse and rider that is built on natural communication and trust.

Michelle finds...

…that when working with mustangs it is imperative to earn their trust. They are sensitive animals that form strong bonds with their people. However, because they are wild gaining trust can sometimes be a long road. According to Michelle, “Once you earn the trust of a Mustang, they form a partnership with you. Their intelligence, athleticism and curiosity make them highly trainable animals to work with. Once you have them on your team they will try their hearts out for you”.

Shannon believes...

…a good basic foundation of training can open doors for horses and owners alike; she implements the training methodology of John Lyons when teaching horses the basics of life. Shannon views her method of training horses as being pavlovian in nature, teaching horses to find the answer to the questions the rider is asking. This is done using pressure and release. Shannon sees dressage as a progression of this basic training with the questions from the rider becoming more complex, the answers given by the horse being delivered with greater speed, accuracy and skill.