Why “Wildland Horsemanship”?

In Wyoming I got the hint….

You may have wondered why I am now called “Wildland Horsemanship” (formerly Mirjam-Horsecoach). With the new website I also wanted a strong new name and I thought long and hard about what my company should be called…what suits me and my work? I would also like to offer a trainer training course at the ranch. If someone becomes my co-trainer, the name should also be great  (Co-Trainer XY Wildland Horsemanship). Sounds great, doesn’t it? But finding a suitable name is not that easy… I had to travel all the way to Wyoming to get the hint:

In June 2022, together with Silvia Wölk and Peter van der Gugten, I spent a month riding horses in the wilderness. I rode a mustang called Kiowa there. I didn’t know him before and so we weren’t a team at the beginning. He bucked when we went faster than a slow trot. Not because he wanted to throw me off…..he was bothered by the luggage at this higher energy level. It takes a lot of team spirit to be out together all day in difficult terrain. We just didn’t know each other yet… 

Do you know the book “The Little Prince” by Saint-Exupéry? In it, the little prince meets a fox and wants to be his friend. But the fox replies “if you want a friend, then tame me. Taming means nothing more than getting to know each other, getting closer, getting to know each other. Taming is the path to understanding, to knowledge”. The fox also said that people would no longer take the time to do this, they would simply buy things ready-made…

Every day Kiowa and I spent hours together…we were out in the wilderness all day, overcoming several obstacles, bad weather…I sat in his fenced meadow in the evening…just being there…not asking for anything…taking my time. The first thing I did in the morning was to go to him…..I explained the luggage to him on the way and that he didn’t need to be afraid of it, even at a higher energy level. It was only after about 3 weeks that we were able to canter and he no longer bucked. The trick was patience, an elementary understanding of the problem (no humanization!). I also had to be convinced of my success at all times and not be intimidated or lose my patience. Until we became an unbeatable team….im WILDLAND.

The definition of wild land on the internet is as follows:
Land that is unsuitable for human cultivation or has not been altered; a natural area.

Wildland-Horsemanship stands for

Love

Respectful interaction between us humans, as well as with the
horses. Everyone should feel heard, seen and respected.

 

Training

for a clear, fair, horse-friendly and solid training,
so that in the end you can safely master every hurdle as a strong team!!!

 

Resilience

Resilience, ability to regenerate and growth.
Resilience is like a willow that bends in a storm but still
remains firmly rooted.

 

Wilderness

Maintaining/acquiring joie de vivre and wildness in horses and humans
Fun and a bit of craziness
are simply part of it:-)

To achieve this, it takes a lot of training together so that you become a trainer for your own horse. Imagine the following: A sergeant can teach his subordinates to play football on command, but never in his life would this team beat another team that plays together for the joy of it and in which everyone respects each other’s wishes.

How do you like the name Wildland Horsemanship?