“Take him for the summer, train him, and in the fall we’ll sell him,” said the man in the cowboy hat, chaps, and jingling spurs. I had no idea at 14 years old, as I took the lead rope of that wide-eyed palomino, the journey I was about to embark. That horse, Nugget, would cause me to question my abilities, cry many tears of frustration, and to throw myself completely into studying natural horsemanship.

The Early Years

Horses have always been a part of my life. My adult sister, Missy, had been horse crazy her whole life and had horses of her own when I was a little kid. My earliest memories riding horses were from when I was about 5 years old. I remember clutching the saddle horn on the ancient bay mare Sally, who was deaf and probably mostly blind, trotting through the pine forest, following my sister on the, not quite as, ancient Appaloosa, Stony. I was totally convinced we were galloping at break neck speed, and that I was most certainly going to fall off. Looking back, I now know I was only in a trot, but none the less, completely out of control. I had no idea how to ride, let alone communicate effectively with a horse. I was merely holding on for dear life, while Sally just followed her old friend Stony. Whatever Stony did, Sally did.

“Horses Whisper, We are Supposed to Listen”

During my early childhood I rode with Missy any chance I got, but the rides were few and far between. She didn’t always have an extra horse, or a suitable one for a horse crazy kid with little to no actual riding skills.

In 2001, when I was 12, Missy purchased a small black quarter horse named Rio for her young children. She suggested I work with Rio and introduced me to Billy Smith, a local cowboy. Billy’s slogan was “Horses whisper, we are supposed to listen.” This was my introduction to “Natural Horsemanship” and I was hooked. Billy taught me about pressure and release. He taught me about prey animal reactions and herd dynamics. He taught me how to work with horses on the ground, yielding their bodies right, left, forwards, and backwards. He taught me how the yields on the ground could help a horse yield better under saddle. Billy took me on countless miles of trail rides. He taught me how to ride safely in a large group of horses, how to go up and down hills, and how to cross streams and even rivers.  

My Introduction to Parelli and the 7 Games

Billy became the head wrangler and barn manager at a local dude ranch and didn’t have as much time to travel for lessons. That’s when my sister and I found another local natural horseman, Dan Kuhn. Dan introduced us to Parelli Natural Horsemanship and the 7 games. This opened up a whole new world. Now I had a specific method to use, and an educational program to follow. I began devoting every spare minute I had to playing with Rio at the barn, or studying the Parelli levels at home.

Becoming Dance Partners

Rio and I quickly developed an amazing partnership. He loved to play and was a very seasoned and centered LBE (Left Brained Extrovert). We loved to play at liberty and ride bareback and bridleless. He truly was a gift. He made learning so easy. I proudly passed my Parelli Level 1 that next summer, with the expert coaching of Dan. Over the next couple of years we participated in a few demonstrations, the most memorable being with Dan at the Saratoga Springs Racetrack. We also participated in a clinic with David Lichman in Pennsylvania where Rio was given the nickname “Grandpa” (he was a “young” 28 years old at the time). Yet he still had the spunk to gallop off with me bareback and bridleless because he did not want to go sideways. David kindly pointed out that was a brace I needed to fix.

Moving from a “Grandpa” to a “Project”

As my abilities increased, and Rio aged, my parents realized that I would need a horse of my own. Horses had become the sole focus of my life and every minute after school and before dark was spent playing with horses. Rio just physically couldn’t keep up to that level of play.  Of course I was excited at the prospect of having my very own horse, but it was bittersweet for me as well. I didn’t want to lose the partnership that I had with my sister’s horse Rio. That’s when Billy Smith, the cowboy that originally introduced my sister and me to natural horsemanship, approached me with the idea of taking one of his project horses, Nugget, for the summer. I’d get another horse to work with, the horse would get more development, and be a better sale in the fall. It sounded like a win win.

The Horse That Taught Me Patience

Nugget was nothing like Rio. For starters he was a Right Brained Introvert (although at the time “Horsenality” hadn’t come out yet, so I didn’t understand why he acted the way he did). He was extremely distrustful of humans. He was difficult to catch, extremely head shy (which made getting a halter on him an almost impossible task), and if cornered he would stomp backwards, rear up, and begin striking. As I began to play with him, I realized how much I really didn’t know. I didn’t understand why the progress I’d seem to make one day was nonexistent the next day. I didn’t understand why he couldn’t just back up over the pole! I knew how to create a language of communication using the 7 games, but I didn’t yet truly understand horse behavior and psychology, especially when it related to this highly spirited and damaged RBI horse. Nugget taught me so many things: Slow down, wait, take the pressure off, have zero expectations, and play with the horse that shows up. By summer’s end I was totally in love with the “crazy palomino.” Billy could see that Nugget and I had formed a strong bond during the summer and he gave him to me. Although he won’t admit it, I think that was his plan all along. I was able to enjoy a wonderful partnership with Nugget for 17 years until his death this past summer at 31 years old. The most rewarding moments I had with him all relate to relationship: when he actually expressed that I had found an itchy spot, when he’d come trotting across the field to my whistle, and when he opened up and actually showed me his play drive at liberty. Nugget trusting me and wanting to be my partner was the best compliment I’ve ever received.

Finding my “Super Horse”

As my knowledge and skills increased, so did my exposure to lots of different horses. Boarders at my sister’s farm would ask me to help them with their horses: solving behavioral problems, putting more hours on their green horse, or the first ride on a colt. Soon this developed into a successful training business, all while still in high school. It was during this time that I met what would become my “super horse.” She arrived as a boarder at my sister’s farm after being taken from her mother and shoved into a horse trailer. She had little to no handling and was a very high spirited RBE (Right Brained Extrovert). After leaping off of the trailer she ran circles around the handler, only stopping to rear straight up in the air. Once she got into her paddock things didn’t improve. She galloped up and down the fence line, tail flagged, and blowing like an elk. She eventually jumped out while parallel to the 5’ fence line! I don’t remember how she was finally corralled back into her paddock, but I do remember my sister was ready to send her packing multiple times over the next few months. She would back up into a corner and start double barreling anyone that went in her paddock to clean it. If snow fell off of the barn roof (which happens quite often during the winter in upstate New York) she would jump out of her paddock. If her herd mate or neighboring horse was taken out for exercise she would jump out. She usually cleared the fence, but a few times she did not. I remember picking wood shards out of chest after she split a 4×4 post in half. Her owner quickly realized that this horse would need a lot of training before she would ever be a suitable horse for her and her grandchildren! She hired me to work with her. That was my introduction to my future “super horse”, Boca, a 14.2hh, Bay, Azteca Mare.

 Once Boca was calm she was a very quick learner. Being highly sensitive, she responded with the lightest of cues. After a short time, Boca was starting to trust me as her leader and became more and more self-confident. Her owner decided that even though Boca was showing a lot of progress, she wasn’t the right match for a beginner and she gave her to me. A year later we passed our Parelli Level 2 and continued to progress (unofficially) through levels 3 and 4. Boca is still my main squeeze at an active 19 years old. She truly is a horse of a lifetime for me.

Finding a Love of Teaching

While in high school I also started giving beginner riding lessons, to my nieces at first, and, as word spread, to their friends, and their friends. I quickly fell in love with teaching and became devoted to developing my teaching skills along with my horsemanship. I had found my true passion, teaching people to teach their horses, through the principles of natural horsemanship. Along with lessons, I also started to give clinics in my local area at various facilities. I loved the challenge of quickly assessing new people and horses and being able to give them the knowledge they’d need to solve a behavior problem, or advance a skill they already had.

Learning About Business

 After high school, I went to my local college on an academic scholarship for Business Administration. I was already operating a business full time, but knew I still could learn so much about marketing, management, and accounting. My professors were interested in my horsemanship business and were willing to give me personalized advice. While in college, I developed a complete Business and Marketing Plan for “Ashley Horse Training.” I graduated two years later with a 4.0, and an associate’s degree in Business Administration. I know that my education in Business has given me an advantage in the horse training industry.

Studying at the Parelli Center

While on summer break from college, in 2008, I got the opportunity to study at the Parelli Center in Colorado. I received a scholarship for a 6 week course. Boca and I made the long journey to Pagosa Springs from upstate New York. To this day, that experience is one of my most cherished memories. I learned so much and formed lasting friendships while at the Parelli Center. My horse, horsemanship, emotional fitness, and teaching skills are all better for it. The education and support from the faculty was top notch.

Building My Business

When I returned from Colorado I had a more clear focus on the direction I wanted my business to go. Up until that point, I hadn’t decided if I wanted to start the journey towards becoming a Parelli Professional or continue developing my own independent business. Being able to talk to many other Parelli Professionals, as well as the CEO, I realized that although they were living their dream, it wasn’t actually my dream. At the time, the pathway to become a Parelli Professional involved giving years of your time to learn as an Extern or Intern. At that point, I didn’t want to give up the successful business I had already started. The next few years I spent working tirelessly on building my training and lesson business, Ashley Horse Training, out of my sister’s farm. I had about 100 students who would take weekly lessons from me or my assistant trainer and I always had at least one or two horses in for training. The hours were long, but I was living my dream of creating an income teaching people and horses. I was also able to carve out time for my own learning. In the fall of 2011 I was able to audit Linda Parelli’s Game of Contact course in Florida, which forever changed the way I viewed contact.

Finding Balance

In 2012, I married my high school sweetheart, Erick. The following year we had our first child, Johnathan. I found it very challenging to balance my business and motherhood. I decided to scale back my teaching hours to part-time by hiring two more assistant trainers. Even though the hours I was actually teaching and training were cut in half, it was still a tremendous amount of work managing the business from home while caring for a very fussy baby. Around the same time, my sister decided to sell her horse farm, the facility I used to run my business. I was able to find a lovely, smaller facility only ten minutes from my sister’s farm that was willing to welcome me and my horses, my business, and my student’s horses. I realized this would be the perfect time to shift the direction my business was going, from a large scale lesson business with assistant trainers, to a much smaller lesson program with a student load that I could handle myself. I called it a boutique training business. I appealed to students who had their own horse, but were interested in a weekly lesson to develop their horsemanship or solve a problem they had encountered that week. This was the perfect home/work balance for me with the birth of our second child, Alexander. I truly love to teach and help my students reach their goals, and I did not want to give that up!

My Present: The Here and Now

I have continued to operate Ashley Horse Training in the Saratoga Springs, NY area as a boutique style training business. My children are now 5 and 7 years old and I am finding that I now have more time to devote to my own horsemanship as well as to my business and my students. I have about 30 very dedicated students that take weekly lessons and a waiting list of about 10 people at any given time. Some of my students have gone on to study therapeutic riding in college, apprentice in Florida with Lauren Barwick, open their own training businesses, and graduate through the Parelli levels. I love empowering my students to reach their own horse dreams!

The Future

I am looking forward to doing more clinics and horse development in the coming years, as well as continuing to teach my students and help them to reach their goals. I am very excited to most recently become a part of Linda Parelli’s Instructor Mentorship Program. I have a love of learning and am looking forward to learning more about business, horsemanship, and teaching, and using that knowledge to help my students have a “Happy Horse, Happy Life.”

Ashley Forlie
Ashley Horse Training
www.ashleyhorsetraining.com
518-222-6490