When I first came to Dragonwood I started riding with Barb, after awhile she thought I was ready to start learning from Shannon. At first I thought I didn’t want to because I thought Shannon taught “showy” stuff but after the first lesson I realized that she teachs you how to work with your horse (not just ride it) in a way that keeps both you and the horse safe.
When I started learning from Shannon I didn’t have that much confidence. After awhile I started to work with more horses and gain more and more confidence.
It’s been two years since I started riding with Shannon, I’ve gained a lot of confidence sence then. I now work with horses that would’ve made me nervous before.
Shannons taught me how to get control and confidence from the ground before you even think of getting in the saddle, then how to get those same things in the saddle.
Thanks Shannon,
Jena

“Oh my, God, he’s HUGE!!!” gasped my 29 year-old son at his first sight of my recently acquired rescue horse, Reddy.

In October of 2007, based on a photo of a good-looking horse with a kind eye, I adopted a 15-to-17 year old gelding of unknown origins. It is a gross understatement to say that this was not one of the most sensible moves I’d ever made in my life. The situation gets even more bizarre when you consider that I had been taking riding lessons for only 4 months and had never owned a horse.

To top it all, there turned out to be a typo in the ad: The thoroughbred-quarter horse mix was allegedly 15-2 hands. Imagine my surprise after the glow of our mutually “love at first sight meeting” wore off and it dawned on me that Reddy was substantially larger than I had anticipated. He was closer to being 16-2, a somewhat daunting size for a 57-year old woman who is at most 5’2” and about 140 lbs.

Thanks to a caution from the rescue group that Reddy was a nice horse but not familiar with riding cues, I made the first sensible decision since beginning my journey into horse ownership: I was not going to try to ride the huge fellow until I knew he was safe to ride.

I had no history of what Reddy had been through but because he was on his way to slaughter when he was rescued, I assumed his most recent past couldn’t have been very good. Given that, I wanted a trainer who was patient, quiet, and gentle, but who could also take command and be humanely firm when Reddy got a little pushy. I needed someone who could teach me now to gain his respect and transform his view of me from a nice little old “push-over” lady who spoils him into one of looking to me as his loving guide and leader.

The person who was able to do this turned out to be Shannon King.

When Shannon did her initial assessment of Reddy on July 1, 2008, I was completely blown away. She connected with him immediately and he responded to Shannon better than anyone else who had tried to work with him. By the end of an hour, his respect, trust and focus far exceeded that of any other training session I had witnessed. Not only that, Shannon also made several positive remarks about Reddy’s worth and potential.

I always had a gut feeling that Reddy was a diamond in the rough and that with the right trainer, someday he would shine. However, a gauntlet of mixed reactions about him from people more experienced with horses had me doubting myself. Their characterizations included: attention deficit, not too bright, dangerous, unpredictable, calm with potential of becoming a training horse, and smart with tremendous try. It was a huge affirmation of my faith in Reddy to hear such a positive assessment from Shannon, who is a well-respected equestrian in her field.

Within a few weeks, Shannon was riding Reddy and I was able to get on him for my first brief ride in August. Shannon figured out that Reddy had never been taught how to be ridden. He had apparently been used as a pack horse, which explained his stillness and the fact that he could not be startled easily.

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2008 will forever be etched in my heart as the day when I had my first “real” ride on Reddy. He did everything I asked him to do which included: walking forward, stopping, backing up, turning, and trotting.

Shannon is helping me build upon the strong, loving bond between Reddy and me that was there right from the beginning. Our ultimate goal is not to “break” Reddy, but rather, to keep his kind, wise, brave and curious spirit in tact while we make sure he is well-trained and safe to ride. Shannon strives for excellence so I am confident that will we become the best horse-human team that we can possibly be.

I am so thankful that Shannon was willing to work with a 17 year old “green” horse and a 58 year old green rider because I have observed her work with others and am in awe of her horsemanship skills. I still don’t know as much as I need to know about horses and riding for me to leave the safe harbor of the Horse2Human program. What I do know though, is that as far as learning about the “way of the horse,” I could search far and wide and never find a better mentor than Shannon King.

Buck came into Springwood Ranch camp like a pro. I unloaded him amongst all the new horses and proceeded to try him on the high-line right away. Just as long as there was more of that fancy hay that mom brings along on a trip, he could care less about walking in circles.

Next morning I only briefly worked from the ground and headed out on the trail. Fortunately, the riders I camped with understood this was my second trail ride and with more horses involved, stayed close by. He was the first to go across the bridge (yaeee) and through the long tunnel. He walked out at a nice clip ahead and when some careless riders jet past, he sped up some, thinking like a horse. How exciting to be able to drop the excitement with a light easy hips over..changed his whole attitude. Wonderful to have this safety feature ingrained well ahead, it seemed to give him security doing something familiar.

We were hoping to make it down to the river ahead of the mob to find a decent tree to tie up. He was apprehensive on drinking in the river, but stood with horses walking behind as we were tethered on the path to the water. Everyone was surprised at how well he did for a 4 year old, especially amongst so much activity. When the locomotive passed along the other side of the Yakima, he remained still.

That evening we were coming back from closing down the party barn and noticed Buck in the moonlight laying beneath his line. I crawled up and layed…. Needless to say, he made a good showing of himself.

Thanks Horse2Human for helping us both to develop this relationship.

Judy Peterson

Shannon King has a way with horses. In my case, she had a way with a 5-year old rescue horse that had become relentlessly challenging, pushy, biting, bracing, squirmy, defensive, unmotivated, and spoiled. Very social, his games for attention were endless, yet it was clear he wasn’t mean. Where other trainers gave up waiting for him to grow up, she quickly assessed his issues, then set about to help him through each one, reducing his games, and need for them, a little more each day.

Simultaneously, she trained me in the groundwork exercises she was teaching him, how to recognize and reward every try, and how to keep his short frustration fuse from igniting. She told me when I was not seeing important clues he was giving or responding in critical ways, and she was great at teaching us both in languages we understood.

What normally takes 3 months, took 5 with Dodger, but the net result is a trail horse that is not only a perfect gentleman but a horse with soft eyes, who nickers when he sees me, and eagerly walks over to lower his head into the halter I hold open for him. He wants to go play, and the best part is, he wants to go play with me. On our best-day-ever graduation trail ride, it became clear to me that Shannon not only uncovered, but nurtured—in my once-neglected and earnestly delinquent horse—a confident, capable, fun-loving, unflappable, adventurous spirit.

Our involvement with Shannon King, her training philosophies and practices started after extensive searches and interviews with other trainers, not only in Washington, but nationally. We were searching for a unique combination of talents.

We were in search of a person who could assist us with training our two horses with a particular philosophical approach but exceptionally talented in translating this philosophy into practical and effective techniques that would work with any horse or human personality. These characteristics were essential to us because of our horses’ personalities.

Our horses had been raised in a herd from birth, with sparse to no human contact, until we purchased them. We had one very pushy lead mare, and one highly emotional, highly sensitive physically and mentally, second lead mare. The individual we were seeking to assist us with our horses’ development needed to be highly articulate; not only with the horses but with us as well. This individual needed to be willing to teach us the techniques and assist us in understanding the philosophies influencing these techniques that were being used in developing our horses. We sought an individual that could manage and influence the emotional states of a horse being worked, especially the ability to calm and positively affect a highly excited horse.

We found all these qualities only in one person – Shannon King, and what has evolved in to Horse2Human Relationship Training.

We witnessed absolute astonishing changes in both horses, where so many other trainers we had spoken with said that our highly sensitive horse would likely never be able to trust and overcome or control her fears and emotions. Shannon, with her philosophies, techniques and practices, brought out the positive talents, the confidence (in both horses and humans) required for extreme trail riding horses.

We could not be more satisfied, more enthusiastic and more pleased with the results of our horses’ developments and to promote Shannon King and the H2H principles and techniques. Horse2Human Relationship Training is the ultimate development program, with the ultimate instructor, for building, bonding and growing an ever-lasting relationship with your horse partner, regardless of the equine sport or discipline you desire to pursue.

I have a great story to tell about how far my horse, Nicki, and I have come over the last year. In the 3 years I have owned him, nothing has changed the relationship more than our 90 days training with Shannon for the horse and human.

It all started when my Dad got me the training package as a birthday present (his horse did really well with Shannon, so he gave me the gift knowing I would love it!). At the beginning, I told Shannon I wasn’t sure it was going to work with Nicki and me but I really wanted to do everything I could to be successful with him. Over the 90 days as Shannon worked her magic on us a wonderful, respectful relationship began to emerge. I saw my horse go from challenging my every ask to willingly working hard to please. I learned how to enter his world safely, understand his language, and how to communicate my intention to him. We subsequently took the Level 1 one course together and are planning on Level 2 this year. I am finally living my dreams and we are enjoying the journey together! This never would have happened without Shannon’s expertise and coaching.

I knew it was going to work out with Nicki and me when Shannon said one day during a training session, “if you decide to sell Nicki I want to buy him”. I will sum up how far we have come with an example. Two years ago when I arrived at the barn and went to get Nicki, he would lay his ears back and run the other way. Now when I arrive at the barn he looks at me with his ears perked up waiting to see what I will do. When I give him the sign to come over he comes trotting over to me from across the barn. I love rewarding him for this awesome behavior! I am thankful for Shannon’s support, encouragement, and patience; Nicki and I would not be where we are without you!