For the past 30 years Carol Black has dedicated her life to the breeding of some of North America’s finest AQHA horses with bloodlines that can be traced back to the very foundation of the American Quarter Horse.
The arrival of 2012 brings with it change and new horizons for Big West Adventures as over 100 of Carol’s finest AQHA horses become part of the Big West family and enter into an in depth and extensive training program.
Horses ranging from 8 months to 5 years old have been introduced to our herd, many of which have had limited human contact, yet despite the limited contact the large majority of our new horses show an eager and willingness, accepting and enjoying all aspects of our socialization with them.
Understanding the importance of a solid background, we immediately began to desensitize our weanlings by adding several obstacles to their weaning pens.
Overhead flags, rubber tires, vertical flag tunnels and overhead noise makers quickly helped the youngsters gain a new confidence level and once we began to single out each of them for halter training and handling, an impressive change to the overall temperament of the contemporary group could be seen.
The joys of learning each young horse’s personality adds an excitement to the challenges of taking on so many young horses, each days close bringing with it fond memories of the day’s positive events.
The foundation of a solid and trustworthy horse starts on the ground, and our colts and fillies are subject to a wide variety of physical and mental challenges each day, learning to accept even the most frightening of encounters with a level mind and minimal physical reaction.
Flags, tarps, wooden walk bridges, logs, creeks, mud and brushy trails are all used as part of our training program, each animal learning to accept these obstacles first while under lead, and then while under both pack and riding saddle. We will not sell a horse unless we know for a fact it’s ready for anything.
The art of true Horsemanship is an incredible thing to encounter and even more interesting and exhilarating to witness when a human being possesses the ability to understand and communicate with a horse without speaking one word.
The softest and most subtle of movements, the gentle touch and understanding eye of a Natural Horseman is truly a pleasure to watch, and the amazing progress that can be made with an untrained horse, the connection that can be witnessed between the two beings is truly remarkable.
For over 30 years I have worked with dozens of different Horseman, all experts in their own ranks, yet I have never truly had the pleasure of witnessing someone as gifted with horses as Jessy Eickmeier.
In order to follow her dream of furthering her skills and natural abilities with horses, Jessy singlehandedly moved herself and her two horses across Canada during the late fall of 2011, arriving in Alberta in early November when at once she began working with Carol Black and her large herd of AQHA horses.
Big West Adventures Inc. is now very proud to welcome Jessy Eickmeier to our training team where Jessy will be acting as not only our head colt trainer, but as a full partner in all our future ventures.
Jessy’s dedication and unsurpassed abilities with untrained colts is a much needed addition to our program, now bringing our combined experience of working with horses to over 40 years.
With 2012 bringing many changes to our horizons we are extremely excited to begin working with our new herd of horses, and have been making many preparations for the fast approaching spring training season.
Not only will Jessy be working with our own horses, she will also be offering her skills to outside horse owners who are experiencing difficulties with their own animals. Jessy’s soft and understanding mannerism with the troubled mind of an abused or misunderstood equine truly is something rare and beautiful to observe, and the outcome for both the horse and owner is always very promising.
As part of our extensive training program, Jess and I have decided to take on international students for a two week colt starting tutorial.
During the two weeks students are closely instructed in how to start an unhandled colt. Students are given careful instruction in how to properly catch, halter, train to lead, desensitize, saddle and even eventually ride the colt of their choosing.
Our first student, Mr. Andy Kuenzle showed so much natural ability with his AQHA colt, “Charlie”, that less than one week into the program we suggested he stay for as long as he like, becoming a resident trainer working with Jess in her colt starting program.
Teaching that a solid foundation is the key to a reliable and trustworthy horse, we began Andy and Charlie learning to accept and understand the importance of becoming used to tarps, flags, noise makers and overhead flags.
Jess’s soft approach, easy and calm voice helped teach both Andy and his colt to trust and accept each other’s presence and within three days of instruction in the starting pen, both Charlie and Andy were enjoying each other’s company and Andy had developed enough trust with Charlie that he was able to mount him and ride him around the pen without mishap.
