Elsa Sinclair
Training & Horsemanship
Elsa Sinclair is a horse trainer from the Pacific Northwest of the United States who brings a unique and powerful perspective to the horse world. From a family of horse trainers, she experimented with many different styles of horsemanship until she stumbled on a question that needed exploration: What if horses were given a choice? Would they let us ride them? Without force or tools to control and without bribes to lure them?
The question led to a project, the journey of one wild mustang off the range, Myrnah, a horse with her own mind, strength, and sense of independence. One trainer, no tools, just body language.
What started as simple questions, birthed the theories of Freedom Based TrainingⓇ, and the movie Taming Wild, as well as a book, an online course, an international career as a clinician, and a following of people who seek their own answers. What does it take to work collaboratively with horses? What does it take to truly work together in freedom?
Visit Elsa Sinclair at the following sessions
Details
Thursday November 14th
Ariat Theatrette, Ariat Building
Observing and understanding herd interactions
The way horses interact with each other can shed dramatic light on how we might best go about interacting with them as well.
There are ways that all horses are the same, these are things we can learn as a foundation to solve any problem. There are also ways that each horse is unique and when we learn these things we have the best foundation for forming a deep and lasting bond with that horse. Observing and learning from the ways horses interact with each other we can gain information on both how they are similar and how they are different.
Details
Friday November 15th
Off The Track Demonstration Arena (OTT Pavilion)
Freedom based Training
Freedom Based Training is a contradiction and powerful because of the two opposing ideas.
When we learn to balance Freedom and Training we develop a deeper bond between horse and human than one or the other can not provide independently. If the horse is free to do anything they want, how can they be trained? If the horse is trained as someone we can depend on, how can they be free to do what they choose?
I present a training method that can be used as a complement to almost any other training method in existence, or it can be used independently if someone chooses to take the slowest road of development. Why would we take the slowest road to development? Some of us like smelling the roses along the way. Why would we take a faster road? Some value the destination more than the travel. Any combination of the two ideas is valid, yet I feel there are hundreds of trainers in the world telling you their path is the only path worth taking. I believe freedom of choice is important, and the information to choose wisely for yourself is essential.
