My Biography

The farm is located in Merkel, Tx which is 17 miles west of Abilene.  My name is Kim Gould-Wende and I am a Natural Horsemanship teacher/trainer and clinician. I've studied the principles of Natural Horsemanship since 1995.  My specialty is in training miniatures, and ponies up to 14.0HH using Natural Horsemanship methods.   My goal is to help horse owners how to have a deeper and more productive relationship with their horse.

We sometimes have youngstock for sale and occasionally have ponies already with training.  Our yearlings & 2yr old ponies undergo lots of ground training before they begin under saddle.  As weanlings, they learn to stand for the vet and farrier and even begin to learn about being loosely tied for grooming.   As yearlings, they begin working in a round pen and even start wearing a surcingle and a bit.    As two year olds, they are introduced to the saddle only with no rider and learn about long lining. Our ponies are not ridden until the winter of their third year, when they are coming four year olds. This gives them plenty of time to grow and learn all the ground manners needed to be a child's pony. All of our ponies are up to date on vaccines, farrier work, and deworming.

I take the approach that horses (treated properly, given a chance, guided with wisdom, can nearly always be productive and useful animals, bringing joy and reward to their owners.  Not all foals are born to be Champions, I feel a good temperament is essential if each foal is to have a good future, & I select the mini's or ponies with this in mind.  Our ponies' work goes beyond the arena and training includes the natural obstacles like those found on a trail ride -- jumping logs, crossing water, walking across wooden bridges etc... training activities that make each of our ponies truly good companions for life!  

Some horses I've gotten in, I've said, 'They're not in training, they're in therapy.' They have been so misunderstood that after a little while in my program, they almost sigh in relief as if to say, 'Finally, someone understands me!' The whole idea of teaching is communication and the horse needs to have fun at the same time. Understanding how a horse thinks and learns is the key. The rest is knowing how to apply those skills in a language horses understand.