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  • Writer's pictureColton Woods
    • Jul 29, 2015

Mark Training, Mustangs, Pirates and Performances


Hey Folks,

Let's get right to the point... There’s no better way I could express how well things have been going other than everything has been absolutely phenomenal. Over the last several weeks I have had the opportunity to further my horsemanship immensely and to meet dozens of incredible horsemen and women. As I go through this journey, I would love to hear from everyone who takes their own personal time to read my blog posts or follow whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest! I am continually learning how to better communicate not just with horses, but with people as well so your feedback is greatly appreciated! As for the horse side of things…

A few weeks back Donal Hancock and I stayed at Transitions Equestrian Center where we put the two palominos: Spiderpig and Vanilla Ice, back to work while Dan was in Australia. Over the course of eight days I had the opportunity to teach the basic foundation of mark training to both horses. As you may recall from my previous blog post Great People, Great Horses, A Great Start with Double Dan Horsemanship a few weeks ago, I was first introduced to mark training at the Liberty Clinic we conducted in Milton, Wisconsin. Knowing these two young horses are on their way to becoming fulltime performance horses for the Double Dan team, it was an extremely exciting opportunity to be able to work with them on this phase of their training. From Day #1 of teaching them the basic concept of the mark to Day #8 when they were running at liberty the full length of the arena to the mark, a lot of the concepts Double Dan Horsemanship strives to teach really began coming together!

Above is Vanilla Ice showing off his enthusiasm to get to the mark!

One of my favorite aspects of this job is getting to meet and work with so many great people with high levels of expertise and interests within the equine industry! Amidst our travels over the last several weeks we had the opportunity to spend several days teaching Ground Control, Liberty and Long Reining clinics in Raymondville, Missouri as part of the Mustang Reunion. Then we went to help and support our friend, Shelby Winsted, who finished 8th in her first Extreme Mustang Makeover competition in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as got to channel my inner pirate for the ‘Dream Upon a Horse’ show put on by KYB Dressage and Double Dan Horsemanship at the Kentucky Horse Park. And finally, most recently and last but not least got meet and ride with so many great folks in the Murfreesboro, Tennessee Body Control Under Saddle clinic. Needless to say it has been a very busy last few weeks! Each place we travel to brings many new learning experiences, great people and so many memories.

Below are some pictures and videos from all of these wonderful experiences I have had the opportunity to have!

Dream Upon A Horse


Check out this great video of the performance put on by KYB Dressage and Double Dan Horsemanship here!

Extreme Mustang Makeover Competition

Truly enjoy getting to experience this competition and meet so many people. It is refreshing to be surrounded by folks who have put so much time and money into preparing for a competition but still happily help and mentor other competitors throughout the event.

Kentucky Horse Park Demonstrations

Thank you again to all of those who have reached out and been a constant supporter! There are many exciting clinics, events and projects ahead and I cannot wait to share them with you! Oh and here is a sneak peak into what is coming up next:

Best Wishes and Happy Trails,

Colton Woods

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