Philosophy of Training
The
Quilliams method of horse training results from years of experience. Dennis
incorporates the philosophy of
training
from other Natural Horsemen. Dennis bases his philosophy of training on the
mutual respect of horse to man and man to horse. Dennis began his love of
horses as a young man (40+years ago). He lived in the middle of Winnipeg, Manitoba,
Canada. So he had
to hunt to find that “elusive dream”. At the age of 12, he mucked stalls at a
local riding stable in exchange for lessons. Beginning with riding English, he
soon proved to be a natural horseman and advanced from riding to teaching. He
trained his first horse within that first year.
Dennis went on to work at
various ranches in Alberta, British
Columbia & Saskatchewan,
continuing his learning and training of ranch horses. He has worked with & trained
Quarter horses, Appaloosas, Pintos, Arabian, Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds, and
Trekaneners, to name just a few. For several years he worked as Manager and
Trainer, on a gaited horse ranch, in Snoqualmie,
WA. While on the ranch he trained
Gaited Mountain Horses, Tennessee Walkers, Saddle Breds, Peruvians, and Paso
Fino.
He
begins working with foals as young as possible. Halter training begins about 3 months old,
when he
teaches
them to halter and lead. He will pony
the foal along side the mother and go for the first trail ride. When
the
horse is a yearling Dennis will do some round pen work, and reinforce the
lessons of leading. Saddle training begins between 2 and 3 years of age.
Using the
resistance free methods of training he is also able to retrain older horses as
well as work with problem horses. After an
initial evaluation of horse and rider he is able to give an estimate of what
time is needed. His primary focus is to
enable the horse and rider to enjoy each others company as they head out for
their activities together.
For the gaited horses, Dennis uses a variety of
exercises to encourage and enhance the gait.
As with all horses muscle development is very important, as is the
maturity of the horse.
Specialty
training, such as neck-reining and further education of the horses is dependant
upon the horses ability
and maturity,
as well as the rider’s ability.