BRAVO
Congratulations to SCAD Equestrian on an unprecedented championship year!
2024 IHSA Region, Zone, and National Champions
Winter 2025; Volume 11, Issue 1
Editor
Lauren Allen
Publisher Pam Gleason
Layout & Design
Larchwood Productions
Contributors
A & B Photography
Lauren Allen
L.A. Berry
Dennis Donahue
Chelsea Doyen-Thomas
Pam Gleason
Ronda Ann Gregorio
Gary Knoll
Suzanne Konefal
Maggie Kimmitt
Julianne Neal
Bethany P Photography
Andrew Ryback
Carien Schippers
Ben Tauber
U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Advertising
Lauren Allen
803-240-1275
Pam Gleason
803-643-9960
Suzanne Konefal
865-368-0740
General Inquiries
Lauren Allen
803-240-1275
thecarolinasequestrian@gmail.com
Cover
Stryder, a formerly wild mustang owned by Ronda Ann Gregorio.
Photography by Ronda Ann Gregorio. Read more on page 40
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From the Editor
Winter in the South mostly serves up brisk, bright days that make for spectacular riding, sprinkled with a few genuinely cold, gloomy days that are more ideal for indoor endeavors, like attending to your tack or reading. We hope you take the time to enjoy poring over this issue!
When people think of wild horses, they probably picture the wellknown herds of mustangs in the Western states, but there are also multiple feral herds on the East Coast. Read about the challenges facing these tough and beautiful horses as they fight to survive in a world full of obstacles. Then learn more about opportunities for mustang adoptions in the Southeast, and the growing popularity of these horses in our area.
Our Under 21 featured athlete is Lilly Geitner, a hunter/jumper rider who is the daughter of the wildly successful trainers Daniel and Cathy Geitner of DFG Stables in Aiken, South Carolina. Check out Lilly’s story and her plans for her next chapter. Then read about our Equestrian of the Carolinas: a name you will likely be familiar with, but you probably don’t associate with our region. The celebrity trainer Pat Parelli, known as the founder of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, has relocated to Johnsonville, South Carolina where he is establishing the “Harvard of Horsemanship” on his new campus.
Photographer Ronda Ann Gregorio is using her camera lens to help focus attention on American mustangs. She is set to release a book celebrating the stories of these amazing horses—and her personal experience adopting and working with three different mustangs has only made her more appreciative of their magnificent qualities. As our featured artist this issue, her images can be found on our cover as well as in our story “Wild Heart.”
We hope you love these stories and pictures—please reach out to us through our website at TheCarolinasEquestrian.com or on Facebook or Instagram and tell us about people we need to talk to, events we need to cover, or places we need to go see.
Lauren Allen, Editor
A wild horse: Shackleford Banks, North Carolina.
Photography by © Carien Schippers
More than Mustangs Wild
Horses in America
By Lauren Allen
The untouched, unsubdued, undomesticated mustang holds a special place in every equestrian’s heart: an archetypal horse. When people think of wild horses they might think of the Western plains but there are wild horses on the East Coast, too. From Marsh Tackies to Banker horses, there are even wild horses in the Carolinas.
While truly wild horses once existed in North America, experts believe that they went extinct about 10,000 years ago. The American herds of feral horses today are mostly descendants of domesticated horses that the Spanish conquistadors brought to America in the 15th and 16th centuries. The mustang may represent the epitome of freedom, fierce beauty and unbreakable spirit, but the name comes from the Spanish word mesteño, meaning stray.
Protected by Congress under the 1971 Wild Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act, mustangs living on public property in the Western states fall under the jurisdiction of the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM.) There are also feral horses that are not managed by the BLM, such as the horses that live on National Park property and Eastern herds in the Appalachian Mountains and on the barrier islands of the Carolinas. But as prized as these beautiful and free horses are in the national imagination, close consideration reveals some uncomfortable realities.
Horse herds without population control are capable of reproducing at a rate of approximately 20% every year, which means herds can double in size every four or five years. Natural population control is harsh, and without many large predators, unsustainable numbers in a fragile and finite environment can lead to slow death by starvation and dehydration. Horses that leave their established territories to find forage elsewhere present a safety hazard to themselves and others.
According to Hunter Paffrath, who is the BLM agency Southeastern states public affairs
spokesman, the BLM has removed over a half million horses and burros from the range since 1971 with over 300,000 placed into private care.
Feral horses are a complicated problem for the BLM, which is subject to pressures from many directions. According to Paffrath, “A lot of people have a romanticized version of what mustangs on the range look like. In a perfect world we could have a limitless amount of mustangs on these public lands, but unfortunately the range just cannot sustain those numbers. People often say ‘Why are you removing mustangs off the range but you have cattle or sheep grazing in the same area?’ The ecological effects of cattle grazing and sheep grazing are vastly different from the horses, the way that they consume forage and use the land and natural resources… And these ranchers may only have their cattle or sheep on the range for 30 days at a time and then they go to private grounds the rest of the year. Horses are on the range yearround… People say the horses look great when the snow has melted and the forage is plentiful, but the herd health looks very different after a fire or at the end of the dry season.”
Horses coming to drink in the Pryor Mountains, Montana. Photography by © Carien Schippers
Advocates for wild horses criticize the current BLM practice of gathering herds by helicopter, saying that it is traumatic and dangerous to the horses, and many are placed in holding pens and warehoused for the rest of their lives. Some are too old and intractably wild ever to be domesticated successfully. Some are injured, and most are simply not chosen by the small pool of people willing and able to take on an animal that is utterly unhandled and potentially dangerous. According to Paffrath, there are 40,000 horses in long-term holding under the care of private landowners awarded government contracts to maintain them.
Some adopters are genuinely invested in the magical process of winning a wild animal’s trust. However, wild horse advocates worry that other adopters are merely interested in gaming the system of financial adoption incentives offered by the BLM and that animals end up neglected, abused, and even sold to be exported for slaughter.
Meanwhile, another form of population control is gaining traction as an alternative to roundups and removals: the use of fertility control vaccines such as Porcine Zona Pellicuda (PZP). This
vaccine is administered to mares via remote dart, temporarily preventing fertilization by inducing an immune response. This method requires an initial dart to the hip followed by a booster shot two weeks later. PZP does not affect hormone production, so the natural behavior of the herd is not altered, and it is reversible. The American Wild Horse Conservation group points to its effectiveness in programs such as the one at Spring Creek Basin, Colorado where PZP has stabilized the population at 62 horses since 2012 with no removals since 2011. The McCullough Peaks Wyoming program has resulted in zero population growth since 2015.
The U.S. National Park Service uses fertility control to manage the wild horses on the Maryland side of the Assateague Island National Seashore. The Virginia side of the island is managed by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which in July is celebrating 100 years of roundups and foal auctions, just like the ones so many young equestrians learned about in Marguerite Henry’s famous book Misty of Chincoteague.
The Colonial Spanish Mustang Banker horses of the North Carolina Outer Banks are
Wild horse in Nevada. Photography by Ben Tauber
managed by the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, a nonprofit dedicated to their protection. The nonprofit supports contraceptive darting, breed conservation, emergency response, habitat preservation and advocacy, among other things. The Colonial Spanish Mustang is North Carolina’s official state horse and has been designated a cultural treasure.
South Carolina’s state heritage horse, the Marsh Tacky also descended from escaped and feral colonial horses and developed on the Sea Islands. Until very recently, a small herd of marsh ponies, descendants of Marsh Tackies and Shetland ponies, ran wild on the coast of Beaufort County. They have now been gathered by animal services and placed in foster homes. The environmental limitations and genetic isolation had dwindled the herd to only a handful of older ponies whose years of grazing on tough marsh grass had left their teeth severely worn. One thing that becomes clear is that no matter where wild horses live, herd health and reproduction must be managed.
As fertility control becomes a more viable and humane option, perhaps someday wild horse gathers and adoption events will be a thing of the past. Meanwhile, horse people who are up to the challenge of taming a wild mustang may attend one of the BLM adoption events in North or South Carolina. The horses are available first come, first served for $125.
Hunter Paffrath says that the vast majority of people adopt a horse that becomes a pasture pet. “But there are a lot of these horses, and we’re seeing a lot more in the last few years, going into these extreme Mustang Makeover competitions and into different disciplines, dressage, hunter/jumper competitions, a lot of trail riders, different things like that.”
But, Paffrath cautions, “Buying an animal, any animal, is a lifetime commitment. These horses can live 30-something years. Don’t adopt a horse on a whim. You need to be ready financially and mentally to take this challenge on.”
However, he continues “Every single one of these horses can go on and do amazing things.”
Foals grazing in the Nevada desert. Photo by Chelsea Doyen-Thomas
A Colonial Spanish Mustang, Rachel Carson Reserve of the Coast near Beaufort, North Carolina. Photo by Dennis Donahue
Mustangs in the Carolinas
By Julianne Neal
Whisper the word “mustang” and visions of sagebrush and prairies may come to mind, graced by scrappy horses with manes and tails blowing in the wind. While the Carolinas might not be considered a natural environment for mustangs, there are increasing opportunities in our area to encounter these living legends. These include Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adoption events; privately-owned long term holding facilities; and larger adoption centers as near as Tennessee. Additionally, the Carolinas are home to a growing population of mustang rescue organizations, trainers and educational groups.
For instance, in the past the BLM held an annual mustang adoption event in Columbia, South Carolina. Now they have adoptions in North Carolina as well – at their Monroe, North Carolina event in September 2024, they placed
130 horses. Drive west to Pikeville, Tennessee to find Fall Creek Falls Equestrian, a large mustang facility run by Rebecca Bowman, a trainer and event coordinator. Bowman found homes for 523 wild horses in 2024. Her organization also hosts mustang shows, complete with Mustang Heritage Foundation trainer incentive challenges, at Mullet Hall Equestrian Center in Johns Island, South Carolina.
The Carolinas boast several mustang rescue organizations, such as Lisa Mallory and Bill Finger’s Halfway to Heaven Mustang Rescue in Aiken, South Carolina. Additionally, our area has a number of dedicated mustang trainers, including Rob West in Aiken, who has competed in 14 national Mustang Makeover competitions in which trainers showcase their ability to take a horse from “wild to mild” in 120 days. Brooke Miller runs Miller Mustangs along
Halfway to Heaven Mustang Rescue, Aiken.
with her daughter Jenna in Green Sea, South Carolina, where they specialize in gentling mustangs for domestic life. Justin Dunne, a trainer in Aberdeen, North Carolina, founded the American Mustang School, through which he developed a system to work with veterans, first responders and others, promoting lifeenrichment, self-discovery, and spiritual enlightenment through the art of horsemanship.
In September 2024, the annual Mustang Summit and Symposium came to Equine Rescue of Aiken, offering trainer demos, films, and six yearling mustangs available for adoption. The yearlings, from the Clan Alpine Herd Management Area in Nevada, were each assigned to an experienced mustang trainer for the event, including Rob West, Nicola Bolt, and Brian Smith from Aiken, along with Bruce Anderson from Camden. Each of the yearlings found a new home, including the grey filly Sapphire, handled by Bruce Anderson and adopted by the Seabrook Island Equestrian Center in Seabrook Island, South Carolina. There, she will participate in an after-school youth program based on Anderson’s Wellness Through Mustangs® curriculum.
“Sapphire has added something really special to Seabrook,” said Charles Hairfield, who is the director of the equestrian center. “Not only has it been incredible to watch a young horse that was originally wild come into her own, but it’s great that the staff has a horse that they all feel an invested ownership in. Seabrook adopted her in hopes of allowing her to be a beach and trail pony some day. She is already doing so much more for us. She’s helping put us back in touch with nature and our own humanity."
Lisa Diersen, who founded the Mustang Summit, is enthusiastic about the response to the event, which will be at Halfway To Heaven Mustang Rescue in Aiken next November 7-9.
“I’m very proud of all of the work that this amazing herd of mustang lovers has accomplished in just a few short years and what we are all going to accomplish moving forward for the mustang,” said Diersen. “There is a need to help show the rest of the world, outside those who already know, how amazing these horses are, along with all of the different riding disciplines they can excel at if just given a chance.”
Julianne Neal is a retired Arts Education Administrator, certified professional in Horses and Education through Arenas for Change and the founder of JA Media Productions. A lifetime equestrian, she discovered her passion for mustangs while working on a documentary about the 2022 Mustang Discovery Ride and is also the proud owner of a mustang named Congaree.
Charles Hairfield with the yearling Sapphire
Rob West works with the filly Nike at the the Mustang Summit & Symposium, Equine Rescue of Aiken.
Welcome 1 - National / Level 3
March 20-23
Welcome 2 - National / Level 3
March 27-30
Welcome 3 - National / Level 3
April 3-6
Welcome 4 - National / Level 3
April 10-13
Spring 1 - Premier / Level 6
April 30-May 4
Spring 2 - National / Level 4
May 7-11
EE Spring 3 - Premier / Level 4
May 14-18
Spring 4 - National / Level 5 / CSI 2*
May 21-25
June 3-8 2025
Spring 5 - National / Level 6 / CSI 3*
May 27-June 1
Spring 6 - Premier / Level 5 / CSI 2*
All levels subject to change.
Under 21
Lilly Geitner by L.A. Berry
Lilly Geitner called 2021 her “last hurrah” in the pony divisions, going out on her aptly-named medium green pony Farewell as the USEF Pony Finals champions. But it was hardly the end for the now-18 year-old junior rider, who has been making victory passes a good habit ever since. These days she is competing in 3’6” junior hunters, 1.20-1.45 junior jumpers, 3’6” equitation, national and international hunter derbies and even in a few Grands Prix.
In 2022, she rode Wicked Z to win the World Equestrian Center (WEC) Ocala Summer 3’3” 15 & under junior hunters, and she piloted Disco Superfly in the large junior hunters 15 & under at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. There she received the show’s junior sportsmanship award for the young rider who best personifies the highest standards of integrity, sportsmanship, honor, kindness and generosity.
In 2023, she qualified to compete for the first time in the Medal and Maclay equitation finals, delivering a National Horse Show performance lauded in the equestrian press for its calm professionalism.
Next on course is freshman year at the University of Georgia where she will be on the riding team in the fall. “My whole life, I have been riding different types of horses and switching from different kinds of rides.” Collegiate catch riding should not be a problem.
“I really like Georgia and immediately felt at home,” she continues. In college, she will be just three hours away from DFG Stables, the 157-acre facility in Aiken, South Carolina, where she grew up with her parents, the equestrian professionals Daniel and Cathy Geitner. Cathy can be found in the hunter rings and has trained Lilly since day one. Daniel, a perennial top competitor in Aiken and Ocala, straddles the jumper and professional hunter divisions.
“Right now, I’m showing Banks Mill, my derby horse,” says Lilly. “In 2018, my dad tried three jumps on him in Europe and knew he needed him! He showed him in international derbies and then I got him, and have been showing national and international derbies since. He is the most gentle and polite horse.
“My other horse is Fazous, my dad’s old Grand Prix horse. He took me to 1.40 on our third show. He has given me so much confidence. I am beyond grateful to be his partner.”
Last summer, the two contributed to a nearly perfect team performance at the 2024 Gotham North/FEI North American Youth Jumping Championships (NAYC), presented by USHJA, at Flintfields Horse Park in Traverse City Michigan. Lilly’s team, representing Zone 4, took home the gold medal.
“It’s cool to show the same horses my dad used to show. It’s like passing down generations.”
Natalie Suto
Andrew Ryback
Andrew Ryback
Andrew Ryback
With over a quarter century focused on horse breeding in the Carolinas, we are experts at providing 24-hour care for broodmares and newborn foals of all breeds and sizes, as well as artificial insemination using fresh and frozen semen. We also specialize in raising young horses to training age. Dr. Bert Parker DVM is our attending veterinarian.
60th Elloree Trials A Rite of Spring
by Pam Gleason, Photography by Maggie Kimmitt
For horsemen in and around Orangeburg County, South Carolina, the Elloree Trials have been a rite of spring since 1963. The trials, scheduled this year for Saturday, March 22, are a day of horseracing at the Elloree Training Center in the tiny town of Elloree. The card generally includes about 10 races, with contests for 2- and 3-year olds, many of which have never raced before. In addition to Thoroughbred races, there are also races for Quarter Horses, a rarity outside the Southwest. The day culminates in the Elloree Cup, which sometimes includes experienced and successful Thoroughbreds from the parimutuel tracks in other states.
Although the Elloree Trials offer small purses, the results are not recorded in any official register and do not go on the horses’ race records. Nonetheless, local horsemen take the trials seriously, using them as an opportunity to give racehorses-in-training the experience of breaking from the gate and running in front of a crowd. Strict rules in South Carolina prohibit gambling, which puts a damper on professional horse racing, but the state still boasts seven regular racing events every year. These include the Aiken Trials (a similar day of racing at the Aiken Training Track), spring and fall steeplechase meets in Aiken and Camden,
and the relatively new Steeplechase of Charleston. Every one of these events draws large crowds of horse enthusiasts, as well as people who just want to be outside enjoying themselves.
“We get people from everywhere,” said Marykay Martin, who is the vice president of the Elloree Palmetto Jockey Club, a nonprofit that was formed to run the trials in 2024. “It’s a family environment, and just so much fun and laid back. We have vendors and tailgaters, and a lot of people bring grills for cookouts. It’s just a divine environment.”
Debbie McCutchen, who is the vice president of the South Carolina Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, agrees. “I’ve seen people have class reunions and family reunions at the trials,” she said. “It’s just a good, fun day, and it’s family-oriented; something you can bring your children to. And it features the horse. Anything we can do that highlights horses in our state –especially racehorses – is just a plus.”
Debbie McCutchen and her family own and operate the McCutchen Training Center in Kingstree, South Carolina, and have been sending horses to the Elloree Trials since the 1970s, both to give them experience and to support the Thoroughbred industry in the state.
The trials themselves are low key as far as racing is concerned, and some of the entries, particularly in the Quarter Horse races, will never see a parimutuel track. However, there are several high quality training stables in the area that have young Thoroughbreds destined for bigger things. Some of these horses have their first racing experience at the Elloree Trials.
“Just this past year, we had a 2-year-old filly called Vodka with a Twist that we ran in the trials,” said McCutchen. “That filly went on to finish second in this year’s Breeder’s Cup for 2-year-olds. So, yes, we’ve had some good horses running there.”
According to Wylie Perkins, who is the secretary of the South Carolina Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association, the trials are also a place to see promising young riders.
“We’ve absolutely seen the Elloree Trials be a launching pad for future very successful jockeys,” he said. One example was the champion jockey Chris Antley, who grew up in Elloree and later won the Kentucky Derby aboard Strike Gold in
1991 and the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes on Charismatic in 1997. Another was Malcolm Franklin, who, at 14, became the youngest rider ever to win a race at the Elloree Trials – in fact he won two that year.
Franklin went on to a career as a jockey, but has come back to the trials several times over the years for generally victorious exhibitions of his skill. His most memorable return to Elloree was probably in 2012, during the 50th running of the trials when he won three out of four races, including the coveted Elloree Cup. In that race, he was riding a stakes-placed 3-year-old named Coach Fridge, trained by Goree Smith, the owner of the Elloree Training Center, who must have been eager to capture the cup as it turned 50.
“He wasn’t messing around,” said Perkins with a laugh. “So many people who participate in the Elloree Trials have known each other forever. They’ve grown up together, they’re very competitive, and they have fun.”
For more information visit elloreetrials.com.
In Practice
Tack Matters
MSaddlery in Camden, South Carolina repairs saddles, bridles, halters, and even riding boots. She stresses that tack fit and care are very important. “When you pay attention to your tack and you pay attention to your horse, all of it tells you what it needs.”
Lindenlauf describes some red flags that might indicate it is time to assess the fit and suitability of a saddle or bridle. For instance, if the horse pins his ears or gets upset when being tacked up, he may need to be evaluated by a veterinarian, but sometimes he can simply be communicating that he doesn’t like the tack. “If they’re sound when you lunge them in a halter, but they act different in the tack, then it could be your tack,” says Lindenlauf.
Rubs, hair loss, and asymmetrical sweat patterns are also indicators that something is wrong. “Are there some places that are wet on your horses back, but other places are dry? That means there’s not even contact with the panels of your saddle. Do you have to get off after your warmup and move your saddle forward? Then we know something needs to be adjusted.”
White hairs behind the withers may indicate a major problem. “You can have muscle atrophy: I’ve seen horses with topline muscles that look like a phantom saddle is sitting on them. All these things are telling us something.
“Make sure that your horse’s halter fits well and isn’t causing damage to the sensitive bones in your horse’s nose,” she says. If your horse resists when you put on his bridle, double-check the way it fits. Be sure that you can get your fingers under the browband and the noseband, and that the browband is not pulling the whole bridle forward. Make sure that buckles are not too close to the eye.
Noseband placement and fit is very important. Lindenlauf recommends learning about the skeletal structure of the horse. “Make sure you’re not right on the edge of the very delicate bone in the nose: You want to be above that. And you don’t want to add extra pressure to the major nerve endings in their face. If you’re having a problem with a horse running away or throwing their head up, it doesn’t mean go tighter with the noseband or add another contraption ... look at how your bridle is fitting. Maybe it’s hitting a sensitive spot.”
iranda Lindenlauf of LindenBrook
Lindenlauf says that girths, like bridles, need to be fitted to the individual animal. Some horses are perfectly fine with a straight girth, but if you have a shaped, anatomical girth, make sure the cutouts are sitting in the right place. She recommends always using a girth with elastic on both sides and being careful not to overtighten it. “Leave room for the horse to breathe: don’t tighten it so much the horse’s ribcage can’t expand.”
As far as cleaning goes, Lindenlauf advises simply wiping your tack with a warm wet cloth and using natural products: a little bit of glycerin soap, and olive oil to revive dry leather. She says that less is more on today’s soft leather: She loves some of the modern emollient tack conditioners, but says you have to be sure to wipe off any excess “or it is just a dirt magnet and creates a sticky grime, and that’s true of any of the conditioners. A little bit goes a long way.” The important areas to wipe down are the ones that touch the horse—the underside of the saddle, the bridle, the girth. “Today’s tack is ready to go right out of the box. It’s soft and thin—you don’t want to scrub it and apply a ton of grease and oil to it because it will break down.
“Make sure you look at the overall picture, taking your time to step back and really look. Sometimes it helps to have someone else come in and look at it for you,” concludes Lindenlauf. She says that equestrians who want to arrange a tack fitting session with a local expert should expect to spend in the $100-$150 range.
“There’s so much out there and its okay to not know everything. The horses are telling us what works and what doesn’t. We just all need to slow down and really listen and pay attention.”
Caton and Pat Parelli ride around one of the three ponds on the new Parelli Landing campus in Johnsonville, South Carolina.
Parelli Landing
“The Harvard of Horsemanship”
Text & Photography by Pam Gleason
“Most horses cannot wait to get back to their pasture or their stall, away from their human,” said Pat Parelli at his new Parelli Landing campus in Johnsonville, South Carolina. “But we want them to want to be with us. I think that’s the biggest thing that most people miss with their horses. Most people want a bond, and they don’t get it. Lots of horses want divorces.” He paused and laughed. “That’s why their owners should graduate my courses.”
Parelli may be laughing, but he isn’t really joking. He is the world-renowned founder of Parelli Natural Horsemanship, and he has dedicated his life to showing people how to improve their equestrian relationships. This year, he is establishing a one-of-a-kind upper level horsemanship academy in Johnsonville, not far from Myrtle Beach. Parelli and his wife, Kat Chrysostom, purchased the 185-acre Parelli Landing campus in mid-2024 and relocated the entire Parelli operation there in January 2025.
This includes Pat, Kat, Pat’s son Caton, some 40head of horses, and a growing number of students and instructors.
Much of what Parelli and his team are doing in South Carolina is the same as what they have always done: taking in horses for training (they prefer to call it “development,”) holding weekend introductory clinics and weeklong “Horseman’s Hideaways,” and offering longer residential programs for professionals. The main difference is that the South Carolina property is a yearround campus, whereas before this initiative Parelli and his family split their time between Colorado and Florida. Another difference is that Parelli has established a complete curriculum for aspiring professionals, providing education in every aspect of running an equestrian business. This starts with how to train horses and how to teach, as well as facilities design and maintenance, marketing, sales, and business technology.
“Most horse people are not good business people,” said Parelli. “Their husband might be, or
Left: Pat Parelli on his special horse, Magic's Mirror.
Above: demonstrating groundwork with Kat Chrysostom's warmblood gelding, Para.
their wife might be. Somebody better be, or they had better be very rich. Because as they always say, the only way to make a small fortune in the horse business is to start with a large one.”
The new Parelli campus is set on an idyllic estate that includes two barns, an arena, round pens, three ponds, three houses and miles of trails. The previous owner rode event horses, and the property is dotted with inviting cross country jumps. In the future, there will be a classroom building for teaching business courses, and a collection of container homes that will serve as dormitories for residential students. With training programs as long as six years, Parelli envisions his latest venture as “The Harvard of Horsemanship.” He sees establishing this new academy as a crucial step to perpetuation his legacy and ensuring that his Natural Horsemanship program and philosophy will survive long after he is gone.
“That’s our goal: to teach people the wisdom I have learned over the last 70 years from some of the wisest horsemen on the planet,” he said. While Parelli’s students are considered to be studying at a college or graduate school level, for the horses, Parelli Landing is equivalent to Montessori school. The goal is to provide a solid foundation for every horse that preserves his love
of learning, promotes his natural exuberance, reinforces his connection to people and puts him on a path to success in whatever sport he is destined to pursue.
The basic method for establishing this foundation starts with a series of exercises on the ground that Parelli calls the seven games. These include the “friendly game” which builds the horse’s confidence, the “porcupine game,” which teaches a horse to yield to steady pressure, the “driving game,” which teaches a horse to respond to rhythmic pressure, and so on. The Parelli method uses a number of tools, the first being a thin rope halter (“It’s light when he’s right,”) and a “carrot stick” which looks a bit like a lunge whip (“It’s not a whip,”) except that instead of a lash it ends in a soft rope, and is intended to act as an extension of the horseman’s arm. Horses start out with a 12-foot lead attached to the halter, then progress to a 22-foot lead, and from there graduate to liberty work.
According to Parelli, if you can “win” the seven games with a horse, you will have instilled a basis of trust and leadership that will carry over to mounted work and may even change a horse’s entire attitude, transforming previously difficult animals into calm and tractable partners. The
Left: Pat Parelli on Magic's Mirror with Para at liberty on the Parelli Landing Campus. Right: Caton Ryder Parelli, Pat's son. Caton almost died from hydrocephalus as a baby and had a stroke when he was 12. But he has been riding since he was a toddler and today is a licensed Parelli professional. He has won belt buckles in cutting and reining, competing with able-bodied people, and a world championship in adaptive reining.
horse Para, one of Kat Chrysostom’s warmblood jumpers, is a case in point.
“This horse, she imported him from Germany and he went through three U.S. trainers that all said he was dangerous and impossible, and that she should euthanize him and collect the insurance,” said Parelli.
Today, Kat can ride and jump Para without a bridle, and he cheerfully tags along at liberty while Parelli rides his personal horse, Magic’s Mirror. At liberty in the round pen, he canters about with perfect rhythm and balance, responding to Parelli’s slightest cues. His expression is calm and happy, exuding a confidence in himself and in those around him. This is not an unusual expression at Parelli Landing: there are no nervous or unhappy horses on the campus. Everyone seems to be at peace.
This includes Parelli’s mount, Magic’s Mirror, a smallish black Quarter Horse who celebrated her fourth birthday in January. Her special distinction is that she is the actual clone of Parelli’s horse Magic, a mare he found while giving a clinic in Tasmania almost three decades ago. Of all the horses Parelli has ever had, Magic stood out as his favorite. Brought to one of his clinics because she wouldn’t load in a trailer, she proved to be an outstanding athlete, and was Parelli’s partner in countless exhibitions and competitions.
“She could do lead changes every stride; she could canter backwards,” he said. “She could piaffe and passage and jump four and half feet with me in a Western saddle. She was the most incredible horse. We were like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.”
Magic lived to be a bit over 30, but that was not long enough, and so Parelli had her cloned by the Texas company ViaGen. Magic’s Mirror has not disappointed.
Five Facts about Pat Parelli
Pat Parelli says that there are five things that you should know about him, and they all start with the letter “f.”
1. “Number one, I’m Italian, so everything is about family, and either you're in the family or you’re not; either you’re going this direction or you’re not. And if you’re wanting to go this direction, I will go to the end of the earth helping you.”
2. “Number two, I’m a cowboy, and cowboys, true, real cowboys, live by the code of the West, which means it has to be fair. It has to be fair to the horse, and it has to be fair to the person.”
3. “Number three, my dad was a successful businessman, and there is no romance without finance. So finance is number three – you’ve got to make a profit; you’ve got to have a good business.”
4.“Number four is fun. It’s got to be fun, so you get it done, but with a bit of fun.”
5. “And number five, again, because I’m Italian, you’ve gotta have good food.”
“So it’s family, fair, finance, fun, food.” And that’s what you should know about Pat Parelli.
Pat Parelli with a painting of prominent Italian Americans since 1492. Christopher Columbus is in the back of the car with Madonna and Lee Iaccoca.. Parelli is mounted on a horse in front of John Travolta and Sylvester Stallone.
“She looks like her, smells like her, thinks like her and I have to convince myself when I am riding her or playing with her that she is not Magic,” said Parelli. “It’s important for me to be riding a horse that when people see what we can do, they go ‘Wow.’ Because what’s the next thing that comes out of their mouth after that? It’s ‘how.’ And that is what sends them to us. There is nothing you can’t do once a horse becomes a part of you.”
In addition to giving courses to aspiring professional horsemen and dedicated amateurs, Parelli says he would like his new academy to be a resource for the community. He plans to provide pro bono horsemanship demonstrations and experiences to local children. He will also give short courses and seminars to veterinary students and grooms who need to learn safe and effective ways to handle horses.
“I think the way that I love to help people is to help them help themselves,” said Parelli. “My goal
is to help them learn some really highly functional habits …to do things with the horse and never to the horse. The style of instructing that I give is education, entertainment, and empowering: it’s fun and it teaches.
“Horses, no doubt, complete humans. But if we become the horsemen that our horses need us to be, we can complete them,” he concludes. “We can give them the feeling of safety, the feeling of comfort, and fulfill the play drive that horses have that is so important to them. Because here’s what horses want. Are you ready? They want to have fun.”
While the new campus is still under development, Parelli Landing is very much in business, and Pat, Kat, and Caton are thrilled to be in South Carolina.
“We’re so excited that we found this wonderful place,” said Parelli. “It fits all of the things we were looking for. I’ve discovered how beautiful and wonderful the Carolinas are, and I’m just tickled to death to be here.”
For more information, visit parelli.com
Ronda Gregorio’s adopted mustang Stryder in his field at home in Virginia
Wild Heart
The photographic art of Ronda Ann Gregorio by Lauren Allen
Ten years ago, the photographer Ronda Ann Gregorio adopted a mustang and discovered a level of horsemanship that she had only dreamed of as a child. The Virginia native grew up cantering the countryside but she went to school to pursue a career in fashion, and then moved to California to study photography. She ultimately returned to the East Coast and built a life with her husband Sean Spink in Flint Hill, in rural Rappahannock County, Virginia. She practiced dressage on her warmblood mare, and rode a neighbor’s Friesians, but when her mare died and the neighbor moved, she found herself horseless. That is when Gregorio decided to take a leap and try working with a wild horse. The experience was life-changing, and now she is using her camera to focus attention on the American mustang.
Visitors to the L’Atelier de la Ruelle store in downtown Aiken can see Gregorio’s equestrian photography on display and for sale, and she
spends time in South Carolina training with the Charleston-based dressage trainer Iris Eppinger and photographing some of Eppinger’s clients. “Right now, my focus is on bringing awareness to the plight of wild mustangs in the United States,” says Gregorio.
“These incredible animals face a significant overpopulation crisis, and thousands of them are in desperate need of good homes. Through my work, I aim to shine a light on their beauty, resilience, and the incredible connections that they are capable of forming with people.”
Gregorio has a book, Wild Heart, set to release later this year. The book celebrates the amazing partnerships forged between humans and previously wild mustangs and will be available on Amazon. “This project has been a labor of love… showcasing how these horses—once untamed and overlooked—can do anything when given a chance” she says. “From trust-building to extraordinary feats of athleticism, their stories
Left: Ronda Gregorio with her two adopted mustangs, Viggo and Stryder, and her dog, Luna. Above: Jolene, owned by Dr. Sue Anne Wells of the Mustang Leadership Partners, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
prove the limitless potential of these remarkable beings.
“Ultimately, I hope my audience walks away not only inspired but also more informed about the challenges these horses face. If my work can motivate someone to learn more, spread the word, or even consider adopting a mustang, then I’ve accomplished something truly meaningful.”
Gregorio acquired her first mustang at a Bureau of Land Management adoption event in Lorton, Virginia. “I went to this adoption event to get a bay mare, and I left with a grey gelding,” she laughs. “I wanted a larger mustang; a lot of mustangs are quite small, and this horse was already 15.1 hands at 3 years old. I picked him because of his size, and he had this overwhelming kindness in his eye… he has a softness about him, he is a healer, he is a giver.”
Gregorio enlisted the help of Michael Alway, a natural horsemanship and three-day-eventing trainer, who is based in Boyce, Virginia and has competed in two Extreme Mustang Makeover competitions. Within six months she was riding her gelding, whom she named Viggo, bridleless. “I haven’t done something that freeing and trusting. When you take all of the demand away and it is all about trust, you form a different bond with the horse. I was able to do things in my 30s that I hadn’t done since childhood. That was very eye-opening for me and super profound when you have been riding your whole life and it’s like you’ve been missing something.
“When people experience my work, I want them to feel something deep and undeniable—an emotion that catches in the back of their throat and lingers.”
“Working with a mustang, it teaches you a different way to work with horses. If you are a traditionally trained person, like I grew up in the hunter ring and foxhunting, the way you’re taught to train horses is a little
Above: Ronda Gregorio’s Viggo in his field; Above Right: Terry Clibborn, a Wisconsin trainer and wild horse advocate, with his mustang Choke Below Right: Helix (front) and Omega (back), owned by Mary Miller Jordan, a mustang advocate
bit demanding. I mean, you pretty much tell the horse everything and you expect them to respond the way you want them to respond. And you can’t do that with a wild horse that you can’t touch. You have to figure out how to get them to give you the answer that you’re looking for without telling them they have to do it. So, you have to learn a different way to communicate with them, like the way everyone should be taught to communicate with a horse from the beginning … I feel like I am a better horseperson because of these horses.”
In the 10 years since she picked up Viggo, Gregorio has adopted two more mustangs.
“Ten years ago when I got this mustang, I knew nothing about them,” she says. “In my book I am not focusing on the negative. I am only focusing on what can be done to help them. There is a lot going on – there are a lot of people doing
positive things and sometimes they disagree with other people who are doing positive things. The people who are working hard for these horses are unbelievable. The people that are actually doing the work are moved by these horses the way that I am moved by them. You don’t understand it until you’ve walked through it. They are so powerful. They are magical.”
In addition to her book, Gregorio hopes to develop a large-format-photography traveling show that brings awareness to wild mustangs. She has several more books in the pipeline as well.
“When people experience my work, I want them to feel something deep and undeniable—an emotion that catches in the back of their throat and lingers. I hope my art energizes and inspires them to take action, to feel moved in ways that go beyond just admiring a pretty picture.”
Palm Beach Breeze, owned by Dr. Sue Anne Wells, Mustang Leadership Partners, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Pam Gleason
John
Aiken Hounds,
Parting Shot
Doug Payne piloting his own Quintessence in the $100,000 Lugano Diamonds CSI** at the Aiken Horse Park, Split Rock Jumping Tour. Payne, formerly a member of the U.S. Olympic eventing squad, is switching his discipline to showjumping in 2025. Photography by Pam Gleason
