Our Journey
Here, I am going to tell the story of how I found myself. Or… well really the one who found me. There are ups and downs, twists and turns, but in my opinion, it is one of the most magical of things that can happen to a person.
Having the friendship and the love of a horse.
I have been in love with horses, and pretty much all animals, ever since I can remember. My parents tell me my love for them began when I was only two years old. I dreamt of running with wild horses, galloping down the beach with them, and sharing ultimate love with them. I had tons of horse toys, and watched horse movies (preferably ‘Spirit, Stallion of the Cimarron’, I watched that one over twice a day) endlessly.
When I was three years old, my parents took my brother, Keoni, my sister, Ashley, along with my grandparents and I to my first riding lesson. My brother and sister rode in it too, but I was (and still am) the only one who stuck to it.
The woman, named Eileen, (who is now our very close family friend) already had a horse, Menehune, caught and tied up for me. She brought out a tack box with a few brushes, a hoof pick, and a mane and tail brush. She taught me how to walk around horses, and how their minds and instincts work. Then she showed me how to brush him. I took the body brush in my hand and glided it along the beautiful chestnut geldings side. Then Eileen brought out a saddle pad, a western saddle and a bridle. She tacked him up for me and brought me a helmet. Off we went to the arena! I could not have been more excited. I was lifted up onto the horses back, and I felt amazing. It was the best experience ever (well… at the time!).
Eileen led Menehune and I around the arena. I probably had the biggest smile that my parents had ever seen.
I kept doing riding lessons for years, switched ranches a couple of times, and at the new ranch, I rode a gorgeous black mare named Iluna. A few months after doing lots of riding lessons with her, she was put down because of cancer. It was a horrible experience, for I had fell completely in love with her, and I had grown to be so attached to her.
I then started riding a new horse, Candy. The first time I fell off of a horse was with Candy. She was spooked by the smell of a dead pig in the bushes, and she bolted forward, and I fell straight out of the saddle and onto the soft sand. I stood up and got right back on, but I was terrified.
After that lesson, I didn’t want to ride ever again. My confidence was gone. My mom forced me to go to the next one, and I tried to hide in the car to avoid going. But my trainer convinced me that it would be okay, and that I wouldn’t fall off this time. She asked me if I wanted to lead Candy around a grassy area. I accepted and I took the lead rope in my shaking hands. Everything turned out perfectly fine though, and my confidence was back.
I switched back to my first trainer, and I started riding at a new ranch (still with her, though) called Princeville Ranch. I rode a few horses there. First, a small, scrawny palomino gelding named Duncan. Then, in the summer before seventh grade I think it was, a big brown and white Paint horse named Sarge.
Then, my trainer introduced me to a gorgeous bay gelding named Lilo. He was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. He had the sweetest temperament and was the most amazing horse I’d ever ridden. Little did I know, that this was the horse that would change my life forever.
In the fall of 2012 (the beginning of seventh grade) I volunteered at the ranch I rode at with Iluna & Candy, with a few of my best friends, and in return for the work that we did we got to go on lots of trail rides with the horses. My favorite horse was a grey pony named Kolohe. I rode him, brushed him, and bathed him all the time. My friends and I did photo shoots with the horses, and went on long trail rides down to the waterfall where we would slide down the rocks and swim in the pond. We found these secret trails that we would go galloping down in. I didn’t know if life could get any better than that.
In the summer of 2013, I talked to my mom about how badly I wanted a horse, and how I knew I was ready to handle the responsibility. She looked around on Craigslist and Equine Now. She then found a horse that she thought was perfect. He was an eight year-old sorrel gelding, and he was beautiful. We went to visit him, and we watched a lady take him for a test drive, and then the current owner. He was still extremely skittish with people, and was very wild. He fought everything that they asked him to do. I thought he was amazing, but my mom didn’t even blink an eye before making her decision. It was a no. For this horse, anyway.
My mom called my first trainer and, when the words came out “I am seriously considering buying Kaitlyn a horse.” I felt like the happiest and luckiest girl in the world.
She told my mom that the ranch she works for had two horses for sale. One named Rusty, a 21 year-old flea bitten grey, and Lilo, a 19 year-old bay. A few days later I went to take both of them for a test drive. I rode Rusty first, and he was incredible. He was so willing to do anything I asked, and he had lots of energy. Then I rode Lilo. Deep down in my heart I knew that he was the one. I had already had a connection with him and I knew him for a few years before.
The next day, I confirmed that Lilo was the one. I was beyond ecstatic. My dream had come true; I was going to have a horse of my very own! Eileen came over so we could sign the bill of sale, and pay for him. I couldn’t stop smiling.
The day after that, I went up to the ranch to see Lilo for the first time since we got him. I caught him and brushed him off, and picked out his feet. I rode him very often as well. I even made an Instagram account for him and I, where I found an amazing account called @littlepistolannie (https://www.facebook.com/MosieTrewhittLibertyHorsemanship).
It said she did Liberty Horsemanship. She rode her gorgeous mare without any tack. No saddle, no bridle. Nothing. She did amazing tricks with her. She played tag with her, and it was the most magical thing I’d ever seen a human do with a horse. It was pure love. Pure friendship. Right then and there, I knew that is what Lilo and I were meant to do.
I stopped using bits, and for a while we only rode bareback. I stopped using utter force with him and I started to work out of positive reinforcement instead.
But at the time, I completely misunderstood Liberty. I thought that it was only about tricks and the horse following you, and riding without tack. I asked around the social media horse world for help and to get a better understanding of what Liberty was. Not only did I find the true definition of Liberty Horsemanship, but I also made a bunch of new friends from over the Internet.
Once I knew where to start, Lilo and I began our journey. In the beginning, it was harder than I had ever imagined. He did come to me, but when he was set free in the arena, he chose not to be with me, and instead walked away. I felt unloved and undesired. We were lost.
In our spare time, I taught him a few tricks. He learned to stretch, the start of a classical bow, and to back up in sync with me.
After about a month of being together, Lilo was put in a big pasture with lots of other horses. I hoped that being in there with him more would deepen the bond. But sadly, things got worse.
He stopped walking to me, and for a while he wouldn’t even follow me out of the pasture with a halter on him. I lost motivation with him for a while, and I didn’t know where to go from there. I was just about ready to give up on us.
Lilo and the horses were all put into the pasture right next to the first one. This one was at least 12 acres. At one end of it, there were three big trees lined up beside each other. The line dividing the two pastures, and the trail riding areas was a big long fence with trees along every side of it.
Lilo started to come with me out of the pasture more, but he rarely ever came to me, and our bond hadn’t improved.
But, he learned to disengage his hindquarters, and ‘look where we go.’
A little while after that, my parents informed me that he had a big abscess in his back right hoof. We treated it for days, and he was put back in a pen. After being with him for hours taking care of his hoof and spending more and more quality time with him, things slowly got better. He rarely ever followed me, but he started coming to me again, letting out a big whinny. And after a bit of time went by, we had our first tackless ride.
It was amazing. We rode bareback and without a bridle, or a halter. Only a neckrope, which I barely even had to touch. I felt like the happiest I could ever be.
He learned to give kisses on cue, and started following me around much more. He almost came trotting when he saw me.
One day, my best friend, Zara, came with me to give Lilo a visit, and at first we just hung out with him, and I showed her the tricks that he knew. Then, she asked me if she could sit on him. I said yes, and gave her a leg up. I started to walk away to get a few pictures of them on my camera, and Lilo followed me. An idea sparked in my head. I turned around and ran to the other side of the pen. Lilo immediately came trotting after me. I was amazed. It was the first time that he actually wanted to run with me! I almost started to cry, I was so happy. I then got on him, and I asked for a walk. He walked just by a cluck, and turned by a thought in my head. Then I raised my energy up, asked him to walk to the end of the pen and turn around, and leaned forward and clucked, and he went straight into a beautiful canter, with Zara running forward and taking pictures as well. When she got on him again, he walked, trotted, and cantered with me. I was so incredibly happy! It was an amazing experience.
We started playing and experimenting with objects like tarps and bags. And one day I rinsed him off, and put him back in the pen, and he rolled. I walked over to him and petted him while he was lying down, and he let me sit with him for a little while. It was always a dream of mine to lie down with him, and it was a beautiful and magical thing! I couldn’t believe what was happening at that moment. Our long, beautiful friendship had finally, truly begun.
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| Lilo and I's first day together! |
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| Our first time laying down together |
