I began riding in middle school taking weekly dressage lessons. To one who has ridden out on beautiful trails, galloped through an open field, or explored open countryside, my first years of riding horses may not sound as much as a thrill. My lessons focused on grooming, picking hooves, and carefully examining the horse before mounting; taking up to an hour sometimes just to tack up for a ride. Then going straight from the mounting block to the arena to work on the fine details of Dressage.

I am so grateful that these lessons were the foundation of my understanding of horsemanship as I moved through different horse worlds. I understood the details of how a horse moves freely and under saddle. I learned how to care for a horse in a way that gives them the most potential physically and mentally under saddle and in training. But I didn’t truly understand horsemanship until I became a wrangler.

Inspired after leasing a dressage horse in college who loved trails, I applied for a job as a wrangler in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. A ‘wrangler’ in this sense being a trail ride guide. My duties include caring for the horse herd from health to training, barn chores, pasture chores, and guiding the trail rides. I began guiding one to two hour walking trail rides with up to six guests riding behind me.

With 20 horses and 2 ponies to care for, I felt overwhelmed to give the attention and time I was used to giving one horse to all 20 horses. We had to tack up those 20 in less than one hour. We didn’t work on cross training any of the horses and most of the horses only knew how to walk in a line on the trail. Some barely had a ‘stop’ to them, while others barely had a ‘go’ in them.

Despite the lack of training or attention to details, I fell in love with the little herd of 20 horses. Having to ride 20 horses from all different backgrounds taught me a ton. I put a ton of trust in all of those horses; mounting a new horse for the first time while having to guide six beginner riders, some terrified of horses, out on the trail. Despite only riding at a walk for nearly 6 months everyday, my riding improved more than I ever could have in the arena for a year. I learned to loosen up and relax, let the horse express itself more often, and learn to ride and adapt whatever horse was under me.

Over the next 3 years I worked as a wrangler at different ranches guiding trail rides and caring for horse herds up to 120 horses. Riding over 300 different horses in the past 3 years, feeling that thrill of excitement getting on a each new horse. At these ranches, the horses come from all over the place. Some are rescued, some have been abused, others are green broke, others from the auction with minimal information about them.

Every horse you mount you can only trust what others say about that horse or what you have observed from the little time on the ground you’ve had with that horse. Most of the seasoned dude horses are able to adapt so well to all different types of people riding them. As a wrangler I enlisted myself to be able to adapt to every horse I get on; green horses needing more guidance and support, barn sour horses needing firm leadership, high energy horses needing direction, lazier horses needing more inspiration and spirit. After a summer full of training the ‘problem horses’, also known as ‘wrangler horses’, on the job, it was incredibly rewarding to see those horses turn into guests favorite and most popular horses.

Becoming a wrangler taught me so much, from leading beginners on the trail to galloping through fields behind a herd of 100 horses. The beat of hundreds of hooves pounding on the ground will be in my heart forever. I’ve met some of the most incredible horses and find myself trying to take home my favorite horse after every ranch I work at. I can thank those 300 horses for training me on the trail to relax, adapt, and enjoy the ride!

View photos taken on the trail at GloriaFord.com