Cowley teen tames troublesome horses

Kirstie Robertson with Willow
Christine Robertson photo

Chris Davis

Cowley's Kirstie Robertson has been parlaying a natural gift with animals into a successful career training problem horses. She and her company SunRose Natural Horsemanship takes in horses that have troublesome behaviours, retrains them, and returns them to their owners or finds suitable homes for them. "I just decided to see where I could get," she said, reflecting on her beginnings in 2008. "Bought them both as babies, watched them grow up. I train young horses, old horses..  I try to do a little bit of everything. Western, some english, and general colt starting and problem solving."

Maggie and Kirstie Robertson working it out
Heather Walker photo

"I started with a couple of rescues. Both were slaughter bound," she said. "Once they got old enough, I trained them both to ride. The first horse was hell, she was tough as nails and really hard headed. Second was easier. This was about four years ago. There was a bay horse named Willow, she was the REALLY hard one. Then a blue roan named Blue. She was easy and really friendly."

"People used to come park beside the pasture to watch me get bucked off by the bay horse. Never failed. She was a terror," continued Robertson. "But, after two years, suddenly she became the best horse ever. She was amazing! I had a friend teach me how to train her. I was 12 or 13 when I started."

Raven, Willow, and Boo get their ya-ya's out
Kirstie Robertson photo

"After those first two horses I just fell in love with training," Robertson continued. "I started taking on projects of the 'untameable' and found out I had a bit of a talent for it. Now I've got people contacting me out of Calgary and Edmonton to do training, and I was even asked to do a clinic. I've had quite a few people bring me horses that they were at the end of their ropes with, and sent them back home three weeks later well behaved and perfectly broke."

She's reluctant to do clinics yet "Because I'm worried I don't have an established method as of yet."

Caiti Walker and Kirstie Robertson
taking the long way home
Christine Robertson photo

Business has been brisk enough for Robertson , and she has enlisted Caiti Walker to help her with the endeavour. Walker helps exercise the horses and performs maintenance riding as well. "I just hired her this summer. I had too many clients," explained Robertson. "I had calls pouring in and I needed back up. I met her when we needed to move some horses from Pincher to Cowley. Didn't have a trailer, so we rode the whole way." After that ride Robertson knew she'd found the right person in Walker. "Turns out she was a great rider, and had lots of experience," she said.

Robertson usually takes on one or two horses at a time, "But it depends on how many the owner has." She also has her own horse. "I have a 15 year old sorrel gelding named Tiger," she said. "He's my best bud."

"I don't have one," she replied, after being asked what her secret was. "I treat each horse as an individual. I keep the same basics and alter my methods to suit each horse. I don't force them to work, I find what they like to do and I use that to get them to do what I want. I just let them run through the options and make them think they are doing what they want." What are the basics? "Lunging, groundwork, de-spooking...I always lunge horses, I always work on the ground and in the saddle. I try to mix things up and keep it interesting."

Kirstie Robertson
Christine Robertson photo

Robertson said many horses with great potential get a bad rap because their owners don't know what to do with them. "I'm sick of seeing people having problems with horses, that are based completely from the way they treat them. Sometimes the solutions are so simple.. and yet it can land a horse in the canners in no time," she said.

"I started because I found a passion for working with horses, I love the relationships and connections people can build with them," explained Robertson. "I want to change the way we see horses. I want to change the relationships that people have with them in a positive way, and find a way to create harmonious relationships and easy training solutions that everybody can do. It's all in teaching the owners. Some horses are hard, but most are easy because they are driven by instinct, but just like people they have their own personalities."

"Horses can be big scary animals," she continued. "Some people are afraid of them and let them walk all over them. Other people find some kind of power in being able to control them. So they either overdo or underdo. Then there's the people who do nothing at all."

Kirstie Robertson atop a Palomino client
Christine Robertson photo

Robertson clearly loves what she's doing. "I think My favourite experience is the first time you let a young horse loose on a run. I love to get them set up in a nice big field, and drop the reins. Just let them go at their own pace. They start off sort of unsure, but soon they realise they aren't being held back," she relates. "I love it when they let loose and just rip through the fields on their first run. It's so much fun to see them have so much fun."

SunRose Natural Horsemanship is taking bookings for spring now, having finished up their fall clients.

Robertson is currently finishing her grade 12 year, and also works as a lifeguard at the Pincher Creek pool.

Visit sunrosehorsemanship.blogspot.com for more information or to book some training for your troublesome horse.

For their Facebook page click here.

Kirstie Robertson video