Building a strong, safe, and confident partnership with your horse is paramount, whether you’re a seasoned equestrian or just beginning your journey. This is the core philosophy of Susan Wirgler, a dedicated horse and mule trainer and instructor whose passion lies in fostering clear communication and mutual understanding between humans and equines. Her approach emphasizes a solid foundation of good behaviors, achieved through knowledge and understanding rather than force, to cultivate willing and responsive partners.
Susan’s expertise extends across various equestrian disciplines, including colt starting, extreme cowgirl challenges, reining, and cowboy dressage. Her competitive success, consistently placing in the top three at events, underscores the effectiveness of her training methods. Based in Shingle Springs, California, Susan offers a comprehensive range of services, including professional behavior evaluations, problem-solving for horses and mules, private and group riding lessons, groundwork clinics, and comprehensive training programs tailored for all disciplines. She has a particular specialization in starting young equine stock and addressing behavioral issues in older animals.
Her horsemanship program is built on the principle of confidence through control and safety, ensuring that both horse and rider feel secure and capable. Susan’s lifelong dedication to horses began at a young age in the Midwest, where she started her English riding career at seven. By nine, she was competing in local Chicago-area shows with Thoroughbred hunters and jumpers. Acquiring her first horse at eleven in California, she gained diverse experience in English riding, jumping, bareback, and gymkhana. This early immersion fueled her dream of training horses and teaching humans to communicate more effectively, thereby enhancing safety and mutual trust.
Through relentless desire, determination, and consistent practice, Susan has transformed her dream into a reality. She continues to deepen her study of equine behavior and refine her skills to empower horse owners of all experience levels. Her commitment to ethical and effective training is further demonstrated by her involvement in various equine welfare and education initiatives.
Key Training Philosophies and Experiences
Susan’s dedication to horsemanship is evident in her participation and success in significant equine events. In 2010, she competed in the Rescue Me Challenge, sponsored by the Grace Foundation. This event, which was live-streamed at the California State Horse Expo, saw Susan earn a Third Place Award in her division. More importantly, her project horse, Zeus, found a loving adoptive home, highlighting the event’s ultimate goal of promoting equine adoption. Susan’s journey in horsemanship is marked by a deep commitment to ethical practices and a passion for developing confident, capable equines and riders.
She has also been a featured trainer and clinician at prominent events. In September 2011, Susan was a featured trainer at the Napa Mustang Days in Napa, California. Her involvement continued through 2012 with presentations on horsemanship for diverse disciplines and horse types. Her expertise was recognized with a return invitation as a featured trainer for the Napa Mustang Days event in June 2013. In 2014, she was a featured trainer for the FALL EQUESTRIAN SYMPOSIUM at Brookside Equestrian Center, where she conducted numerous hands-on mini-clinics and demonstrations over the three-day event.
Furthermore, Susan is an active member of the Alliance for Horses, a group of trainers dedicated to supporting rescue horses and their adopters. This consortium strives to unite individuals of integrity to showcase the value of unwanted horses through visionary education for both horses and humans. Susan has actively participated in the Horsemanship Fair, sponsored by this Alliance, in both 2013 and 2014, with all proceeds benefiting participating rescue organizations.
Her commitment to continuous learning led her to complete The Western Dressage Association (WDAA) “Train The Trainers” Clinic in Rancho Murietta in 2016. Susan is a strong proponent of Western Dressage, recognizing its alignment with her goals and those of her students. This discipline emphasizes honoring the horse and nurturing the relationship and communication between horse and rider, enabling both to achieve their full potential.
Enduring Wisdom from Equine Mentors
Susan Wirgler often draws inspiration from the profound insights of equine training pioneers Bill and Tom Dorrance. Their philosophies emphasize a deep understanding of the horse’s perspective and the importance of clear, subtle communication.
Bill Dorrance eloquently stated, “What a person has in their mind to present to the horse needs to be something that’s possible for a horse to actually do. Then the person has to be able to understand it themselves, through feel, and apply it in a way that the horse can understand. This is difficult because no two horses are the same, and there’s plenty of adjusting a person needs to figure on for this. Even if the picture they have is okay, when they handle a horse with more firmness than he needs, they’ll get a wrong response nearly every time and think the horse is at fault. When that’s their thinking, they’re liable to just apply a lot more pressure on the horse – which really mixes him up. And from the horse’s response, the person can get the idea that he doesn’t want to do what they’d like him to do. This is correct in a way, but it’s really just because the horse can’t figure out what they want him to do, because he doesn’t understand that pressure-feel they put on him in the first place. What makes this so bad is that those horses – I’ll say most horses – would cooperate if they could only understand.” This highlights the critical need for human empathy and clarity in training.
Bill Dorrance further elaborated on the nature of partnership: “There is a complete control over the horse when the person’s thought becomes the horse’s idea. And there’s no place at all about dominating the horse in the connection we are building here. That would be way out of line.” This underscores that true partnership is built on mutual understanding and respect, not coercion.
Tom Dorrance offered a unique perspective on mules, often misunderstood for their perceived stubbornness: “Every now and then somebody asks me what the difference is between horses and mules. What I think it is. And the best answer I’ve been able to come up with is the mule and the horse is the same, but the mule is more so. Ever since I can remember I’ve heard people talk about the mule being stubborn. I tell people “I never saw a stubborn mule.” I’ve seen the mule shut down for a while, to try to give the person time to figure out what the person should be doing And I’ve watched that a lot, during my lifetime. And that’s just about as true a picture as I can try to describe. And when you think about it, a lot of people don’t even want to listen to it, but if they think about it, maybe next week, or later, they might chuckle about it. And begin to see what I meant.” This wisdom encourages patience and a deeper understanding of equine communication, recognizing that a mule’s “shutdown” is often a request for clarity, not defiance.
By integrating these foundational principles with her practical experience, Susan Wirgler offers a holistic approach to horsemanship, fostering safer, more confident, and harmonious relationships between horses, mules, and their human companions.
