Nokota Horse Observation and Application Clinic.

2010-08-13T14:11:00.000-07:00

Let me first start by giving you a little history and background on the Nokota horse. There are less than a thousand Nokota horses in the world. The majority of these horses reside in Linton, North Dakota. Leo and Frank Kuntz have spent the past 20 to 30 years preserving these horses. They come out of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park. These are wild horses whose bloodlines are believed to stem back to Chief Sitting Bull's horses. These horses are not mustangs but are a mix of Indian horses and ranch horses of the late 1800’s. To learn more about these great horses go to www.nokotahorse.org This is the conservancy website where you can read more to learn about their history and uniqueness.

Two years ago I got introduced to the Nokota horses. A client of mine brought me a couple of the Nokota horses to start under saddle. I really liked the willingness to learn and athletic ability of these horses. While I had these Nokotas in training I got a call from my good friend and fellow trainer Aaron England. While conversing I told him about the Nokota horse I was training and lo and behold he had one in training at the same time. We thought what a coincidence since there are only a handful of Nokota horses in Texas. So one thing led to another and last year Aaron and I had the opportunity to go up and see the horses in North Dakota. It was a great experience! Being there and seeing all those amazing horses really peaked my interest.

This past March the Kuntz brothers brought 10 unhandled Nokota horses here to Chappell Hill Texas. Aaron and I held a three day colt starting clinic. We had nine participants and in those three days we got most of the horses haltered and a few of them saddled and ridden. Three of these horses were sold and I've been fortunate to be able to work with two of them. They are extremely athletic and well mannered. You will hear more about these two stallions Koda & Yatoo in the future.

I just got back (July 29th-August 2nd, 2010) from Linton, North Dakota, where Aaron England and I completed a five day long Nokota horse observation and application clinic. It was a great time. We had nine participants and 19 head of horses. This was a unique clinic because we spent part of the day each day out among the herds of wild horses. The rest of the day we spent starting two and three-year-old colts. Only three of the 19 horses had ever been worked with before. Those three were some of the ones that came to Texas that we worked with here.

The first day we started off by going out to the pasture with the colts. There were about 50 to 60 Colts in this 90 acre pasture. We hung out with the horses for about 45 minutes observing them and watching them interact with each other. The males are constantly playing and fighting with each other. We had everybody line up across the pasture to move the herd across the creek and out into the holding pen. Once in the holding pen we separated off seven or eight horses and these are some of the horses we started. Frank picked up the rest of the horses we used from other pastures since the horses were already up in the holding pens.

Once we had all the horses up at the arena we began the application part of the clinic. First we put all the horses in one end of the arena and made a human round pen around them. As the horses got more and more comfortable with us we made our circle smaller and it got to where we could start walking through the herd one at a time.

Over the next few days this built up to putting two or three horses in a round pen at a time with two or three participants. The participants bettered their communication skills to the point where they got a rope on their horse and then they got to halter them. Next, they taught their horse how to lead. From there we went through the four stages of starting a horse, accepting the human, accepting the saddle, accepting the rider, accepting the bit. Everyone did an awesome job. Out of nineteen horses fifteen of the horses got to the point of accepting the rider.

The participants got to the point where they were riding twelve of the horses around the arena. Four of the horses they rode out of the arena in a pasture. Awesome job !!

In between working with the horses we spent a portion of the day out in the pastures observing the different herds. From the mamas and the babies to the stud bands to the colt pastures. This was a really neat opportunity to do this in the beautiful North Dakota prairie.

We had Joe Baker come up from Missouri with his chuck wagon. He kept everyone fed with his delicious cowboy cooking. We had participants come from across the country and even a young Lakota boy who brought his tepee. This was an exciting clinic to be a part of and our hope is to make this an annual event in North Dakota. The Nokota horses have a rich history and they are great horses. If you are looking for a new horse I suggest you check out this breed.

Nokota horses 2 & 3 year old colts playing

2010-08-09T16:22:00.000-07:00

Jack Lieser Horsemanship

Nokota Horse Observation and Application Clinic.

Nokota horses 2 & 3 year old colts playing