Nancy Slater Natural Horsemanship
BEHAVE the way you BELIEVE!
"I believe that horses can make us better people. If we can learn to LISTEN, UNDERSTAND, and COMMUNICATE effectively with them, our lives will be fuller and happier! I stumbled into Natural Horsemanship after finding out what I didn't know about a very damaged mule named Josh. My journey began while searching for answers, and soon, the most amazing things began to happen when my BEHAVIOR became worthy of Josh's TRUST and RESPECT.
By focusing to truly understand the principles of natural horsemanship, I unraveled the secrets that build a strong relationship. I arrived with fear, but left with confidence and success. I believe all things good and positive are possible with our horses.
BEHAVE the way you BELIEVE and live your dream!"
Nancy Slater
Nancy Slater: Horse Behavior Professional
With a mission to help make the world a better place for horses and the people who love them, Nancy promises to bridge the gap between horse and rider, always putting the relationship first. Nancy offers experience, education, and professionalism.
Nancy grew up in Southern California where her parents owned and operated a large summer camp (Cali Camp at Big Rock Ranch). She learned to ride at age 4, and rode everyday. Starting as a teenager, she rode many types of horses, competed in gymkhana (speed events), and gave riding lessons to both children and adults.
After moving to Florida, she obtained a degree in Early Education and Child Development. Nancy ran her own accredited day care and developmental center for 20 years, servicing 80 families during that time. Nancy was a licensed Parelli Natural Horsemanship Professional for 10 years, studying with Pat and Linda Parelli; a PATH (Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship) certified instructor for 13 years; and she taught special needs students using her personal horses in private and public school programs. Nancy still uses her own Natural Horsemanship Program to bring healing to veterans (and anyone) with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Trail riding was always her passion, and when her husband bought a mule, she suddenly found the need to continue her horsemanship education. Because you “can't make a mule”, Nancy's journey took her across the U.S. to ride with the best mulemen and horsemen she could find. Discovering Natural Horsemanship in 2003, she pursued goals of never ending improvement, in order to be the best version of herself for her equine partners.
Nancy was inspired to teach natural horsemanship with a focus on obstacle challenges as part of a horse's core foundation training after winning the National Championship in Obstacle Trail Competition (American Competitive Trail Horse Association National Champion in Open (PRO) Division) on Zantanon's Shaman, a 5 year old mare she had owned and trained since it was 2. Nancy continues to train for Equine Trail Sports and is a frequent column writer for major magazines on horse training topics. She also teaches Natural Horsemanship skills in public schools.
Over the years, Nancy has perfected her system of how to do obstacles she calls, “One's, Three's, and the Backdoor Please!” This is a tried and true way to train any horse to become braver, wait on their rider, and respond versus react, in a calm, thinking manner (no fear!). Since everything is an obstacle to a flight animal, this system is the ABC’s to success with horses.
Nancy has built her extraordinary Cowboy Camp Obstacle Trail Park, Florida's leading obstacle training facility, in the scenic lake and cow country of Central Florida. Here, she trains riders and their horses using Natural Horsemanship and her Ones and Threes approach to reprogram a horse's thoughts using obstacles as communication tools.