Mike Pellagrino, American Horsemanship

The Cowboy Coach. Coaching you to have a better relationship with your equine partner.

I'm a Horseman that will coach you to solve a problem that you just can't figure out how to solve. From Mild to Wild.Give me a call.

Mike Pellagrino – AMERICAN HORSEMANSHIP

When I was a young boy I watched John Wayne, Roy Rogers and Trigger, Gene Autry and Champion, The Lone Ranger, Silver, Tonto, Scout and all the other great Cowboys that were on TV back then. John and Roy have always been my heroes. I always wanted to grow up and be a “real life” Cowboy just like my heroes. I’ll always remember the tricks and stunts they did. They seemed indestructible – always getting the bad guys.

I remember watching a John Wayne classic, he was backing a horse almost at a trot. I thought that was very cool. Man I was hooked…that was gonna be me one day. So I began my “quest” to become a “Cowboy”. I used my imagination and did all I could to make that happen. I rode my bike like a horse with reins made from rope or string or what ever I had. I would tie him up to the water trough, jump from my saddle (bike seat), capture the bad guy (my little brother) and become the hero. Man that was a lot of fun and a lot of great memories! Wish I had pictures to show.

Fast foreword, I grew up in a small East coast town with Mom and Dad, 4 Brothers, 1 Sister and a dog. We lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment and man it was cramped. My folks taught me to love, work hard and always be honest. So that’s what I did. I started working at a very young age, doing what I could to make money.

Moving foreword, I helped out at a couple different ranches and soaked in as much knowledge as I could. I had to earn a living so I worked on automobiles. 3 of my older brothers worked on cars, so that is the path I chose. Still helping out on the ranches whenever I could. Always dreaming about horses. In my spare time, I tried learning as much as I could about horses and watching the “trainers”. I’ll tell you what, it was not the same as it is now. I always thought to myself, there must be a better way to teach a horse how to do some thing that you wanted him to do with out the pain and fear.

So my focus shifted from being a “Cowboy” to becoming the best “Horseman” I could become. I always thought that one day I would have a horse like Trigger, but now I have something better… “Skip”. He is my partner and friend. Moving along. I was at a tack store one day, and I saw a video tape about horse training by John Lyons. I thought that I would like to check it out to see if there was someone out there that was worth listening to. I watched with amazement, and realized that my instincts were right all along. You can teach a horse anything without pain or fear. I love John Lyons. He is my new hero… I started learning more and more about the way of the horse.

As I helped out on the ranch, I started using some of the techniques that I have learned with out any of the trainers knowing what I was doing. It came to me so naturally. It was the best feeling that I’ve had since I started helping out at the ranch. It ended one day as they found out about my “horsing around”. They did not appreciate me “messing” with their horses. I tried to explain about the techniques I was using. They were closed minded people and didn’t want to hear what I had to say. I think the “trainer” was intimidated by me. After all, who was I but just one of the “help”or the “pooper scooper” or the “hot walker”.

Well I’m a better person just for that experience. I learned that day to always keep an open mind. I’ve also learned that you can not change the way a person thinks. The person has to decide that for them selves if they will change. Some times people have a goal and a plan for the “long term” and they will not change the way they think even if it doesn’t work. They keep trying the same things over and over. The sad thing is that they never end up reaching their goal. Only finding excuses along the way. Very sad indeed.

So moving along…I got married, had children and moved to California. With wife and kids in tow, I had to focus on earning a living in the “new world”. I made a “living” working on cars. Made a lot of moola doing it too. All the while I kept learning and learning about “horsemanship”. Wifey and I started moving to the horse way of life. We bought a ranch and horses, a big truck, trailer and all the things to have a great ranch. The only problem with that was “moola”. We didn’t make a living on the ranch so I had to work on cars full time. I found time to work on horses after my 9 to 5 job.

But I wanted more. I felt a big sense of freedom working and playing with my horses after busting my back for someone else. Please don’t get me wrong, I appreciate having a great job and all. But my passion was the horse. I had a great ranch horse, her name was “Lady Jane”. She would do just about anything a ranch horse could do. I worked on a couple ranches on the weekends with her as my ride. As Lady Jane got older I decided that she would have a great baby, to maybe take her place one day. So I searched for the nicest stud I could find. The “whole package”. Good Looking, well mannered, smart as a whip. I found just what I was looking for. After Baby was born, I used everything I knew and learned on him and with him and for him. Lady Jane retired and “Skip” took her place without a hitch. She was a great ranch horse but Skip was a lot better. By better I mean, I brought him up and taught him the way I wanted him to be without the pain and fear.

Today Skip and I are a great team. Now that I knew I could do it, there was no stopping me. It was hard doing what the wife and I did; both working full time to pay bills, working after work and trying to live a “normal life”. Then the bottom dropped out of it all. We weren’t happy and soon came the big “D”. I decided to focus on what I loved to do and that is teaching and coaching people about “Horsemanship”. I love to show people a horse’s full potential. I love a challenge and seeing their face light up when their horse responds right away to something that they have been struggling with all along.

Now I can say I became the “Cowboy” that I wanted to be. But most importantly I’m The “Horseman” that I knew I was all along.

That’s my story. Thank you for reading it! Please leave a comment or email me. I look forward to getting to know you too.

Peace ~