WHO IS
DAN SUMEREL? Dan Sumerel, founder of Sumerel
Training and Sumerel Therapy, is a man who has
developed his own way of working with horses,
due to necessity on his part! His life had
always been lived for the love of speed, and Dan
was very well known for his extreme motorcycle
and car racing abilities. He simply loved to go
FAST! In 1988, Dan was introduced to the world
of horses, and he was enamored immediately, as
most of us horse lovers are!
At the same time, Dan was introduced to a
National Endurance Riding Champion. Knowing
Dan's love of speed, this gentleman and his wife
became mentors to Dan.....and the search was on
for the Perfect Endurance Mount! As most of us
know, the perfect first horse for a novice rider
is a well schooled horse with a good
disposition. Added to that, since Dan was going
into Endurance Riding, he needed a horse who was
incredibly fit and possessed the will to GO!
Enter Shazi...he fit the bill perfectly and was
gorgeous to boot. He got Dan off on the right
hoof as a beginning Endurance Rider, and
together this team had some awesome rides, even
winning the coveted Best Condition Award. He
opened Dan's eyes, and heart, to the wonderful
sport of Endurance Racing.
As Dan became more involved with, and excited
about Endurance Racing, he realized that he
needed a second horse if he wanted to compete
more often. Dan had known a horse, for several
years, whom he thought would make an incredible
endurance mount. There were several "problems"
with this particular horse, though. First, he
was a stallion. Secondly, he was hated by
everyone who came in contact with him. He had a
few "issues", such as rearing, striking, biting,
bucking, kicking and was almost impossible to
catch. But every time Dan walked by this horse,
his beauty and his character, his very presence,
drew Dan back to him. At this time, Dan knew
next to nothing about bloodlines in horses. But
I am here to tell you, this is one awesomely
bred horse!
Everyone told Dan that if he was going to be
crazy enough to buy the horse, he had better
geld him before attempting any riding. So, on
the day Dan purchased Sunny, the horse was
gelded. What a shame.......
Against everybody's advice, Dan bought this
beautiful horse named Sunny. To everyone's
surprise, Sunny and Dan hit it off very well.
That is, until Dan started to condition Sunny
for Endurance Riding. Now, they had been on
several very successful and enjoyable rides in
the mountains of Colorado. However, Sunny did
something Dan had never experienced before....
They were about 3 miles out on the trail, and
Sunny decided to give Dan his first experience
on a runaway horse. Sunny decided to go
home....and he would NOT stop until they were
back. Dan was yelling "WHOA" and pulling on the
reins. These actions did NOTHING to slow Sunny's
runaway. Dan hired five different trainers to
help him solve Sunny's issues, but nothing
helped. Not stronger, more painful bits, not
crops, not spurs. They all tried to ride him,
but none did succeed. Sunny would go ballistic,
and no one could stay on. But he never, ever
went ballistic with Dan. He liked Dan. He never
bucked Dan off, and he was not aggressive with
Dan. He just ran away with Dan.
Basically, Sunny was telling Dan "Yes, You
can
ride me. I won't dump you or hurt you. But,
we
are going home whenI want to".
And, Sunny never did hurt Dan. He just had his
own agenda, and that meant going home when he
wanted to. And, at that point, nothing or no one
was going to stop him!
What Sunny was telling all the others was "NO,
you are NOT going to ride me. I am not allowing
you to do anything with me that I don't want you
to! YOU are NOT the BOSS
OF ME...and I am more than willing to prove it
to you!"
After 8 months of extreme frustration due to 43
runaways in the Rocky Mountains, Dan knew that
he had to do something DIFFERENT... he just had
no idea what "different" would be. All five
trainers met and together told Dan to put Sunny
down, but Dan was not going to accept this as an
option. At that point, Dan put Sunny in a grassy
pasture and set out to find someone who could
teach him what he needed to know.
Dan began to study the teachings of many of
today's most well-known natural horseman. He
read their books, watched their tapes, and
invested in their equipment. He went to a LOT
of
clinics. This early exposure to horsemen like
Pat Parelli, Buck Brannaman, Ray Hunt, John
Lyons, Richard Shrake, Curt Pate and Monty
Roberts began to give Dan a new understanding of
how horses think and act. Dan became enthralled
with this new way of thinking, so he went back
further in time, and studied the works of Monte
Foreman, Tom Dorrance and others.
All of these trainers had one goal in mind, and
that was to help people deal with their horses
in a more effective way. Each of these trainers
presented differing techniques. Dan knew that he
was becoming enlightened, but at the same time
he was becoming confused about the contradiction
of so many different techniques and
philosophies.
Dan went home to Colorado with a lot of
different ideas and techniques (not to mention a
few new halters, sticks and ropes). After a few
weeks of trial and error, with so many different
techniques, Dan just sat down and watched Sunny.
Sunny was in a pasture with 4 other horses. Dan
realized that EVERYTHING he needed to know about
controlling Sunny was there in FRONT of him. All
he needed to do was to watch the horses, LOOSE
in the pasture. This was the epiphany that
launched the concepts that have evolved into the
Sumerel Training System*.
In a few weeks, Dan had achieved such changes in
Sunny's attitude that he was now riding Sunny
with NO BIT and NO MORE RUNAWAYS! This dramatic
transformation in Dan's relationship with Sunny
was the result of the CHANGEIN DAN'S THINKING!
The success that Dan had with Sunny in such a
short amount of time, gained the attention of a
lot of people. Soon, he was being asked to help
others with their horse problems. As he worked
with more and more problem horses, Dan began to
refine what he did with each success. He also
began to realize, that so many of the problems
the owners experienced, did NOT occur with him.
It soon became obvious that Dan really needed to
be training PEOPLE. He observed how many horse
people were indoctrinated into the "Normal" way
of handling horses. Despite the difficulties
much of the "Normal Approach" creates, people
often continue using those methods.
By Dan getting into horses as an adult, he was
not as indoctrinated as most people are, who have
been involved with horses since they were young.
Sunny had proven to Dan that the "Normal" often
does not work. Dan's previous experience as a
Motivational Speaker and a Corporate Trainer
helped him develop a superior method of
communication, which enables people world wide
to understand what Dan is teaching.
This thinking and awareness has developed into
the Horse Course*.
Please visit the Horse Course Page on our
website to learn more. Be sure to read the
Testimonials written by people just like YOU!
Sunkist Sir Beau, A.K.A. "Sunny",
pictured below:
Well then, it is not a piece of
iron that can make a horse
knowing, for if it were, the
bit makers would be the finest
of horseman.....
William, Duke of Cavendish (1743)
This class is like no other Horse Clinic you
will ever attend. It will teach you how you can
control your horse, and any horse you ever come
in contact with, WITHOUT THE NORMAL USE OF FORCE
OR UNNECESSARY EQUIPMENT... AND THAT'S A VERY
EMPOWERING FEELING!
While Dan was working with Sunny, and attending
Endurance Rides, he was introduced to an
incredible technology that enabled anyone to go
over a horse's body, locating and treating that
horse's physical problems. Once again, Dan's
open mind served him well, because he began to
realize that many horses have an overlapping of
physical and behavioral problems. The exposure
to this technology has led to the advent of the
Sumerel Therapy System*, and has helped many
thousands of horses all over the world. Please
visit our Horse Therapy Page to learn more about
this wonderful system.
The response to Dan’s work has been incredible,
prompting his appearance at major horse events,
as well as television, radio and newspaper
interviews. He has written articles for many
major magazines. His best selling book "FINDINGTHE MAGIC" has been so well received it is
already in it's fourth printing, and is being
called "The Owner’s Manual For The Modern
Horse!" Noted veterinarians, such as Dr. Marvin
Cain, Dr. Robert Cook and Dr. Robert Miller,
have endorsed "FINDING THE MAGIC" highly.
Dr.
Robert Miller, worldrenowned DVM., states that
Dan's book is one of the very best books written
on the subject of Natural Horsemanship, ever.
Now, that's quite an honor!
What is natural for your horse is always better
for him, and better for you in the long run. In
most cases, it is less expensive as well! With a
little more understanding of the nature of our
incredible horses, we can all adapt our modern
environment to provide the best possible life
for our horses. And, when we create the best
possible life for our horses, using THEIR
VALUES, we often have a lot more FUN with our
horses at the same time!
Today, Dan lives with his fiancé, Jocelyn, in
the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Southwestern
Virginia, with their five Arabian horses, Sunny, Kasty, Shadow, Miss Ellie and Magikh.
Soon to be added to their horse herd is a wild
mustang filly named Liberty, being given to
Jocelyn as a gift from dear friends, Tom and
Julia Durfee, of Laughing Horse Sanctuary, a
horse rescue in Southern VA. Dan and
Jocelyn have three Siberian Huskies, all
rescues, and one beautiful Treeing Walker
Coonhound, who they rescued off the side of the
freeway in Kentucky. They also have three
Siamese cats, two turtles and a very demanding
Guinea Pig named Amelia. Dan and Jocelyn travel
all over the United States teaching people how
to control their horses, without force, and
develop a bond with their horses that will last
forever....
Photography by Philip Daniel Lopez
Always remember, what
is natural to the horse is best for the horse,
and ultimately,
will also be best for you!
