Business Spotlight: Howlin' Revival Horsemanship

Being a horse trainer is no easy task, and it involves countless hours of hard work and commitment. Anna Arunski knows this more than anyone, as she recently started her business, Howlin' Revival Horsemanship. Settled in Richmond, KY, Anna is dedicated to helping horses and horse owners.

Howlin' Revival Horsemanship offers training and education surrounding the phrase "For the Betterment of the Horse." Training is done through principles of classical dressage, as well as natural and relationship-based horsemanship. The reason that training is done this way is to set all horses of every discipline up for success both physically and mentally for any career.

"Taking a horse-centered approach is the surest way to help the horse become successful. Howlin' Revival Horsemanship not only focuses on helping horses be successful, but also focuses on improving horse owners. The reason for this for this is the end goal of having a true partnership between horse and owner. This is done through education in lessons, encouraging owners to sit in on their horse's training, For the Betterment of the Horse podcast, as well as educational topics discussed on social media. Horsemanship is more than what is done in the arena or roundpen and the goal is provide an opportunity to have well rounded horses and horsemen." -Anna Arunski

I asked Anna a few questions so we could learn more about her background and what her business offers.

Q: Tell us a bit about your background. How did you get into horse training, and how long have you had experience with horses?

A: "I started my horse journey at a young age, always being the one to beg to go on pony rides. For my sixth birthday, my parents gave me a gift that would continue to this day by gifting me riding lessons. A year or so later, I was bought my first horse who happened to be an off the track thoroughbred who was a saint. Although he was green, he took care of me, and we had a lot of firsts together including both of our first ever cross-country schooling and mini trail event.

From there, I fell in love with off the track thoroughbreds and by high school I was training them in eventing, dressage, hunters, and jumpers. Through these amazing horses, I found my love for training and realized that I preferred the art of horsemanship over competition. This realization opened the door to seek as much education in various disciplines as possible, especially classical horsemanship. I have now been around horses for sixteen years and have devoted the last several to being a true student of the horse."

Photo by Kyra Graefen Photography

Q: What is the story behind starting your business, Howlin' Revival Horsemanship? What inspired you to start training horses?

A: "Howlin' Revival Horsemanship started with a very special mustang that I renamed Wyoming Revival. I am quite superstitous about horse names, so renaming a horse holds quite a bit of weight for me, but he needed a total life restart. Therefore, he had to leave his old name and life behind. Unfortunutely, Wyoming Revival "Wyo" was incredibly shutdown when I brought him home and about as distrusting of people as he could be. It was nearly impossible to get within 20 feet of him in his pasture, let alone put a halter on or even ride. Through working with Wyo and allowing him to teach me, I realized the need for a horse-centered and gentle approach.

He gave me the confidence to start Howlin' Revival Horsemanship to work with both horses and owners on partnership, and taking the perspective of the horse into consideration at every step of the training process. I knew that from working with the off the track thoroughbreds my whole life that I wanted to share the things that I had learned since I developed a style that was not mainstream. It took a very special mustang to help me realize that I could help both horses and owners, and to realize that this is a passion of mine. A lifestyle built around harmony with horses is what inspires me everyday. The phrase "for the betterment of the horse" is also an important one to Howlin' Revival Horsemanship as all horse interactions are centered around this phrase. The phrase is emphasized in all aspects of my business."

Photo by Kyra Graefen Photography

Q: What services does Howlin' Revival Horsemanship offer? Can you tell us a bit about what each service consists of?

A: "Howlin' Revival Horsemanship offers training, lessons, clinics, training demonstrations, as well as a few specific programs, and hopefully soon will take on sharing education of the horse and training in various avenues. Training is unique because every horse is different as is the training process. Most training is done through travelling to farms all over Kentucky and southern Ohio. This gives an opportunity for owners to sit in on the training process and ask questions as well as work hands-on with me and their horse. On a limited basis, training stalls are also available for everything from colt starting, problem solving, and fine-tuning in various disciplines.

Like training sessions, lessons are done by traveling to different farms and working with clients and their horses. Lessons can be on anything from riding, to helping owners problem solve with their horses, liberty and groundwork, and building a better partnership between the horse and owner. Training demonstrations consist of anything from problem solving, equine restarts, and behavior analysis. Clinics are centered around connection and the horse-human relationship through both groundwork and under saddle work.

There are two special programs that Howlin' Revival Horsemanship offers, and they are called the Pursuit of Partnership and Track to Teammate. Pursuit of Partnership is a three-hour session focusing on equine behavior and the horse-human relationship. It provides a one-on-one look at the partnership between horse and owner through groundwork and liberty. This in-depth analysis gives owners a deeper look into their horse's brain, and gives owners the ability to learn how to improve their partnership with their horse and tools to maintain the partnership. This session is done in the comfort of the facility that each horse is at so that the most accurate behavior is displayed by the horse.

The Track to Teammate program is geared towards helping off the track thoroughbreds become successful in their next careers. This program helps horses through consistency of training and allows for owners to learn about their off the track thoroughbred- while helping that horse become successful. Education is important since life as a student of the horse is a life-long journey, so Howlin' Revival Horsemanship is working towards providing educational resources. This has started with the podcast called "For the Betterment of the Horse" as well as education through social media. The website will soon feature educational resources and a video library."

Q: What can a horse owner expect after you have worked with their horse?

A: "Owners can expect a horse who seeks partnership, is able to problem solve, and is able to be peaceful through the various services. In fact, this is the priority from the very first session. During the first training session, each horse typically finds themselves so at peace and relaxed that they fall asleep. Through the various services offered, this provides different opportunities to learn that the general fundamental of each horse is the same. There is a focus on the quality of the partnership first, then adding correctness of movement and discipline specific skills. The fundamentals and foundation of every horse is the priority because it is so important that this is built first. Next, the owner's goals can be built after a solid foundation is built in the horse."

Photo by Kyra Graefen Photography

Q: Can you tell us about your horse-centered approach to training and what that entails?

A: "The horse-centered approach can best be described to an important phase which is "for the betterment of the horse" as well as the idea of being a student of the horse. All training is done with the philosophy of "for the betterment of the horse", and it means that training methods should benefit the horse mentally and physically at all steps of the process. That is from everything to introducing something new to the horse, the way that the horse is handled, how the horse is trained, and even in knowing when to quit. If something does not align with the phrase, it does not happen. This means that the training principles are focused on benfitting the horse, horses are not pushed to feed the human ego, and ethics are a priority.

The student of the horse aspect is based on the idea that horses have so much to teach us, even as a horse trainer. This means that the focus on what I bring to the arena is important and that I must be ready to learn from the horse. I must make sure that I enter the arena or roundpen with a clear mind, and that I am ready to accept that what the horse has to offer in education for the day. Horses are generally willing animals and how we present ourselves to them means everything. Therefore, as a student of the horse, I am seeking to work with the horse, learn from the horse, and better both myself and the horse throughout the training process."

I thank Anna for telling us more about herself and business. If you would like to learn more or contact Anna, you can go to https://www.howlinrevivalhorsemanship.com/.