A Second Chance in Paradise – Getting a Fresh Start in Hawaii

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324 – October, 2014

By Kristen Spinning

Have you ever wanted to start your life over in some exotic locale, complete with a new job, home, and support system? For me, that fleeting daydream usually includes a white sandy beach, crystal clear water, and plenty of palm trees. Remarkably, several dozen horses living on the island of Kauai have been given that second chance, complete with palm trees, and are thriving as a result. Plucked from a downward spiral of being used, abused, forgotten, and discarded, these horses were given a life reset: a new job, a new home, and a supporting, caring environment.

By the 1830s, cattle and horses were an important part of the Hawaiian Islands economy, and ranches started to spring up across the island chain. On the north side of Kauai, cattle were introduced in 1831 and adapted well to the lush, broad ranges that spill down from waterfall-streaked mountains. Princeville Ranch was one of the first established cattle ranches in that Shangri-La. Karin Carswell-Guest is a sixth-generation rancher who, along with her husband, Jeff Guest, currently operates the ranch that has been in her family since 1895. Over thirty-five years ago, Guest’s mother and father began offering horseback rides across the bucolic 2,500-acre property. Since then, the family has added numerous other adventure activities to its line-up, including kayaking, zip lines, ATV tours, and hiking. Still, Princeville Ranch is primarily a working cattle operation that cultivates sustainable, grass-fed, antibiotic- free Brangus beef.

Most experienced horsemen might assume that the life of a trail ride horse is not ideal. It conjures images of nose-to-tail automatons, plodding along, oblivious to the erratic signals of inexperienced riders. However, Princeville Ranch explodes that notion. They have proven that it makes good business sense to put a horse’s mental and physical welfare first. Guest and all of her equine staff are trained in natural horsemanship techniques. The ranch’s equine manager and head trainer, Eileen Donohue, worked for a year with Monty Roberts and received certification.

“One of the Kauai guide books wrote that ‘at Princeville Ranch, they care more about their horses than the guests,’” Donohue laughs. “That actually brings a lot of good riders here, because they like that idea.” I’ll admit, it was that very line that caught my eye when choosing between several well-reviewed riding options on the island. However, I never could’ve dreamed about the lengths to which they will go to support the welfare of their herd. “It’s not that we care more about one or the other,” Donohue elaborates. “We want guests to know that these horses are not just beasts of burden. Certainly we want the guest to be successful and have a great ride. For that to happen, there needs to be understanding and communication between horse and rider. Then, it becomes a win-win.”

For the horses in their dude string, Princeville Ranch is generally the first home where someone has put forth any real effort into rehabilitation. Guest and Donohue regularly travel to the mainland and find horses through wholesale traders. They look for Quarter Horses, Paints, Quarter-Draft crosses, and the occasional Belgian or Percheron. The horses have a variety of backgrounds and primarily come from the western U.S. and Canada. Once a horse gets to a wholesaler, their true history is muddy, and their future may be grim. It takes a special kind of horse person to look beyond the present and see potential among a sea of dull eyes and tattered hides. The scars of ill-fitting tack and ill-tempered owners are often glaringly apparent. Guest selects only geldings. She rides them, watches them move, and chooses between six to eight on each buying trip. Hers is not purely a rescue mission. Guest must evaluate each horse’s eventual suitability as a working member of her ranch. After all, this isn’t an all-expenses paid trip to island retirement.

The logistics of transporting a horse to Kauai are daunting, and it’s expensive. First, they are hauled to California, where they are vetted, tested for Coggins, updated on vaccines, and sprayed for bugs. The protocol follows very strict Hawaiian agricultural import laws. In a few situations, Guest has flown horses to Kauai, but generally they travel by boat. The sea voyage itself takes about six days in specialized container stalls with an attendant present at all times. “They do remarkably well. We’ve not really had any problem with shipping them,” Donohue adds. The horses disembark at the port in Nawiliwili Harbor, not far from where tourists flood off cruise ships. “We haul them up here, and they go directly to quarantine for 90 days,” Donohue says. “Fortunately, we have enough land that we can quarantine in-place.” Quarantine at Princeville Ranch is in a large pasture far separated from any other horses or cattle. With the cloud-enshrouded Namahana Mountains anchoring the south and an arc of blue Pacific Ocean to the north, this settling-in zone looks as though it has been lifted from a painting. It’s a great place for anyone to relax from a long trip. “The time also allows them to acclimate to the island environment and to just be a horse for awhile,” Donohue says. However, quarantine doesn’t mean isolation. The newcomers are slowly introduced to the way things are done at the ranch. The process of unraveling the mysteries of their past and rebuilding a positive foundation begins. Donohue describes the typical new horse: “Many of them arrive here with a very afraid eye. They are not accustomed to being around people in the way we expect. They have that look that says, ‘what is that human going to do to me now?’”

Donohue has worked at Princeville Ranch for 19 years and has helped many throwaway horses transition to their new island lifestyle. She grew up riding hunter-jumpers and showed extensively. She describes those days as learning under very severe teachers. She credits them with helping her establish a strong foundation, but it also seared into her soul what she did not want to incorporate in her own teaching and training methods. She insists that by tuning into one’s self and one’s horse, a rider can achieve better results without the harshness she endured. Her challenging experiences as a young exhibitor allow her to relate deeply to the emotionally scarred horses that are in her care. She works to understand the psyche of a horse and respect his unique “horseonality.” When teaching her own students, she incorporates breathing exercises, yoga, and centering practices to connect horse and rider.

That sensibility, along with time, patience, and gentle hands are the keys to transformation for the horses once they reach Kauai. Donohue and Guest, along with Guest’s daughter, Reyn, and a few staff members work with each horse at their own pace. Natural Horsemanship techniques, groundwork, and hours of riding are employed to re-train and socialize the animals. Good fitting saddles and handmade snaffle bits are introduced. “We try to do things with an understanding of what the horse is sensing and feeling at all times, rather than imposing a lot of things on them,” Donohue says. “In their past, everything was forced upon them, so they learned to tune it out. We want them to be aware, to pay attention and be cooperative.” Both the process and the timeline are different for every animal, and some adjust better than others. “The last batch we bought came from Alberta. There are six of them. We’re reasonably sure they were last used for packing with outfitters who took people up into the mountains. They were very wary of people when they got here. With three of them, you can already see their eyes have softened. You no longer see every muscle in their body tense when a person comes near.” Those three have graduated to life on the public side of the ranch to become accustomed to all the activity of guests and horses already on the string. Once comfortable with that environment, new horses begin going out on the trail, while being ridden by a guide. When a horse is ready to transport guests, it is done in slow, comfortable steps, and they are initially paired with experienced riders.

Donohue approaches training and management of the riding string the same way she trains a horse for any discipline. “You don’t really know everyone that has handled him in the past,” she says. “When you buy him, you are getting everybody that has been in that horse’s history—positive or negative. Since the horse doesn’t forget all those people and their history, they have all these slides in their mind.” Her assertion is that horses are associative thinkers; they think in a series of pictures, like slides in a carousel that are instantaneously retrieved. When something negative happens in the present, an associated negative slide pops up, and they respond to it. The goal is to put more positive slides into the carousel ahead of the negative ones. The old images are always there, since you cannot erase them. However, when you load more positive experiences, the odds are better that the positive responses will come up more often than the negative ones. “Ideally, in a perfect world, we would all want to start our own horses,” she says. “That way you know it’s just you, or you and a trainer you trust, that are inside the horse’s head. Most of us can’t do that.” She encourages every horse owner to spend the time to create new positive experiences to build a horse’s confidence. Particularly vivid slides from abusive situations may be difficult to overcome, and require not only the patience to identify, but necessitate a long-term commitment of positive reinforcement.

Princeville Ranch continually works to maximize positive input to their horses’ slide deck. To that end, they educate riders to have a respectful and cooperative relationship with their mount. Though their reputation attracts experienced riders, the majority of guests have little or no time in a saddle, and thus they arrive with a jumble of excitement and fear. The belief is that by teaching guests good horsemanship, they have an enjoyable trail ride and they take away a basic foundation to wherever they may ride in the future. For some guests, that good start has translated to a lifelong passion for riding. “There are two words that are banned from our guides’ vocabulary on this ranch: kick and pull,” Donohue emphasizes. “Those are aggressive words, and they paint a negative picture. Instead, we teach guests to start at zero, build pressure for the desired result, and then give an immediate release. We need to be assertive when riding but not aggressive. Those are two very different things. We don’t want to start new people riding by being aggressive.” Riders are encouraged to spread out and truly ride as they pilot their mounts over the rolling hills. “We try to get the guests to feel their horses, but it’s hard to teach feel in a couple hours—especially when they are here to have a good time riding across a beautiful cattle ranch.”

Donohue’s parting words to each group of riders as they head out are, “remember to breathe!” It might sound like a joke, but it’s actually her yoga background infusing the ride. She believes that when a rider focuses on their breath, they become more aware. “It’s centering and it connects rider to horse. Blood flows to the brain and the rider can think, instead of being tight and anxious atop a horse.” The chain of events she hopes to incite go even further. Breath is vital to relaxing muscles, which in turn allows for better flow with the movement of the horse. It’s a subtle yet effective way to get guests more comfortable, enhancing their experience and ultimately causing the horse to be more at ease. Comfort equals soundness equals happiness: a simple formula for success on the trail or in the arena.

It’s immediately apparent that the Princeville Ranch horses have a good attitude about people in general and their job in particular. Alert and inquisitive, they are downright eager when any of the wranglers enter the paddock to collect them for a ride. That’s probably because the positive reinforcement doesn’t end once work begins. The guides and wranglers are genuinely enthusiastic and communicate on both verbal and non-verbal levels with their equine partners. The Ranch has a history of longevity on their string. Amigo, a spry, sorrel gelding that barely edges over the measuring stick to make the horse designation, has been transporting guests for 15 years. He showed no signs of slowing down or tuning out while my 8-year old rode him. Donohue is well aware though, that over time, a horse’s needs and abilities change. “It’s a business, and sometimes we have to let some go to make room for others,” she laments. Sometimes, a horse is not a good fit for this type of work any longer. Or, after months of working with a new horse, they determine he is not going to ever be happy as a trail horse. In those situations, they find new homes on the island. Horses remain extremely popular in Hawaii, so locating a good prospective owner is not difficult. Donohue elaborates, “it’s a small island, and we know a lot of horse people here. We’re very careful where we place one of our horses, though. If we don’t know the person, we check them out thoroughly.” That includes checking their facilities, their methods, and Donohue follows-up after the sale to make sure everything is going well.

The lucky horses that began a new life in this tropical paradise are certainly better off now than they were before. As the busy summer season winds down, horses and staff get to relax a little more. Meanwhile, Guest and Donohue have already turned their thoughts to finding the next batch of horses to introduce to island living. The grim truth that thousands of horses are unappreciated, abused, discarded, or left to languish in pitiful pens every year is heart-wrenching. Meeting caring people who go to enormous lengths to give horses a second chance brings a modicum of hope. However, the lessons of Princeville Ranch extend beyond the extremes of the horses they rehabilitate. Parallels can easily be found in the show world. All too often, horses suffer from trainers or owners trying to force a square peg into a round hole. Performance lags, expectations aren’t met, communication collapses, and horses are sold down the road. Patterns of negative experiences fill their minds, ever increasing the challenges for the next owner, and a downward spiral begins. Yet, there can still be great potential for that horse with a different kind of future or a different job. The true lesson of Princeville Ranch is that patience, understanding, awareness, and respecting each horse, or person, as an individual can give all of us the opportunity to make things better the second time around.