Breaking stereotypes | Inspirational female trainer travels across the U.S. to horse clinics and exhibitions
RED DEER — Horse trainer Wylene Davis bounced into the round pen with a bright pink shirt, leopard spotted chaps and a 100 watt smile.
She then grabbed her horse and got to work turning it from “wild to mild.”
Davis is one of a handful of full-time female horse trainers, willing to take on the hard cases.
The young filly that Davis drew in the three-day Trainer’s Challenge competition at the Mane Event in Red Deer was determined to buck Davis off its back during Day 2 of the competition.
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“When we were kids, we rode everything with hair on it. My mom taught us how to ride and guide them and because I was never handed a finished horse, I had to learn to ride whatever was underneath me,” said Davis, who lives in Arizona.
“Whatever is thrown underneath me, I’m ready for it,” said Davis, who competed in the Trainers Challenge against Heath Marshall and Sean Patrick.
“This horse was a perfect example. I pushed her through that. Today she was a powder puff.”
On Day 3 of the competition, Davis had her horse walking over tarps, bridges, standing still for a waving flag, galloping around the round pen and stopping quickly with Davis’ hand signal on the neck.
While the competition may look a bit like speed dating, Davis said the mini training session was exactly what her training sessions are like.
“The first day is walk, trot, canter, stop, back up, turn on the hocks, grab them around the neck, get off them, stand up on them in a first ride. That’s what I expect to do,” she said.
“You just looked right into my closet. There are no secrets and it’s not a speed thing. A horse can take the training. I could see she was accepting of everything so I pushed and when she accepted, I kept pushing. I knew she was ready. I had prepared her.”
Davis has competed in eight Mustang Makeover challenges, which give trainers 100 days to tame a wild mustang. It’s her second visit to Canada. She was forced to drop out of the Trainer’s Challenge in Red Deer last year when she broke her back three weeks before the competition. She readily accepted the invitation to this year’s event.
“This is more up my alley. I appreciate how to do it in two or three days with my method and show how quick it works, how efficient my horses come round and be good,” said Davis.
“I am a fun loving daredevil with a big smile. I love a challenge and it gives women a voice. It allows me to have that platform and stand up and say, ‘I know I am a girl, but I’m just as tough as a man.’ ”
Being a role model for women has been important for Davis, who travels across the United States as a professional horse trainer and clinician.
“I want to break the stereotype. I get that a lot because I am female. I got more guts than most and I am tougher than most men. I am here to show that, for sure,” said Davis.
“Everywhere I go women say, ‘thank you for confidence, for your power. You inspire me, you’ve changed my life, you’ve made me realize I can do this.’ Or they also say, ‘I just love seeing you smile out there like you’re having a good time.’ ”
Davis talks throughout her training sessions, pointing out her foot position and what she’s asking the horse to do.
She plans to train horses and teach riders for many years because of the benefits that horses bring to people.
“Horses cure people. It’s therapy. I have had more men and women come to me and say, ‘Wylene, If I didn’t have my horse I’d probably be dead.’ I love my job because horses change people. They make me better. To me, they’re therapy.”
