Meet Mosie Trewhitt of Liberty Horsemanship & Artemis Wild Horse Sanctuary in Ojai

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mosie Trewhitt.

Mosie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
When I was 12, I got my first horse Annie. I was so happy; she was my best friend! We grew up together and shaped each other. I wanted only the best for her.

When I was in high school, I realized I could get out of P.E. by joining the equestrian team. It sounded amazing – getting credit for spending time with my horse and never having to run another lap again! I was all about it.

It just meant that we had to join the show circuit and take lessons at a real equestrian barn. Up until this point, I was just a girl having fun with her horse in her “backyard”, but this meant joining the equestrian community.

This changed everything for me. In my riding lessons, I learned basic equestrian skills like how to dominate and “become the boss”; I learned to use a whip and justify it as an “aid” and I learned how to make my horse obey my every command without question – the sign of a “good horse”. And I started to see how our normal treatment and training took something very special away from the horses we love. I saw broken horses, I saw horses who were shells of themselves, and as I became a better and better “equestrian”, I saw the light in Annie’s eyes start to dim.

This made me question everything. It was my first identity crisis! Scared for my horse’s spirit, I took her home and promised to find a better way – a way that didn’t “break” her as we so appropriately put it in the horse world – a way that didn’t involve me using her body without consent (as riding often is). So I took off all the ropes and all the pressure, and I was humbled as everything that once was easy, that I thought we enjoyed together, became a struggle for us when I wasn’t “making” her do it. I was humbled as I realized that if she didn’t “have to”, if she was given a true choice, Annie didn’t want to do the things I told her.

The next year brought a lot of tears and frustrations as I looked for a new way. We got lots of criticism, a lot of doubt. Finally, I got it. I started listening instead of demanding, and Annie came back to me, happy to play with me in a new way without the force.

Since then, my wildest dreams have come true. For my 18th birthday Annie and I rode bridleless down the beach with no ropes or constraints to hold on to. We’ve hiked mountainsides together with no tack to keep us together. And we’ve built a relationship based on real friendship, not control.

Now I teach this new way of horsemanship in clinics and workshops. And last year, I opened a wild horse sanctuary in Ojai, CA. We have wild stallions, mares, and foals running free on our mountain – and I’ve learned so much connecting with horses in this even wilder manner. We reconnect with the wild within here, learning from the horses.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We have definitely had quite a few challenges along the way! When I was first trying to find a new way of horsemanship with Annie, I had no idea if it was even possible. I had a lot of doubt and unknown in my own head, and it didn’t help that outside, people in the equestrian world were telling me I was crazy, “too soft”, a pushover, and that I was “ruining my horse”. Even some friends who didn’t understand what I was doing told me that, and it was really hard. I didn’t know how it would turn out at that point, and I cried a lot, but I stayed with it for Annie. Now, I am so so happy I did. It was everything.

But the challenges keep coming as you grow. This past year I opened the wild horse sanctuary, and it has been one of the most beautiful years of my life. Still, we have come to face so many challenges! Setting up the property, stallions breaking loose, setting up a nonprofit, making mistakes, going through a huge shame spiral in the fall – there’s been a lot! However, the challenges have made me more clear on the things I value and want to keep around and have pointed out the things I want to let go of.

One thing I feel for sure is that you can never be fully prepared for anything, so you have to just jump in! We’ll all learn along the way!

Liberty Horsemanship & Artemis Wild Horse Sanctuary – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
What I love about Liberty Horsemanship is that it’s brought a new way of working with horses to the horse lovers out there who feel in their hearts that something isn’t quite right with how we are doing things now. I see so many people who love horses get into the culture, and their first reaction is, this doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to hit this horse – I don’t want to control them with this bit – doesn’t this hurt them? And we are told, “no, it’s fine, it’s how it’s always been done”.

I was told that, and so to be given another way I think helps people follow their intuition and what they already know in their hearts. I think we all have great wisdom in our intuition, and what may be right for you may not be right for me. I think there is compassion in making room for it all and encouraging people to follow their own inner knowing, which is what we encourage in our horsemanship. We don’t have just “one method” that works across the board, we encourage people to listen to themselves, and then give them the tools they need to take action. We teach them a language to the communicate with their horses, and then people can have whatever conversations they’d like!

I also really like that with both the “domestic” and wild horse herds, when we get down to it, we humans really learn a lot more from them than they do from us. This has grown into a big focus of ours. To free the horse is to free yourself. There’s so much power in embracing their wild and your own, claiming back your innate power rather than taking it from another.

This is why I think even those who aren’t “horse people” resonate and want to visit the sanctuary, and why a lot of the episodes on our podcast, In the Spirit of Horse, talk about topics relatable by many. Embracing and reclaiming the feminine for example is a big topic for us.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Perhaps it would be the Summit I put on this year. We hosted a large summit with speakers from around the country to talk about the newest ideas and discoveries in horsemanship and horse training. These were all speakers who had been on my podcast, “In the Spirit of Horse”, come together in a live event setting.

I had never put on an event this large with so many moving parts, so proving to myself I could have such a large vision and make it happen that year was pretty great. Again, I had to learn along the way!

It was amazing to see this strong community come together in person!

I would say the Summit, the podcast, and my online course The Liberated Horse are all things I wanted to do and made happen that I am very proud of.

Pricing:

• The Liberated Horse Online Course – usually $200 but it’s on sale right now for $100 with the virus so that more people can do it at home from their beds 🙂

Contact Info:

• Website: www.libertyhorsemanship.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littlepistolannie/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MosieTrewhittLibertyHorsemanship/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/artemisfoundation/

Image Credit:
DAG Photography – Daryl Getman, Claire Andrew

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