W h o W e A r e

Dark Horse Horsemanship is a family-friendly, horse-loving facility that focuses on Natural Horsemanship and foundation training. We seek to help people be the best that they can be through exploring the art of horsemanship, and letting the horses be the teachers! We provide a non-judgmental environment where horses and humans can learn, grow, reach attainable goals, and prove themselves. It is our priority to put horses first and develop a partnership where both horse and human are enjoying themselves equally.

what is natural horsemanship?

Natural Horsemanship was developed through observing the natural behavior of wild horses. We aim to use psychology to build rapport and respect with horses, the same way they establish a pecking order in their herd for safety and comfort, we want to become the herd leader and the one they look to for safety. Traditionally people use fear, force and intimidation to “break” the horses spirit and get them to submit. This may seem to produce results, but ultimately there will always be something your horse fears more than you and when that day comes, you’ll be left in the dirt. Through understanding how horses feel, think, act, and play, we can use psychology in our training approach. We try to work WITH the nature of the horse, leading to more positive, safe, and solid results. Healthy relationships are the point, and it’s always a win-win!!

We literally wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the help of our gifted 4-legged partners. It is our utmost goal to make sure that they are happy, healthy and enjoying their job. With that in mind we have lots of horses for you to meet, each with different talents, gifts and “horsenailites” to teach us what we need to learn about ourselves!

Meet Our Teaching Team

Bekah Maddox — Owner/Instructor/trainer

Horses have always been Bekah's passion and from a very young age she knew that she wanted to help people using horses as the catalyst. While in college, she volunteered for a specialty program that took her to England to attend the Talland School of Equitation. There she studied Classical Dressage, Equitation and Eventing from several Olympic and internationally competitive riders. Bekah received her bachelor's degree in Equine Business Management with concentrations in teaching, training and therapeutic riding. Bekah holds instructor certifications through BHS (British Horse Society), PATH (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship), ARIA (American Riding Instructors Association) and was a Licensed 3 Star Parelli Professional.   

Bekah enjoys Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping, Endurance, working cows, driving as well helping "problem" horses through issues, and equipping young horses with the foundation that they need for success in any discipline.  She has over 27 years experience training, teaching, starting horses and working with problem horses.  With such a wide variety in her background and hundreds of horses handled, she has a lot to offer her students.

Deb & Van Fielden — Support Staff

Deb Fielden is our volunteer coordinator

Van Fielden is our spiritual director

Mark Maddox — Owner/Instructor/Trainer

Mark has been riding and playing with horses for more than 35 years.  He started off trail riding and roping with friends, and through those connections started training horses. His passion for foundation training emerged and he volunteered with the Bureau of Land Management helping with adoptions, transport and eventually doing demonstrations on his mustangs that he had trained. Over the years he's become more experienced with roping, cow working, ranch work, trail riding/camping and trailer loading, but young horse development has always had his heart. He enjoys laying a solid foundation and helping prepare horses for their future and any goals their human partner may have. His quiet, steady energy is empowering for the horses and humans as they grow calmer, smarter, braver and more athletic under his tutelage.

Mark has several of his own horses that he continues to develop a solid foundation on. He enjoys working cows, team-roping, cow sorting, and anything with a purpose! He has trail ridden and camped with his horses all over the southeast. He started the Parelli program in 2005 and has progressed into level 4 with several horses. Let Mark use his experience to help you and your horse get where you want to go!

Kate whitmyre — Barn manager

Kate is a wife and devoted mother of three creative, active kids. Her childhood love of horses was rekindled when her daughter started riding at a young age. As her kids grew, she started to have more time and space to pursue this love, and she never looked back. This path has brought extraordinary souls into her life, horse and human alike.

As a person who is happiest outside and a nurturer at heart, Kate loves working behind the scenes to care fore and support the horses so that they can teach and heal others. She feels so fortunate to be part of the Dark Horse team, to care for such amazing horses, earn their trust, and learn from them every day.

Vikki paese — Horses helping humans Equine therapy

Vikki offers family and individual counseling through her “Horses Helping Humans” program. She has studied the OK Corral Series horsemanship and herd behavior by Greg Kersten, Natural Lifemanship at Horse Sense of the Carolina’s with Shannon and Richard Knapp. Her certifications are as follows:

• Certified Family Trauma Professional, Intensive training by PESI Inc. 
• Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Rhythmic Riding Intensive, by Natural Lifemanship  
• Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Fundamentals, by Natural Lifemanship 
• Essentials of Coaching, by Professional Christian Coaching Institute  
• How to Build a Winning Team to Heal A Challenging Child, Families by Design, Nancy Thomas  
• Crisis to Confidence: Turning “Bad” into “O.K.”! Certified, The OK Corral Series, LLC.  
• Giddy Up and Get Over It! (Green) Certified, The OK Corral Series, LLC.  
• O.K., It's Family Time - DO Try This at Home! Certified, The OK Corral Series, LLC  
• O.K., Let's Get Down to Business! Certified, The OK Corral Series, LLC  
• Faith-Based Applications for Equine-Assisted Programs and Practices, Certified, The OK Corral Series, LLC  
• EAGALA Level 1 Training, Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association 

 She has a long list of credentials and is the creator of Equine Relationship Therapy (now utilized by a residential program in GA).

Personal horses/Program horses in training…