Performance Training
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Empower your horse to become a high level performer who defies the ordinary.
We specialize in starting and developing reining and cowhorse prospects. Our Performance Program offers a pathway to greatness — from the unrefined potential of a 2-year-old to the confidence and precision of a finished bridle horse.
We offer everything your equine athlete needs to be healthy and successful. World class care and nutrition. Professional facilities. And a training program that promotes confidence and longevity.
Did you ever see the movie "Ford vs. Ferrari"?
In that movie there are two rival automakers. On one end of the scale was Ford Motor Company. Big and boring. Their factories churned out mass-produced boxes with wheels. On the other side was Ferrari. The elitists. Every car was a handmade work of art, built by a small team of passionate craftsmen.
But the outfit that helped Ford build the winning car was Shelby American — a performance shop that did many different things under one roof. You wanted to put a more powerful engine in your European sports car? They could do it. You wanted to buy a street car off the lot and turn it into a hot rod? They could do it. You wanted to build a custom race car from scratch? They could do it.
We are the "Shelby American" of the western performance world.
You have a reiner or cowhorse whose maneuvers need a tune-up or a major overhaul? We can do it. You have a ranch horse that you want to put in the bridle, along with a few performance-style buttons? We can do it. You have a young prospect you want to prepare for success at the highest levels? We can do it.
We are the best in the world at taking undervalued, underappreciated horses and revealing their hidden talent.
Why? Because with us, you get the craftsman's approach without the elitism.
We don't just focus on skills and maneuvers in the arena. We care about the little things too — the “horsemanship stuff” — like how good your horse's ground manners are, how well they tie up, stand to be saddled, load on a trailer, clip, bathe, shoe, stand to be mounted, and how quiet they are. If we notice any red flags we'll address them. Not sweep them under the rug.
why? because we love making horse owners happy -- craftsman's approach but without the elitism...
What we're really good at is taking undervalued subpar talent (hidden potential) and bringing out the best in it. The ones the other guys don't want to piss with because they're not good enough, that nobody wants to put the patience into. That's us. Not only can we do that, we love doing it. The ones that slip through the cracks or that other trainers don't think are showable. Because we are better horsemen and aren't hiding behind the genetics of the horse.
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Did you ever see the movie "Ford vs. Ferrari"?
In that movie there are two rival automakers. On one end of the scale was Ford Motor Company. Big and boring. Their factories churned out mass-produced boxes with wheels. On the other side was Ferrari. The elitists. Every car was a handmade work of art, built by a small team of passionate craftsmen.
But the outfit that helped Ford build the winning car was Shelby American — a performance shop that did many different things under one roof. You wanted to put a more powerful engine in your European sports car? They could do it. You wanted to buy a street car off the lot and turn it into a hot rod? They could do it. You wanted to build a custom race car from scratch? They could do it.
Lundahl Performance is the "Shelby American" of the horse world.
You have a reiner or cowhorse that needs a tune-up or a major overhaul? We can do it. You have a ranch horse that you want to put in the bridle, along with a few performance-style buttons? We can do it. You have a young prospect you want to take all the way to the Open? We can do it.
why? because we love making horse owners happy -- craftsman's approach but without the elitism...
What we're really good at is taking undervalued subpar talent (hidden potential) and bringing out the best in it. The ones the other guys don't want to piss with because they're not good enough, that nobody wants to put the patience into. That's us. Not only can we do that, we love doing it. The ones that slip through the cracks or that other trainers don't think are showable. Because we are better horsemen and aren't hiding behind the genetics of the horse.
Two-Year-Olds
If you're looking to give your colt the best possible start, you've come to the right place. Our structured and comprehensive approach ensures a balanced foundation and cements the building blocks of elite performance under saddle. We take pride in both the results we produce and the transparency of our program. You always know exactly where your colt is at, why he’s learning what he’s learning now, what comes next, and what’s next after that. We give you a complete end-to-end process that's roadmapped and documented in written form and demonstration video.
Three-Year-Olds and Up
If you have an older horse in need of tuning, or an overhaul, we'll help you overcome the obstacles hindering your mutual success. We get to the bottom line of what you and your horse can do right now to improve your partnership and boost your performance. Being effective teachers as well as trainers, we ensure that you can replicate the exercises and skills we introduce to your horse — boosting your confidence and capability as a rider.
A personal note from Jake Lundahl:
The future of performance development is here.
As a dedicated horse owner with dreams of seeing your young reiner or cowhorse succeed, you know that finding the right start for your colt is crucial. You’re not looking for just a few rides; you want a complete foundation. You're not looking for just any trainer; you want someone who understands your aspirations, respects your horse, and can bridge the gap between where you’re at now and where you want to go in your horsemanship journey.
You've invested not just time and money, but your heart into your horse. You want to bring them up to their highest level of ability, but not in a way that jeopardizes their mental and physical wellbeing. We understand that, which is why we take a different approach than most trainers and colt starters out there. Here’s what sets us apart:
Jake — from pen rider to performance horse trainer:
"I grew up on my family's farm in northeast Nebraska, two miles south of a little town called Wakefield. My folks are in the feeder cattle business, so I was surrounded by livestock from a very early age.
As a youngster I participated in the usual sports and 4-H activities. I enjoyed football and baseball the most, and didn't have much interest in horses early on. My dad always kept at least one feedlot horse around to prowl pens and cut out sick cattle. But truth be told, we rarely used the horses except as a last resort when the job couldn't be done on foot.
That all changed when I was around 14 years old. My younger sister had been bitten by the horse bug. So my parents went out and bought a new gelding for her to show in 4-H. The horse was well trained in some respects. But from the day we brought him home, he was steadily becoming more pushy, disrespectful and difficult to handle.
After hearing about the troubles we were were having, a friend loaned us his collection of training DVDs from various clinicians. I was instantly hooked. I spent hours watching and re-watching the videos, taking hand-written notes, and practicing with my sister's horse and my dad's older gelding. There were immediate, positive changes in both animals. I was excited.
For the first time, horses were no longer an enigma. I was learning how to correctly interact with them, gaining more confidence in the saddle, and discovering how rewarding horsemanship could be.
My parents purchased additional horses soon after, and it was evident that I was destined to be a professional horseman. While still in high school, I worked with several local trainers to gain professional experience. It wasn’t long before I was taking in outside horses for training, teaching riding lessons, and traveling around the country competing in everything from stock horse shows to Extreme Mustang Makeover events.
In 2010 I left home for my first of several apprenticeships. I went from Oklahoma, to Texas, to Arizona. I rode under several prominent horsemen, including an NCHA futurity champion, a world-renowned clinician, and an NRCHA two million dollar rider. After 7 years of work and study, I felt I was ready to head out on my own. And Lundahl Performance was launched."
Amy — from piano teacher to professional horsewoman:
"I grew up on a small family farm in Kidron, Ohio. My love of horses began at age 9 when we purchased our first pony. It was one of several horses and ponies I would ride during my formative years. And I've been riding continuously ever since.
It wasn't always obvious that I was destined for a career in horsemanship. As a teenager, I was more interested in music. I taught piano lessons, and earned extra money through babysitting and housecleaning services. But I always had a desire to learn more about horses. By age 15, I'd saved up enough money to afford some training and lessons with a local horseman, who steered me toward additional learning opportunities. I took regular lessons with several trainers, and supplemented that experience by consuming every horse training book and video I could find.
Looking to gain even more knowledge, I took my first real job in the horse industry with a training barn in the heart of Amish country. When I wasn’t training horses under saddle, I was driving them in harness. My reputation grew, and I began getting requests for riding lessons. I would train and teach lessons during the day, and in the evenings I would ride with my local drill team.
I soon landed a second job where riding lessons were my primary focus. My love of teaching horsemanship really took off, and I earned enough money to buy and sell a few horses of my own. I still supplemented my income by teaching piano lessons, and continued riding and performing with my drill team every week.
By 2015 I was ready for the next stage of my career, and I left Ohio to begin a full-time apprenticeship position with a world-renowned horseman in Texas. After graduating, I kept training horses and teaching lessons around the country.
Two years later, I returned to Ohio for a short time. Then a new opportunity arose. I took a position on a ranch near Cody, Wyoming. For the next year I trained and oversaw management of the ranch remuda, while continuing my clinician business. Then at last, I joined Lundahl Performance."
Bringing it all together...
Like most horse owners, we come from humble beginnings. Horses were a source of struggle and confusion in our early days, and we bounced between various mentors looking for help. We read books, watched videos, rode in clinics and attended seminars. We were confronted with loads of conflicting information, and tried to sort out the stuff that actually worked.
Then as aspiring professionals, we saw a different side of the industry. We learned what techniques worked and genuinely helped horses and riders advance. We also saw things that didn't work, or in some cases sabotaged people's efforts to do right by their horses. We took those lessons to heart.
When we struck out on our own, we took a philosophical razor to all the knowledge and experiences we'd earned up to that point. Our goal was to make the lives of horses and riders much easier, by creating a training model that offers the most streamlined and seamless progression from foundation concepts all the way up to advanced maneuvers. Today we call this system the "High Level Pathway".
Our ultimate goal is to remove doubt and bring clarity to the horse world.
Doubt is one of the biggest things bothering us right now:
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People being led to believe that a single gimmicky exercise or piece of equipment will magically make their horse better.
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Instructors hammering their students into a particular "look" as if that somehow translates to better horsemanship skills.
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Keyboard cowboys arguing over style or whose opinion is "right" instead of focusing on substance.
Amidst this chaos are regular owners and riders — confused about where they're at or what the next step is — doubting themselves and their horse's abilities.
It's time to elevate the conversation.
For starters, we want clear and objective information about what the priority milestones are for each stage of a horse's training. We need to define what a "well-trained" horse is and does. We need to define what a "good" foundation actually is, and where to take it. We need to create certainty around what to be working on, why, when, and how. Then the horsemanship conversation can finally advance.
To that end we've worked feverishly to identify, map and define all the jargon and feel-based concepts trainers have been talking around for years; bringing them down to earth and giving them a structure that can be methodically learned and taught. In some cases, we've invented new terminology or exercises to help riders understand the feelings and movement patterns they need to be creating with their horses — things that elite trainers have intuitively known for decades but struggle to communicate.
We make advanced horsemanship accessible.
What originally kicked off this journey was a simple love of horses, and a desire to become the best horsemen we could be. These things have never wavered. We continue to learn and get better every single day, while pushing the conversation forward and helping others build better lives with horses. We offer the knowledge and tools necessary to advance; without the trial-and-error, confusion and hardship we ourselves endured to figure this stuff out.
If you'd like to join this adventure with us, consider signing up for our e-mail newsletter below. There's no cost or obligation, and it's a great way to discover if our program is right for you and your horse.
Anyway, thanks for reading our "About" page! We hope you got value from it and, if you opt to receive our emails, that you find those helpful too.
To your horsemanship success,
Jake & Amy Lundahl