Winning The Way Of The Horse (TWOTH) at EQUITANA has been a lifechanging moment for horsewoman Skye Liikanen. Back home in Queensland, she’s now looking forward to building a lasting partnership with “forever horse” Dylanglen Maya.

Skye Liikanen is still beaming. The Queenslander recently completed “every little girl’s horsey dream” in taking out The Way Of The Horse (TWOTH) at EQUITANA Melbourne. Partnered with three-year-old Dylanglen Maya, Skye wowed a panel of respected equestrians when showcasing what she’d achieved with the filly after spending just 60 minutes a day with her over the course of the four-day event at the Melbourne Showgrounds.

“It’s beyond anything I could ever have imagined for myself. I still can’t stop smiling,” says Skye. “I have a photo of myself with Dan Steers and Dan James at EQUITANA in 2011. That was the first time I got to meet them, and I remember thinking, ‘I want be here one day, doing what they do’. To actually have that dream come true is pretty cool, especially to have Dan Steers – who I’ve now worked and trained with – saying, ‘You’ve got this’, it’s pretty cool.”

Beginning in 2005, TWOTH was created to demonstrate a kinder and more caring way to start a young horse and to showcase the training skills of our homegrown horsemen and women. This year, the horses were three-year-old Connemara cross fillies from Dylanglen Connemara Stud in Rand, NSW. After choosing their unstarted horse from a selection trucked directly from the paddock to the venue, this year’s three contestants – Skye, Steph Lancefield and Hayley Hinton – worked simultaneously in separate round pens, giving the public a unique opportunity to compare starting methods and training styles over the four days. The event culminated with a 15-minute showcase, where the judges awarded individual points for techniques used to determine the winner.

Skye recalls when she first laid eyes on Maya in the herd of three-year-olds: “She had to be separated out the back from her buddies, because they were picking on her. She was behind the fence, pacing. When they brought them out into the round yard, she didn’t like being left behind… she was running around calling out.” Skye says she knew the filly would be a challenge – certainly not the easiest in the bunch – but she was drawn to her.

A SENSITIVE TYPE

“I knew I had to make a connection nice and early. She’s a very sensitive type. I started on the ground just trying to catch her eye and draw her to me. Her connection to the other horses was quite strong, and I felt like I was getting in a bit of a ‘come to me, leave, come to me, leave’ cycle. Roping isn’t something that I would go to straight away, but what it allowed me to do was get my hands on her and find that little sweet, scratchy spot on her and let her know that I’m actually, ‘I’m your next friend in life’. Once that happened, that’s where I felt her personality really started to come out. She was starting to look for me, which was pretty cool.”

While Skye says her 15-minute final wasn’t exactly as she’d hoped – the bigger atmosphere meant it wasn’t possible to demonstrate all their achievements from the days prior – she was “super proud” of Maya.

“Over the four sessions, I was able to start long-reining her, changing direction. I got a ride in on day three and day four; day four I got her up to a little lope, which was really cool. She’s super comfortable. When I was getting my hands on her and scratching her, and letting her know that she was doing a good job… I really felt like she responded well to that. She’s definitely a sensitive little type, but super smart. That’s what I really liked about her; once she figured something out, she was like, ‘I’ve got this’.”

Like any horse competition, Skye acknowledges that there will always be differing views on techniques and scoring. From her perspective, she tried her heart out and did her best to make Maya feel safe in the challenging atmosphere. “I don’t feel I was too hard on her or put too much pressure on her, I only did what she gave me. The tricky thing is, horse training isn’t always going to look pretty, especially when you’ve got a horse like her that’s never had a halter on in her life, and in an atmosphere like that. It’s huge for them. I did everything I could to make sure that she was safe and that I was there for her.”

FROM QUEENSLAND TO KENTUCKY

Passionate about horses from a young age, Skye grew up in Queensland and competed at interschool events and also showed extensively in both hacking and dressage. Eleven years ago at EQUITANA, she was inspired by renowned horsemen the ‘Double Dans’, Dan Steers and Dan James – the latter being crowned TWOTH champion in 2008.

A five-year stint on the Gold Coast followed, working for the Australian Outback Spectacular as a trick rider/stock person while studying to be a school teacher. Once qualified, it was on to the small mining town of Tom Price in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, where Skye taught for three years. Although it was a long way from the bright lights of the Australian equestrian scene, she still found a way to work with horses: “After school I would give kids riding lessons and I also started a few horses for people. I competed in hacking, campdrafting and dressage, even though I had to drive 400km to get to some competitions!”

The time came when overseas travel to further her equine knowledge became a top priority, and so Skye travelled to North America. “I wanted to learn as much as I could from different trainers, so I packed up and moved overseas,” she explains.

The journey started in Canada working for a chuck-wagon driver, where Calgary Stampede was a highlight. Skye then worked for good friends as a wrangler in the Rocky Mountains of Canada, about three hours northwest of Calgary. In October 2016 she arrived at Dan and Elizabeth James’ farm in Lexington, Kentucky; the plan was to spend a few weeks learning from the team, however, a job offer was too good to refuse!

Over the three years she spent working for Dan and Elizabeth, Skye was fortunate enough to participate in clinics and lessons on the property with some other world-renowned trainers from various disciplines, including Clayton Fredericks, Brett Parbery, Craig Johnson, Vicki Wilson and Josh Lyons. Skye travelled extensively throughout the USA assisting Dan with clinics, expos and performances. At his home base she was an assistant trainer, and in 2018 she travelled as Dan’s groom to Tryon, North Carolina, for the World Equestrian Games where he competed as part of the Australian reining team.

While in the US, Skye took part in the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover – an event that, much like TWOTH, showcases the effectiveness of a trainer’s methods over a set period of time. Partnered with Sacred Promise, aka ‘Brumby’, she had six months to transform the OTT into a horse that could perform not only in the dressage arena, but also tackle the ‘freestyle’ – a test that involved a range of diverse skills. Skye’s performance included liberty work from a quad bike, obstacles, whip-cracking, the Spanish walk, the lay-down and Brumby sitting on a bean bag. Her hard work paid off — Brumby won the dressage and placed fourth in the freestyle event from a field of over 100 competitors.

BACK HOME

In 2019, it was time to return to Australia. “When I first got back, I stayed with Dan and Pia Steers for eight weeks and helped them prepare horses for the Landmark Sale (now the Nutrien Sale). I then came back home to Queensland and I’ve been building my own business, Silver Skye Equine, ever since.” Skye is currently based at Canungra, 40 minutes from the Gold Coast and with the use of fantastic facilities.

A large part of her business is retraining horses for International Thoroughbred Retirement (ITR), a program run by Amy Taylor and funded by trainers and owners that brings retired racehorses back from Hong Kong to Australia. Amy had read a 2018 Equestrian Life article about Skye, her training abroad and her love of Thoroughbreds, and knowing the horsewoman was returning to Australia she followed her on social media; impressed by what she saw, Amy approached her about retraining for ITR.

“I re-educate the Thoroughbreds, and then they go through a free adoption program to find a home that’s most suitable,” explains Skye. “They’re exceptional off-the-track Thoroughbreds. Some of them I’ve actually rehomed to almost beginner riders, they’re that quiet. The temperaments are just great.” At present, Skye has nine in training. “I’m really lucky now they’re on full-time care at this farm and the staff just love them. Every time… even if you just walk past the paddock, they’re trotting up to come and say hello. You don’t even have to be on feed run or anything like that. They see you from the distance and they’re running up to come and say hello. The staff here just absolutely love them.”

Skye enjoys competing in both dressage and western events, and also takes on clients’ horses for training and offers clinics with a particular focus on liberty work. “My next goal is to establish a liberty program, including clinics and lessons, and eventually I want to run mini competitions. I really feel like that’s my niche and I’ve got a really good team behind me that wants to see this liberty program grow.

“It was awesome at EQUITANA to have a first-time liberty competition, however coming out in front of a crowd like that, the atmosphere was just massive for those competitors. I want to be able to give people the opportunity to attend smaller competitions first and have dates where we can actually have people come and clap like an audience, and actually work the horse through those moments. I’m hoping that the program I’ve got in mind will help all these people that want to compete at liberty and give them more opportunities to have success with it.”

Skye explains that liberty work transcends disciplines and can help build a stronger partnership with our riding horses. “I’ve worked with some clients over the last couple years and they can’t believe the difference… it starts from a good groundwork program that then flows into the liberty work and they can’t believe the difference in their horse, to actually have that connection under saddle from all the ground work that they’ve done. It really does pay off in the long run to spend that time on the ground, building a good connection and good understanding.”

FINDING THE ANSWER

When faced with a new horse, Skye says she aims to begin building an understanding so that when she asks a question, the horse is trying to find the answer. “What I’m trying to do is establish a connection with them so that each little building step leads to something else. I’m never going to go all in and expect a miracle to happen overnight; I break down everything in small steps and look for when they give me ‘yes’ answers. And I’m really big on letting them just sit there and dwell on it. Think time for me is super, super important and I believe if you get the timing for that right, you find them saying ‘yes’ quicker and finding the answer each time that bit quicker.”

When it comes to advice for others who want to build a strong partnership with a new horse, Skye says it of course depends on the experience of both the owner and the horse – but her advice is to never be afraid to ask for help. “Whether it is an online program or somebody local to you, find that person that works for you and your horse. One trainer in your life might have worked really well for one horse, but don’t be afraid to change either if it’s not working and you’re getting that feeling that it isn’t right, don’t be afraid to ask for help from someone else. Once you find the right person, it’s then time to trust their program and stick with it; consistency gets results.

“Warwick Schiller, for example, is a huge one in his principles of training; there are lots of methods that go along with those principles, but if you stick by those principles and commit yourself to them, you’re almost guaranteed to have a really good relationship with your horse.”

Skye has put in the hard yards over the years, travelling domestically and abroad to garner knowledge from top trainers and develop her own training principles. She says she’s incredibly thankful to those she’s learnt from – in particular Dan and Pia Steers, who she says are “exceptional horse people”, and Dan and Elizabeth James. “Dan and Elizabeth in Kentucky… they set me up for life. The opportunities and lessons they gave me – from horse training to running a business – you can’t pay for that. I’m just one of those really lucky people that’s come across the right people and I’m just super thankful for them.

FOREVER HORSE

“I wanted her to be my forever horse,” says Skye of her EQUITANA partner Maya, whom she purchased post-event. “She’s got really cute movement, so I want to get her going under saddle nicely and eventually do pony dressage.

“I have this thing with grey horses. Everyone knows that greys are just my thing, and so everyone was like, from the first day, ‘you’re coming home with that horse’. I also have a grey Thoroughbred mare that I got this year. These sorts of horses, that bit more sensitive type, I seem to attract them into my life. ‘Betty’ didn’t have a very long career at the track; from what I’ve been told, she wasn’t the easiest horse to be around. She’s now going well and I’m hoping – this is where it’s going to take a lot of work – but I’d love to actually get her and Maya working as a liberty team together!”

Skye says that taking part in TWOTH at EQUITANA was the opportunity of a lifetime. “I’m so thankful to the team for inviting me down, I think it really has changed my life in more ways than one.” Skye is hopeful they she may be able to return to the next edition of EQUITANA in 2024, and if she does, she’d love to bring Maya along too. “If I am invited back, I’d like to do the liberty competition with her and if I get to be an educator again, have her take part in my demos. That way, people can see her progress and get a feel for where I like to take my horses.” EQ

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