Growing up on his family’s dairy and beef farm in northeast Utah, Devin was in the saddle before he could walk. He’d ride along with his dad as they moved cattle around their property, and when he got older, Devin rode his own horse to help around the ranch.
When he was in middle school, his family bought a mustang mare from a neighbor. She came bred and had a foal. Devin, 12 years old at the time, trained the buckskin filly. “I did as good a job as any 12-year-old can do,” he says. “I used her all throughout my teenage years. She was a great horse.”
Over the years, Devin trained and rode various horses. About seven years ago, he was having trouble with a horse and remembered his brother mentioning that Clinton had a useful method for training horses. He watched a couple of the trainer’s YouTube videos. “It looked useful and like it might help me solve my problems,” Devin says. “Our local library had his VHS tapes, so I checked them out, studied them and began implementing the exercises on my horse. It made a huge difference, and I just fell in love with the Method.”
Devin appreciates how the Method builds confidence, especially for people who have had a bad experience with a horse. “The Method really breaks it down so people can learn very quickly how to be proficient at communicating with their horses. I love how it works with every horse and for everybody,” Devin says.
The more he used the Method and the more horses he worked with, the more committed Devin became to bettering himself as a horseman. He knew that if he wanted to fine-tune his understanding of the Method, he needed to enroll in the Academy. “I have a good friend who is in to weightlifting, and I remembered him telling me that when he got serious about it, he set out to find a trainer who looked like the body builder he wanted to be. I thought that was really smart advice,” Devin says. “When you translate that into the horsemanship world, you should find a trainer to learn from who is a great mentor and is successful doing what you want to do. For me, that’s Clinton and Downunder Horsemanship.”
As an Ambassador, Devin is proud to be part of the Downunder Horsemanship team. “I love training horses and helping people reach their goals,” he says. “There’s nothing better than watching a horse progress and helping people get results with their horses.”
Devin is based in Vernal, Utah, where he trains horses for the public and teaches private lessons and clinics that focus on the Fundamentals level of the Method. Learn all about Devin on his website and contact him directly at 435-790-4425 or [email protected].
