Horsesense Horsemanship & Special Ability Horsemanship

Educating People about Horses! Experienced trainer, teacher and clinician. Internationally known, gaited horse specialist. Teaching for people with special needs. saddles and tack for sale.

The Quilliams method of horse training results from years of experience. Dennis incorporates the philosophy of
training from other Natural Horsemen. Dennis bases his philosophy of training on the mutual respect of horse to man and man to horse. Dennis began his love of horses as a young man (40 + years ago). He lived in the middle of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. So he had to hunt to find that “elusive dream”. At the age of 12, he mucked stalls at a local riding stable in exchange for lessons. Beginning with riding English, he soon proved to be a natural horseman and advanced from riding to teaching. He trained his first horse within that first year.

Dennis went on to work at various ranches in Alberta, British Columbia & Saskatchewan, continuing his learning and training of ranch horses. He has worked with & trained Quarter horses, Appaloosas, Pintos, Arabian, Warmbloods, Thoroughbreds, and Trekaneners, to name just a few. For several years he worked as Manager and Trainer, on a gaited horse ranch, in Snoqualmie, WA. While on the ranch he trained Gaited Mountain Horses, Tennessee Walkers, Saddle Breds, Peruvians, and Paso Fino.


He begins working with foals as young as possible. Halter training begins about 3 months old, when he teaches them to halter and lead. He will pony the foal along side the mother and go for the first trail ride. When the horse is a yearling Dennis will do some round pen work, and reinforce the lessons of leading. Saddle training begins between 2 and 3 years of age.

Using the resistance free methods of training he is also able to retrain older horses as well as work with problem horses. After an initial evaluation of horse and rider he is able to give an estimate of what time is needed. His primary focus is to enable the horse and rider to enjoy each others company as they head out for their activities together.

For the gaited horses, Dennis uses a variety of exercises to encourage and enhance the gait. As with all horses muscle development is very important, as is the maturity of the horse.

Specialty training, such as neck-reining and further education of the horses is dependent upon the horses ability and maturity, as well as the rider’s ability.

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