We specialize in two things: colt starting and rehabilitating/restarting horses that pose challenging issues for
their owners. Harmony Horsemanship also the riders in techniques and skills to use with their horse(s) to
form a better and safer lifelong partnership.
Harmony Horsemanship, llc., is owned and operated by Teddy Schleuter and Paulette Stelpflug.
Ted has been working
with horses his entire life. In fact, his horse-training father, Howard, was featured in an article
entitled, "The Legend on Oak Park Road", which is where you will still find Freedom Stables.
Howard passed away in 1989, but prior to that it was common to see him participating at many local
horse events. Ted’s mother Wilma was also an equine icon. She was truly very gifted with animals,
especially horses. Wilma was highlighted regularly in various newspapers regarding her achievements
with training horses. Sadly this talented lady succumbed to complications from polio in 1950.
Fortunately, the "horse fever" gene was passed along to their son Teddy. As the owner of
Freedom Stables, he has thousands of hours of experience working with and learning from world known
clinicians. In 1989, Teddy completely dedicated his training to utilizing "Natural Horsemanship"
techniques. He has trained many different horse breeds, from minis to draughts and Mustangs and has
handled a variety of "horse-a-nalities". His techniques have proven to be very successful.
In 1999, Paulette Stelpflug joined Teddy’s efforts at Freedom Stables after she witnessed the
metamorphosis of her temperamental Arabian "Misty",
at the hands of Teddy using natural horsemanship methods. Paulette, like many others, had learned
the hard way. When she met Teddy, she was using the common conventional methods and looking for
quick fixes (like a martingale for her high headed Arabian) and was very "English" in her
ways. Prior to learning from Teddy, Paulette had suffered a serious horse wreck. While Misty walked
away uninjured, Paulette was left with a spine broken in two places. She did not blame the horse
though. While recuperating she had a great deal of time to find a better way of dealing with
her spirited horse. Prior to finding Ted and Freedom Stables, Paulette was very close to giving up.
She was encouraged by many to sell Misty her "killer" horse. A trainer described Misty as
"she’s like riding a fish on a Pogo Stick." "She’s very dangerous…sell her"
"kill or get killed!" Yikes! Misty is now the horse that Paulette thought only existed
in dreams. The success of this magnificent Arabian has proven to others that the techniques really
work!
Harmony Horsemanship LLC. was established in 2000. Teddy and Paulette have taken the best training
methods and incorporated them into their program. They teach more than methods. They teach a
philosophy. Traditional training methods primarily rely upon strength, force, and restraint devices
to control a horse. Instead of trying to get a horse to react, Harmony Horsemanship will get the
horse to respond. Harmony Horsemanship’s “soft” method of training focuses upon communication with
the horse. Hindquarter Control is one of the most common terms and concepts that you will hear and
learn from Harmony Horsemanship. The power of the horse is in the hindquarter. Using hindquarter
control, we can communicate with the horse through the body. There is no pulling or yanking. There
is minimal use of verbal commands. Harmony Horsemanship does not use whips to motivate the horse.
A horse’s skin is far more sensitive than a human. They do not need to be kicked or whipped to go
or pulled on their mouths to stop. Ted and Paulette teach people horsemanship skills, to
"ride with the horse not just on the horse". They train riders and their horses to
communicate with each other. A rider taking lessons at Harmony will learn timing, feel, and balance.
These techniques are proven and you don’t need to be a six- foot cowboy with spurs to be successful!