Full-time cop uses gentle methods while breaking horses

After several years of horse training experience, Tooele resident Heath Hillyard, also known as the county’s newest “Horse Whisperer,” is making local horses more respectful animals for their owners throughout Tooele County.

Hillyard, a full-time Tooele City police officer who is assigned as a “resource officer” at Tooele High School, began this unique talent eight years ago, and he has worked with nine horses in the area under his expertise. He said he had always been around horses during his years growing up and developed a strong passion for training and taking care of them.

As a horse whisperer, Hillyard adopts a sympathetic view of the motives, needs, and desires of each horse, primarily based on natural horsemanship and modern equine psychology. While other horse trainers may try discipline through brute force, which may also tire and wear down the horses, Hillyard uses gentle, calming methods to train and tame the horses

“I grew up in the Wendover area on my grandpa’s ranch, the Bar O Ranch, most of my life which is in Pilot Valley, Nev.,” Hillyard said. “I grew up with horses, and continue to own horses today. I am looking at getting another one in the spring to start training.”

Hillyard said he first became seriously interested in training horses after watching the TV show, “Downunder Horsemanship” by Australian horse trainer Clinton Anderson. He later started purchasing Anderson’s videos to gain an even better understanding of how to train horses.

“After watching Clinton’s show, I started buying and watching his videos on how to further continue training.” Hillyard said. “After watching my first video, I later started using these techniques on my own 2-year-old colt after I got him. I was even able to talk with Clinton when he came to Utah and was traveling around the country with his show. He has been in Utah four times.”

Hillyard also said he began testing the skills he learned on his father-in-law’s horses as well as his own with great success. He now currently works on both the horses that he owns himself, and he continues to watch Anderson’s training videos for further knowledge.

“I would buy more of Clinton’s videos, and then go to my father-in-law’s barn and test out the skills I learned,” he said. “I found that it was so much easier for me physically, but also for the horses to learn and to pick up what I wanted them to do. I got the same results as in the videos and found that the horses became more willing and respectful partners as to what I asked of them. My goal was to make my horses more respectful and safer for my kids, and know that when my kids ride, they are going to be safe.”

As of right now, Hillyard is currently working with Zeus, a 12-year-old Mustang owned by Diane and Dennis Cramer.

Zeus had been abandoned in southern Utah earlier this year, and when he was taken in at the end of August, he was very skinny, undernourished, and had low muscle tone. However, Hillyard said he was able to work with him and nurse him back to a healthy weight.

“Zeus is the first horse I’ve worked with outside of my family horses. I work with Zeus for about three to four hours everyday,” he said. “I started working with him in the middle of September, and he is doing very well.”

Diane Cramer said she has been amazed at how good Hillyard is with horses, and most especially with Zeus.

“He is a marvelous, tender and caring person, and you can just tell that he loves horses and is so passionate about them,” she said. “He truly loves horses and wants their owners to love them as well, which you can see with the way he is so patient with both the horses and owners. You can also call him day or night if there’s a problem, and he’ll talk you through regarding everything you should do for the horse.”

She also said that Hillyard seems to have a special understanding and emotional connection with each horse.

“Heath can read the horse and get inside of his head and soul, and he knows just what each horse needs, is lacking, or is strong in,” Cramer said. “He can figure it all out in just a few minutes. Each horse is completely different, but he always knows what to do.”

Hillyard said he uses different tactics and techniques to calm the horses down.

“There are no tricks involved; I just ask the horse with my body language what I want him to do,” he said. “I do things like point and give the horse direction of where I want the horse to go, put pressure on him with the rope, turn and face them, and point and twirl the rope toward them. There are several ground exercises I do with the horses. By being black and white with the horses, they can tell what I am asking them to do.”

He also said it’s a good idea to ride the horses often, and that there are certain techniques that can be used to train each horse.

“You also want to be able to control their feet; if you have control over their feet, then you have control over their minds. You want to make sure you teach the horse everything on both sides,” Hillyard said. “If you do something to the horse on one side, you have to make sure you do the same thing to him on the other side. You also want to make sure you are gentle with them the whole time and don’t use brute force at all. The horse has to be relaxed and know that you’re not going to hurt him.”

Hillyard said he usually allows the horse to project the time frame needed to train him for the rider to be safe.

“The horse dictates the time needed to be trained by the way the horse is progressing, and I’d say Zeus should be trained in about a month,” he said. “The horse itself really does determine how much time it will take to train him. It’s usually a minimum of 90 to 120 days before they are fully broke, and Zeus should be finished off soon.”

Hillyard also said that Diane and Dennis, as well as his wife and other friends, have currently been trying to get him to turn his talent into a full-time profession.

“I would like to train horses for even more families in Tooele County, as time allows, and if someone calls me I’ll do it for them,” he said. “However, with my full-time job, it’s hard to commit to helping a lot of horses at any one time. My passion is to have more respectful and safer horses for Tooele County families and their kids.”

Doug Radunich: dougrad@tooeletranscript.com