Joan Ronalder - Equestrienne Extraordinaire

    Joan was born with a love for horses that has been intensified with maturity and experience.  Training these beautiful animals comes naturally to her and she excels in her talent and capability of communicating with them.  Entertaining an audience comes easily to her and performing before a crowd is what her animals like best.

    With 22 years of experience training horses, there isn’t much Joan hasn’t done with them.  This includes trick riding, Roman style riding on three, not two horses.  Joan trains her own performing horses.  She has also spent time breaking and exercising thoroughbred racehorses as well as training horses and mules for pleasure driving and competition. 

    The art of shoeing horses is familiar to Joan as she has shoed horses for Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus and the Royal Lippizan Stallion Show and of course, does her own Ferrier work.

    A vivid imagination and tremendous determination helped Joan become the top-notch trainer and performer she is today.  She has some of the most unique animal acts ever presented.  Performing with Rodeos, Wild, Wild, West Shows, Theme Parks and Circuses, Joan has appeared from Florida to Canada, from the East Coast to the West Coast and even in Bermuda, a real challenge when moving and caring for the animals.

    These unique and totally original acts have entertained audiences at prestigious rodeos such as North American Rodeo Commission Finals in El Paso, TX., The IPRA All Region Finals in Orlando, FL., The American Professional Rodeo Association Finals in Harrisburg, PA., The IPRA Southeast Region Finals in Tallahassee, FL., The IPRA Northeast Region Finals in Boston, MA., The IPRA Southern Finals in Houston, TX., The IPRA Rodeo at Austin International Livestock Expo in Austin, TX., and the Annual Gilbert Days Celebration in Gilbert, AZ.  Also included in the list; Golden Anniversary Rodeo in Sparta, MI., IPRA All Region Finals in Knoxville, TN., and IFR 24  and 29 in Oklahoma City, OK.

    Her well known acts include the Indian Freedom Horse and the Dancing Appaloosa in “Taming the Wild One” and the Desert Scene Drama with the spectacular Paint Horse. 

Members of her superbly trained hybrid wolf-huskies team know no limits.  They fly around the arena giving children a wild wheeled-sled ride that they will remember for a life time; they jump rope; go through complicated dramas; they line up to take turns leaping astride her beautiful palomino pony performing on the lunge-line and then, with both pony and “wolf dog” instincts under Joan’s compete control, the remarkable performance ends with four big wolf-huskies balancing simultaneously astride the galloping pony!

    Joan has worked with a buffalo, trained a Watusi-cross steer to saddle, but is best remembered as the supreme “bull rider” for her act with a Brahma bull under saddle.  She is currently training Randy, the  Dromedary camel.  Not afraid to tackle the impossible, she has turned a  BABOON into Josh, the well behaved “kid” in western duds. 

    Joan has recently completed training a horse for an owner who is confined to a wheelchair following an accident 6 years ago.  " Pawnee", the horse, lies down and waits patiently for his owner to transfer from her wheelchair to the saddle and then this remarkable horse gently gets to his feet with the rider aboard.  Something so touching that it brings tears to everyone's eyes.  This is the second horse trained by Joan to be the legs for a handicapped owner.   

Joan Ronalder is indeed a multi-species trainer with an uncanny ability to communicate with animals.  TheDogPlace is honored to have her talk with us!