Natural Horsemanship Training for horses and problem horses
Natural Horsemanship

 

About Sonny

Born in Brooklyn N.Y. the farthest place from a horse you can find, Sonny Garguilo had his first encounter with this majestic animal at the world famous Coney Island. Most kids wanted to go on the Cyclone, an old wooden roller coaster known for its shaky frame. As for Sonny, he was the first on line to ride the ponies in the steeple chase.

His dad was an avid rider as a younger man and volunteered at the local stable in Forest Hills, Queens where there were thirty hacks on 1/2 acre. He would sit and tell stories of all the crazy horses he rode. This just fed into Sonny's passion for the horse.

At the age of 14 Sonny begged and pleaded to go to a dude ranch and they did every year after. When he was finally old enough to drive, he would ride every weekend at stables all over the city. Sonny was married at the age of 23 and owned his first horse at the age of 33. Even owning his horse Sonny really didn't understand the true relationship with his horse. What he did have was the passion.

Sonny & America
   

In 1998 he went to a horse expo that changed his life and the way he looked at the horse. He saw Josh Lyons (who is now his mentor) do things like sit a horse down, ride bridlelsss (nothing on the horse’s head at all) and just a relationship that was one he had never seen between a man and his horse. He wanted to know more. Sonny attended numerous clinics that Josh was involved with, but the turning point that really projected Sonny into Natural Horsemanship was over a Ping Pong game, yes a Ping Pong game. Sonny had been at a clinic in P.A. with Josh for 7 days. In that time their friendship grew closer. They played endless Ping Pong at night, talking horse and betting hats against watches for fun. At the end of that clinic Josh insisted Sonny come out to his ranch for a couple of weeks to train with him. Josh saw something in Sonny that was Natural (no pun intended). So for 14 days Sonny spent learning and talking and living Natural Horsemanship. Sonny and Josh are still good friends today. Sonny still travels in between his busy schedule to find the time to see and train with his dear friend, Josh Lyons. Today Sonny is one of the country’s leading Natural Horseman trainers and clinicians. Sonny with his horse and partner SIS has wowed audiences from 50 people at a charity fund raiser to 5,000 at the Belmont Race Track opening day. At this time in 2007 Sonny has 16 horses under his training and he is also teaching clinics. Recently Sonny was involved in the filming of a movie with horses and has been asked to participate in a Wild Mustang challenge, in which Sonny will take a wild Mustang for 100 days and compete against 49 other trainers across the country.