Taught by Wild Horses: Ethology, Trust, Behaviour, and Relationship

Wild horses showed me what matters. Touching Wild Academy exists to share that way of seeing.

This film introduces the Touching Wild Academy, founded by Bonny Mealand, equine podiatrist, behaviour specialist, and educator, whose work has been shaped by decades with wild, free-living, domestic, and semi-feral equids.

Learn more about Ethology: The Horse in Context and mentorship opportunities with Bonny - https://www.touchingwild.com/twacademy

My work happens at the edges of certainty: close to wild horses, trimming hooves without force or restraint, supporting unhandled equids, and learning that what matters most isn’t control, but understanding.

Wild horses don’t tolerate shortcuts. They teach you to pay attention, to context, timing, and meaning. They taught me that behaviour isn’t something to correct, but something to listen to.

That learning sits at the heart of Touching Wild Academy, and its Foundations series, Learning to Learn from Horses.

The series begins with Ethology: The Horse in Context, and builds a steady, horse-centred framework for understanding behaviour, welfare, and relationship.

This is not a course about techniques or quick fixes. It’s about developing the way of seeing that comes before action, the ability to recognise communication, understand welfare as lived experience, and respond with confidence and care.

Those who learn here often say the same thing:
they stop chasing solutions,
and start recognising what their horse has been telling them all along.

Learn more about Ethology: The Horse in Context and mentorship opportunities with Bonny - https://www.touchingwild.com/twacademy