TOUCHING WILD with Bonny Mealand
PATH 2
Applied
Ethology Mentorship
Mentored pathway
When you’re worried
about a horse and the
usual answers aren’t helping.
You may have arrived here because a specific horse is asking more
of you than you know how to give right now.
What you’ve tried hasn’t helped
Advice feels conflicting
And the responsibility feels heavy
This mentored pathway offers one-to-one support alongside Ethology: The Horse in Context, helping you make sense of what you’re seeing and think clearly about what might help, without rushing to fixes or forcing certainty.
Together, we use an applied ethological perspective to slow things down, look carefully at behaviour in context and build confidence in your own ability to decide what to do next and to explain those decisions with care and integrity.
“Clear, grounded, and deeply
compassionate - science with soul.”
Welcome
Grounded in science • Held with care
Touching Wild Academy exists because horses make more sense when we learn to see the world through their eyes. And sometimes, learning in a group is not enough.
If you’re carrying concern about a particular
horse, feeling the weight of responsibility while uncertainty sits quietly underneath, this experience is more common than it’s spoken about and you don’t have to hold it alone.
When generic advice no longer helps, and may even be unhelpful, a different kind of support is needed.
The Applied Ethology Mentorship offers a slower, steadier way to think clearly in real situations, staying close to the horse’s experience while supporting you to act with proportion,
confidence and integrity.
What this mentored pathway is for
This mentored pathway is for people already navigating a specific, complex situation - where behaviour, welfare concerns, emotions, and real-world constraints intersect, and where generic advice no longer helps.
Often this includes professionals or guardians who carry responsibility and feel pressure to appear certain, even when privately unsure.
The mentorship offers dedicated, case-based support alongside the shared learning foundations of Ethology: The Horse in Context. Through one-to-one reflection and small-group discussion, we focus on understanding what is influencing the horse, what matters most in the situation and what options are available and helpful.
Decisions are shaped through careful consideration not urgency.
This pathway does not replace veterinary care, provide training prescriptions, or promise outcomes. It supports clear thinking, confident advocacy, and ethical decision-making in complex, real situations.
What this course supports you to do
Better Questions
Ask better questions before
deciding what to do
This is not about acquiring techniques or answers. It’s about developing clarity,
proportion, and confidence in how you interpret what you see.
“I’m far more confident now in advocating for
my horses and thinking things through with care.”
What it’s like to be inside this pathway
PACE & RHYTHM
This mentored pathway offers additional depth through case-based discussion and two one-to-one mentorship sessions, creating space to think carefully about your particular situation.
The rhythm is guided by what the case requires. Sometimes that means slowing right down. Sometimes it means noticing that things become clearer sooner than expected .Sessions are structured but flexible, with no expectation of ready answers.
“Never rushed, always guided
by the horse’s wellbeing.”
HOW LEARNING HAPPENS
Learning is shaped around real situations, whether you are working with a horse in the present or reflecting on a case that still carries questions.
We take time to look carefully at what you’re noticing, what feels unclear and what has been hard to hold on your own. Rather than rushing to answers, the focus is on understanding what is influencing the horse and how different factors come together.
For many people, clarity shows up quietly, as reduced overwhelm, fewer competing voices and a steadier sense of what it makes sense to do next.
“Knowing others are thinking just as
carefully has been a quiet relief.”
PRACTISING OBSERVATION & INTERPRETATION
You’ll be supported to develop a clear and practical way forward for your own horse. Field Labs offer the space to practise this at home, using shared observation practice and curated video and case material from a range of equid contexts.
The emphasis is not on generic advice, but on identifying meaningful next steps that fit your horse and your situation, guided by careful observation and an ethological perspective.
“Bonny’s attention to detail - noticing subtle shifts and
adapting in response - was a masterclass in observation.”
EVIDENCE, PRACTICE & PERSPECTIVE
This pathway is grounded in behavioural science, welfare science and ethology, carefully translated so that evidence strengthens understanding rather than being used to justify fixed positions.
It is shaped by decades of observing and working alongside horses in diverse contexts, from wild and free-living populations to conservation herds, zoo-kept equids and domestic horses living under significant constraints.
That practical experience is supported by postgraduate study in equine science and ongoing engagement with current research, allowing theory and practice to inform one another.
The result is a living, evolving body of knowledge rather than a fixed set of answers.
“Working with Bonny significantly changed how we
think about managing our herd of Przewalski’s horses.”
LEARNING ALONGSIDE OTHERS
This is a small, carefully held learning space shaped by shared care for horses and a willingness to think together.
Mentees come from a range of backgrounds and levels of experience, and learn alongside one another without hierarchy, each bringing perspectives that add depth, nuance and insight into complex situations.
Participation is always by choice. Quiet attention is valued as much as speaking, and listening is recognised as a skill in its own right. Discussions are thoughtful, contained and held with care; this is not a space for fixing, advising, or offering unsolicited solutions.
For many, the relief comes from not having to hold complexity alone.
“Professional and deeply humane,
without ever feeling sterile or prescriptive."
GUIDANCE & FACILITATION
Guidance in this mentored pathway is active but non-directive.
I help hold the threads of complexity, reflect back what I’m hearing and ask questions that bring the situation into clearer focus.
Feedback is offered plainly and kindly.
Alongside rigour there is ease; clarity grows best when curiosity and flexibility are preserved.
We take horses seriously, and the responsibility they place in us.
We take ourselves lightly enough to keep learning.
“It’s impossible not to feel inspired when
learning alongside someone so deeply
committed to improving the lives of equines."
Testimonials
Frequently Asked Questions
Working with me...
Beyond this mentorship
The Applied Ethology Mentorship is also the primary pathway into working with me directly.
Across the year, I run a small number of in-person, practical workshops working with unhandled or horses described as “problem” horses, situations where safety, welfare and ethical responsibility are especially important.
To protect the horses involved, the people working with them and the quality of the learning space, attendance at these workshops requires prior shared work.
This means participants will have either worked with me previously or completed the Applied Ethology Mentorship beforehand.
This is not about exclusivity or status. It’s about ensuring we arrive with a shared language, a shared way of thinking and a shared commitment to slowing down, observing carefully, and taking the horse’s experience seriously.
Through the mentorship, we’ve already learned how to explore questions together and hold complexity with care, even when working virtually. That shared foundation allows the in-person work to be safe, meaningful and truly horse-centred from the first moment we step into the field.
If working with horses in this way calls to you, the mentorship is the place to begin.
Is this the right fit?
This mentorship may not be the right fit if:
You’re looking for training techniques or behaviour “fixes”
You want prescriptive answers or guaranteed outcomes
You prefer fast solutions over careful interpretation
You’re not open to questioning assumptions, including your own
This is not about doing more with horses.
It’s about seeing more clearly, so that what you do
next is grounded, proportionate, and compassionate.
If that way of learning resonates, you’re welcome here.
Join the Applied Mentorship Pathway
Begins Tuesday 17 February 2026, on the first day of the Year of the Fire Horse.
Plus - Ethology: The Horse in Context
6 weeks · live teaching · shared learning
3 months’ access to recordings and resources
INCLUDES:
• Everything in Ethology: The Horse in Context
• Two one-to-one mentorship sessions
• Access to a small, carefully held peer group
What your place includes:
:
-
Weekly live sessions and Q&A
-
Weekly webinar recordings
-
Curated scientific papers and resource lists
-
Access to the learning and discussion spaces
-
Ongoing guidance throughout the course