TOUCHING WILD with Bonny Mealand
Trying to help your horse,
but unsure what to do next?
Often, what’s missing isn’t skill or effort - but clarity.
Touching Wild Academy helps you understand what you’re seeing so you can respond with steadiness, confidence and care. Here, learning begins with the horse’s experience and builds a clear, grounded way of making decisions that truly fit your unique horse and your situation.
Learning at Touching Wild Academy follows a structured journey that begins with Ethology: The Horse In Context - the first course in the Foundations series, Learning to Learn from Horses.
Beyond technique and compliance, this is practical, science-informed learning for thoughtful, horse-centred decision-making.
Let me help you help your horse
For over 30 years, I’ve worked alongside horses and other equids across domestic, conservation, zoological, and wild contexts. I spend time in the field across diverse landscapes around the world, learning how equids live, relate and make sense of their world. I bring those insights back into practical, science-informed support for domestic horse owners, zoo keepers, wardens and others responsible for equid care.
I don't offer quick fixes or one-size-fits-all answers. instead, I help you build clarity and confidence in making thoughtful, horse-centred decisions that fit your horse and your situation.
Touching Wild Academy is where decades of field experience, resarch, practical application and careful observation are distilled into a clear, horse-centred way of learning. It is also the pathway for those wishing to progress into practical, hands-on work with me, particular with wild and unhandled horses.
How to Begin
The orange path is for those ready to deepen their understanding, gain insights and build confidence.
The red path is for those working with a complex or challenging equid and are seeking in-depth mentorship and guided support.
Two ways to step in
Both pathways share the same horse-centred, ethological foundation. The difference is how much guidance you want and whether you’re building foundations or working through a specific, complex situation.
There’s no right or wrong entry point - just different kinds of support.
PATH 1
Ethology: The Horse in Context
An 8-week guided online
course with live sessions
Before behaviour can be addressed,
it needs to be understood.
This course helps you place what you’re seeing into context,
so behaviouris no longer viewed in isolation, but as part of a
larger, meaningful story.
Shaped by years spent observing and working alongside different equid species and types, across diverse landscapes and grounded in behavioural science, Ethology: The Horse in Context develops the core skill of interpreting behaviour through an ethological lens. You’ll learn to see more clearly, ask better questions and respond with informed care.
Learning takes place alongside others who care deeply about horses, through live sessions and shared Field Lab exercises. This foundational course is for thoughtful horse guardians and professionals seeking practical insight, a deeper understanding of the horse’s experience, and a clear framework for keeping that experience at the centre of their decisions.
This mentorship supports you to use ethology in practice, applying it as
a practical tool for observing behaviour in context, interpreting what you see
and making careful, horse-centred decisions in complex, real-world situations,
where uncertainty, welfare considerations and practical constraints often meet.
It is designed for domestic horse owners, zoo keepers, wardens and others responsible for equid care who are seeking in-depth guidance and support. It is especially suited to thoughtful guardians and professionals who value depth over speed, clarity over certainty and relationship over technique.
Work with a real case - your own horse, a professional case, or a retrospective situation - supported by guidance shaped through decades of fieldwork and applied practice.
Rather than prescribing answers, this pathway focuses on helping you see more clearly: what matters, what’s influencing behaviour and what options are genuinely available in your specific context.
You’ll be supported through one-to-one sessions and a small, carefully held peer group - a community of thoughtful learners bringing shared experience and mutual respect. Together, we take time with complexity, developing responses that fit your equid, your situation and your values.
This is a pathway for navigating complexity with care, clarity and growing confidence.
Spaces are limited to ensure individual attention.
PATH 2
Applied Ethology Mentorship
Mentored support alongside
Ethology: The Horse in Context
Frequently Asked Questions
This work may not be the right fit if…
You’re looking for quick-fix behaviour solutions, training techniques, or performance-driven outcomes.
Touching Wild Academy centres understanding, relationship and welfare before action.
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