Brendan Wise stands in a horse barn, getting ready to bring Luke, a 2-year-old quarter horse, outside for some training.
This is the fourth day Wise, of White Hall, has worked with Luke and they've already bonded. But the relationship isn't master-servant or boss-underling. It looks more like a case of love-love.
As Wise pauses to talk with Luke's owner, the horse gently rubs his lips on Wise's cheek. Then, Luke simply rests his head on Wise's shoulder and eventually leans his head into the trainer's chest. Luke's reward is to have his head, ears and nose rubbed by Wise.
"People think what I do with horses is magic, but it's not," says Wise, 22, who graduated in 2009 from the Lyons Legacy certification program in Colorado.
"What I do is simple horsemanship. Since horses don't understand our language, we have to develop other ways of communicating. It's about developing trust and showing respect. If you do it right, a horse is your dance partner with you leading."
Luke's owner, Wendy Bohner, of Sparks, met Wise at a horse auction in May when she bought Luke. The horse had been ridden some, but was fairly unmanageable on the ground. He resisted being led from a stall or into a trailer, making it hard for Bohner to control him.
After working with Luke, Wise demonstrates his techniques to Bohner, who then practices leading her horse around the ring.
"I want him about a foot away and next to you, not in front of you and not behind you," Wise says. "He's most comfortable with his head down, so hold the lead steady and he'll respond to the pressure."
He gives Bohner a tip -- while holding the lead rope, he hooks his thumb into the front pocket of his jeans so the rope stays the same height.
"I asked Brendan to do a tune-up since this horse is new to me," Bohner says. "It's nice to work with someone who's gentle but still gets the horse to do what he needs to do."
Wise has handled horses that kick, bite, buck and rear up. He says he's been thrown off a horse several times, but blames himself, not the horse, for the falls.
Jen Bajackson, of Sparks, called Wise when her horse started throwing his head into her as she led him. She found Wise by going to the John Lyons website. He is one of seven Lyons-trained trainers in Maryland, and the only one inBaltimore County.
The Lyons method of training horses was begun by John Lyons in Parachute, Colo. In the 1980s. In 2010, son Josh moved to Cross Plains, Tenn. to open a second training facility. Wise says the Lyons methodology of training horses is simple, it's conditioned response.
"It's about building communication between the horse and rider in a consistent, simple manner," says Wise."I train people how to train horses."
Says Bajackson, "John Lyons is one of the bigger training gurus in the horse world. I like his philosophy and Brendan did a great job. He seemed to have this innate ability to look at my horse and see what he was all about."
By helping her horse, Wise also helped Bajackson regain her confidence and reestablish a working relationship with her horse.
"I actually end up spending more time training people than horses," Wise says. "Horses are easier to work with. They don't talk back."
Man's best friend? A horse
As a youngster growing up in Bel Air and Forest Hill, Wise was into cowboys and cows, not horses. He'd put on his cowboy boots every day and watch cowboy movies.
His older sister got him hooked on equines. She wanted to learn how to ride a horse, so he went along for a lesson, too.
"I was only 7 or 8 and I just liked everything about being on a horse. I liked the whole dynamic," he says. "People say a dog is man's best friend, but that doesn't begin to compare with what you can have with a horse."
He became a very good rider, so instructors gave him stubborn horses to ride, knowing he could handle them. He never wanted to enter horse shows. He just wanted to ride.
He was given a few horses over the years -- free ones that nobody else wanted -- and he trained and rode them as often as he could.
But horses are only one of his obsessions. The others are cars -- he has a 1979 Camaro -- and music -- he's a drummer.
Wise, who was home-schooled by his mother, Susan, was ready to go to Cedarville University in Ohio to study music performance when he realized he didn't want to spend four years in classrooms.
His parents insisted he get a degree, so he went to Community College of Baltimore County, Catonsville, and became a motor technician. He then worked for the next three years at Anderson Hummer.
He lived at home in White Hall, saved his money and enrolled in a horse training certification program run by John Lyons and his son, Josh. He graduated in 2009 after an eight-month course and now works fulltime as a trainer. He offers three-day riding clinics as well as private instruction.
He also trains his own horse, Colt, in the art of western reining where the horse performs a series of spins and sudden stops.
Wise also taught Colt several tricks, including bowing down on one knee, sitting on his haunches and lying down while Wise rubs Colt's belly, neck and head.
"A horse mainly wants peace and that's what I'm offering him," Wise says as he rubs Colt's sides. "Right now, he's the happiest guy in the world. And that means I am, too."
To learn more about Wise, go to http://www.brendanwisehorsemanship.com or call him at 410-274-0757.