After nearly five decades of working with and training both horses and mules, Bill Oliver has a wealth of knowledge to share. His journey has been shaped by studying some of the most respected names in the equine world and learning firsthand from exceptional horsemen and mentors. But Bill is not the protégé of any one individual mentor—instead, he is a unique blend of all he has observed, experienced, and lived while working on the back of a horse.

 

His skills were honed not in arenas, but in the wild, remote backcountry of the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem, where he served as a Wilderness Ranger. With over a thousand miles of trail and millions of acres as his "office," horses weren’t just companions—they were essential transportation, and every day was a proving ground for his methods and horsemanship.

 

Working in the first and oldest National Forest in the U.S., Bill caught the tail end of a legendary generation—Rangers, Wildland Firefighters, Outfitters, and Ranchers who relied solely on livestock, primitive tools, and grit to get the job done. These were men and women who cleared trails with crosscut saws, packed dynamite on mules, and navigated the wilderness without GPS, cell phones, or modern conveniences—just skill, instinct, and a deep connection to the land and animals.

 

Before his Forest Service days, Bill grew up horseback in the rugged Cascade Mountains of Northern California. At 18, he moved to Wyoming and began guiding hunters, packing mules, and training horses in the outfitting industry.

 

In 2017, his wife and family friends finally convinced him to begin sharing his deep well of equine knowledge with the world. His story is not just about training horses and mules—it's about tradition, resilience, and a lifetime of learning in some of the most unforgiving and beautiful country on earth.

 

Today, Bill works with beginner level to advanced trainers on colt starting to the finished bridle horse.  His instruction is limited in-person clinics to online courses that encompass his philosophy and program of horse training.  Bill believes in Natural Horsemanship, but more in the sense of how horses interact with each other in a herd.  

 

Horses have a strong flight instinct and communicate with the slightest movements, body language, and energy.  In a wild herd of horses, you will see it play out… pressure and release, a silent dance with little or no sounds that has been danced for centuries.  Ears, eyes, feet, and body movement all exhibited in one way or another to express their intentions.  Horses also naturally having a “pecking order” within their herd, and the one in charge – the matriarch mare.  She is a quiet and confident leader that guides the entire herd.  She represents safety, discipline, and leadership.  Bill recognizes this language of movement and distinct energy and feel, and how it is universal to all horses regardless of age, breed, or gender.  It is this mostly non-verbal language of horses that Bill Oliver has honed in on and leveraged for horse training.  It is a guiding principle that leads all that he does from colt starting to a finished bridle horse. 

 

How does he do it?  How does he leverage such an innate and universal language of horses?  Well, he does it in the round pen and takes on the role of the matriarch mare – By handling the horses at liberty, and the use of a seasoned bridle horse that not only sees him as its leader, but also works with him as one to “drive” and communicate with the other horse at liberty.  Very much like the matriarch mare in a herd of horses, Bill handles and drives the horse while he is horseback to break down any psychological barriers, establish dominance, submission, and leadership.  By driving one horse with another he can also get a physical read of the horse as he moves their feet in the round pen.

 

He will often tell you it takes 5-7 minutes for him to assess and evaluate a horse by driving in the round pen.  It’s in this time he is moving their feet (driving them) with another horse he can see if they are aggressive, lazy, high strung, resistant, or submissive.  He can also read if the horse is lame or has other soundness issues. 

 

He has been asked “can’t you just drive them or ‘lunge’ them on foot and get the same result?” The short answer is NO.  The conversation is different; the amount of pressure is different when you are driving horseback in the round pen.  You cannot achieve the psychological “breakthrough” or uncovering of “hard spots” as effectively.  Can you get some of it? Sure… but Bill will tell you it’s not the same. So, it is here, that he believes he is using true “natural horsemanship”.  Bill will use a driving horse in the round pen as the first step no matter what age, level of training, or class of horse.  They understand it on a deep level, and it’s this level that Bill will get to with every horse he trains.  When your horse sees you the same as the matriarch mare – you connect on a deeper level.  You represent safety, discipline, and leadership…. ALL things your horse was born to be attracted to, to crave, and to find solace in.  

​

"Whatever your (horse) discipline is... If there's one little thing that I can give you, that you could take away and make your program at home safer.  What is that worth?  Worth a lot."  ~ Bill Oliver