In a world where horses are often sold to the highest bidder, this story is different — it’s about heart, integrity, and a commitment to a horse’s happiness.
Three years ago, Macintosh — or “Mac” as he is usually referred to — first arrived at Alchemy Place. Just three years old, not long imported from Germany, he was one of the most athletic horses I had ever seen… with the longest legs I had ever seen. He came because he had on a couple of occasions bolted and bucked in very extreme ways when ridden.
The very first emotion I saw in him when he arrived was anger. He had a big, very defensive energy field. His energy certainly made you feel you wanted to move out of his way – it was quite threatening. Underneath that layer of emotion was very deep fear. He was in fact very deeply fearful, anxious and introverted. He had the most intense drawn up bottom lip I had ever seen in a horse and it seemed to be permanently there. He, like many of us, was very emotionally complex.
As he started to develop confidence and trust in me, we peeled off the layers of anger, deep fear and anxiety and he started to come out of his shell. Underneath, there was a beautiful, soft, gentle soul with a powerful sense of inner knowing, a big presence and a strong sense of self.
I think as a young horse he was probably very unconfident and easily intimidated and then as he grew into his own power and strength his innately strong spirit started to immerge and he started to stand up and express how he really felt about things. The first time he bolted I believe it was extreme fear, the second time – I saw video footage of it – I felt it was outrage – he’d had enough of being pushed around, not listened to and enough of whatever else it was, that he was not happy about it.
Inside he was a very strong character. He wasn’t going to be the kind of horse to be easily intimidated or pushed into submission. He’d hold his ground if he sensed something wasn’t fair or didn’t feel right — usually not with aggression, but with indignance and calm, immovable certainty. At the same time, he still had very deep fear of the “world” and the belief that in general, the outside world and anything unknown to him was scary and dangerous. A challenging combination of emotions to work with. I have had a few horses like that before and they were definitely the hardest of all to work with.
What was different about MacIntosh was his “BIGNESS”. He was and still is BIG in every way. Big in stature, standing around 17 hands, big in his movement and athleticism and big in his energy and his spirit. This big energy amplifies everything. It gives him a powerful presence which makes him spectacular, but that big energy also amplifies his negative emotions and can make him more volatile, explosive and dangerous than most horses. In many horse training methods, horses are pressured to the point that their emotions become suppressed — they shut down. Sadly, this has become the norm. But that’s not how I want to work with horses. A shut down horse, and of course there are degrees of shut down, will never reach their highest potential and will not be a truly happy horse. When negative emotions are shut down, positive ones are also shut down. Shut down horses won’t be expressive, communicative and interactive or feel like a friend and a partner that is inspired, enthusiastic and radiating their most magnificent self.
Horses with big spirits or big personalities like Mac are harder to supress or shut down, especially once they start developing confidence in their strength. Just like the kid that gets bullied – as they grow into a strong young adult they are going to stand up and fight back. If we are not going to “shut a horse down” we instead have to Win their Heart, Engage their Minds, help them Regulate their own Emotions and Co-create with them in training – listening to them, meeting their needs and caring about how they feel in the process rather than just trying to achieving our goals.
Mac was with me about 7 months the first time round. He went home before I was really feeling he was ready, but his time with me had come to an end. He did make some beautiful changes here and he became very smoochie, interactive and affectionate. Very different to the angry horse that arrived. From what I know he stayed smoochie and affectionate when he went home and so won people’s hearts and was the favourite of most of the people where he lived.
Mac faced a serious injury after he left here which he took a year to recover from and he then returned to traditional dressage training under a highly skilled trainer. Despite making excellent progress with that trainer, he did have two bolting and bucking episodes one on the ground and one under saddle with his owner, so she felt he was not the horse for her and she also felt that he was not happy doing traditional dressage training.
So, she made a rare and beautiful decision: to honor his happiness above all else. She chose heart over dollars. And in doing so, she made it possible for Mac to return to me — offering him at a reduced price, with terms I could afford, because she felt it was the right thing for him.
Now, I have the privilege of stewarding this extraordinary horse’s journey. I am sure that I will have a lot to learn from him. I believe it is always a reciprocal relationship where the horses teach us just as much as we will ever teach them.
I looked up the name, MacIntosh, and discovered how perfectly his name reflected my sense of him. I think there is a lot in a name and when I get horses I often feel I need to change their name. I didn’t feel that with Mac which is why I looked up the name and the meaning behind it, because it definitely didn’t seem like a name I would choose. What I discovered definitely made him sound like my kind of horse. Another powerful warrior horse just like Helium, Alchemist, Excaliber, Waru and Yarraman, which most people knew as Smokey.
The name Macintosh comes from the Gaelic Mac an Toisich, meaning “son of the chief.” In traditional Scottish clan culture, the chief was the protector, the warrior, the leader of the people. Being the son of the chief implied not just nobility, but battle-readiness, strength of character, and unwavering presence.
It was so interesting. Because without knowing the history, I had already seen Mac this way: noble, proud, discerning, and not to be underestimated. A horse with a warrior’s heart — not in the sense of aggression, but of grounded power and principled leadership.
The motto associated with the clan linked to the Macintosh name is equally fitting:
“Touch not the cat without a glove.”
A wildcat was their symbol — fierce, independent, and untameable. The phrase means: be gentle by choice, but know that if the claws come out, they are not to be taken lightly. It’s a warning cloaked in elegance — and it feels like the perfect expression of Mac’s energy. Or as another source put it, “Don’t mess with me or be ready for a fight”.
If you’d like to follow along and watch our journey unfold, Mac will be one of the horses featured inside my Mentoring with Mel Membership Program — where I’ll be sharing the process, not just the highlights. I’ll be showing up with honesty and vulnerability, because with these complex horses, I truly never know how things will go or what lessons they’ll have in store for me. I won’t be making assumptions based on our past success — I’ll be meeting him fresh each day, taking each lesson as it comes. He’s not the same horse who left here; he’s had three years of different experiences and training. It will be fascinating to see what unfolds.
With his history of extreme bucking and bolting when afraid or deeply unhappy, my primary focus will be on reestablishing our connection, rebuilding trust, and strengthening our relationship on the ground. I’ll work on building his confidence in new environments and around lots of different stimuli and helping him develop his ability to emotionally regulate, stay focused, and keep listening to me — even when he gets fearful or excited, like when other loose horses start running around.
His natural athleticism is extraordinary, and his posture and biomechanics are naturally good. Winning his heart, engaging his mind, supporting his emotional regulation, and inspiring him to act as a true partner are my top priorities so we can first and foremost stay safe together. He was in full work and ridden a lot before he came here, so it is not like he is unrideable – it’s more like he could be unpredictable and react dangerously in situations that scare him or excite him. We will see how things unfold. I wonder what lessons he’ll have in store for me throughout this process!
Click on the picture to view the video of Mac’s return.
If this speaks to your heart and you would like to see deeper into the processes of our journey together, I’d love to welcome you into my membership program.
Join the Mentoring with Mel Membership Program
The best partnerships aren’t trained — they’re co-created and cultivated with trust, time, and truth.