We are currently booking students in our 2023 Driving, Working, and Training Horses in Harness Workshops!
Workshops limited to 5 hands-on students
2023 Workshop Dates
May 21-27
June 18-24
September 10-16
October 8-14
Greetings from Montana!
We look forward to meeting you here! 2023 Workshop details are updated on our website regularly. Please Contact Us with your questions. 
“Cathy and I are reaching out to find special people to join us for these workshop weeks of learning, horses, and fun in 2023 .” Doc
CONTACT DOC NOW!
Doc and Cathy teach you to Truly Understand and Gently Influence Equines through:
Deeper Understanding of Horse’s minds
Better Communication
Stronger Relationship Building Skills
Improved Ground Work and Driving Techniques
Click here to view Stacy and Virginia’s blog entry describing their experiences at a Doc Hammill Horsemanship Workshop
2022 Montana Workhorse Workshops will be held in the amazingly beautiful Mission Valley near Mission (St. Ignatius), Montana.
Ranch workshops are 5 full days of instruction and hands-on practice with an emphasis on safety, gentle and effective techniques for communicating and working with horses, horse husbandry, and the basics of harnessing, hitching, driving, and working horses in harness. Doc and Cathy have a great collection of historic, horse-drawn vehicles and farm equipment as well as modern horse-drawn equipment and vehicles as well that are used in the workshops.
Depending on the focus of the clinic, students will learn about and may operate horse-drawn wagons, bale moving wagons, carts, 4- wheeled carriages, single or team walking plows, sulky plows, discs, harrows, mowers, hay rakes, buck rake, hay loader, manure spreader, fore carts, stone boats, a road grader, a Pioneer Homesteader, and an Annies-All-In-One.
Students learn about and try their hand at many horse-powered tasks including maneuvering obstacle courses while ground driving horses, or with a single horse or team hitched to a wheeled vehicle, skidding poles and logs, pulling a load with a single horse or team hitched to a stone boat, or with a single horse or team hitched to a farm implement.
The horses are driven and worked single and in two-horse teams in the clinics for first-time students, and hitches of up to six in advanced and specialty workshops for returning students.
Except for specialty workshops, each class is limited to just five hands-on students to maximize personal instruction and driving time, allowing us to accommodate individual learning styles. We focus on the students where they are and want to advance from.
Throughout the week the content is determined, to a large degree, by what each student most wants to learn and experience. The approach is informal, relaxed, and flexible – and we have fun while learning.
Doc and Cathy’s workshops seem to fill earlier and earlier each year. The less flexible your schedule, the earlier you might want to book YOUR spot. There are occasionally cancellations in the workshops that Doc and Cathy host at the Montana ranch.
About the Ranch Workshops
Learn safety; gentle and effective techniques; and the basics of harnessing, hitching, driving, and working horses in harness while using Doc and Cathy’s horses, and the equipment of a working horse-powered ranch and the gentle and effective methods they have been so fortunate to learn from their mentors.
Special people, great horses, and a scenic Montana ranch, all set the stage for a week of complete immersion into the world of driving and working horses in harness. Limited to only five hands-on students, the workshops are a personal, small group learning experience and a unique western adventure.
About Doc and Cathy
Doug Hammill, D.V.M. draws upon over 50 years of horse experience to mentor each student at their own individual skill level. Cathy Hammill works directly with students in the workshops as well; she draws upon her own lifelong horsemanship experiences as well as her professional background and professional experience as an educator.
Workshop content is extremely comprehensive in scope and custom-tailored to each group. The wide selection of horse-drawn vehicles and machinery, the many horse-powered jobs performed, hay meadows and agricultural land, and amazing scenery provide driving experiences that enhance learning and guarantee enjoyment.
About the Staff
Doc and Cathy’s Suffolk horses, one very special donkey, their Norwegian Fjord Horses, and their Welsh pony, conduct all aspects of the Workhorse Workshops personally with the assistance of Doc and Cathy. Some workshops occasionally include other horses, mules, and instructors.
Getting Here
Workshops take place at Doc and Cathy’s Montana Borderland Ranch, in the beautiful Mission Valley of Montana. The destination for those who come by air is Missoula International Airport at Missoula, Montana. Transportation to and from the Missoula International Airport may be arranged for a fee with an airport shuttle.
Accommodations
2023 lodging will be provided at Borderland Ranch and is included in the workshop price.
Accommodations include individual sleeping rooms and a shared space for cooking, eating, studying, relaxing, and individualized learning during the workshops. Pictured below is the shared space of Borderland Ranch’s Student Learning Center.
Doc and Cathy’s extensive library on all things horses, horse training, horse driving, horse-drawn agriculture, horse, mule, and donkey packing, and Montana history is available for students’ individualized study while at Borderland Ranch.
What to Bring
Doc and Cathy’s ranch sits at just under 3000′ elevation in the Rocky Mountains. Expect cool to cold nights (30 to 50 F) and cool to hot days (50 to 95 F).
- Socks, underwear, etc.
- Comfortable, rugged, preferably high-top footwear (suitable for irregular ground)
- Washcloth, towel, hygiene articles
- Rain gear and waterproof boots
- Durable pants and shirts (some long-sleeved)
- Cap or hat for sunshade
- Gloves for driving – thin, form-fitted.
- Warm clothes – coat, jacket, sweatshirt/sweater, vest, hat, long pants, and gloves
- Sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle
- Flashlight or headlamp, camera, binoculars
- Bandanna or neckerchief
- Favorite songs, stories, poems, etc.
- Musical instruments
- Insect repellent
- Desire to learn and a sense of humor
Sign Up-Don’t delay-we don’t like to turn people away ……
To reserve your spot in one of our driving clinics, call or email Doc or Cathy to verify that there is room in the workshop.
Once you are pre-registered for the workshop you are interested in, we welcome you to pay online, by phone (credit card), or pay by check or money order. We also have payment plan options…ask us about that when you call or email.
2023 Workshop Price:
$1895.00 ($100.00 discount for a limited time only!)
(2023 full workshop price $1995.00, 6 nights lodging, and 5 FULL DAYS of workshop activities.)
PLEASE READ!
DOC HAMMILL HORSEMANSHIP
Workshop Cancellation Policy:
- The first 1/3 of the price of the workshop is a non-refundable, non-transferable deposit.
- The balance (2/3) of the price of the workshop is refundable in the event of cancellation by the student only if the canceled spot(s) in the workshop can be refilled 30 days before the workshop.
- In the event of cancellation by the student less than 30 days before the workshop there will be no refunds.
There is a shuttle service (fee is charged) providing transportation between Missoula International Airport-Missoula, MT, and Doc and Cathy’s ranch at Mission, Montana. Ask either Doc or Cathy for details and contact information.