Wagoner Training LLC
Owner/Head Trainer Amber W. Wagoner-Toyne
Trainer/Colt Starter - Marisa Lustig
Trainer/Colt Starter - Dakota Abbey (when she isn't away at college)
Elevation Through Equine Education
Although my husband and I have both owned and ridden horses all our lives with my passion being team roping and his trail riding… neither of us had ever owned nor ridden a mule! They were definitely on our bucket list to pack and ride into the Bob Marshall and on local trails. Where to start? Well, we decided there would be great opportunity to see in person and learn much about mules in general at the Salmon Select Sale in Salmon Idaho.. after many months of research came down to weeks before the sale, we had narrowed our search down to about 8 mules that were being sold by 4 separate trainers. I asked a lot of questions and for extra information as we needed to make an educated decision to determine if each mule would be a good fit for a lifetime! Amber Wagoner-Toyne was one of those trainers. She was always quick with a reply and easy to communicate with on an ongoing basis. She had two mules we really wanted. Lady May and Denzel! After much consideration Amber agreed that maybe Denzel would not be seasoned enough for us (total mule beginners) but Lady May would be! I asked if we could possibly ride her before the sale in Salmon and she said absolutely! Although Amber and her team had multiple horses and mules to get settled in she texted me that evening with a plan to meet the next morning! Lady May was the first mule my husband and I had ever rode! And was everything we had hoped for and more! She is truly special and the kindest soul.. Amber and her team were completely transparent throughout this process. Unfortunately, This was not our experience with a couple of the other trainers/sellers. We won the bid for Lady May and have never looked back! She and the second mule we bid on have become a wonderful part of our family along with Amber… We have kept in contact since with updates and pictures and possibly some future training help with my colt! Only weeks later we showed at the Montana Mule Days and just returned from a pack trip through the Bob Marshall Wilderness! Lady May was wonderful and behaved exactly as represented! We trust Amber Wagoner as if we have known her forever, and feel blessed to have her and Lady May in our lives. If you are looking to buy a horse, mule, or unicorn.. or need training …I cannot recommend Amber Wagoner-Toyne and the team at Wagoner training enough.You won’t regret it! ~Happy trails!
Cheryl Seal
I had been looking for a horse for myself for awhile. I’m super busy but wanted a horse to do light ranch work and pleasure ride. I saw one of Amber’s advertisements of a mare for sale. She answered all questions thoroughly, honestly and promptly. Her main goal was to place the horse in the correct home which I appreciated. She worked around my schedule to try out the horse and then pick it up. I have bought many horses and Amber made this transaction easy and honest. The mare is doing great on our ranch and now I have to keep my kids from stealing her! I would recommend Amber for anyone purchasing a horse or training a horse.
Mindi Wilson DVM
eight years ago, I contacted Amber. I was over 60, had lost my confidence, with 2 very green mares. She worked with the girls and mostly with me. I enjoy riding even more than I did. I would contact Amber for horse or rider, she is outstanding with both. I'm very thankful for Amber's help
WOULD RECOMMEND
Yes
Joseph Fowells
If you need one started, rode or tuned up give Amber a try you will not be disappointed!
Chance Bernall
Amber has been giving riding lessons to my 6 year old daughter for about 6 months now. She is so good with her and is very knowledgeable. I have seen a night and day difference in my daughters confidence on and around horses. She takes proper precautions and helps them to learn to safely work with the horse. She doesn’t just throw her on a horse and goes for it. She helps them to learn parts of saddle, parts of horse and so much more. She truly goes above and beyond. She also helped us in finding a good kids horse. The one she found is so perfect! She truly goes the extra mile. She has a 5 star rating from us!
WOULD RECOMMEND
Yes
ANYTHING TO ADD
We love Miss Amber!
Chantel Staley
I’ve known Amber for over 10 years and watched her share her knowledge and a ton of time with youth in Dillon. Amber enjoys her profession and it shows, she is the best. My 5 year old daughter can’t wait to go to her next lesson, and not only has improved on her riding, but has been taught how to take care of her tack, and care for her horse. Amber has trained many mules for me and is someone I can always trust to be fair and do the right thing. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Amber to anyone, she is one of a kind.
WOULD RECOMMEND
Yes
Kevin Button
Amber is always here to help. Purchased a nice mare and so far so good. Appreciate the fact that she is willing to help after the sale. Honest and hard working gal.
Keeley Fitzgerald
I recently purchased a young mare from Amber. She has done great with her new job. Amber is a great trainer and I appreciate that she continues to follow up with the progress the mare is making.
JM Peck
Amber does a phenomenal job training her mules and horses. We purchased a mare from Amber three years ago for our 7 year old. This mare has been an outstanding addition to our barn! Not only does she take care of our son as he learns to rope and ride but my husband and I can use her to work off of also. Miss Moo is also the horse we put green riders on, she takes care of them without taking advantage of them. This mare has been well trained! Amber is patient, thorough, and goes the extra mile to make sure her clients achieve a successful partnership with their mounts. We are forever grateful to Amber. Looking forward to purchasing a mule for our daughter next!
Dina DePianto Swisher
Amber has worked with several of our horses from our yearling colt, 3 yr old mare and our 5 year old gelding (and several more horses in the upcoming months)! All have returned happy, confident and better than ever! We have enjoyed Amber’s professionalism, knowledge and love of horses. She is passionate about what she does and it shows!!!
Kim Sundles
I have had the pleasure of watching Amber train horses several times now and I can say from what I have seen, she is a real horse trainer who keeps the animal’s best interest at heart. The progress I have seen horses make in a month’s time under Amber's training, to say I was impressed would be an understatement. Not all horses would make the same amount of improvement that I have seen in that amount of time. But the improvement I did see clearly spoke to Amber's training, skill, experience, and innate ability as a trainer. Anyone can say they are a horse trainer. But few are actually trainers and even fewer are any good at training horses. To many just try to beat the horse into submitting to their will and do a lot of damage in the process. This opinion comes from 40 over years of riding and OWNING horses myself and watch to many of these amazing creatures be turned into basket cases with serious problems. Amber knows how to train a horse. If you want someone that will recognize you and/or your horse’s strengths and work to improve on the weak points, Wagoner Training is where you want to go.
Joe Orchard
We took our 2 year old colt to Wagoner Training to have started and to have the first 60 days put on him. We had done a lot of ground work with him prior, but I could not believe the progress he made in just a short amount of time of being with Amber's place. Amber kept us informed of his progress, sent videos, and always made us feel welcome when we'd stop by to visit. We have been super impressed with the work that Amber and her crew have done, and would recommend her 110%. Thank you!
Julia Goroski
My husband and I were looking for a horse to replace his gelding earlier this summer. He’s not a very experienced rider and beginning the search felt overwhelming. I wanted to find him a great mount as a gift for an upcoming birthday, so I made myself dig in. By happenstance, I stumbled upon Amber and her program and it didn’t take long before I knew she was who I wanted to help me find his horse. It was clear from the beginning that her goal was not to just sell me a horse. It was to find the right horse for us and the right home for the horse. She nailed it. After riding a particular gelding at her place, I knew I loved him. (Seriously. LOVED him.) But - this horse wasn’t for me and it took a bit of time for my husband to feel confident that this gelding was one he could both learn on and advance with. Between the time we committed to buy him and and when the deal was finalized, the videos and updates kept coming. Complete with a video of one of her awesome team members coming off him because he refused a jump. That could have given a buyer second thoughts and many would have kept it to themselves. Not Amber, she texted it right to me as if it was just another day. And when I asked her why, she told me it was because she wasn’t going to hide a thing from me. As we expected, the horse has been EXACTLY as represented - (actually, much better.) She’s an incredible person, has a fabulous facility/team and she does this for the right reasons. We didn’t just find a horse, we found a partner and a friend.
Susanne Hill
I came to know Amber after we bought a really nice horse through her. He was such a nice horse, I quickly realized that I needed to improve my seat and my understanding of how to ride properly. Since then I’ve been having lessons with Amber - focusing on fundamentals. I’ve been riding for 15 years, on and off, and I’ve learned more in a few lessons than in the previous 15 years. It’s building confidence in me. I’ll learning to better get in rhythm with the horse. Honestly, it’s what I’ve always been looking for when I got into riding all those years ago. She’s smart, kind, and a good teacher. I leave feeling better than when I got there. Wish I’d found her 15 years ago…. She’s changing horses for me, and like most of us, that’s changing my life, which is kind of a big deal ..
Matt Hill
Amber did a great job with my 6 year old gelding. She addressed my concerns with the horse, and put in the time to make him what I wanted. I was extremely happy when I picked up the horse and noticed that has shoes were all but wore out from being ridden! I can't say enough how happy I am with the 30 days that Amber and her staff put on this young gelding!
Jesse Peterson
The ranch I work for was looking for some new horses, and I happened to see that Amber had a two year old filly that she had gotten from a client and was just starting in hopes to sell. The ranch ended up buying her, and having 60 days put on her. I can’t say enough good about the work Amber and Marisa did on her. We were sent video updates, and had any questions or concerns, things we wanted done with her all done and done very well. When we got her here I could just saddle her up, and go to work on her. Again great people who are knowledgeable and patient with their horses and making sure they have a good foundation on them. It’s good to see such honest people who work hard to make sure their clients are happy. Thank you ladies, I would highly recommend to anyone in need of a good trainer/trainers.
Nathan Anderson
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