speciality
Horsemanship, building foundation for all disciplines. Western riding.
It was suggested to me that I provide a short history about who I am and what my program offers. I’ll make an attempt. I’m often told by almost everyone who takes lessons from me or attends one of my clinics that they have never had anyone explain things the way that I do, and each time this occurs I’m always amazed by that, but since it happens all the time, I can only assume it’s true.
I think of what I do in terms of working with horses and their people. I spent 18 years starting colts which gave me the unique opportunity to learn what the horse needs fundamentally to be successful. There are basic skills the young horse learns that are the building blocks to its foundation. As we school the horse we add more building blocks that educate the horse to become more technically advanced. Having had this experience from the ground up with hundreds of colts has given me the skills to recognize where an older horse is having a problem and how to go back to the fundamentals of its training in order to help it. I often find people trying to work on the end result but the horse has no idea what that is. It would be like asking your child to attend college without completing high school.
What I try to do with my students is give each the fundamental skills that they need for their riding foundation while at the same time help them understand how a horse thinks and processes information. In order for a rider to be confident they must be prepared for the unexpected. I simply teach each rider how to operate the life in the body of the horse thru its legs to its feet.
I’m still a student of the horse. Learning how to operate a horse as a willing partner is a lifelong, infinite endeavor. I have learned that the more you learn the more you realize how much more there is to learn.
I think it’s very important to talk about where my approach to working with horses and people comes from. My mentor was Ray Hunt. Ray would be the first to tell you he was a student of the horse and that he spent most of his lifetime making up to the horse for the approach he had to working with them before he met his mentor Tom Dorrance. Ray and Tom are considered the founding fathers for what is commonly referred to today as natural horsemanship. These two men have had a profound effect on me and the person I’ve become with and without horses. I had ridden all my life and had been earning a living riding colts well before I met Ray, but once I discovered what he had to offer, I couldn’t get enough of it. It is all so simple really and when someone opens your eyes to what can be, it is very exciting. I can’t say enough about what an amazing horseman Ray was. He was as keen at working with people as he was with the horses. He knew just what to do to help the horse by how he helped the rider and vice versa.
I get that same excitement sharing with my students what little I know. When I see each one making progress and their accompanying smiles I become elated.
One of the keys to helping riders is to really listen to each person as they tell me their goals. I do my best to evaluate where horse and rider are and then structure our work together to help them both. I am the western trainer at RRC but I help riders of all disciplines. It doesn’t matter what a horse’s job is going to be. They all operate from the same fundamentals. I find that most riders share the common goal of wanting their horses to be happy while doing their job successfully.
I think of what I do in terms of working with horses and their people. I spent 18 years starting colts which gave me the unique opportunity to learn what the horse needs fundamentally to be successful. There are basic skills the young horse learns that are the building blocks to its foundation. As we school the horse we add more building blocks that educate the horse to become more technically advanced. Having had this experience from the ground up with hundreds of colts has given me the skills to recognize where an older horse is having a problem and how to go back to the fundamentals of its training in order to help it. I often find people trying to work on the end result but the horse has no idea what that is. It would be like asking your child to attend college without completing high school.
What I try to do with my students is give each the fundamental skills that they need for their riding foundation while at the same time help them understand how a horse thinks and processes information. In order for a rider to be confident they must be prepared for the unexpected. I simply teach each rider how to operate the life in the body of the horse thru its legs to its feet.
I’m still a student of the horse. Learning how to operate a horse as a willing partner is a lifelong, infinite endeavor. I have learned that the more you learn the more you realize how much more there is to learn.
I think it’s very important to talk about where my approach to working with horses and people comes from. My mentor was Ray Hunt. Ray would be the first to tell you he was a student of the horse and that he spent most of his lifetime making up to the horse for the approach he had to working with them before he met his mentor Tom Dorrance. Ray and Tom are considered the founding fathers for what is commonly referred to today as natural horsemanship. These two men have had a profound effect on me and the person I’ve become with and without horses. I had ridden all my life and had been earning a living riding colts well before I met Ray, but once I discovered what he had to offer, I couldn’t get enough of it. It is all so simple really and when someone opens your eyes to what can be, it is very exciting. I can’t say enough about what an amazing horseman Ray was. He was as keen at working with people as he was with the horses. He knew just what to do to help the horse by how he helped the rider and vice versa.
I get that same excitement sharing with my students what little I know. When I see each one making progress and their accompanying smiles I become elated.
One of the keys to helping riders is to really listen to each person as they tell me their goals. I do my best to evaluate where horse and rider are and then structure our work together to help them both. I am the western trainer at RRC but I help riders of all disciplines. It doesn’t matter what a horse’s job is going to be. They all operate from the same fundamentals. I find that most riders share the common goal of wanting their horses to be happy while doing their job successfully.