I started my
first colt in 1981, when I was just nine years old.
Within four years I'd started four more, spending any time I could get
permission for (or sneak away for) at boarding stables and trail ride
operations. Often I was awakened in the hayloft where I slept, by the
sounds & smells of all the horses rising, stirring, (and passing gas) at the
same time.
By 1989, as just a young adult, I was managing a large ranch in Nevada,
and had handled, started, or rode more than 500 horses. When the owner
died, I moved to Palmdale, California in 1992, and began my very own equine
small-business. This was on a much smaller scale,
due to a smaller facility than the Nevada property, and I took on only a few horses per
year.
Building
on that success, however, I've now opened a new facility on twenty acres,
here in Lancaster, California. This is large enough to accommodate all
phases of Equine training, from
start to finish.
My husband, Bill and I continue to work
our own horses; I
board horses; I've trained dozens of people and groups from beginners to
advanced in everything from English basics, to Team Penning, to Gymkhana events,
and up to advanced horsemanship; I offer "Town Hall" type clinics
which, due to their unique and improvisational free-form style, provide great
interaction, and an opportunity for attendees to see and hear all their
questions answered.
I don't consider myself a 'trainer,'
but a horseman - which I see as being different than a
trainer. A
Trainer achieves basic goals on most horses, and usually specializes in one or
two Equine fields. They may come across horses which seem to be
"problem horses;" however, and these horses require more than just the
basics. True horsemen seem magical, although we are not.
True horsemen, as the name states, are Horse-man.
A horseman works through a horse's mind, and body, and has the ability to
think like a horse, and read his body language like another horse would.
Horsemen aren't limited to just one equine field. They don’t see
hard-line differences in disciplines of riding, such as English or Western.
We only see it as setting up the horse’s mind and body in the manner in
which it will be used.
I have yet in my
years heard any horse tell another,
“Sorry cupcake, I don’t do Western!”
A horse is a horse.
And the horse is whomever you, the rider/handler, help him to be.
It’s all about how, when, and what way you ask a horse.
He’ll give you whatever body position or response you want, English,
Western, driving, performance, anything - keeping in mind that some horses physically or mentally may excel more in one area
than another.
My
specialty is
teaching horse owners to achieve the results they desire from their horse in and
out of the saddle. For that reason I don't focus on 'training the horse'
so much as I do in developing horsemanship. A person can send their dog to
a dog trainer and get a pretty good result. But if you AND your horse are
not working together, and equal to one another, you will never be satisfied -
even if the horse is magnificently trained.