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I have been riding and starting my own horses for 30 plus years. I started helping fellow riders at local arenas when they had horse problems. After helping people for free for several years, it occurred to me that people were willing to pay me to ride and train their horses (What a concept).
In 1999, I made it my full time profession. In addition to training horses, I also have many students who take riding lessons and students who compete in Reining, High School Rodeo, Junior Rodeo, and Performance.
I have many mentors in my horse training; Dave Henderson and Roger Saur influenced me the most. I attend many clinics each year, primarily for starting colts, and the discipline of Reining and Working Cow.
I have ridden in clinics with Shawn Flarida, Robbie Boyce, Les Vogt.(see Links page for their sites) I have audited two clinics that Bob Avila taught. I also watch horse training videos on many different training methods, from Reining to Dressage.
I operate a small training barn where the emphasis is on quality time spent with the horses that are in training. Each horse learns at their own pace. I give the horses a consistent training program; there are no short cuts or tricks for training. I spend a great deal of time with ground training. A strong foundation on the ground teaches horses to move away from pressure, which makes the transfer into the saddle an easy move.
Once in the saddle my emphasis is on body control, which I first mastered on the ground with each horse. I teach the horses to turn on the forehand and haunches using leg and rein aids. I eventually combine these two maneuvers into a side pass and half pass maneuvers these are lateral movements. I work on the horses overall balance, getting them to round up and break at the poll. Once the horse is going well and understanding the basics I work on transition between gates. If you are saying to your self, but I just want a trail horse. Yes, but what a handy thing to have a trail horse that will obey your leg cues and move away from that 100 foot drop off!
My emphasis is with Reining & Working Cow. Both our indoor and outdoor arenas have great footing for Reining. We have a Pro Cutter to teach horses to begin to follow a cow. So regardless if you are a trail rider or a serious competitor I can help you and your horse learn body control for a more enjoyable ride.
