mb defined.

Most things about me are unconventional and I don’t know how or why that is, but it might be why I’ve been so successful thus far. I’ve truly had an unwavering love for horses my entire life despite the deprivation of any real experience with them. I didn’t grow up on a ranch or a farm or even in the country. My only access to horses was on our camping trips and the zoo.

I grew up watching my parents be competitive line-dancers. Country western music was as “cowgirl” as I got but that was enough to continue my intrigue with these animals. Fast forward to age 9 when I went to my first horse riding summer camp. My dad, being an incredible business man and also my biggest fan (among other things), knew that horses were often a phase for young girls so he went about this obsession methodically to ensure his financial investment would have a return of some kind. Fast forward to my 13th birthday, I received my first horse: Yaros Express. Tall, goofy, emaciated, spooky, and slow were a package deal and 13 years later we have managed to eliminate the emaciated and spooky parts, but the others remain. We had no idea what we were doing owning a horse, let alone a young ex-racehorse but that experience is my driving force behind what I do now. I don’t want anyone to have the questions and concerns and ideas I had growing up with horses that were never answered for me.

 Yaros continues to teach me patience and how to have a sense of humor on a daily basis. He has a “life ticket” with me for this lesson that molded me into the trainer that I have become. Whether he was bucking me off for landing on his back too hard or jumping over a stream instead of going through it because I didn't take the time to desensitize him or ripping a gate off the wall because I tied him with a bad knot, I learned that good horses often come in very bizarre packages. Since rescuing Yaros, my dad and I have rescued 5 more horses and I trained all but one of them.

The rest is history. But what fun is that?

Again, unconventionally, I found a way to learn more about horses without a trainer. That included boarding at an Arabian halter horse breeding farm, boarding with and riding western pleasure horses, riding imported warmbloods on the hunter/jumper A circuit, riding on a college equestrian team, riding on a college rodeo team, and taking on any horse that anyone asked me to sit on. Most recently, I’ve settled on reining horses. I’ve had the greatest opportunities of working with Jim Babcock and Sandy Collier who solidified that this discipline harbors everything I love about the possibilities with horses.

These experiences are invaluable to me, but I can’t help but wonder how great it would have been to have had a trainer by my side leading the way. Showing me how to make my horse better instead of how to ride over my horse’s  faults; explaining to me how my horse feels and thinks so I understood how to communicate with him; educating me on why we cue the way we do and why it works; the list goes on and on.

So here I am now with so many experiences framing why I believe what I do. One of my biggest influences is my love of education. I’ve known I was going to be a teacher since 1st grade. I started tutoring my classmates my 2nd grade, tutoring outside of my school by 7th grade, teaching riding lessons by 10th grade, and then I finally went to college to study education. I’ve always been consumed in clear communication so I got a degree in English education and an endorsement in English as a second language. The day I heard about this ESL program, I knew immediately that’s what I wanted to do: teach those who are disadvantaged by a language barrier the skills they need to be successful citizens. You may notice a parallel with horses here. After working my dream job for 3 years after graduation, I decided to give it all up and pursue “horse education”. It’s crazy the way life works sometimes.

Anyways, that’s your brief glimpse into this adventure of mine. I am plagued with a determination for success, positivism, passion, education, and doing everything in your power to follow your dreams, and fight tooth and nail to be happy. I would love to help you do the same.