I’m a trained saddle fitter, horseback riding instructor, dressage rider, life coach, and non-profit consultant.
In each of these areas I’ve spent years studying, taking courses, training with experts, and I value each part for how they have combined in my knowledge base with a kind of synergy I never expected.
Coaching had a huge impact on my experience as manager and horse back riding instructor. Helping me learn how to really listen to people and share in information in a way that is easier to understand. The technical side of saddle fitting and gate analysis has helped me as a rider and trainer. If a saddle doesn’t fit, riding instruction can only go so far. And managing groups people provided so many insights to working with horses.
They all are a part of me.
This Learning Center, will include some of it all. Some of the technical, some of the meditative, some of the life reflections, all a combination of my experiences. Take all of it, take a piece of it, try and see what works for you. If it works great, use it. If it doesn’t ignore it.
I see learning to ride horses as an accumulation of tools. Each horse you ride will need different tools. Each trainer you work with will provide you with different tools. Each equine professional you see will share even more tools. Your job as a rider and horse owner, is to decide which tools will work for this specific horse in the new situation you are in. Let this resource help you gain a few more tools. They might work for your horse, and they might not. That is for you to explore and figure out.
I’ve been lucky to work with many different trainers, attend many clinics, and have a huge focus on building my tool box. I learn something new from everyone I work with. It is a little game for me. Anytime I see a new trainer at work, I see if I can find something new that I will try. Maybe it is a pattern that they are instructing the students to ride or a specific exercise with cavaletti. Maybe it is a new way of thinking about the horse position or a different metaphor. I might not agree with everything but to me, that is not the point, the point is to see what I can learn and what I can add to my tool box.
As a saddle fitter, I see 200+ horse and rider combinations every year. This is an amazing chance for me to learn more tools, identify patterns I see across horses and disciplines, and hone my language in how I share information about saddles and saddle fit to clients. I hope this learning center helps you add a few more tools to your tool box.