Professional Horse Training

Training Approach

Relaxation, understanding, and mutual trust are the basis of my entire approach. I work with a wide range of horses (including gaited breeds) at all levels of experience. I love giving young horses a great start, but also enjoy helping older horses who have gotten stuck in patterns that aren’t serving them well, or who need a little help learning a new skill or getting to the next level of refinement.

Much like in my horsemanship coaching, we start at the beginning: Groundwork. For horses just starting out, this lays a rock-solid foundation; for horses who are farther along, this often reveals subtle gaps and misunderstandings that can lead to much larger and more obvious issues – by addressing them when they’re little things that show up in the groundwork, the bigger, more obvious issues often simply disappear.

Each horse progresses at whatever rate they can comfortably digest new experiences. In my experience, rushing a horse past their ability to confidently keep up only causes more problems and slower progress in the long run.

In riding, I’m informed and inspired by a variety of traditions and am comfortable in most disciplines, but all of my riding is heavily influenced by classical French and Spanish Dressage principles as well as Western riding traditions (which are deeply compatible). No matter the horse’s ultimate calling, the ability to make subtle adjustments to the way they carry themselves, help them balance, control their feet, and dial their energy up and down without anxiety will serve the horse well throughout their career – and through additional exposure to environments and situations outside of the arena, they become more well-rounded, versatile, and (perhaps most importantly) happy mounts.