2016 Sport Horse Championship Awards
My Gelding Psalaam VF Reserve Champion Sporthorse Under Saddle
2016 Regional Championships
Horses are my life and always have been! I grew up in a small town in Oregon and starting riding at the age of three. As kid I would ride all day from one end of our little valley to the other on our Shetland ponies. Everyone in my family rode we would ride the trails of our area for hours sometimes we would even camp out with the horses.
From grade school through high school I was a 4-H member and officer where I learned the value of good horsemanship and training. During those years I competed in 4-H and Open Horse shows mostly on Arabians.
My first horse job was getting on auction ponies to see how trained they were so the owner could set a fair price for them. My second job was in High School, I worked for my 4-H leader and broke and trained horses at her ranch.
In college I managed and trained at Pandora Arabians, a small breeding farm in Sunny Valley, Oregon and Wolfe Arabians in Portland, Oregon.
After college worked in the graphics arts industry for several years and starting a small art school called Young at Art. I owned and operated several locations for over 20 years.
In 1996 I bought my first horse as an adult. Owning a horse again was a life changing experience. I just couldn’t get enough! I went to endless clinics and took lots of lessons. From that time on I bred, trained and showed my horses. Winning many local and Regional Championship Awards with my horses. In 2016 I won my first National Championship award at The Arabian Sporthorse Nationals in Napa, Idaho on my 4-year-old Arabian gelding that I bought as a 2 year old from Ventura Farms. I am especially proud of this accomplishment because I trained, showed and qualified this horse myself.
I have been fortunate enough to have had a number of great instructors and mentors, and I understand the importance of a good teacher. As a teacher you must strive to help the student learn with ease. Many times it takes great amounts of patience and flexibility. A good teacher is able to explain things in more than one way so the student can better understand what they are being taught.
I love teaching and I love horses! I am always striving to learn more to grow myself and my horsemanship. My education in horses includes The Pierce College horse training program. Along with the many clinics I have attended including; Julie Goodnight, Chris Cox, Mark Rashid and Charles Wilhem, Monty Roberts and Ray Hunt. I continue to take lessons. If one of my clients wants to do something I don’t know about I learn about it!
Images © Elois Brett-Kress, Perfect Balance Riding