my roots

I grew up in a family of animal lovers—but not horse people. So my journey with horses began by begging and begging and begging some more to have a horse. My parents made a really smart choice, and instead of buying me a horse, and beginning on a solo horsemanship adventure, when I was 8 they found an amazing barn for me to ride at. Plumb Pond, was a small private barn run by an amazing woman in the San Juan Islands, in the Northwest corner of Washington State. And for me, it was a little slice of paradise. 

Charly, the barn owner, not only nurtured in me a love and deep compassion for horses. She also taught us about the power of variety in horsemanship. She has a deeply held belief that all sorts of horse activities could teach you about horse and human partnership and how to build a better one. So, we learned how to vault, we went trail riding, we rode at the beach, we trained for endurance rides, we took jumping lessons, we took dressage lessons, we learned polocrosse, and most importantly, she introduced me to the principles of putting the relationship with the horse above whatever goals you wanted to achieve. Goals, and games, and sports give you purpose, but having a willing partner is the most valuable.

During my childhood I also learned to love teaching. From a young age, Charly gave me the opportunity to teach and help the other children and adults, who were coming to learn to ride. I learned that I got as much enjoyment from watching others achieve success as I did working for my own, and this has carried me through my whole life. Seeing others succeed in their horsemanship continues to cause me to strive to gain more knowledge. Here is a short video of all of us from Plumb Pond, riding together!

After graduating high school, I was accepted into Linfield College, to study psychology. I continued to teach lessons and train horses throughout college, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. This continues to help me to better serve students, especially with overcoming fear and achieving goals in their horsemanship.

After college I was offered an internship at Atwood Ranch in California. This is a quarter horse breeding operation where I had the opportunity to spend over 3,000 hours developing horses under 2. I was also a part of all aspects of the ranch, including stallion handling and breeding, foaling out mares, halter starting foals, improving ground skills on yearlings, saddling and first rides on 2-year-olds. This was an incredible opportunity to learn and grow, and spend SO many hours handling horses. It also fueled the beginning of my love for the American Quarter Horse.

From here I moved on to spend time riding and learning with Pat and Linda Parelli. I’m very grateful for the years I spent with both of them, as they gave me a strong foundation in Natural Horsemanship, and in the power of teaching horses on the ground and in the saddle. I was also privileged to ride and learn from Doug Jordan (Cutting Trainer), Walter Zettle (Dressage Coach), Craig Johnson (17 Time Reining World Champion), and Lauren Barwick (Olympic Medalist - Dressage), and Julie Williams Godfrey (Cutting Trainer). 

Today, I continue to learn from as many great horseman as I can, studying regularly with Trevor Carter of Carter Ranch Horse.