Memoirs of a Riding Instructor

Today I gave one of those lessons that make me remember why I'm a Trainer/Teacher. The horse is young and amazingly talented. The rider has so much experience but is open to learn. We were working on teaching this very green horse to relax and stretch and relax into the bridle and for the rider to understand opening and closing doors to guide the horse into a soft flexible lateral movement. Then it happened.....that amazing "Ah Ha" moment! I work out of a small barn. No frills. Many times I feel small time and don't give myself enough credit. But the reality is, I choose to be here, in a small barn, with students that love their horses. That  "Ah Ha" moment is the reason I do it. It means so much more to me than blue ribbons and even making money. I choose to work with anyone, beginner or advanced, that truly has that passion for horses. I enjoy teaching the modest horse owner and their mustang that they adopted, who may never show a day in their life, b...

I was watching the 2008 Summer Olympiccs and was cheering on swimmer Dara Torres. She had been getting a lot of notice because at the time she was 41 years old, had just had a child, and was in her 5th Olympics. I was a big fan of her guts, determination and just great attitude. I was rooting for her! Before the race the commentators were talking about the chances of each swimmer. The swimmers start coming out of the locker room and Dara goes over to each swimmer and has a quick chat with them. She then heads over and has a chat with the official. Then she goes back to the other swimmers and heads off into the locker room again. The announcers get all excited..."What's going on?" "Why is she talking to everyone?" "Where did she go?" She comes back out and finishes getting her stuff together, or whatever swimmers do to prepare to race. A short time later another swimmer comes out of the dressing room. They all procede to the starting blocks and of...

It's a new day and a new adventure I have been asked to start a blog for quite some time, and if anyone knows me, they know that I tend to be reluctant to step into the future of technology easily. I am more likely to be dragged, kicking and screaming. But the idea of a blog is intriguing, so I will give it a try. I hope to make this more than just ramblings of a crazy horse person. I hope to post my thoughts and ideas, short stories that are for my book "Memoirs of a Riding Instructor", a few "Handy Hints", some "Training Advice" and just observations from my world.  I hope that if you take the time to read this blog, you will come away feeling it was time well spent. Please feel free to send me feedback. I would love to hear what you have to say...good or bad. And I apologize in advance for horrible spelling and bad grammar....I write as I think. So here we go on a new adventure.....