Recipient of the QHAA 2019 Most Valued Professional Award
Recipient of the QHAA 2019 Most Valued Professional Award
Since I was a young girl, I have been interested in horses' minds and the way in which they move. This lifelong passion has kept me developing effective methods to work with horses, not against them. I focus on helping horses balance themselves, while instructing riders to be balanced. This approach promotes a successful horse & rider team.
I began my career working, training and showing Arabians as an assistant for a very good trainer, Eric Brand. I also trained alongside Dean Ross for many years. We had an extremely successful training and show barn for over 20 years, and traveled throughout the United States and Canada to some of the largest shows in North America. Chris Brand has also been instrumental in my learning and training throughout the years. I have learned from the best, and am grateful to all who have shared their expertise.
My riding and training experience has been very diverse, and through the years, I have ridden hunters, cow horses, reining horses, trail horses, and more. I have participated and trained in western riding, western dressage, driving, side saddle, saddle seat, and have even done some rodeoing!
I never stop learning from fellow trainers and clinicians, and traveling to major shows has been paramount to keeping current with evolving riding styles. I continue to strive to be the very best that I can be!
For the past several years, I have focused on the Quarter Horse Show Circuit. Personally, I have taken horses to many National and Futurity Championships. Several of my horses have made the Top 10 at the Quarter Horse World Show. I have also placed in the Top 10 in Hunter Under Saddle at the biggest horse showin the world, the All American Quarter Horse Congress.
In addition, I have enjoyed helping numerous Youth and Amateurs make it to the Top 10 at these same events. I am proud to say that one of my students earned Reserve Hunter Under Saddle at the Quarter Horse Youth World Show in Fort Worth, Texas, and another of my students earned Reserve Champion in Horsemanship 14-18 year at the Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio.
For the last three years, I have coached youth riders at the Novice Youth World Championships in Las Vegas, and am very, very proud of their successes.
I have a Level 3 Certified Horsemanship Association Coach accreditation that I accomplished amongst US professional trainers and judges in Tennessee. In addition, I have been the director of the Quarter Horse Association of Alberta (QHAA), and a leader of the Alberta Youth Quarter Horse Association (AYQHA). I am currently a member of the AQHA Professional Horseman Association, the QHAA and am a 4H Alberta Horsemanship Instructor.