It all started with a little 'Hope'

This is the story of how I found my passion in horses, and the little QH mare who started it all.


I met Hope in March of 2003. Standing knee deep in mud, emaciated and with hardly any hair from severe rainrot. It was love at first sight. Weak, wormy, and covered in sores I bought Ms. Hope for $200. My trainer was furious.

A few tubes of wormer, and several vet bills later, a spunky little filly emerged. Hope was headshy from the beginning, but I had been making progress. It wasn't until she started getting healthy we realized how fearful she was. If you raised your hand to your eyes, instead of flinching she would stretch out and prepare to defend herself. I had never dealt with an abused horse, let alone a defensive, and somewhat aggressive one. Leading became a stressful venture, and soon I couldn't even go into the stall with her without dodging double barrel kicking, charging, and rearing. If you could catch her to take her out, she would lead fine for a few strides and explode without warning. First pulling back violently and trying to bolt, then rearing and striking at you. I was told to carry a dressage whip and get a stud chain. This was all I knew so I tried it. The first time I struck her across the knees with the dressage whip, she flipped over backward tore out of my hands and charged me. This was not going to work.

At this point no one at my barn would touch Hope, and handling her was frustrating to tears. In desperation I began to look for more help, and abandon the notion that my trainer knew all. I started studying John Lyons, Ray Hunt, Buck Brannaman, and Monty Roberts. A natural horsemanship trainer moved to my barn to expand her lesson program. Seeing my frustration, she offered to help catch and lead Hope. I was SO relieved I asked her if she could do anything with the filly. Forty five minutes in the roundpen and Hope's eye began to soften. That was the first time I saw her "lick and chew". Watching the relationship form between them, the subtle almost imperceptible communication, began to radically change the way I thought about horses. I had never seen anyone handle a horse in this way. It was always "my way or the highway", you have to "win" every "fight", and drill a horse until you worked out all the kinks. Could I really communicate with my horse? Without force?

I audited every lesson, and training session I could. I cleaned stalls to pay for lessons. And I started to build respect, trust, and a solid relationship with my horse. I soaked up anything I could whenever I could. Countless clinics, books, DVD's, and lessons later. I had a safe, easy to handle, sane and happy horse. She would have walked through fire for me. Any chance I had to learn something new, or from someone new, I jumped at it. As i mastered the skill, and began to understand the theology and psychology behind, it I only wanted more. I started helping friends with their horses, and soon I got a job re-starting OTTB's for dressage. A year and a few short apprenticeships later: People started offering me money to work with their horses. I saw an opportunity to learn and support my horse doing something that I loved. Every horse offered a new challenge.

Skip ahead a few years. And I started NHS. Abandoning my desk job, I took a leap of faith and made horse training my full time job. Not long after taking this step I changed my focus from training, to education. I launched my lesson program with the goal to "Educate the next generation of horsemen." My passion is teaching, training, and rescue. And my program operates to support my rescues. Every one of my lesson horses has a story. After rescue and rehabilitation, I train them and put them in my lesson program. The are then placed, hopefully with a student. And the cycle continues. The average horse spends a year and a half in my program before I put them up for adoption. Horses who are not good prospects as lesson horses, are placed after their rehabilitation is complete.

Hope has a forever home with me, I promised her that the day I bought her. She will always challenge me to be a better rider, a better trainer, and a better person. It has been a journey so far, and I expect that will never change.