Training Program

The focus of my program is:

  • Teaching lessons and three-to-five-day private clinics on my farm
  • Teaching two-and-three-day clinics at your training facility
  • Restructuring training programs for horses and riders
  • Helping horses overcome behavioral issues such as spinning, rearing, stopping, and not wanting to trailer-load
  • Teaching horses ground manners to improve their relationship with their owners  
  • Teaching horses and riders solid flatwork for the jumper, hunter or dressage ring

Years of experience in classical dressage and natural horsemanship, along with my T-M-B Method, help horses and riders to advance and reach their goals.

My lessons are custom designed to meet your and your horse’s needs.  Often riders schedule mini-clinics over a two-or three-day period, with intensive theory and practice sessions on and off the horse.  If your current program is not working for you, I am happy to help you find new ways to communicate with your horse and reach your goals.

To make sure that my methods and training principles are a good fit for you and your horse, and to determine if you are serious in your commitment of wanting to become a better partner to your horse, your introductory lesson will be free.   

Location:
Trakai Farm is a private 51 acre facility located outside of Hillsborough, NC with 8 stalls, a 230 x130 all-weather outdoor ring, huge pastures and riding trails.

Training Principles: Track-Momentum-Balance

Track:
Is the line the course designer creates and on which the judge will score you. If your execution is precise, your horse will cover the ground easily, be soft and responsive, and have a wonderful jump that will reflect in your score. Your hand puts the bit perpendicular to the Track, and the rest of the horse should follow on the straight lines and turns.

Momentum:
Is the rhythm, cadence, energy, and speed with which you are executing the test, regardless of which discipline. You need to be in control of the rhythm and length of stride on both straight and bending lines. If the horse takes the rhythm away from you, it will put him in control and pretty soon all will be out of control.

Balance:
If you have taken care of the first two components, your balance should stay organized and be dynamic with the horse. Think of the horse’s spine as your balancing beam; your spine should stay centered over that.

Straight Line:
This is achieved, controlled, and corrected by using LATERAL AIDS: OPENING REIN on one side and NECK or BEARING REIN on the other. Correctly executed, the bit, the horse’s and rider’s shoulders, and their hips should be perpendicular to the Track, with the spine straight.

Circle:
Is created and maintained by DIAGONAL AIDS: the inside leg moves the horse onto a supportive outside rein, which should be holding the horse on the track, but not restricting the bend that the inside leg creates.  The INSIDE DIRECT or INDIRECT REIN asks the hose to bend its head and neck in the direction of the circle. If done correctly, the bit, the horse’s shoulders and hips, as well as the rider’s shoulders and hips, should be perpendicular to the Track, with the spine in-between bent.

Creating the BOX

Lateral Connection:
Lateral connection is your legs and hands on both sides working together to keep the horse on the Track, on a straight line as well as on a circle or a bending line. 

Longitudinal Connection:
Longitudinal connection is what keeps the horse in front of your leg and connected to your hand. It is as vitally important to creating and maintaining Track-Momentum-Balance as the lateral connection, and is solely responsible for control and length of stride and helping the horse to find Center Balance.

The lateral and longitudinal connection is what puts the horse into the BOX. If you can accurately maintain your horse in that box at all times, you should have self-carriage and fluidity throughout anything you choose to do with your horse.

Timing and Feeling:
Timing and feeling is what knits all of it together!  It is the ability to use the aids in harmony with each other, and with the timing of the horse’s footfall, to create the symphony that makes your horse be soft, light and responsive.  This part of learning how to ride cannot be taught by an instructor, but it is learned through applying the other principles and is YOUR specific connection to your horse.

Remember, the more you bend your horse the straighter it will get.  Ideally you should spend about 80% of your time in the saddle working on bending, counter bending, shoulder in and out, leg yields, shortening and lengthening of stride in all gaits and transitions, and only 20% going at the same pace on a straight line.  Riding is 60% in your Head, 30% in your Legs and 10% in your Hands.  If you keep those equations balanced your horse will always be happy to work with you.