After riding for 17 years you begin to pick-up certain theories or philosophies about horses and what brings out the greatest potential in a horse. 

I’ve ridden in the western world racing barrels in Colorado, dabbled in the dressage world doing low level tests and local shows, and spend my junior career in the hunter and equitation world traveling to every fancy show I could afford to go to or had the time to work off. It wasn’t until my junior and senior years of high school when I found the aspect of riding that I really loved. Aside from flying over fences, I loved figuring out why horses did what they did and working with them until I could figure it out and calm them down enough to become the pets that show horses inevitably become (whether or not we admit it, they are our oversized dogs who get treats when they’re good and baths with perfumed soaps when they’re dirty). 

Broken down, my philosophy is simple and it’s entirely based on trust. You and your horse must become a team and in order to succeed in any team you must trust your teammate. I was always told riding was an “individual sport” but that was wrong. Riding is most certainly a team sport and requires the highest amount of trust between its members.