I started riding horses when I was 8 years old, and my love for them has never ended. I competed in beginner novice eventing for a few years, and when I was having some confidence issues with groundwork, I found a local barn that used positive reinforcement and consent based training methods. I am now competing in agility with this barn, called Happy Hooves. I was given the wonderful opportunity from Happy Hooves to attend a Masterson Method Weekend Seminar being held at the barn, and I absolutely loved it! From there I signed up for the MMES seminar course and worked to become certified. I love that the Masterson Method® really focuses on asking the horse rather than telling the horse, and this is something I want to share with more people.
I am also in grad school working on my Master of Social Work from the University of Kentucky, as well as my Equine-Facilitated Psychotherapy certification from the HERD institute.
With this certification, I aim to help Happy Hooves and any local EAS barns, showing them how this technique gives people a different way of spending time with their horse, and how beneficial it can be for the horse. After earning my MSW and EFP certification, I want to be able to help individuals as an MMES and MSW.