I was a young girl when I was transplanted from city life into the mountains of Northeastern Pennsylvania where I awoke one summer morning to the sound of galloping hoof beats. From that day forward horses have echoed throughout my life.
I worked giving trail rides at the early age of 14 and was able to purchase my own horse by 16. I soon joined 4-H and rode and showed in Western Pleasure, winning a State Championship, but my true love was spending long hours riding bareback exploring the mountains.
I had earned my Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education and worked for United Cerebral Palsy using occupational therapy helping children with physical disabilities as a preschool teacher, but after several years of teaching I returned to riding by applying for a job at a nearby farm. I rode english and western, giving lessons, trail rides, buying and selling horses and running a private camp program and caring for over 70 horses.
While raising my children I studied yoga and healing and eventually became a certified PranaFlow yoga instructor and Reiki Master. I then returned to my passion, horses, and purchased an Appendix QH mare, Dixie, for pleasure riding. I soon found out she enjoyed the ring, so I began showing her at the local non-rated shows as a Pre-Green Hunter and eventually took her onto “AA” shows which eventually led us to the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL., jumping 3″3′. With such a physical demand on my horse, naturally I turned to alternative methods, seeking a healthy well balanced lifestyle for my athlete and companion. I studied equine anatomy and the muscular system and earned certification as an Equinology® Equine Body Worker (EEBW). From there I continued my education, realizing there is much more to the horse than muscles and began to study under Jim Masterson of the Masterson Method®. This method made sense to me due to my background in occupational therapy and yoga, and sure helped Dixie too! I am a Certified Masterson Method® Practitioner, assisting at advanced classes and workshops and in the meantime have been helping my own clients by using integrated equine body work by listening to what the horse has to say, creating that trusting bond that allows me to relieve restrictions by releasing tension in the poll, neck, shoulders/withers junction, and sacro/lumbar junction, restoring muscular and structural balance and natural alignment for a happier, healthier horse.