Connected Horsemanship:
Clicking Forward!
Annie’s Bio:
I've loved horses my entire life!
At six years old I started taking horseback riding lessons. My riding instructor gave me increasingly difficult horses to ride. By the time I was twelve, she was letting me ride her new horses in training, including working with her most difficult horses, and said I should consider training horses for a career. Then, as now, I’ve repeatedly found horses are the best teachers!
As a young adult, I volunteered to work at multiple horse stables. When I was 25 years old I got my first horses, Mystical & Madison (Maddy). Six months later I was boarding horses on our farm and giving riding and horsemanship lessons. I was into horses for the relationships and connection and so looked for the gentlest way possible to work with them. At the time, R+ horse training was pretty much unheard of so I took a particular interest in Natural Horsemanship with influences like Monty Roberts, Pat and Linda Parelli, Carol Coppinger, Sharon Wilsie, and Karen Rohlf. I studied and taught Natural Horsemanship for decades, gradually shifting my training over to Positive Reinforcement.
I worked at a Florida horse rescue for a couple of years. I helped mentally and emotionally rehabilitate horses who had been physically rehabilitated. I took horses with backgrounds of abuse and neglect and helped them learn to trust people, have safe ground manners, and start some under saddle to prepare them for adoption.
In 2021 I acquired a wonderful equine partner, Sir Francis. He has inspired and encouraged me to start a new journey. Together we are exploring Positive Reinforcement training in place of Natural Horsemanship. I have included R+ methods in my training for years but had not made the switch (click forward) to pure R+ until 2023. It feels right and I’m excited by the results we’re getting and looking forward to helping others achieve similar results. Consequently, the name change to Connected Horsemanship: Clicking Forward. Clicker training is often used synonymously with R+/Positive Reinforcement training. So, “Clicking” is a pun. One of my favorite modern-day theologians often says that we can’t get from where we are to where we’re heading in one step, so we click forward - meaning we take one step in the right direction or one click forward. I always loved that and try to use that in my teaching. I can’t bring most students or horses to the end result in one lesson, but I can get them a little closer to their goal - put them in the right direction. It’s about meeting people and horses where they are today and helping them learn and progress together- you do the best you know until you know better.
I love teaching horsemanship and giving riding lessons. I love helping people and horses along their horsemanship journeys. I find joy watching people create deeper understanding and connection with their horses, and empowering people to reach their horsemanship goals. I’m no longer taking horses to train or ride for clients. I will continue to instruct horsemanship and work with you to reach your horsemanship goals.
