…The more they stay the same. Wally the warmblood arrived safe and sound for 6 months or so of training board while his owner is out of the country. His owner’s goals: use Centered riding, natural horsemanship and classical training principles to develop the four-year old Oldenburg into a competitive dressage horse.
I first met Wally the warmblood’s owner, Jeannie, when she was about 10. I had known her mother, Karen, years ago: she boarded a horse at the training farm where I was teenage barn rat. Karen moved her horse and had a child, Jeannie. I grew up to be a horse trainer and riding instructor. Jeannie proved to be as horse crazy as her mother, and started taking horse riding lessons with me.
Jeannie became as addicted to horses as the rest of us. She started out half-leasing a horse from a boarder, then as time went on and her commitment grew, she found a horse of her own. SinJin was a black Thoroughbred, an ex-show jumper. I coached Jeannie and Sinny for years, up through the ranks of Pony Club and through the adventures of 3-day eventing and polocrosse until I moved from CT 8 years ago.
Jeannie is no longer a barn rat but a powerful woman impacting the world. SinJin went to a retirement farm, and Wally, the gawky four-year old, steps into his role.
Generations of horse women and the horses they adore. A legacy of love and learning. When people sign up for riding lessons, little do they know the door is opening to a whole new world, a world that transcends even time.