A letter from Kristin
Dear riders,
Choosing a trainer is a really important part of your riding journey and I like to be completely transparent about who I am, what I do best and who I can help the most. Working with horses is an incredible opportunity and I have been extremely fortunate to have learned from some of the best classical riders of our time. They showed me how to become a better rider, but even more importantly, a better person by helping me to understand and work with my animals and my own mind in a more constructive way. Every horse and rider combination has their own specific mental and physical strengths and weaknesses. Everything is workable, and it’s my job to give you the tools that will provide you with the most durable foundation of skills with which you can build pretty much anything. First and foremost, I love horses - they are my primary motivation and I always work in a way that supports their well being. I also love my students and do everything in my power to support them in becoming educated, capable and confident riders, as well as excellent horse people. It took me many, many years to find the people who were able to give me the information that I needed to thoroughly and authentically understand how to ride in a way that is kind, correct and reliably useful. Ultimately, it’s also competitively successful, but the horse’s AND rider’s mental and physical soundness and their mutual understanding of the training is my focus. Not because it wins ribbons, but because I firmly believe that good, solid dressage training is the best thing for the horses and it’s a beautiful thing to be a part of. It makes every day with our animals precious and fulfilling, not just the show days.
That said, when, and if, you do decide to show, you’ll be amazed at how much easier it is. There’s a great quote by Archilochus, “We do not rise to the level of our expectations, we sink to the level of our training.” When you can count on your training, everything changes.
As I said at the start, every horse and every rider are unique and every horse and rider combination, even more so. We are all best able to develop when we feel safe to try, make mistakes and ask questions. This supportive learning environment is at the heart of everything I do. As human beings, we all have vastly differing learning styles and I actively study how to teach effectively as I continue to learn and grow, myself. I have worked with thousands of horses in my career and still approach every one as an individual. I strongly believe that dressage is great for any horse that they’re all able to be capable athletes when developed correctly. Consequently, I currently have a very unusual type, green rescue as my own personal horse.
I primarily focus on teaching. I will ride client’s horses, but my main motivation is to create happy, fulfilling partnerships, passing along what I’ve learned. I want you to love riding your horse, whatever that means to you. I have a lovely, full sized indoor with fantastic footing to use for trailer in lessons just off of the Morgantown exchange of the PA Turnpike and travel to teach within South/east PA, Northern MD & parts of NJ & DE, so feel free to enquire if you’d like to see if I’m available to come to your farm, or there’s an opportunity nearby. I usually video parts of lessons as I teach so that you can continue to review and process in between lessons and have a record of your progress over time. I will also
help you develop a homework/daily training schedule for your own customized goals and I am always happy to answer questions in between lessons.
I really believe that everyone can become a great rider with the right approach and it’s my great pleasure to help and support anyone who wants to learn.
Wishing everyone the very best and happiest riding!
Kristin
