High Rise Dressage & Equine Therapy

02/09/2024

Just a couple I received from the photographer today.

25/08/2024

First, Lamplight show in the books. Prix St. George's and Fourth Level. Nic was a little exhausted from the heat and wasn't as bouncy and together as I would like. But overall, a good experience. Lots of room for improvement.

10/08/2024

Couldn't post both videos at the same time but also took baby Viento for a lesson yesterday. He has grown into a very lovely horse and this is only his 3rd or 4th trip off the farm since he has been with me.

He has had the whole 9 yards of positive changes these past 7 months. Transitioning him to barefoot, balancing his feet out, giving him time to develop, diet changes, ulcer treatment, bodywork, and lots and lots of ground work. A whole totally natural approach with a ton of positive outcomes. Very excited to continue getting him stronger through proper Dressage training and getting him out hopefully next season to some bigger shows. This is the goal with every horse for me.

Giving them a holistic lifestyle combined with proper dressage methods to strengthen and get the horse moving biomechanically correct the best they can.

09/08/2024

Had a wonderful lesson today with Dr Rob van Wessum. I've been feeling quite discouraged these past few weeks with my riding and this was just the boost I needed.

14/07/2024

Improvement on the pirouette work. Hoping to do our first PSG debuts next month.

17/06/2024

The group had a fantastic day at Pine Lake yesterday. 5 horses, 6 riders, and lots of ribbons.

Kinze increased her scores by 10% from the last show.
Breece made her first ever debut at First Level.
Stephanie showed both of her horses for the first time.
I showed Viento for his first time at Training Level, second ever show for him.

I think that's plenty to celebrate.

01/06/2024

Us goofing off in water puddle. Because... why not? 🤪🤓

19/05/2024

Had a fun, exciting day at Pine Lake yesterday. 4 horses, 13 tests, 4 riders. All horses were good, all riders rode beautifully. I'm happy and proud of all of them. Show season has officially started.
Pictured below, myself on Duna.
Beth on Finn.
Breece on Ellie.
And Kinze on Hope.

20/04/2024

I've been meaning to post for a while but time has just flown away from me. Over the past winter quite a few horses have came and went. In November,

Bruce, a TB gelding, came for 90 days while his owner couldn't ride. He already had a good foundation already so I worked to strengthen his topline, helped get him to engage his core and lift through the thoracic region. The entire time he was a very good solid citizen.

Duna came in February. A 6 year old Andalusian mare. She had had some time off and needed a refresher and to get back into a fitness routine. She had some third level buttons and a green flying change. I had so much fun on this mare and still ride her at her home occasionally.

The same owner swapped Duna out for Lizy, a firey 5 year old Hanoverian Welsh cross. We've been working on getting a solid foundation on her which includes Walk trot canter and learning to stretch and bend. She is making progress every ride and learning to love work.

I love to watch the improvement overtime and watch their muscling and attitudes change when they start to build in a healthy way. The horses actually feel better and more confident!

10/04/2024

Nic showing off his ability to sit while on a loose rein ba****ck!

11/02/2024

There's always too much to post individually but my students have been working super hard and their work is paying off. Here's a few of their good moments all from today, one of yesterday.

Breece was riding Ellie ba****ck in a halter doing half steps into trot, Kinze was Long lining Hope for the first time, and Izzy was having a fabulous time jumping Phoenix.

Definitely had a fun and awesome day of lessons 😁

05/02/2024

Even on the tough rides he sure can still make me proud to be his rider. We both sure have came a long way 🥰

02/02/2024

Had a fantastic experience today with a lesson with Dr Rob van Wessum. I got to ride his Grand Prix horse Wally. My weakest point with Nic is the flying changes so that was today's objective. It was soo nice to feel them on an honest established horse and feel what the end goal is like. Helped me learn a lot of my flaws and lots of homework to work on with Nic now. I had a lot of mistakes, and there's nothing like catch riding an unfamiliar horse and trying to figure out advanced buttons. Very humbling to say the least. I'm so glad to have a coach like Dr Rob to have an opportunity like today. 😁

26/01/2024

When you decide to take the lesson pony for a spin And he looks fantastic 🥸 he's quite fun to ride.

25/01/2024

Same goes with Bitless Bridles!! Now I'm all for going bitless but it's not always for the better of the horse!! It can be just as harmful if not more harmful than a simple bit.

Do you ride your horse in a tie down?

The next time you choose your equipment, remember this picture.
The next time you have to choose a "harsher" noseband because your horse is "running through" your current choice, remember this picture.

Consider the fact that you may be causing nerve damage.
Consider the fact that maybe your horse can't even feel their face anymore.

These are the images of a quarter horse ridden in a tie down with a wire noseband in their futurity year of barrel racing.
This horse is now 15.

Correct infrared imaging of the horse tells us more than just a story of anatomy, more than just a story of physiology.

04/01/2024

It's 2024! New year new goals. Want to move up a level this season? Maybe increase your scores from last year? Or maybe you just want your horse to have a solid, functional, foundation that is happy and healthy to do any discipline?

I am a Bronze Medal Dressage rider in Northern Indiana that has dedicated my life to training horses and providing horse and riders with a solid education of what a functional team can be. I have been in the saddle for 20 years. This current year I am competing PSG and schooling Intermediate 1 at home.

My philosophy? Dressage is medicine! Not a discipline. Dressage is in ALL disciplines. It's here to help our beloved partners get stronger and the riders be more in tune with them. That is why I have branched out into 5 Bodywork Certifications and even Holistic Nutrition. I am always advancing my knowledge in the equine world to continue to benefit our horses.

I will have an opening in February for full training. I can provide several references and have experience with all breeds from Friesians to OTTB to ponies!

I can also travel to you depending on location and how many horses to work with.

If you are interested, or have questions please contact me with the info below. Or message me directly here on Facebook.

03/01/2024

Look my fat cabob can do things lol 🤪

24/12/2023

Merry Christmas everyone!

14/12/2023

Remember Dusty? Look at him go now!! When he came 4 months ago, he had trouble being caught, he was terrified of any movement around him or being touched, and there was no control under saddle. You couldn't ride this horse in any contact with him being so worried and pulling.

Fast forward to now, with new owners who have put the time into helping him through his mental trauma and have shown him that not all people are bad, he has came so far. He has the best care and the best family to own him. He loves his job, he's letting you actually "ride" and talk to him now. And he's getting down these dressage basics. And he's quite lovely to watch. I absolutely love having the opportunity to keep working with this guy. 🥰

26/11/2023

Had a cool session the other day. Here is the before and after on Patches, the lesson pony. He had a bruised muscle over the summer diagnosed by a vet and over time has built up some compensation patterns we are working out of using our proper Dressage methods. This pony receives quite excellent day to day care and is quite fun to work with.

As you can see in the before, he is hallow on the right side of his rib cage, the right shoulder is significantly lower than the left, and he is not straight throughout his Thoracic/Cervical region due to the left shoulder being jammed up in that region. The sternum has now shifted, and his right forelimb Is rotated out. The left side is atrophied from compensating and protecting and the right side is contracted.

As you can imagine, this can have a number of effects on how he uses himself and how other parts of the body can move. So in this session, he had a message and a body alignment done to begin to help him relax this area and help him during his workouts so he can build the correct muscles up to even out.

As you can see after the session, he has already relaxed the left side a lot and is much more straighter. He is less rigid through his back and moved much more even and willingly afterwards. I will be excited to see how much he will continue to improve over a few more sessions.

15/11/2023

I'm a little late to post this but this past Sunday we tried something different and went Fox Hunting.

What an adrenaline rush! Nic most definitely had a blast and even though started out super revved, he ended very good. The people were all super friendly and welcoming and it was such a nice facility and environment.

Both horses were troopers! Thanks Jennifer for a fantastic Sunday! Glad we could check that off of our bucket list 😁

09/11/2023

Haven't had time to post this yet but last Saturday I rode Nic in a clinic with an Olympic Judge. I felt pretty unprepared going into this and Nic was more tense and nervous than I would have liked which made getting him "through" a little difficult. But it was very educational and a very cool experience, and Eddy was very kind along with everyone else. The more I watch through the footage, the harder I am on myself so here are some highlights.

02/11/2023

Dusty melted like butter at the very beginning of his session today 🥰😇

19/10/2023

Short update with Nic. This week he's been on fire in the trot work. Finally relaxing enough with the cadence and swinging through! The video doesn't give his trot justice. The canter work is coming. The changes are better. 4 tempis are hard, 3 tempis are easy, and 2 tempis I only ask when I feel he's responsive enough. And he gives them to me!

16/10/2023

I love how much this guy communicates with me. It makes you feel all warm and fuzzy when a horse you work also trusts you enough to help them when they have a sore spot. And I love my job of being able to train AND message all the horses that come into work with me. So not only can I build muscle and condition, I can help how the muscle develops from work. Especially on the babies!

05/10/2023

Mister just couldn't stop releasing! Even after this video he continued to keep yawning. Glad to make this guys feel better today. I enjoy messaging this guy 🥰