Flying Monkeys are real!

I have appreciated that over the years, as I have had different horses, different challenges, and different goals, I have always been able to rely on coaching that supports my goals and helps me and my horses grow.

With my current horse, who is very talented but can be quite quirky, Steph's patient approach has developed him into a very amateur-friendly jumper. I have seen horses like this end up with holes in their training, or still too much for their owners years later, but I now have an educated, rideable horse who makes better decisions than I do, always a plus for the adult amateur!

My experience with coaching from Gretchen and Steph is that they support the development of a prepared and independent rider. I ride on my own quite a bit and always feel I know where I am and what I am comfortable doing. My favorite demonstration of this, although not recent, is of course the AECs with Piko. Gretchen was judging and so not allowed to coach me in any way. I found myself in SJ warmup, in the top 10 out of over 70 riders. I was the only one without a coach in the warmup ring, but I could hear her voice so clearly in my head, and the homework had been done long before. I knew exactly what I needed to do, and jumped a clear round to move up to 4th and finish on my dressage score.

Nancy Seybold
Waredaca
2020-01-02T20:06:57-05:00
I have appreciated that over the years, as I have had different horses, different challenges, and different goals, I have always been able to rely on coaching that supports my goals and helps me and my horses grow. With my current horse, who is very talented but can be quite quirky, Steph's patient approach has developed him into a very amateur-friendly jumper. I have seen horses like this end up with holes in their training, or still too much for their owners years later, but I now have an educated, rideable horse who makes better decisions than I do, always a plus for the adult amateur! My experience with coaching from Gretchen and Steph is that they support the development of a prepared and independent rider. I ride on my own quite a bit and always feel I know where I am and what I am comfortable doing. My favorite demonstration of this, although not recent, is of course the AECs with Piko. Gretchen was judging and so not allowed to coach me in any way. I found myself in SJ warmup, in the top 10 out of over 70 riders. I was the only one without a coach in the warmup ring, but I could hear her voice so clearly in my head, and the homework had been done long before. I knew exactly what I needed to do, and jumped a clear round to move up to 4th and finish on my dressage score. Nancy Seybold