In central Ohio approximately forty minutes north of Columbus.

Please stop asking :) ...not yet but it could happen any time.

Old enough to know better than to answer that! A day or two over twenty five…1974 actually.

No, I never studied with other natural horsemanship trainers. When I was 14 I attended a John Lyons symposium as a spectator, and that was the extent of my exposure.

I did not hear the term “natural horsemanship” until after my NRHA Futurity Championship ride. At that time when I walked out of the show pen people were asking me if I studied Parelli and my answer was “I know he is a clinician but why do you think I ride with him?” I didn’t know about his program or that he rode bridle-less.

All I wanted to do was ride horses and I rode every one I could find in Maine. When I was in high school a teacher asked me what I was going to do after college and when I sounded disappointed about my choices he asked me what I wanted to do. I said ‘I want to ride horses but you can’t go to college for that.” He sent me to do some research to see if it was possible to go to college for a degree that had to do with horses . . . and it was.

I had never been to an expo until I was an upperclassman in college. I learned many things from riding with people such as Mike Flarida, Dan Huss, Steve Brown, Rusty Dare, Don Boyd, etc. All that I learned from them I combined with what I had learned from my Mom, Sherri — which was always try to figure out why, why, why your horse is doing that.

I am honored now to consider myself friends with other ‘natural horsemanship” clinicians.