About

My love of horses began at a very young age and progressed rapidly to the point where I worked any amount of hours in exchange for horse time at a local stables. I was 6 years old when horses became a regular activity.

Working in exchange for horsemanship lessons, I had the fortunate opportunity to learn my foundation with natural horsemanship from the start. The ranch was splendidly disorganized and wild. Working in that environment allowed me to learn through trial and error and lay the groundwork for my understanding of horses. It was there at age 11 that I met my first horse Jerome. Over time we developed an incredibly strong bond, and started giving demonstrations on our liberty and bridle-less riding at local events.

With Jerome, I began to study the Parelli program. I attended savvy tournaments with David Litchman, studied the material and began to ride with instructor Dave Ellis. I had the opportunity to learn first hand from this truly great horseman, interning at his ranch every summer and winter break 2004-2008 through high school. Ellis, a horseman steeped in the California tradition, coached me as I learned colt-starting, young horse development and the art of refined riding. I developed quickly, soon riding up to 9 horses in a day learning new skills with each one.

Windhorse Ranch is where I met my first Mustangs. In 2005 I met owner Kathy Sparling and she invited me to play with her growing herd of BLM mustangs. Over time, I became proficient at working with wild horses, taming them and eventually starting them under saddle. The mustangs in particular have played a vital role in shifting my training style. Each movement of communication with these wild horses has to be coated in genuine trust and love from the heart, flowing from both horse and human. In the early stages, the horse is scared for their life, and I essentially should be too. We are both in the space where nature would tell us not to be. It’s dangerous and the horse is extremely vulnerable. However, we are both willing to build trust and begin showing one another our different worlds.

After high school in 2009, I spent six months living in South America. I landed in Pucon Chile, and found work at age 17 guiding back county horse trekking tours. I worked alongside two Chilean horseman, that knew the Andean range intimately. We took tourists from all over the world on one to twelve day trips. These adventures were always uncharted paths, often cleared by us guides using our trusty machetes that we never traveled without. I spent more time under the stars and in the saddle while living in Chile.

In the spring of 2011, once returned from Chile, I began my studies at University of Santa Cruz CA. There I received my BA in Political Studies. During university, I picked back up on working with horses to support myself. Clients sent me their un-started horses, to train and educate. I had hundreds of miles in the Santa Cruz mountains to unwind these horses minds, and develop them into strong and patient mounts. My last semester in university I spent living and working in Berlin, to complete my studies thesis project. My thesis revolved around urban spaces, and what ingredients were necessary to sustain and build community, to develop a growing culture and space.

In the spring 2015, I moved back to Sonoma County CA and began focusing on my equine training and teaching business. I worked with adults and children alike, starting colts, gentling and training BLM mustangs, and developing a reputation for working with difficult horses. My work allowed me a lot of freedom to explore my education within the horse world. My style quickly evolved away from training just the horse, and into creating a curriculum for horsemanship as an art and connection work focused mostly on educating people.

In 2019 after years of training, I found myself at a career crossroads. I loved training and horsemanship deeply, but it was my art. Running a business based on a medium that was my creative and energetic space was no longer how I wanted to make a living. I began training to become a pilot. I moved to Northern Idaho in 2019 following a new dream of greater wilderness and an education in aviation. I now am a licensed commercial pilot, and still working with horses and taking training contracts on a case by case basis.