About the Director
My journey began when my parents bought my first horse when I was thirteen and since then horses have been a loving constant in my life. My introduction into horsemanship is attributed to several valuable years in Pony Club. From there I decided to stretch out competitely in the world of Show Jumping. But while I loved jumping I decided to change my focus to Dressage. I competed in Dressage for several years and then took a break to have children. I have been riding horses for over thirty years now and my goals for the near future are to resume showing competitively and explore new opportunities.
I've always enjoyed teaching others to ride and one of my proudest moments was as a coach for a Youth Dressage team at the Provincial Summer Games. Currently, I teach riding lessons at our acreage and enjoy watching my students progress and work towards their goals. I teach from Beginner to Intermediate. We have safe horses for use or you can learn with your own horse.
I attended University of Calgary and there obtained my Bachelors of Social Work. I have worked mainly in the field of adoption but have also worked with women who have been sexually trafficked as well as clients who have encountered various trauma. Several of the women in service would regularly visit my horses and from these encounters I began to see the “magic” of horses, that is, their ability to connect and communicate intelligently with people. I witnessed peace and vulnerability in these women that was brought forth by simply spending time and talking with the horses. Research led to the discovery of a fairly new but effective form of therapy with the use of horses. I took a course through Higher Trails to become certified in Equine Assisted Learning and from there a two year Equine/ Animal Assisted Therapy course through Healing Hooves. I have been teaching and practicing Equine therapy for a few years now and still revel at the positive results I see.
In October 2019, I went to Texas to become a TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Intervention) Practioner. I am currently the only one in Alberta who has this training. Through this I offer private or group parenting sessions as well as a caregiver training course that I teach. The course helps train parents to effectively parent children who have experienced various sorts of trauma.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out and ask questions about our programs. I look forward to hearing from you.
Lori
