Reflective Horsemanship’s approach to equestrian riding, coaching, teaching, and overall education is based on our values and beliefs about the nature of the horse/human bond.
Our leading principles of the horse and human partnership comes through when there is mutual understanding, respect, and cooperation between horse and rider.
We follow the mindset that it is only possible to achieve harmony between horse and rider when you understand the process between them must be a dialogue. Using a dialogue approach, riders can discover how both horse and rider should communicate with each other to find a balanced relationship and to develop harmony in working together. In this, it teaches the rider to understand the complexity of the horse and rider team and how to interpret misunderstandings that may occur during each ride.
The core of our philosophy is integration. Reflective Horsemanship™ continually searches for new knowledge and information. Whether it be from the classical texts, modern techniques (such as natural horsemanship) or the sciences, we continue to build upon our foundation to improve the quality and effectiveness of our teaching.
Our philosophy also includes the belief that positive results are attainable for ALL riders who have an open mind and the willingness to learn. Although riding is an art form and athletic endeavor, it attracts riders with a wide range of natural gifts. We explore the many ways that riders are unique, complex beings, and how their individuality affects common challenges that arise during lessons. Furthermore, we strive to help students through realistic and honest evaluations and encourage them to identify their own definitions of success within their horse-riding pursuits.
Our goal is to coach students to strive for excellence, at whatever level of education they seek.
Our mission is to provide students with a systematic approach to riding that yields success in and out of the arena. Furthermore, that the application of our system will produce more riders that demonstrate the qualities that make it possible to attain the special and unique relationship of a true partnership with their horse.
Coaching students to strive for excellence, at whatever level of education they seek, while providing a complete and proven system of riding that yields success, both in and out of the arena. What makes us unique is our focus on building an individual program around each horse and rider pair. As the horse is a mirror to its rider, we are improving the rider, thus directly improving the horse. The application of our integrated riding system, Riderology™, produces independent riders with more awareness, feel and skills; the qualities that make it possible to attain true horsemanship with their partner.
The goal of our riding lessons is to establish a collaborative relationship between the horse and rider.
The purpose of our riding lessons is teaching the rider to make the right decisions at the right time in every situation, even when the instructor is not present, thus becoming an independent rider.
Reflective Horsemanship™ believes that teaching students to ride, and to learn how to ride, are complicated matters that need to be made more understandable. Therefore, we dedicate ourselves to bringing these principles to our students and implementing them through breaking the process down into bite-size, learnable skills. In doing so, we set riders, and their horses, up for success at every stage in the development of their riding.
Our systematic approach to riding was developed over many years of teaching and coaching. Riderology™ is a comprehensive, methodical, integrated system of functional riding that we believe will benefit riders of all ages and disciplines. We coach riders to be effective, efficient, and independent at every level. As the horse is only as good as its rider, we are improving the rider beyond today’s standards, thereby, directly improving the horse’s ride-ability and longevity. Our hope is that Riderology™ sets the stage for students to enjoy the human/horse partnership through the techniques of training, integration, goal setting, communication, and self-discovery.
Reflective Horsemanship™ performs a comprehensive assessment of each horse and rider individually and as a pair, with reasonable expectations. We analyze the rider’s different movements individually and in regard to the horse’s motions. A rider’s internal learning method combined with the rider’s ability for movement in motion (based on their individual body structure) will determine what and how we coach each student. We take in to account the rider’s mind as well as the horse’s mind, as each learns in different ways. In addition, we also take into consideration the student’s age, the horse’s age.
Our lessons are based on individuality, so that the rider is able to follow the logical steps in the session and unlock the horse’s and their own potential. Each lesson is taught in such a way that the rider can be just as effective riding at home, without instruction, as they are in the lesson.
We are raising the standards in the art and athletic endeavor of true horsemanship through redefining what it means to be an equestrian rider & athlete. Our proven and complete rider training system, Riderology™, takes the rider's ability and skill to a whole new level, thus giving the rider a wide variety of mental, physical, and emotional tools which are needed to successfully ride and train their horse in any discipline.