HOW IT ALL BEGAN...
For Liz's 7th birthday her parents had Ginger's Party Ponies come to the house. Ginger brought Cupcake, a fat little pony, to give rides on. All dressed in her red cowgirl getup, Liz couldn't get enough of it. On that same birthday her parents bought her a lesson package at Heiland Hills Training Center in Jordan, MN where Liz began her long journey to the horse woman she is today.
Fast forward many years later and Liz is an accomplished Event and Dressage rider, with many riding, teaching and coaching achievements.
The one that started it all is Lady Hannah B, Liz's first horse. Liz was able to purchase Hannah when she was 18 with the help of her parents and grandmother, Betty McGoon. She was Liz's first horse, her very own, no one else's.
Liz began competing Hannah in 2005 at Wayne DuPage Horse Trials at the Training Level. They worked hard and moved up to Preliminary in May of 2006 and never looked back. She soon had Hannah competing around the country and finished 3rd in the CCI1* at Midsouth in 2007, and moved up to the Intermediate level in 2008. They competed a few CIC2* competitions together before Liz retired her from upper level eventing in 2012 and leased her out to her students. Hannah has really enjoyed showing the younger kids how its done. She truly is a one of a kind horse.
Since then Liz has had many rides and has begun her own breeding operation. Her broodmares consist of a Hanoverian, Lucy, that Liz trained through Preliminary level and I1 dressage and a Thoroughbred mare, Roxy, that Liz competed through Preliminary. Liz has really enjoyed the process of starting the young horses from the moment they are born and is incredibly excited to see what their future holds.
Liz enjoys it all. Starting young horses, ground driving, ground work, liberty work, dressage, eventing, jumpers, teaching, trail riding, doodling in the barn, hand grazing her horse, horse showing, her clients, friends and family.
“I am so lucky to wake up every day and do what I love. All of it. To me, success in life isn’t based on how much money you have made, how many ribbons you have won or even what level you’ve competed to. Success is being happy, bringing joy to others and continuing to strive to be better each day. If you want to be a part of a fun, safe and successful program please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.” - Liz
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Ride to Live
ATTITUDE * PHILOSOPHY * LOGIC
- To create a safe, fun and educational learning environment.
-To build integrity, compassion, courage, commitment, appreciation and responsibility as a whole.
-To turn out riders that are lifelong learners and that possess the skills, knowledge, a sense of self worth and the ethical values necessary to thrive in, not only an equine lifestyle, but life in general.
-To support individuals to be competent, responsible, accountable, passionate riders who consider the horse to be a partner, not a tool.
-To work in partnership with riders, their families, veterinarians, farriers, barn owners, and other professional equestrian team members.
-To facilitate effective partnerships between horse and rider by bringing together a combination that is safe, sound and well-suited in terms of ability, size, budget and is well-matched to accomplish competitive and personal goals.
-To promote sportsmanship and team pride through respect, honesty and hard work as well as through fun, celebration and support of each other. To be a team that earns respect.
-To develop riders that are well educated about horsemanship, equine care and responsibilities and to give their horse's needs the utmost attention and diligence.
-To maintain the trainer's own education, experience and knowledge in order to support riders with the necessary expertise needed for a successful equine experience.
Live to Ride
Always Learn.
Liz always gets a kick out of the question “why do you need lessons?” Asked by kids’ parents, non-horsey friends and even sometimes educated riders themselves. Liz believes in always learning. Never stop absorbing information and never stop looking for new information. This philosophy has helped shape Liz’s training methods over the years and she accepts that they will continually evolve. One road Liz has always quietly explored is horsemanship. Whatever you want to call it. Liz believes in building a connecting and a bond with a horse to then perform as partners. In the beginning Liz didn’t talk about it much, teach about it much - but as she has grown as an individual she has come to realize just how instrumental this work with the horses have been for her. She now is working on teaching her students so that they too can build strong partnerships with their partners. Another avenue Liz has explored is the United States Eventing Association’s Instructor Certification Program. Liz has successfully been certified as a USEA ICP Level 2 Instructor and is looking forward to continuing her education and her testing over the years.
Liz jumping Hutchy on the rope halter.
Hutchy
Liz has found it helps build tremendous confidence in the horses when jumping them on the rope halter. She also finds the horses truly enjoy it and look to do more and more.
USEA ICP
Knowledge
This USEA ICP has helped Liz expand her knowledge and begin to put her own theories into a systematic approach.