It's hard to say, and probably depends a lot on what you mean by beginning. Which one? How far back to you really want to go? It's probably a little like the chicken and the egg....
Do you mean when did I first started loving horses?
Well, that's easy. I've ALWAYS loved horses. And it has just grown with the years. Who knows where I got the horse bug. Mom was born and raised in the city and had little exposure to them. Dad, though he lived a short time in the county in Germany, is rather afraid of them. But here I am. But there I was, a horse crazy little girl asking for a pony, to ride horses.
After much begging, and ballet and ice skating lessons, I was finally told that we would be looking for a farm to ride at. It's funny how I don't remember the exact moment they said yes, but I do remember the first day I walked into the barn. I was 8 or 9 I think. I've been hooked every since.
Fast forward a few year, a few falls, a few different instructors, many different horses. I'm sure my parents figured, and maybe evened hoped for their bank accounts sake at least, that I'd grow out of horses. I think this idea started to waiver in their minds as I reached high school. I was still asking for "a pony" every time someone asked me what I wanted for my birthday or Christmas. I was traveling an hour to get to my trainer and was riding as many days a week as I could. I'd been a working student whenever possible to earn more riding time. I'd been through several heartbreaks. Not involving human boys, but when horses I loved moved on with their owners or were sold off the property. I couldn't have cared less about school dances, hanging at the mall, or any of that "girly" stuff. None of it really mattered. I had my horses.
Do you mean when I first realized I really wanted a career with horses?
The high school years marched on. I started volunteering with the hippotherapy program that started up at the barn. The people were great, the kids were incredible, and hey, it was a third day a week I got to play with horses. Then it came time to do a service project to finish my Girl Scout Gold Award requirements. Naturally, mine was horse related, creating a volunteer handbook and training program for the volunteers at the hippotherapy program and an educational coloring book for the kids.
POOF! I can do this as a career!!!!!! The college search began for a program that specialized in therapeutic horseback riding. And there went the last thought in my parent's mind that I was going to grow out of horses (and probably the dream that all parents have for their children: a well paying job).
Off to Wilson College I went. Four years later I had a BS in Equine Facilitated Therapeutics and was out working in the field.
Do you mean when I first really knew I wanted my own horse?
What little girl doesn't want her own pony? And yes, I I'm pretty sure I asked for one every year from the time I started riding. This particular moment was a little different. This was the moment when I caught a glimpse of just how far I could go if I just owned the horse I was riding; Training with a wonderful Irishman on an amazing young imported Irish sport horse learning the sport of eventing. Oh, the thrill! And OH the connection we had and the success we achieved because of it. I will always have fond memories of this time and this horse.
Do you mean when I first felt the spark to have my own business?
I never really thought I was interested in running my own business or owning my own farm. I took the obligatory accounting and business management classes in school and thought it was all more than I could handle and the expense would be something that I'd never be able to afford.
As I started teaching I realized just how many people struggled to find a place to learn about horses that provided them a safe, quality experience with a well rounded education. Stories of riding crazy horses that they fell off of, instructors talking on cell phones during lessons, groups so big that there was no way to learn anything other than to avoid the horse next to you.
Teaching at a facility that at the time was not able to offer a large number of lessons and couldn't provide ongoing classes made me realize that my I really wanted to do this myself.
Then when I began studying natural horsemanship. It validated many things I innately did, or didn't like about traditional riding as a young rider, and changed my whole way of thinking about handling and riding. I so amazing changes in the horses I was working with. The more I practiced the more it heart my heart to see some of the things people do to horses in the name of training, and how misunderstood so many horses are.
I also began sharing what I was learning with others. I had so many moments where people would stop and tell me how much sense it made, what a difference it made, and ask why no one had ever taught them that before.
That was it. I was determined that I would start my own business. Even if it was only to travel to other people's farms, and share my knowledge.
And in 2009, after many experiences, a lot of dreaming, much hard work, and many sleepless nights, Safe Haven Farm, LLC was born.
"You have to dream big. I mean really big.Then one day you start by making just a small part of that dream a reality." N.P.
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