My History

Training Animals Since the Fourth Grade

I’ve been training horses since I was in the fourth grade.  When I was twelve years old, my younger sister and I started working at a stable.   Everyday we would ride our bikes to get to our jobs at a riding stable four miles from our home.  We would do anything to get to ride the horses, cleaning stalls, leading ponies for pony rides, taking inexperienced riders out on the trails.  The horses and the stables became the most important part of our lives. 

I learned to train horses the hard way, completely on my own and through many meetings of my backside and the hard, unforgiving ground.   I always chose the horses that had problems to work with, the ones that were the rebels.  For instance, the horse I fell in love with, Navaho, was an ex-bronco horse they were trying to tame. He didn’t want me to ride him.  He taught me how to train horse verses just riding.  I had to get into his psyche.  I learned what would set him off and remind him of being in the ring.  Anytime I gave him a good kick he would think he was back in the bucking competition.  I took many falls from his broad back.  I could never fully break him of the habit and he stayed on as a trail horse and years later I would meet people who had broken bones from trying to ride Navaho. 

My First Horse and Our Triumphs in the Ring 

Later, my sister and I bought our own horse, Hannibal, a chestnut quarter-hours, about 15 hands high. Actually, my parents bought him.  But we worked hard to pay for his room and board.  That lasted for about a year because Cheryl and I fought too much over who would ride him and when.  To heal the quarreling my parents finally bought me my very own horse, a big, gray, pure-bred Arabian, Desert Fox, who stole my heart when I first met him as a three-month-old colt. 

Desert Fox was also a very spirited animal, bred to be a show-horse.  Arabian horses are very quick and agile animals, and so I always had to try and figure out his next move.   Otherwise, I would end up on the ground or he would get away from me.  He was easy to spook so I always had to be on guard.

That was when I began to try and feel what the animal was feeling and as result he helped to make me a great rider. In the show ring he would take my lead because he trusted me and I did a lot of winning on his back. We did a lot of winning together. 

My beloved horse Charisma whom I still own today was my biggest catalyst for learning.  She showed me how to develop a deep respect and friendship that went both ways.  This connection and communication with one another was so much more gratifying than any ribbon or first place, although we usually accomplished that also.

Years later, after creating a 20 year-history of training Arabian show horses, I bought my own horse farm, in Western New York.  It was called Misty Acres Farm, a lovely 18-acres, with lovely fenced pastures where I could breed and show horses.  We also boarded horses, about thirty or so, and it was like being the caretaker of little mini-apartments for an eclectic assortment of big, furry tenants, each with its own unique personality. 

I learned so much about horses then.   I started to sense when one of the animals was getting sick or starting to go lame.  I would just be able to look at their bodies and know where they were hurting.  I would know whether I needed to call a vet or not.  Actually, any good horse person can do that.   But, my relationship with the horses went to a new level when they started to show up in my dreams, and tell me different about the different aches, pains or illnesses they had, or how they were feeling.

Working with Acclaimed Intuitive Caroline Myss 

It was about that time I began to look around for an understanding of this “gift” I had.  I came across than audio tape made by an acclaimed medical intuitive, Caroline Myss, and I began reading everything I could find about her work.  Caroline was a journalist and book publisher who first discovered she had intuitive gifts as a young teenager.   While she tried to keep her life aligned to big-brained intellectual pursuits.  A near death experience convinced her to examine her gifts as an intuitive.  Teaming up with a medical surgeon, Dr. Norm Shealy, she began a career which gained her international acclaim as a teacher, author, and a medical intuitive.  I began to study with them in 1998, and I learned to sense living energy.  I also learned about a lot of the psychological aspects of illness that people hide from themselves.  While we concentrated more on people than animals, I found I was able to further hone my ability to read the messages coming from the energy of both people and animals.  

I graduated from Caroline and Norm’s first four year class in the Science of Medical Intuition in 2004.  After rigorous training and an extensive oral test, I was board certified as an intuitive counselor. 

Refining My Skills to Connect People and Pets 

Since then, I have refined my skills in animal owner connections.  These days I do my healing energy work on both the pet and the owner.   I find that pet owners tend to project their energy onto their animals so that when I come into an environment where a pet needs mental or physical healing, it seems that the owner benefits from my efforts as well. 

It seems that animals often mirror the owner’s issues.  Often, when a horse owner has performance anxiety, their horse also has performance anxiety.  When an owner has dominance issues, their pet often has the same issue and a power struggle often ensues.                

When I walk into an environment, I take a history of the animal from the owner.  I will get energetic “hits” of information while we are conversing about the animal.  With some validation by the owner, we will arrive at an issue or theme we want to address during the session.  Then I will do some counseling with the animal telepathically, and the owner.  I may use some energy balancing techniques if there is an emotional issue that needs to be addressed.   If I’m working with a horse I also find that many training problems can be addressed by working with the horses on the ground.  But under saddle evaluation is many times needed.  I work to help the owner and animal to avoid being drawn into their defense mechanism.  I encourage trust and respect between the two, thus forming a partnership verse a fight to control the other.