I came later to horses than many riders. I did not grow up riding but avidly pursued martial arts and team sports. In the 90s, while a history grad student, I began working with horses in the Classical Tradition, bypassing the more popular avenues of showjumping, dressage, or western pleasure. I was exposed to scholars such as Xenophon, de la Guérinière, Beaudant, and Oliveira. My reading expanded to include the likes of Dorrance, Hunt, and Brannaman, as well. As I progressed in riding and training, I began to merge my academic and equestrian lives and found them a perfect match. I am right at home reading and translating historical treatises one moment and teaching riders the next. Since moving to Colorado, I have worked with various breeds and disciplines. In every case the principles of Classical Equitation are reliable guides to approach any problem, any goal.

Because I do not find the writings of the old masters dry and inaccessible, I make the work of the early modern era practical, applicable for riders of any age, all levels and disciplines. I not only train horses and riders in these principles and techniques, I practice them in my own work in the arena and in the field. I take great pleasure following classical principles while practicing the cavalry horsemanship of the 18th century as a historical European martial art (HEMA).