Three Rivers Horse Training

01/16/2021

S^C

Update! Please check out www.sageintentcollective.com!
No horses, but very much inspired by the work you all requested in the 3R days. It is finally coming to fruition! Thanks for your continued support!

Sage Intent CollectiveIntentionality Coaching Become Yourself Build an Intentional LifeSage Intent Collective is a dynamic group of coaches with a variety of professional specialties and personal experiences.  These coaches help cultivate a lived path for their clients that supports transformation ...

12/27/2020

Today had a full team meeting in preparation for our New Years Day launch! With all coaches present, we discussed our company values: Trust, Service, Whole Person & Intersectionality. We will share a bit about each value in the coming weeks and are so excited to be starting a company that, from the start, will represent values we are passionate about.

12/20/2020

Time flies! Five years ago today I closed up the 3R Three Forks barn and headed North (and then west, then south, then east, and then north again). I’ve seen a few of you here and there over the last five years, but for those of you who don’t know, I’ve spent this time transforming myself into a clinical social worker through a masters degree, field placement and supervised residency. I am one exam away from being insurance billable, which I spoke with many of you about dreaming of being one day!

In 2021, I will be launching 3 new business that reflect my new professional identity. The first launches in January! Please follow Aspen Growth Coaching on Facebook or on Instagram for more updates.

Thank you 3R family. You taught me more than you know and it was your idea for me to become a therapist and coach, a process and identity I now value tremendously in my life.

05/27/2020

Looking for the right horse, pony, donkey or mule (gentle llama or cow?) to add to an animal therapy program. Open to senior animals in good health, safety is the priority. This animal must also be able to live with other horses and tolerate some summer grass. Also must be able to be trimmed barefoot with the rest of the herd. This animal would receive a ton of attention, great health care, have very limited work in their life and be well loved! Safe to ride for beginners is a bonus, though riding would be light. Donation appreciated, or reasonable adoption fee may be considered.

05/01/2019

It is National Animal Therapy Day! Some of the young women I work with were interviewed to celebrate 🙂

04/13/2019

Paws For Insight

Hi everyone! While I will keep the 3R page active and post here from time to time, I'm actually starting a new side project called Paws For Insight. (www.pawsforinsight.com). I'm really excited!

It's very much in the infancy stages of a business, but I do have a fb page and a basic website up and running. I will be offering therapy (I can offer this via Skype, so distance is no issue!) with and without the support of animals, so whether you are interested in more traditional talk therapy or Animal Centered Therapy, it can happen!

I will be collaborating with some really amazing people (nurses, massage therapists, dieticians and bodywork specialists) in the future to create treatment plans that support the whole person, and this is going to grow in all sorts of directions. Please follow so we can all keep in touch, as this will be a more active page moving forward!

Medical & Health

03/11/2019

Hi everyone! As the sun starts shining I'm beginning to get calls about spring and summer riding. I am no longer taking horses into training as I am very happily continuing to work in a clinical setting, both as a therapist and running an Animal Centered therapy program! However, many of you remember Bree, who worked for me in 2013 and 2014. Bree has continued to pursue her horsemanship and is able to take horses in for work this summer. She often can provide horses experience in big country, which is a unique offering and I totally support the work that she does! Please email her directly at [email protected] to see if your horse is a fit for what she is doing this year. Take care!

12/10/2018

Hi everyone! I have a very talented teen student looking for horse opportunities near Salt Lake City. She does not care if she rides, just wants access to horses. She would caretake, horse sit, just hang out at the barn, anything! Even if you just want someone to pay attention to a retired horse, she would do it. Spread the word!

07/17/2018

Hi everyone! I know this page has been inactive but I have a great opportunity to share. My former intern, Bree, is able to take 4 lucky horses in for August/September near Alder, MT. Horses will be ridden in the hills, in the woods, in the pasture, in the arena, around cows, and more. This is an opportunity for a broke horse (green broke is fine but must be already riding and safe enough to immediately get started on these types of activities) to have the experience of a lifetime and take their confidence to the next level. I trust Bree to ride my own horses and know she will be thoughtful and caring. She will price competitively and whatever she charges I'm sure you will be getting a steal for all she does with your horse! Call and leave her a message at 406 214-1805 for more info.

08/13/2017

Three Rivers Horse Training updated their info in the about section.

Three Rivers Horse Training updated their info in the about section.

08/13/2017

I had the pleasure of stopping by the Tom Miner Basin to check on my former intern Bree and my little mare Lyla. It felt really good to see the two of them working well together! I like to think I got them both started, but now they will take each other to the next level without me, which is the greatest result as a teacher! I'm thankful to Bree for giving Lyla this thoughtful life experience!

08/12/2017

I've been in Billings judging the horses at the fair for the last few days. My favorite moment was when one of the most advanced level riders, who was in the midst of a complicated pattern and doing well, got off his horse because the horse felt lame to him. He came over to tell me he was scratching for the rest of the day. I shook his hand and told him how much I respected that. These are horses, not objects, and this young man knew that.

07/24/2017

My August trip is shaping up. Last call for interest before I finalize each of my stops! Please email [email protected].

07/18/2017

We Are NATSAP July 2017

For an understanding of why I'm off the clinic road, Page 9 of this newsletter describes the program I am currently developing.
https://indd.adobe.com/view/815e63df-22af-4811-907f-0066ecedd8b5

07/16/2017

Travel update: I will be available to teach in the Bozeman area for a day or two around August 5 and the Billings area a day or two around August 9. I will be judging the fair in Billings August 10-12. I may have a couple other event announcements to come. If you are interested in a lesson during this time, please let me know and I will add you to my itinerary as I build my schedule.

The trip has a few purposes for me so I will not be booking 10+ lessons a day like the old days, so time will be limited. If you would like to grab a spot please let me know ASAP :)

07/11/2017

I'm excited to be making a Montana loop in August! I will be judging the Billings fair August 10-12 and have some stops planned along the way down (8/5-8/9). If you are in Missoula, Bozeman or Billings areas and would like to plan something, please let me know! Horses and dogs. More specific events are in the works and I will keep you all posted!

06/28/2017

Touching the Wild | Full Episode | Nature | PBS

Since I am deeply entrenched in developing this new Animal Centered Therapy program and completing my masters, I have less "clinic life" to post on this page. You have probably noticed I am trying to share thoughtful posts that challenge the status quo about human-animal relationships. This documentary is one of the most thought provoking I've seen recently and this man offers a unique approach to understanding another species' experience, without exerting his own human privilege. Please let me know what you think! http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/touching-the-wild-touching-the-wild/8679/

Joe Hutto’s idea of research is anything but normal, dedicating seven years of his life to becoming a wild mule deer.

06/17/2017

06/14/2017

What Would We Lose If We Wiped Out Vampire Bats?

Such a thought provoking short documentary about human and nonhuman animal experience.

05/11/2017

Home

I think constantly about the state of horses in our world. I feel endlessly conflicted about so many aspects of equine domestication, which in many respects is why I'm not taking horses into training anymore.

Today I was watching a documentary on Orcas in captivity (http://www.blackfishmovie.com/ available on Netflix). It is a shocking and disturbing movie about whales at Seaworld and other places like it. Just considering the whales alone and the immense suffering is staggering and worth the watch.

But what struck me the most as I watched the film was how the most shocking parts of it are standard in the horse industry. Young whales ripped from their screaming mothers to be shipped away. Whales being captured from the ocean and brought to live in stalls, only coming out (to a slightly larger area) to perform. Whales attacking trainers, sometimes killing them. People rationalizing what they were doing, despite what the whales and their conscience told them, and even regurgitating false information to the public without question.

There was not one part of this film (other than the sheer size difference between horses and whales) that has not been a part of MY personal experience with horses. There was nothing in the film that is not every day in the horse industry. Yet horses are not held captive like this by the dozens.

They are held by the millions.

I hope we can do better.

Blackfish tells the story of Tilikum, a performing killer whale that killed several people while in captivity. Along the way, director-producer Gabriela Cowperthwaite compiles shocking footage and emotional interviews to explore the creature’s extraordinary nature, the species’ cruel treatme

03/25/2017

I've been quiet on this page lately, but not for lack of activity! Today was graduation day for my two dog classes in Eureka. Pictured below are the graduates of our big dog companionship class! Minus one Great Dane, who couldn't make it today :) In six weeks of classes, we didn't teach ANY commands, but saw huge changes in all of the dogs.

02/25/2017

I was just made aware of two Balance saddles, Felix 8x. These are awesome saddles. $1800 each. If you are looking to upgrade, it might be worth checking out! I can put you in touch. Those of you with wintecs that have an adjustable gullet and you are at the white gullet or greater, this would potentially work for an upgrade to a fancier saddle.

01/31/2017

Dog class update! Date change. Class starts February 11 and runs for 6 Saturdays.
Thanks for all of the interest! I believe I have responded to everyone via email, facebook msg or email, but drop ins are welcome. I would really appreciate a note prior to coming if possible, so I can get a sense of numbers.
The first class will be some basic ground rules, discussion of equipment, socialization and evaluations of each dog to get a feel for what we are working with.
Puppies 8 months and younger and small dogs, 9am.
Adult dogs 9 months and older, 10:15am.
If you have a human or dog aggressive dog please contact me before the class to decide if this is appropriate. We want to keep the group safe! I do offer private aggressive dog work and if that is more appropriate we can schedule.
Location is the church gym at 1275 2nd Ave E. Eureka.

01/06/2017

While it is too cold and snowy to work your horses...
Dog classes! Saturdays beginning February 4.
Planning a 6 week dog class, HEATED indoor location in Eureka! If there is enough interest, I will offer one for small dogs/pups under 8 months, and an adult (9 months and older) class. These are lifestyle classes, and will focus on socialization and real life skills, rather than a traditional obedience class (but, we will do some basic obedience in there!). Saturday mornings (time tba) starting February 4 and running 6 weeks. $75 for the six weeks. Must have 4 dogs or more in each class to make it happen, otherwise we will combine classes into one. PM me with questions or to reserve a spot! Visit my website for more info about me (there is a Dogs tab). www.threerivershorsetraining.com

01/01/2017

3R Blog

Another New Year

As the calendar shifts to a new year, I decided to revisit what I wrote on this blog last year and the year before, and reflect on what has changed and what has stayed the same. (You can read what I published on this night exactly one year ago here: http://www.threerivershorsetraining.com/3r-blog/2015/12/31/doing-things-well-part-3-a-new-year-question). I write this entry today both for those of you who will read it, but also for my future self, who will hopefully read this again on this night in 2017.

I covered a lot of ground in 2016. I started the year in Bozeman, MT, having recently closed the Three Forks facility and moved my husband to Eureka, MT. I helped him move with two of our horses, turned the rest of the horses out elsewhere and hit the road. I took a quick trip to Portland, OR and the coast, but soon after that I rushed down to Arizona with a sick dog hoping for a medical miracle, but instead just got a month of sunshine and walks before she left this world on Valentine’s Day (http://www.threerivershorsetraining.com/3r-blog/2016/2/16/a-tribute-to-mollie). From Hawaiian beaches to a Chicago trip full of babies to New York City conversation, I tried to soak up inspiration. One final stop in Phoenix and my truck packed with dogs (some old friends, and some new to the journey), I headed back north.

Home in Montana I taught between Bozeman and Billings, and acclimated to Eureka, now our home. My husband and I moved in June to our new property, selling the Whitehall home we thought we would be forever but turned out just to be a stop for my horses, and purchasing what is as close to a fantasy as I ever thought could come true for us.

In April I started working at a therapeutic boarding school, discovering a love for working with teenaged girls I could never have predicted. Staggering was how comfortable and right the work felt—and so quickly. Some of this work involves horses and dogs, some without, but finding new inspiration in these young women has been a surprise and a gift that cannot be overstated.

When I read my blog on this day last year, what strikes me is that my inner turmoil about the “right” way to occupy space in the horse industry is just as great now as it was a year ago. I’m no less confused about how to work responsibly with animals that have no choice as to if they are in your life or not. What I have experienced, though, is the gift of working with young humans in a similar predicament. The girls I work with now are stuck at this school, without the autonomy to leave. In fact, strangers, who then transported them to treatment, surprised many of the girls in the middle of the night. The fear and trauma of this event preferable to the possibility that they run away or hurt themselves because they know they are being sent to treatment.

There are so few of us that are not equines who know what it must feel like to have our kidnapping endorsed by our guardians, for our own good. These girls know what it feels like to be a horse taken to training. I may be a kind and helpful trainer or horse owner (or, in the case of the girls, therapist), but the horse still did not choose me, and that power inequity must never be forgotten. I still do not know how to best manage and respect this dynamic, but now I have humans that can articulate an experience I never thought I would hear described in the English language, trying to help me understand how domesticated horses must feel every day. While I do not have concrete answers, I do know that the power of this shared experience between the girls and the horses at school has been incredible to behold.

I also have not taken any horses into training in 2016. I don’t yet know what my plans are for 2017 in that regard. For now, I am without an indoor arena and under plenty of snow, so it is nonissue! I have immersed myself working at the therapeutic school and plan to continue this learning as I wrap up my Masters degree and build what I am calling the Animal Centered Therapy program (a divergence from Animal Assisted Therapy that I will elaborate on in later blogs) at the school. I will still teach private lessons and clinics throughout the state on a limited basis as I did this year.

I have dog classes in the works in Eureka that should begin in the next month, and I am excited to try a new aspect of teaching (group lessons with dogs and puppies). I am spending time at the animal shelter here, which I find really fun and rejuvenating, because I get to work with types of animals I don’t normally have access to and get creative (my most recent project is a ten month old, intact male purebred Plott Hound with minimal socialization…certainly not my normal “type” of dog and therefore really intriguing to work with and fall in love with!).

As always, I bring in the New Year thankful for all of your continued support and guidance. I have learned more through this business than I ever thought possible, and even though the majority of my time lately has been spent working in a different setting, 3R proves to be a never-ending teacher. I can easily say I have learned more from animals and my business than I have anywhere else in my life and I quote and use these lessons daily. For this, I am endlessly grateful.

Happy New Year.

http://www.threerivershorsetraining.com/3r-blog/

3R Blog

12/20/2016

Still a blog delinquent.. but hoping funny posts like this will earn me forgiveness. I may have to reproduce this in my yard!

BEST snowman, ever!

11/26/2016

Lessons From A Cowgirl | Balanced Dogs - articles and services for owners and pet proffesionals

I haven't written a blog in AGES and luckily a friend of mine wrote one about me that I can share and not seem like such a Facebook delinquent! Of course, I'm no longer working out of this Three Forks facility (which is where I was when he visited) and have never thought of myself as a cowgirl (but, to a guy living in LA, I do have the boots...), but I am still surrounded by dogs and horses! Thanks Gary from Balanced Dogs, LLC for the generous and interesting perspective! http://www.balanceddogsllc.com/single-post/2016/11/25/Lessons-From-A-Cowgirl

11/17/2016

Overly-excited dancing mule slips and wipes out

I know I've been quiet lately on this page...I'll just leave this baby mule to entertain until I can get some blogs written...

11/06/2016

Once the horses woke up from their nap, the four dogs, a few of the horses and I were all able to enjoy this gorgeous fall day. Riding throughout our property and listening to the Eureka Lions football team winning over the hill!

11/05/2016

I am getting ready to go ride and I looked out my living room window to find all of my horses laying down in the sunshine. So nice they feel so safe and relaxed...makes me feel safe and relaxed! I'll let them snooze a while longer before heading out!

10/06/2016

Teach girls bravery, not perfection

I think you could insert "horses" for "coding" here and the impact would be the same. If there is one consistent challenge I've witnessed in my client base, which is largely women, it is the worry of doing the wrong thing. I will say "try something" and more often than not, a woman who hasn't worked with me for very long will stop, disengage from their horse, and look at me helplessly. Reactions are all different, some get mad at me, some cry, some just freeze...but consistently, they say they would rather I just tell them what to do so that they can do it...correctly. What I've learned from my own engagement with perfectionism is that if it doesn't come from inside of me (or you), a horse, dog, human..whomever...won't find it nearly as compelling. Trying to perfectly copy someone else is the least compelling communication there is.

In so many ways, I am the perfect example of a Type A perfectionist, born and socialized by the world to be perfect, not brave. But LUCKILY, I love horses. And there was no way to be perfect with them...so I had to be brave. Most people see my fancy website and forget the other stuff..... Try a lot, fail a lot, start a business during a recession at 21 so I could create a space to make these mistakes, lose clients, friends and money...and yah, literally hit the ground and get hurt. But that's how I know, it is way better to be brave than perfect, because I can't imagine any other life that could have taught me so much.

http://www.ted.com/talks/reshma_saujani_teach_girls_bravery_not_perfection?utm_campaign=social&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=talk&utm_term=education

We're raising our girls to be perfect, and we're raising our boys to be brave, says Reshma Saujani, the founder of Girls Who Code. Saujani has taken up the charge to socialize young girls to take risks and learn to program -- two skills they need to move society forward. To truly innovate, we cannot...

10/01/2016

Facebook reminded me today of all the c**ts that I've had the pleasure of starting over the years! I love this shot of a youngster way back in 2009. I don't usually know what happens next for these little guys and it is shocking to me that this c**t is probably 10+ years old now! Time flies!

09/19/2016

Chrysalis School Montana – A Therapeutic Boarding School for Teenage Girls

I'm missing all of my 3R family on the road, but I wanted to give you a taste of what has stolen me from my clinic schedule this year. You might notice a familiar four legged face in this video, too...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sHljQqByxI

Chrysalis is a small therapeutic boarding school located in northwestern Montana, just 5 miles from the British Columbia border. The school sits on 65 acres,...

09/08/2016

Kelly and I pulled these two pups from the Eureka shelter and they are now happily in Bozeman receiving the BEST rehabilitation and socialization work at Know Thy Dog, and available for adoption. Read the text below the photos for more information and share widely! We are excited to team up with Eureka and Libby shelters to get dogs the emotional support they need to be successful in life, free up space in the shelters and keep a few more pooches from euthanasia! Go team! (Thanks Wendy Haynes Anderson for your endless hard work on behalf of animals, and going above and beyond to advocate for these two guys!).

09/07/2016

Generosity needed for rescued animals!!!!
Recently approximately 120 animals (birds, donkeys and dogs) were seized in Libby, MT from an alleged breeding/hoarding situation. The condition of these animals ranged from bad to worse. I am so thankful for all of the hard work that went into seizing these dogs and now the arduous work of caring for so many animals, which cannot yet be adopted because they are still evidence in the case (some of these people will share this post and any further thanks in the comments is much appreciated!). I have been working with some of the dogs, and met the donkeys, and they are quite lovely. Many are not socialized but have great personalities and are slowly heading down the long road of physical recovery from the starvation and poor conditions. If you have the means to donate money, time or hay (especially hay for the donkeys, that is what they are in most need of right now!) PLEASE let me know and I will connect you to the right people to make the donation. I have hay contacts and am also happy to turn any money into hay and deliver it myself when I'm going there to volunteer! I would post photos but at the moment that is not a possibility with the pending court case...but trust me, they are skinny...and CUTE!