As an Athletic Club Manager by trade, I enjoyed time away from the desk to teach aerobics, and interact with club members. As management, I was often pulled away from the things that I loved that got me into the business in the first place.
On my days off, I was fortunate to be able to go to the Cozy Point Ranch. A lovely ranch on the outskirts of Aspen with a huge indoor arena. What a great way to spend my time away from the club. I would tape my horse’s legs properly before his workouts, spent a ton of time hosing his legs after the workout, and I would help people that knew me from the club with their own horses. It was a natural fit!
The more time that I would spend at the ranch, the more people would ask questions about their horses problems. I was an expert in human health and fitness, and most importantly, a fish out of water stuck in a club just waiting for the bell to ring so that I could run down to the barn and see my horse.
I started seeing books and other signs of awareness in the horse industry about proper training and even massage. Massage? For horses? Like, make-a-living doing it Equine Massage? That would be me! There was no doubt in my mind that my place in the world was to transfer my skills to Equine Clients, but most importantly, to train all of my friends how to properly care for their own performance horses.
It was an easy transition, actually. I spent the first year traveling around taking every Equine Physiology and Training program available. At the time, there weren’t many, but I was able to study Equine Anatomy and Exercise Physiology, along with many other new and exciting horse modalities.
Here we are, about 12 years later and Aspen Equine Studies, Inc. is celebrating our 10th Anniversary as an educational corporation. I’m back to training people, but now it’s about health and fitness as it relates to their horses. Al and I have made so many friends in our students over the past 10 years that it’s been a dream-come-true. I want to personally thank everybody that has supported our programs by going out and starting careers of your own in the Equine Health and Fitness Business. I have so many success stories from students that I beam with pride!
Watch for the release of my book about horse fitness, massage, and hydrotherapy coming this year. I hope to continue my love of writing and teaching for another several years and that my students will continue to have success with their own clients. Thank you, and Happy Anniversary to us!
