Fieldstone Farm is small horse-training facility, and I want to keep it that way.

As I get older, I prefer to give individual attention to each horse -- I don’t care to "mass produce" horses in a "factory" type of environment.

I believe my years of experience have given me an intuitive feel for the horse. Based on this experience, I want to offer more to each horse I train by working with just a few horses at a time.

I enjoy taking the time to find out what each horse has to offer, learn about the horse’s problems and assets, and thoroughly address and work with each issue. I spend my training sessions doing more than just riding or driving a horse.

I do all of the work with the horses here, from cleaning stalls to putting the final finish on a show horse in the ring. I like it that way, because allows me to give the horses a more personalized touch.

My intense involvement with the horses I train is oddly bittersweet. I become very fond of my students, and it's hard to see them leave and go back to their owners.

The other thing I enjoy is the challenge of first training a green horse, then training its green owner. This process can take up to a year, and is incredibly rewarding for all involved, including me.

For example, I put a total of six months into teaching a client's mare to drive and getting the mare ready to perform in her first show.

In the months before the show, the mare's owner also spent two days every other week with me learning how to drive her horse under my coaching.

I also advised my client about what cart and harness to buy, what clothes to wear during the show, and how to show her mare effectively.

I then went with my client and her horse to three driving shows in the upper midwest. The pair won a turnout class and placed in all of their other classes.

During the shows, I taught my client how to prepare for a class, how to set up for a show, and how to care for a horse at a show. I made sure her mare was worked down correctly and desensitized to the "spooks" often found at shows.

As her personal coach and trainer, I also told my client about ring "secrets", was her support on the rail, took care of any problems that might come about, gave her tips on how to do the cones and presentation correctly -- that sort of thing.

In short, I was my client's "private" trainer for the days at a show -- I never left her side 24/7.