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Stacy Westfall
One of Stacy's favorite memories is of "accidentally" teaching a horse to sit. While riding with a friend in the winter the girls accidentally backed a horse into a pile of snow. The horse lost its footing and sat on the snow. As the girls laughed Stacy decided to set up the situation again. It wasn't long before the horse would "sit" on anything she backed it up to. Stacy always had a desire to train and to teach. When she wasn't at school you might have found her training her dog to navigate obstacle courses in the yard, or giving a riding lesson to a neighbor. With no professional trainers to observe in her area, she relied on the insights instilled by her mother and the instincts and lessons she learned from the horses. At the University of Findlay in Ohio she studied under traditional-style training instructors including Steve Brown and Clark Bradley. She also worked for champion reining trainers Mike Flarida and Dan Huss. To all of the knowledge she learned from these mentors, she applied the "think-like-a-horse" technique that had served her well in the past. Like any good trainer Stacy's aim has always been to have the most clear and precise communication with her horse as possible. Her goal in her reining was to make the reins unnecessary. While others have approximated that goal, Stacy made it a reality. In 2003 she won the National Reining Horse Association Freestyle reining competition riding with no bridle — and with not so much as a neck rope. She has gone undefeated for two years straight in major freestyle reining competitions and in 2006 she won twice while riding bridle-less AND bareback. When in 2006 she entered the prestigious Road to the Horse colt starting competition, Stacy heard from more than a few people that she couldn't possibly win. After all, she was facing some legendary trainers. When the competition was over, Stacy was named the winner, after a convincing performance that clearly outshone her competitors. That little girl from Maine has grown to become one of the country's top clinicians and competitors. While Stacy continues to compete, start young horses and train, she truly loves to explain to people what her Mom encouraged her to learn — to discover the "why" behind what the horse does..
Visit Website: http://www.WestfallHorsemanship.com |
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