Dear Student of the Horse,

I have been starting colts for over a decade. My experiences have taken me to Skagway, Alaska, Winterset, Iowa, Weatherford, Texas, Joslin, Illinois and Princeton, Illinois. I have worked with cutters, reiners, western pleasure, english, dressage, 3-day eventing and recreational horses of many breeds. I learned about and developed a passion for starting colts in college where I earned Associates degrees in Horse Science, Equestrian Studies and a Bachelors degree in Advanced Technical Studies.

I settled down to create a place of my own, where I teach horsemanship and take horses year round to start and prepare them for their lives as working companions. Starting over two~hundred colts, working hundreds more and teaching countless numbers of students is my full time career. It gives me a great sense of pride to watch people and their horses come together as they work to develop their horsemanship skills.

Connecting or reconnecting horses and there people by bridging the communication gap has been the most fulfilling part of my job. I have spent the past several years traveling locally to teach and have found great value from working with people and their horses. Teaching causes me to reflect a great deal and serves as a good reminder that we are all learning together. I am also a student and share many of the experiences, which you have had and will experience with horses. I enjoy helping guide my students thru the enjoyable and sometimes challenging parts of their journey.

I often say,“ The more I know, the more I need to know.” I continue to be a student of horsemanship and study horsemen who teach vaquero style horsemanship. Although My focus is on Vaquero Horsemanship I remain open to many other horsemanship styles and always move towards being better for the horse. As a teacher, trainer and student, I am often learning new and better ways to work with and convey ideas to my students and their horses.

My goal, is to support the development of the horse and student through all of their stages of training and provide a environment for the horse and student to learn and develop positive and respectful relationships.

It is a privilege to share my experience with you with the hope you can also experience some of the lessons the horse has shared with me.

I look forward to meeting you and your horse soon. Don’t take too long, we’ve got work to do.

~ Barb Gerbitz