I competed. I loved it. I won a lot. I don't compete at the moment but can't say I won't again. I am not at all opposed to competition. I am opposed to sacrificing the horse's soundness for competition and especially for winning. It can and should be done without sacrificing soundness. It is easy to do with the right knowledge, objectives, and equitation.

Yes, I love teaching beginner adults. I have experience teaching all levels all ages.

Yes, I love teaching children.

Absolutely not! The equitation I teach is what will rehabilitate horses, but it is also what will protect the horse from lameness.

Rehabilitation is an ongoing process.  Part of what I teach is how to differentiate between movement patterns that are healthy versus unhealthy.  The time it takes for a horse to learn a new body coordination and use it in the level of work that the rider desires varies.   

Nope. The only prerequisite is that you love your horse.

I had that question in the back of my mind as I was beginning this journey and now I have an answer.  Once you know how to help them, I feel like it is not fair to leave them uneducated. Whether or not the horse can be ridden depends on how far the pathology has already progressed and how willing they are to move. The work, either under saddle or in hand, creates new healthy kinematics that will, at least, bring comfort, and at the most, stop the progress of pathology. Only through correct motion can this be done. Manual therapy can give temporary relief but may not have a lasting positive effect if not combined with motion therapy. 

Yes, the in hand work is perfect for this situation. Now is a good time to start teaching the horse correct limb loading in conservative, low impact walk work. Once the horse can be ridden, some of the education is already started and will translate to under saddle work.

It is different. First we discuss any injuries or arthritis that the horse has. We talk about rider observations or struggles. I watch the horse and rider through the gaits they can do. I look for opportunities for the horse to improve how s/he uses the body, then we go straight to work guiding the horse toward healthy kinematics. This applies to horses from very green to very experienced. We use slow, low impact work as the horse learns better balance coordination. When there is better balance, I ask for more, whether that be a more challenging gymnastic or a longer bigger stride. It depends on the horse and rider. The ultimate goal is lightness, balance and the power to move gracefully under tack. I struggle to explain in more detail because no two horse and rider pairs follow the same trajectory.

If you don’t already have them, saddle, bridle, lunge line, lunge ring (ring that attaches to the saddle to pass the lunge line through), dressage whip.  Inquire for specific details. I don’t use any other training equipment mostly because gadgets encourage bad kinematics and because I love simplicity and hate wasting money. If you don't have a saddle, talk to me about saddles. Some styles are going to cause problems.

This question was only asked once, and it was not from honest curiosity, but instead to disqualify. People should seek information, of course. However competition is not the only measure of proficiency, and so far nobody is grading trainers on soundness. I wish AHSA records were still available because I won a lot and sometimes against very talented horses and riders. I also competed in superbike road-racing where I spent many award ceremonies on the podium. Winning is a skill and it turns out that winning is easier than athletic rehabilitation of horses. My dressage education was not competition oriented. It was geared toward performance and soundness because from my perspective lameness was (and still is) at epidemic levels. I’ve reaped the rewards of my education by restoring soundness to horses who have stayed sound for years, and by reaching grand prix level movements from horses who were chronically lame prior to rehab. I dedicated more time, attention, effort, focus, and money toward high quality education with a classically educated and internationally accomplished trainer whose focus is now rehabilitation, than I would have spent on competition. My objective was soundness and athletic excellence, not winning, but the outcome is horses who stay sound, and clients who can enjoy their horses again.