"I watched one of XXXX master classes on zoom. I have had lessons with one of XXXX student coaches XXXX. She was lovely and helped a lot. But it still was not "right" in my head. Then roll on another year and I asked you ... booom it all started clicking in. I talk about you a lot in any of the presentations or lessons that I do (teach)." Lyn M, Australia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"I had no idea that I didn't know what straightness was. I competed xc for years, you'd think I should know. Now I do!  Thank you, Paige." C.J. South Carolina 

 

 

 

 

"Taking lessons from Paige Labella has completely changed my riding for the better. She has not only improved my physical riding, but also my mental riding. Because of her I think about my horse's perspective more and am developing a much better relationship with my horse than I otherwise would have."  Emma S., Iowa

"Ever since I was little, I always knew I loved horses more than anything. Growing up, I didn’t know the difference between all the styles and disciplines. I just knew I wanted to ride. Working with Paige, I got more than I bargained for- in a great way.

When I first started riding with her, I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I thought I was going to just get on and the horse was going to go. Quickly, I realized it wasn’t that simple and I wanted to know more. It’s one thing to have someone explain science and biology stuff to you. It’s a completely different thing to experience it and see how it works right before your eyes.

Barney started out as a horse with navicular and hock arthritis who couldn’t stay sound. Paige taught us how to apply the correct kinematics in our work to prevent further damage and stay sound. Barney has been consistently sound since we started this work and will be for many years to come.

The difference between Paige and other trainers is that her training is consistent. One thing always flows to the next and works together. She uses her engineering background to explain things in a way that is easy to understand and apply. Paige always makes learning new things fun and helps you through the more frustrating parts of riding. Once you get a basic understanding of biomechanics, the lights will go on in your head and you’ll think, “Why didn’t I do this before? This is common sense!”

Starting out, Barney didn’t even want to move forward. He wasn’t using his body the correct way to be able to carry a rider as well as himself. Teaching him how to use his body took time, but through the process, I gained his trust and respect. I started with an uncomfortable horse who didn’t want to do anything and now I have a willing partner, ready to learn with me. We still have a long way to go, and there will always be more to learn.

Like I said before, Barney used to not even want to move. Now, he loves to move and work with me because it’s finally comfortable for him to do so. There are so many things he can do now that he knows how to move his body in a way that doesn’t compromise it. It has been the highlight of my life being able to work with Barney and Paige."   Marissa E., Iowa

"I have been an internet student of Paige for some time now. Our cooperation started when I sent her a video of me and my horse working together in the moment of great despair of mine. I desperately needed "tools" and guidance. I did not believe I can learn riding via internet but I hoped to gain better understanding of what my horse does. I was so wrong. It is possible to learn to ride and have a successfull partnership with your horse having internet guidance of such a proffesional. So as everyone can imagine I was struggling alone and frequently showed her "what we did" on videos. Sometimes a description of mine was enough. Paige has many gifts. She does understand horses well but the clue when teaching people to ride is to understand human part of equation. She does it very well knowing exactly what to say in the right moments. By this she helps getting out of dead ends, calming down both: the horse and the rider. Her great knowledge in horse biomechanics is not something that she shows off with. Instead it is gently used by her to explain why my mare does what she does, what conditions are needed to change it, and possible ways of approach are suggested. When I frequently turned to her with a vent "my mare and I will never get this!"...I would hear a suprising answer like for eg. "they don't know until they know" which immediately would calm me down and made me ready to start again with my horse. She loves human and horses equally and believes in them. She believed in my mare before I did...giving me strength to go on. Because you should never give up on your horse. And this is one of her gifts, either solution or thorough explanation (which with all the complicated biomechanics knowledge is presented by her in easily understandable way). With this you never feel left alone. And that is how I feel having Paige as my teacher, as if she was with me.

My mare's progress is Paige's success because she kept me going and trying. She has great understanding of dressage movements knowing how to properly prepare a horse for a demand of it.  Jumping is her specialty as well. When it turned out my mare thinks she can't canter, Paige again came up with a surprising solution of trying small jumps which were executed on a lunge line at first since I know nothing about jumping. Plus I was afraid to do it anyway. A thorough explanation came from Paige of how to properly prepare for the jump itself and believe me, it was a clue to not let my horse jump in an uncoordinated manner. The mare frustrated a lot on bad landings. Suddenly, me who never jumped, was teaching my horse to jump. What came next surprised me. When I explained to Paige my difficulties with preparing the approach to jump with the lunge line technique and said "I should be probably doing this from a saddle"...but I was afraid....she presented it the way I was able to agree with and not resist anymore. The written advice was simple and sounded safe. I could not refuse that. With all the instructions we successfully went through my first jumping lesson. The process continues, but today my mare is a different horse, thanks to this wonderful and wise woman. Thank you Paige."  Lucyna E., California

Sorry, you've no permission to watch this video

This video is to introduce the lunging technique we use. It is not intended to be used without our guidance. It is important that we see how the horse is responding to this because like any technique or gymnastic, if the horse's coordination is not right, it can do more harm than good. The set-up is DeCarpentry's. It is useful in rehabilitation when we need to encourage the horse to explore healthy body coordination. Side-reins are fixed in length throughout a session. In the DeCarpentry configuration the lunge line is run through bit rings and a ring on the saddle allowing for length adjustment by the horse. The horse can not lean on the bit and is therefore able to discover self-carriage at the same time the trainer has some ability to suggest a boundary for head and neck carriage. The back coordination ultimately determines the neck position. The lunge line suggest the result.