Ashley has been around horses since she could walk and started barrel racing at the age of five. She rodeoed until she was in the fourth grade and became actively involved in 4-H. At that time, she took a strong interest in training horses and showed in events such as western pleasure, trail and reining. It was through her involvement with 4-H that Ashley discovered the Method. She had an arena-sour gelding that refused to go down the alley to run the barrel pattern. “He’d back up to the street and cars would literally have to stop,” Ashley describes.
Luckily, a local trainer who used the Method saw the trouble she was having and offered to help. “He made the right thing easy and the wrong thing difficult by working my horse outside of the arena and letting him rest in it,” Ashley says. “He told me to check out Clinton Anderson.”
Once she saw the results she could get with the Method, Ashley began to learn as much as she could. When she was 13, she created her own business in which she taught beginner riding lessons. “I love teaching people and helping them overcome frustrations they’re having with their horses,” Ashley says.
So when she was deciding which direction to take her future, the Clinician Academy was a natural choice. As a Method Ambassador, Ashley is starting a lesson program in her area and will work on three goals she made for herself when she first fell in love with horses: rescue horses, train horses and teach people. “I’m excited to start my career of training horses and teaching others the Method. There’s nothing better than watching horses and people make progress,” Ashley says.