From the start of her horsemanship journey, Shaley ran barrels, at first locally and then on a more competitive level. “By the time I was 10, I was serious about competing and attended shows every weekend,” Shaley says.
Horses that compete in speed events are often hot-blooded and reactive, and Shaley’s horses were no exception. “And like a lot of barrel racers, I started having gate issues, where my horses didn’t want to go in the arena,” she explains.
She came across Clinton and the Method by searching online for help. “What he said in his training videos made sense, so I tried his techniques with my horses and I saw an immediate improvement. I had control of them and felt like I was able to accomplish more,” Shaley says.
Before long, she had the Fundamentals kit and was following it step-by-step with her horses. “It works. Someone can have no horsemanship knowledge at all and if they just watch the Fundamentals, they’ll have the foundation to build a safe, respectful partnership with their horse,” Shaley says.
After high school, she attended college and earned an Associate of Science in Business. “I always knew I wanted to have horses be a part of my life, but I also knew obtaining a business degree would be an asset to my future,” Shaley says.
From there, Shaley enrolled in the Academy’s scholarship program and earned her place in the course. “I want to help grassroots horsemen, especially younger horsemen, by sharing the Method with them. It’s what I wish I would have had available when I was first starting out with horses. It would have saved me a lot of frustration,” Shaley says.