who is brie?

Welcome! I am so glad you found your way here. Here is a little bit of my story, where it began and where it's going. I hope you enjoy the ride.

 

I grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the heart of horse country, and I had the luxury of being part of the first generation of our family to ride horses. Horses have been a part of me since I was four years old. I was such a shy kiddo, really afraid to speak to people, so much so that I was led around on horses those first couple of years while refusing to let go of my stuffed animal, King Tut. He was a gift at birth from my grandmother, and he went everywhere with me for many years as my emotional support guide. Somewhere along the way, horses filled the void, and the rest is really history.

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Growing up I was involved in the local 4h club, year after year attending the state horse show and a handful of regional shows. I was immersed in the local show hunter market. Throughout my teenage years, our family did not have the financial resources to support my growing equestrian desires. I quickly realized that if I wanted to be able to ride horses, I would have to find a way to fund it. This led to my first little enterprise, a local boarding a lesson stables. After school I would teach kids riding lessons on my own horses and boarded a few horses for local people. It was a deep water dive into running a business and I was truly on my own, learning how to navigate it as I went, all while trying to get through high school and figure out how to make this little enterprise profitable. It only took me a couple of years to realize that this was not my calling and that I needed to go get a diverse education within the industry so that I could discover my path.

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 After graduating high school by the skin of my teeth, my next stop was working for professional three day event riders, this gave me the first taste of upper level sport horse training and care. I learned everything that I could about grooming horses at the top level of the sport and really got my first taste of what it looks like to be able to influence the horse's mental and emotional health simply through their daily care. This opened up a world of curiosity for me and I quickly realized that I wanted to study horses in as many different types of industry as I could. What has always fascinated me the most about horses is the variety of different styles of riding we can do with them because they are so willing to learn and develop. Understanding the way they think and feel is what allows us to do so many different types of riding. While the mechanics and the individual maneuvers may differ, the feel is what is important to the horse. 

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In the pursuit of further understanding, I took a couple of years to work with race horses, saddlebreds, veterinarians, and local private owners before deciding to attend college. While attending Virginia Tech, studying Agricultural Technology, Applied Agricultural Management with a focus on Equine, I spent three and a half months living and working on a cattle station in outback Queensland, Australia. Working in Australia is where I got my first taste of working with horses as a true coworker to complete daily jobs from horseback and to work cattle. It was like nothing I had ever experience before and I really learned what it takes to expect your horse to go all day for you, to not quit you, when to help them and when to stay out of the way and leave them alone. I got bucked off more in those three months than I had in the previous five years. I was hooked. After graduating college I moved to Montana as fast as I could to work for US ranchers, to learn how to develop horses outside and how to start colts under saddle. I was determined to figure out how to get along with all types of horses, how to teach myself how to problem solve, how to make myself useful to those that hired me and to become as employable as I possibly could.

 

I remember I landed this one job in eastern Montana starting colts and I didnt know how to rope, but they hired me anyway. Shortly after I got there, there was a little yearling that needed doctoring for a cut on her head, so I needed to get her caught. Well, she wasn't halter broke, and I wasn't a cowboy. I did what anyone would do; ordered a rope, a beginners guide dvd to ground roping, and away we went. I learned so much working that big ranch job. I was alone a lot, mostly terrified, and the horses and I just had to find a way to get things done and get along. I remember the first four year old I had to start that came in off the range barely handled. I thought for sure that guy would kill me, but they all went from feral to gentle in no time at all. The first time I had to learn to halter break weanlings was on that ranch, and I halterbroke 25 of them by myself, after watching a few more dvds. The two year olds I got to start were easy, once I could finally convince my lariat rope to catch them. I remember the first one I started, and the first time I took her out and dropped her in a coulee. I just thought, wow, is this not the coolest thing in the world, out here on our third ride, all by ourselves, traveling some of the roughest country in the USA and my little horse finding it all successful. It was the hardest job I ever had and I was so terrified I was going to get fired for my lack of skills. I ordered books and dvds so that I could learn how to handle horses that weren't handled much. I learned how to teach myself and study the horses in front of me. To this day, if I am feeling stuck, I try hard to visit the twenty four year old version of myself working with those ranchy horses, and I try to find a way to get really creative and present with my horse. Some of the fondest horse memories of my life were on that ranch, living all by myself in the middle of nowhere, working with those ranchy horses. ​

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Coming home was a tough decision for me. I knew it was where I needed to be, but I would miss the horses of the west. I would miss the way they were raised and how little they were handled. I would miss how pure they felt mentally. I knew that coming home would mean spending time finding a way to blend totally different worlds. It was the next piece necessary for my development and understanding of the horses. It was time for me to learn how to build the bridge.

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Coming home meant starting my own enterprise, again, nearly fifteen years after the first one. This is where Whistling Ridge Equestrian was born, and where I truly began developing my training business. It has been an education, and an honor, to work with all of the horses and owners that I have been able to since beginning this little deal. I find great joy and meaning in bridging the gaps between horses and their owners. I try hard to bring a practical set of knowledge about the horses to the humans who work with them, and try to really instill the idea of creative problem solving, being patient and celebrating the little wins. Because every thought in the right direction becomes steps in the right direction, and steps become miles and miles become habit and memory. It is my goal to help you where you are. I am not interested in changing who you are. I am interested in helping you build your own path towards your own goals, in helping you identify them, articulate them, and chart a course towards them. I am interested in sharing with you the depth of love and care I feel about the horses, how important they are to me and how important the small things are to them. I want to help you see it, so that you may give it to yourself and continue on your own path with your horses. I want you to feel confident so that you can successfully continue on without me.

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Welcome to my program, I am so glad that you are here!