As readers who follow this blog know, my coach has been Holly Stello for over a year now, ever since I moved to Southern Maryland. Originally, Holly lived in our area and trained out of two local barns, one of which was the barn where I ride. Several months ago, Holly and her husband relocated about an hour’s drive north of our area, but she continued to teach lessons 1-2 days a week at our barn. More recently, Holly got an offer she couldn’t refuse. She was asked to manage a farm in her new area and accepted. Unfortunately for me, the new commitment means that she can’t continue making the weekly drive to Southern Maryland to train and teach lessons. I know that both of us wish that I could continue training with Holly regularly, but we realize it’s not in the cards right now. Holly is my friend as well as my trainer, and we have a great relationship on both levels. Of course, I wish her success in her new position, but admit that I will with miss our weekly lessons with her while she gets her program started up north! We have already discussed the possibility of working together at some shows, and I’m willing to bet that she’ll come visit us down south once things are settled at the new farm. This change meant that I needed a new trainer to help Patrick and I continue progressing on a weekly basis. Luckily, I already knew the perfect person. Her name is Julie Devine. She is a friend and a well-known trainer locally. She started riding hunters as a child and did a little bit of “A” showing while in her high school equestrian program at Chatham Hall. The basics of her riding are George Morris-influenced. She is a firm, but forward and sympathetic rider. This style has served her well throughout her career, particularly in her work with young horses. She rode IHSA in college and was the captain of her team at Kenyon College. She also became intrigued with eventing during college, and began competing in the discipline. She’s been a working student for Missy and Jessica Ransehousen, who are international event and dressage riders, respectively. Jessica served for many years as the chef d'equip of the US Dressage Olympic team. Julie also worked for the Woodlands pony farm in Virginia where she trained the young stock. Julie is known in these parts as the go-to trainer for young and problem horses. She fixes horse problems that other people say can’t be solved. She’s exceptionally brave and strong for her size. She has evented her aptly named baby thoroughbred, Shakey Man, through training level successfully, and they are just getting started. One of Julie’s most interesting recent projects was a petite, rescued thoroughbred mare named Annie. Despite being almost 12, Annie had not been ridden in years and most trainers seemed to think that she wouldn’t add up to much, proclaiming the mare to be too hot and difficult. But unlike the trainers before her, Julie believed in Annie and had a job in mind for her. Within a couple weeks of working with the mare, Julie had her jumping confidently and learning dressage despite the fact that Annie had no experience in either discipline. Julie worked her magic, pulling out all the stops, from her Morrisian riding techniques to the natural horsemanship techniques of Buck Brannaman. Fast forward a couple months. Annie is a winning beginner novice eventer and a cross country machine with potential to do more. With Julie’s help, the once jobless mare was sold to a wonderful home with a young event rider.
In addition to possessing some serious riding and training skills, Julie is an all-around great horse woman. She spent about a year as the manager of our 27 stall boarding barn before resigning to take a job in her degree field as a counselor for troubled youth. Let’s just say that those psychology skills will probably come in handy while teaching my lessons! For my friends and me, she remains the go-to person for all questions about horse management. So, I am looking forward to working with Julie. I think that her hunter-turned-eventer background is going to be helpful. I love the precision of the hunters but respect the “gallop on and don’t sweat the small stuff” mentality of the eventers. I think that Patrick and I can benefit from an infusion of this mentality into our hunter rounds. As always, we’ll let you know how we’re doing. |