Less than a week ago as I write this, my kid was in a school shooting at Evergreen High School. Well, she wasn’t really in it, thank God, because she was home, sick with a cold. Snug in bed with her doggie oblivious to what her classmates and teachers were experiencing. At least for a few hours. Until she woke up and started getting the text messages. I was at work, with a brutal work schedule full of patients. The school called both my work and cell phone every hour, each time with my heart in my throat, with updates and reunification information.

I am sure many of the articles in this edition will revolve around the shooting in some way. Something like this of course has a deep effect on this relatively small town. To those who said “I can’t believe this happened here”, or ‘This isn’t supposed to happen in our small town”. I just blink and take a pause, because I am not sure how they could be making those statements. Perhaps only if they don’t personally know a family with a child in this community. Not just because school shootings are unfortunately a problem with our society at the moment, in general. But with all the lock down drills, safety officers, and focus on safety in our schools, how can anyone be taken by too much surprise? And thank God for all that! I am SO grateful! Many lives were likely saved by following those protocols, and everyone doing what they were bravely trained to do. That is how it is supposed to work. And it did work. So many more could have been senselessly injured. They did a GREAT job protecting our kids!

But you know what else I find interesting about all this, is that, while we humans walk around in a confused fog, trying to make sense of a world that does not make sense. Our animals don’t watch the news, don’t know the stories, and are not afraid. Our dogs still want to go for walks just the same. Our cats want cuddles. Our horses want treats. All exactly the same before and after we experienced a school shooting in our community. It is so grounding. And reassuring. And wonderful, all at the same time. Animals are some of the best therapists, aren’t they? I have heard some people say every animal is an emotional support. And that does seem to be true. That is of course unless your pet or horse is driving you crazy, and in that case you need to call a professional, like me! And the good news is I am offering coaching packages now so you can work directly with me, right away.

So if the time is now to add another tool to your toolbelt with your horse. Or if you have always wondered what positive reinforcement is and how to use it. Or, if like me in the past, you are a horse crazy nerd who has read every book, and followed every trainer, yet still struggles and wonders why at times it doesn’t feel like your horse even loves you (like when they are hard to catch) and wished I could just figure out what I did wrong. The problem is not asking the question (that you should have been asking all along) which is, trainer, can I see your credentials please? Are you certified? And no, not by the -fill in the blank- so and so cowboy, ‘heartlight’ path, healing wisdom solution, or some other catchy name system invented by a person like Pat Parelli. But actual scientific methods grounded in the psychology of operant conditioning and agreed upon by all behaviorists, psychologists, and actually certified professional animal trainers. Like me. We don’t discuss who or what method to use. We all just use the same way, the R+ or positive reinforcement way. In fact, the podcast I was on last week with Dr. Crystal Heath, on All Beings Considered, she actually pointed out that not recommending positive reinforcement is actually malpractice. Which is GREAT news for you. You don’t have to have ‘softness’ or ‘feel’ or any hard to define parameters for training, not anymore. Instead, we all have a concrete black and white, easy for us (so easy a kid can do it) and the animal to understand means of communication. So if you are ready to be brave enough to learn about something that just might change your life, and your relationship with animals to a whole different level, like it did mine, then get yourself the Horse Training Masterclass Level 1, today. And if you want to really fast track your results, then work directly with me in a weekly coaching program so you can skip the line and start experiencing real results, in days! And on your own, just you and your horse, not sending this horse to someone who supposedly can do it better than you. No one can do it better than you. No one loves that horse more. You are the BEST person to train it, no matter how old, young, inexperienced, or whatever. And I know you want to be with them, because with them, the news and the outside world doesn’t matter. And sometimes that is a good thing.

I just want to sincerely thank the police officers, SWAT, Evergreen High School faculty and staff, safety officers, neighbors, first responders, the Evergreen Chamber for organizing the community gathering at Buchanan Fields, and all who showed up, and handled the situation swiftly, professional, and with great kindness and compassion towards the kids. Yes I know about the SWAT officers getting the boy out of the ceiling, you know who you are. And you are all AMAZING and I am grateful to live here. I hope you are too.


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