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Testimonials
 My situation was unique from the other students in my clinic as I was not the one experiencing fear but my horse had fear. I purchased my 16 hand beautiful Morgan gelding, Trooper, about two years ago and had been trying to bond with him ever since. He was 17 years old and had been owned by 5 different people before I found him. I knew he had gentle eyes and a kind heart but I could never break through enough to reach him. He trusted no one. I attend the four-day clinic with Boo and the very first day  Trooper and I both experienced an epiphany. Boo taught and demonstrated techniques that brought results beyond my expectations. My horse began to trust me. Each day that trust was reinforced. I am overwhelmed with emotion just writing this testimonial because the experience was so beautiful and insightful. Boo taught me how to bond with him like no other horse trainer has written or demonstrated. I arrived at that clinic with a distrustful horse that would run from me and left with a horse that now walks up the pasture to greet me. I will always be grateful and would recommend this clinic to anyone. I only wish I had known about “Rider Recovery” sooner. – Darla Sundae
Training a young horse requires confidence. You have to tell the green horse through your body, seat and voice that you, the rider, have everything under control.
That is very hard to do when you are recovering from a bad experience, and almost every time you mount up, you lose all feeling in your legs!
I didn't know what to do or how to fix these feeling of fear and insecurity that I had never felt before. I felt foolish being afraid because of my years of experience with horses. Boo always made me feel at ease and never embarrassed for hitting a "low" with horses. She gave me tools to build my confidence on the ground and techniques for riding that helped me feel balanced and in control. I had been riding on the fourth stirrup hole, all bound up in a knot. I have now lengthened my stirrups to hole number six and I feel like I can breathe again.
After much time and dedication I am a recovered rider. Now when I ride bareback, take a jump or a new trail, I can tell my young horse that yes, I have everything under control.
Rebekah Ayres
 Riding Recovery - it is for horses as well as riders.
I’m 61 years old. I have ridden and owned horses since I was 8; until the last few years, never taking any formal lessons, just getting on and doing “what came naturally.” About 10 years ago I fell off. My fault entirely, and not a really bad fall, but I needed knee surgery. I didn’t ride again for about 5 years. I had lost my confidence, which I have been regaining slowly by taking lessons. I realized that even though I had been around horses most of my life, I still didn’t have the horsemanship necessary to ride safely. When I did ride, I wanted to be in a safe environment with nothing to startle my horse or distract him. I recently tried leading my horse, without his buddies along, to the end of the long driveway and walking back to the barn. He was fine going down the driveway, but on the return he was rushing and getting ahead of me. I tried circling him to slow him down and we circled all the way back to the barn, making me dizzy.
Boo and Carrie came to give a Clinic the last weekend in June, Friday through Monday. Boo is an extremely knowledgeable horsewoman, who communicates clearly and honestly. Carrie is Boo’s photographer. There were four riders this particular weekend. Boo worked with each of us individually with our own horse, solving the problems we had. One of the interesting aspects was that we each had different problems, so seeing the other problems being taken care of was very enlightening. The difference in attitude between horses and riders in just four days was almost miraculous.
Boo’s assessment of me and my horse, was pointed out graciously. She built up my confidence each passing hour with her clear instruction of what I was doing wrong and how to fix it. She showed me how to become the leader, not the follower, and she walked my horse down the driveway showing me how to look for the small signals that he was making and to correct those before they turned into big problems. She handed him back to me to walk back down the driveway to the barn. The problems I encountered were when I forgot to follow her directions - I still have to work on ingraining them into my thought pattern. However, by the end of the Clinic, my horse and I were walking up and down the driveway with me in charge.
Boo also worked on my riding seat. By the end of the Clinic I was actually riding bareback at a gait! Here I am 61 years old! I haven’t ridden bareback since I was a teenager. Yet I was comfortably riding bareback with a confidence I haven’t felt for years.
Boo left homework for me and my horse and we will be e-mailing each other so she can find out how we’re doing and to give me pointers when I have questions. I don’t recall any other clinician giving this follow up to students. I truly believe, and it is my goal, that Jerry and I will be riding outside of the arena, without his horse buddies along, before the end of the summer.
- Daphne McNames
Finding the Healing Barn and attending the Rider Recovery Program was an answer to prayer and the beginning of a new life with my horse Joe. The program helped me understand WHY I was afraid and HOW I had allowed fear to take over the part of my life that I held dear to me.
While my fear really began with a mare that I had before Joe I just could not get the pieces of the puzzle to fit. In a clam positive way I was shown how to get the pieces of the puzzle to fit as well as how to communicate with my horse on his level. I learned that some of what I had been previously been taught was a myth or perhaps a misconception. In addition I learned to observe my horse in a different manner and learned some ground work. The ground work I learned gave me some sort of power, not from strength, but from understanding my horse, that opened the lines of communication with him in a way that I cannot put into words. Riding bareback with no bridle helped put the final piece of the puzzle together for me. At the end of the program I was given more homework to take with me which I did. Today I am able to ride with no FEAR!
Here are my photos that were taken by the barn owner where I keep my horse. The farmers where harvesting corn, and the arena is next to a busy highway and there I am riding bareback and having a blast! None of this would have been possible before we attended the Rider Recovery Program. I give praise to the Lord for sending Joe and I to the Healing Barn. Thank you and may the Lord continue to bless you, - Deb
Liberating! Those were the exact words and the exact emotion I felt after my first session of Rider Recovery Program 101 in 2004. I was exhilarated to discover that riding again without fear could be accomplished through this program. It is now nearing the end of 2005 and I have not one horse, but two horses on my own property. I could never have been so confident and self assured prior to the RRP, caring for horses on my own property. I had always boarded horses and did not really understand what went on when caring for one’s own horse on one’s own property. I know now I would have been completely unnerved at each action and reaction my horses displayed.
The morning jaunt out to my horses’ pen is peaceful and comforting. I can feed my horses and climb in the arena with them, completely at ease with their horse behavior. My mare, Misty, threw me and kicked me in the face in 2003. I didn’t believe then that I would ever be able to ride again, much less, care for her on my own property without the assistance of a trained individual. I developed a strong inner core while attending the advanced RRP learning how to sit comfortably and balanced while transitioning from a walk to a trot and back again. The advanced program includes trail riding, behavior identification and self reliance. I do not have a trainer now when I feed, groom, conduct ground exercises and eventually ride both horses on my own property. I have loaded both horses into trailers and driven them to and from locations on my own. Just a few weeks ago, my husband, who knows very little of horses drove them to a wholesale tack shop and had them fitted for saddles. It took a total of four hours to accomplish this feat. They had to wait in the trailer and became restless. The proprietor asked if I wanted to unload and tie them to a post. I led each horse one at a time and tied them to their hitching post. After several minutes passed, my husband noticed my gelding, Scout’s halter was twisted. He reached up to loosen and readjust the nose band. The gelding became anxious and jerked away. My husband had the halter hanging in his hand and my gelding walked quickly away to the penned horses on their property. In my pre RRP days I would have bolted for him, became nervous and yelled at others to quickly come to our aid. Not this time. I just told my husband not to walk at him and said, look behind you and open that gate into their barn and I will walk to it and call Scout to follow and check it out. Scout is a very curious gelding. He did just as I envisioned and followed me into the barn to see what was in there. We enclosed him and came back out to get my mare, Misty saddled.
I have experienced several situations that would have completely distracted and melted my hard earned reserve in the pre RRP days. After my two years in the four levels of RRP, I feel so much more like a true horsewoman than I ever felt in 25 years of riding horses. Angeline
I injured my back after many years of riding. Because of my bulging disc and things in my own personal life I was unable to feel safe on my horse SISSY. After attending the clinic at Mac Neal Stables my life with Sissy was put back on the right track. Boo and Marylen are a wonderful team able to address the needs of the horse and the rider. I learned to communicate on a different level with my horse. After practicing my new connection and riding skills Sissy became a different horse. In addition to repairing my relationship with Sissy, I learned that there is a huge connection between our relationship with our horses and the relationships with have with people.
- Caroline Psychologist
I grew up around horses and never had any fear until my horse was playing one day and struck me in the shoulder. I wasn't physically hurt that bad but soon after we sold the horses and I carried that fear into adulthood. A year ago my daughter Joelena and I were given a starving horse "Aspen" that the fear began resurface. My daughter seemed to have no problem with him until grew bigger and stronger. I realized he was to much for us to handle and began looking for help from people that I knew with horses. I got several comments like "he will never be the horse you need" or "get rid of him and get a quieter horse" before I ran across Jeanine Allen one of the team members of the Rider Recovery program.
At the barn I watched my daughter Joelena and Aspen grow closer as she was instructed on the hows and whys of communication and horsemanship. A few months would pass before I would decide to join Rider Recovery myself.
I entered Rider Recovery with the expectation that we would fix Aspen. I had to realign my thinking and put down the cowboy ways of doing things. I learned a different way to communicate with my horse and established a connection I had never had before. The difference was amazing and it bled over into my daily life.
Before i went through Rider Recovery everyone in my life except my daughter ran over me like a doormat. I was unhappy,my mind raced constantly and I talked endlessly to try to cover it up. Jolena took the brunt of my insecurity as I always tried to micromanage every step she took. As God helped me through my fears my confidence began to grow, my
rapport with my daughter was restored and people stopped walking all over me. My talking has has come into order and my relationship with my husband has even improved. I don't understand how overcoming my fear of my horse has
helped me so much. Thanks Rider Recovery! - Carrie O.
When I was a little girl we lived on a cow farm. I had a pony but when you rode him it wasn't long before he bucked you off. My dad saw no reason to keep this pony because cows were more important. The pony was the start of my anxiety.I kept the horse dream into adulthood and when we moved to the country 5years ago we acquired three horses.
Sometimes I was a little scared, my heart would race at little spooks. The horse we bought for the kids "Beauty". This horse was nice and easy when I rode her at the barn I purchased her at. Kid Broke, Right! Well after we got her home she spooked a spun me off of her. The next time I rode her she ran off with me and ran me into a barbed wire fence. The 3rd and last time I rode her, she threw me and I broke my right wrist. I lost six weeks of work and I could not collect sick pay. I have a constant reminder of her every time I look at the scars from the pin in my right arm.
Like most people faced with an unruly horse, I decided to sell her, after all the problem had to be the horse not me. And just like most people with a unruly horse, we sold her at the auction, she brought less than half of what we paid. My fear transferred to the horses I had at home. There was utter chaos at feed time and my flinching away, yelling and screaming only made things worse. My husband and I decided another horse was sure to fix the problem. "Sheena" was our next purchase and she truly was everything they said, the unfortunate thing was my Fear came back even with the quiet me.
My husband was fed up and ready to sell all of the horses when I enrolled my daughter Cassie in the College for Kids program. There was something very different about this place. No Screaming and a very quiet demeanor between the horses and Boo. After Cassie attended the program I was approached by Boo about getting rid of my anxiety of horses. I was hesitant at first afraid I would laughed at or scoffed by friends.
I brought my horse Sonny because my relationship with him had really eroded. With Boos help each of my horses connected with me. I've been able to ride through spooks although they rarely happen now, feed time became quiet and easy, and I can even ride my horse Bareback! I'm so thankful I did not sell my horses, - Jeanine
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