Meet The Trainer

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Unique Horsemanship

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Meet The Trainer

Meet The Trainer:

"When I was five years old I started taking riding lessons, and that is when it all started. I didn't have a set path of what I wanted to do on my horse riding venture, however I knew my love for horses was growing, and my parents knew it wasn't something they could just brush off.

At the early age of seven I earned enough money picking up rocks for my parents and neighbors to afford a pair of ponies, which were untrained, unbeknownst to us. By then we had moved to another location, so we didn't have the guidance of a trainer to get us through this experienced... I remember sitting down in front of the TV watching Clinton Anderson's Downunder Horsemanship then running out to work my ponies, and this was my day to day, home-schooled life. Fast forward 2 years and I had trained those ponies up to the point that when I outgrew them in size a year later, one went to a special needs 4 year old to help her learn to walk, and the other went on to pull a cart through children's hospitals. By then, the desire to train had already set in.

So I trained my own horses for the years to follow, and studied every natural horsemanship training book and program I could get my hands on. I took this knowledge and applied it to my horses which I trained for reining, team sorting and penning, competitive trail, western dressage, and eventually, speed events, bringing in dozens of trophies, trophy buckles, trophy tack, checks, and many many blue ribbons.

My dad was a contractor and when the recession hit when I was fourteen years old, we lost the funding for horses. My parents approached me about selling most of the horses we had, personals and competition horses, and that didn't sit well with me! I knew where they were coming from, but knew there had to be a way to keep my horses. So for dirt cheap I offered training to the folks who I had been beating in competitions and to my surprise, I started bringing in training horses. Enough to fund not only my horses, but competitions too! A desire to train and the motivation of keeping my dream alive fueled something incredible.

I began interning whenever I could with natural horsemanship trainers, attending clinics and studying the work of Clinton Anderson, Ken McNabb, Craig Cameron, Chris Cox, Monty Roberts, Buck Brannaman, Kyle Shurig, Carson James, Pat Parelli, Sean Flarida, Tim McQuay, John Lyons, Martha Josey, Dena Kirkpatrick, Bo Hill, Troy Crumrin, Sherry Cervi, Lance Graves, Kay Blandford, Charmaine James, Al Dunning and Bill Dorrance.

From all of these studies and hands on experiences, I developed a program that had the open mindedness to reach into this plethora of knowledge to help a wide range of horses. I strongly believe and still do, that every horse is an individual, and that not every horse fits into a cookie cutter program! I believe that natural horsemanship is the clear way to go, and that when you speak a horse's language and get the attention of a calm mind, they are truly able to reach their full potential, and that's something pretty special.

So what have I done with all of this? Well, I've been training professionally for 10 years, and training my own horses and acquaintances' horses for many more than that. My program has successfully trained over 1,000 horses, and helped train and home over 400 rescue horses from kill pens, neglect seizures and other bad situations. On top of these successes, I've gone on to take my passion of speed events to the next level, competing in national events, winning an ANHA Shootout Open Pole Bending Championship, and claiming 3 different arena records. In speed events and other competitions, my client's horses and I, along with my personal horses have won 28 trophy buckles, 8 trophy saddles, dozens of trophies, over 300 blue ribbons and countless others, and an array of tack awards.

In 2019 I made another change to the program, but of a different sort!

I married a young man with a passion for horses named Gavin, who I meant 12 years prior while competing against each other in local rodeos.

That first year I trained his cow horse to run barrels and for years to come we battled for 1st at local events, eventually working together and later, tying the knot. We worked great together then and we still do now, on the client's horses, rescues, our horses, and everything in between. You will undoubtedly meet Gavin or watch him lunge me (or vise versa) on colts if you're around the ranch for much time at all. It's helpful to have someone on board who believes wholeheartedly in your training program, and this guy is no exception!

Along the way I have enjoyed coaching students young and old on how to become better horse men and women, in everything from basic horse handling and riding, to accomplished competitors and certified trainers in my Trainer Training Course.

What good is knowledge if it's not applied? If it's not shared? If it's not used for good? I believe in natural horsemanship. I have seen it change literally thousands of lives and to say I have a passion for experiencing this, is a massive understatement. I take pride in my teachings, and in turning out horses with good, solid foundations, built on understanding and clarity, which gives them a happy, healthier life, where they can be adored by their owners.

I'm Sabrina Alvarez, and this is my training program, Unique Horsemanship."

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