Odessa Merten

 

Love For Horses
Howdy everyone, I am twenty-two-years old and have been riding horses since for sixteen years from several different instructors while growing up. The experiences with different instructors has given me many useful perspectives to use in my own riding techniques today. The owner of Glen Valley Farm Mike Peerenboom impacted my riding and driving skills and overall horse knowledge the most.

My Background
Along with my love for horses while growing up, I also was heavily involved with club gymnastics. I started out when I was five-years old and continued through to my senior year of high school. In the later years of gymnastics, the practice commitment was huge being six-days a week, three to four hours a day, and any free time beyond school and gymnastics, you would find me at the barn. There was a lot of traveling during the gymnastics competition season. Through the years of gymnastic it taught me very useful lessons that I now use in horse riding; mostly being the relevance of how the mind and body needs to work together. For a period of time I was coaching others in gymnastics from beginners to higher levels. I have showed horses in many different venues and have provided riding skill advice for about six years.

Safety is #1
Safety is our barn’s number one goal for lesson kids and grown-ups. Having a good-time is never hard to achieve when it comes to riding, but we do take proper precautions determined by age and skill level. The learning process usually comes in increments. For some the learning comes quicker than for others and adjustments are made to the instructions that will fit each person’s personal needs.