About Still Waters EQuine

A Message from Bree:

My mother had always wanted a horse of her own since she was a little girl so when I was 8 years old and started asking for a pony, she jumped at the chance to fulfill both our childhood dreams.  I very soon joined Pony Club and 4-H, eager to learn as much about horses as I possibly could.  I worked at local barns and took on training projects all through high school.

This was a time characterized by exponential learning for me.  I was hungry to gain all the knowledge and experience that I could, especially in the instances where the “normal” or “traditional” methods of relating to horses didn’t seem as effective.  I loved the sport aspect of horsemanship but I wasn’t satisfied in simply pursuing ribbons.  That was when I was introduced to natural horsemanship. It completely changed my understanding of the horse-human relationship and I immediately saw a difference in my horses.  I found that horsemanship was giving me the opportunity to develop my own mental, emotional and physical fitness, which translated to my horses and to other areas of my life.

When I went off to college, I competed in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association but made sure to organize my schedule so I could return home to work at the barn every weekend we didn’t have a show. During the summers, I gave lessons, trained horses and helped run horse camps.  I attended as many clinics as I could from as many different trainers as possible.  In my pursuit of knowledge and experience, I was also introduced to the idea of Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) and Equine Assisted Therapy (EAP) and I jumped in with both feet. 

I soon realized that this passion was, at the least, going to be a lifetime pursuit of mine but also had the potential to be my career.  I started supplementing my college education with Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) accreditation and training with the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA).  

Soon after that, I was asked to be the “equine expert” for the planning committee for a residential home for at-risk girls that wanted to use horses as part of their program.  In the spring of 2013, I was offered a position on staff at that program, which we named Meadows of Hope. As the first Equine Supervisor there, I got a front-row seat to both the triumphs and the challenges of growing a new program. Over the years, I was given countless opportunities to deepen my understanding of relationships, both with horses and hurting people. Two of the most notable were first being introduced to Natural Lifemanship, a trauma-informed methodology for EAP and relational work with horses and secondly, instances of connection and collaboration with other equine programs in the area.

It’s difficult to say exactly when the idea was formed, but sometime during fall and winter of 2018, I reached a new vision for my career. I was ready for the next level of my personal and professional development, so I started Still Waters.  I wanted to empower other people and programs with the education I had been so blessed with.  Whether it’s a therapeutic program, lesson barn, training facility or just an individual who loves their horse, we can all benefit from learning to do relationships well.  I am so excited to be part of that journey for people and their horses.