Growing up in east-central Canada, horses played a big role in Jake’s life. When he was a kid, his dad barrel raced, and Jake tried his hand at the sport, too. When he was a teenager, he got out of horses and didn’t return to his childhood hobby until he was in his 20s.
Unfortunately, his return to riding didn’t go as smoothly as he’d planned. “When I got back into it, the horses I had weren’t great. They weren’t bad horses; they just weren’t trained well. I didn’t know much myself and wanted to learn how to work with them,” he explains.
His research led him to Downunder Horsemanship and the Method. As he began studying Clinton’s training materials, the information clicked with him. “I liked the structure of it and how each exercise was laid out step by step,” he says. “I could take the information and apply it to my horses and almost immediately saw a positive change in them.”
The more he studied the Method and worked with his horses, the more interested he became in bettering his skill set. That eventually led him to participating in a 10-day clinic at the Downunder Horsemanship Ranch in the fall of 2015. “That clinic is what got me completely hooked on the Method. It was a great experience and leaved me wanting to learn even more,” Jake says.
After the clinic, he returned home to Canada and trained a variety of horses, developing even more feel and timing as a horseman. The more horses he worked with, the more his confidence in the Method soared. “It’s always worked – no matter the situation or the type of horse I’m training,” he says.
The next natural step in his journey as a horseman was to enroll in the Academy and earn certification as a Method Ambassador. “The Method has made a big difference in my horsemanship,” Jake says. “I enjoy sharing it with other horsemen and helping them learn how to better work with their horses and get results.”
Jake is based in Ramara, Ontario, Canada, where he trains horses for the public and teaches private lessons and clinics that focus on the Fundamentals level of the Method. Learn all about Jake on his website and contact him directly at 705-623-8040 or [email protected].
