Method Ambassador Jamie Laird has lived her life around horses and traces her love for the animals to her father. The lifelong horseman had his daughter up in the saddle with him before she could walk. “He had me on the back of a horse before I could even hold my head up. He’d put a towel around my neck to stabilize it, and then put me in a saddle bag and go for a ride,” Jamie says.
The ambitious horsewoman grew up helping her father raise and sell Quarter Horses and competed in local playdays and barrel races. “We didn’t do any groundwork with the horses back then, but a lot of what Dad did with the horses under saddle follows closely to what Clinton teaches,” Jamie says.
Always eager to grow as a horseman, Jamie attended Clinton’s Walkabout Tour in Katy, Texas in 2011. “As I listened to Clinton talk during his demonstrations it just clicked. It was like I was listening to my father’s words just slightly different,” she says.
She went home and began using the Method to train her horses and eventually started training and re-educating horses for the public. “The Method works. I have grown in my horsemanship through its employment and have watched horses transform into willing, respectful partners much more effectively than I had previously been able to accomplish. I think in great part that’s due to Clinton’s excellent explanation of the why behind the how, which I did not clearly understand prior to the Method, as well as the development of clear communication between trainer and equine,” Jamie says.
In recent years, Jamie started a Gypsy Vanner breeding program and trains and shows the horses she raises. It was when she joined the Prime Time Express Mounted Drill Team a couple years ago that she considered enrolling in the Academy. “The experience with the drill team coupled with the personal struggles I’ve overcome with my horses and the successes I’ve had with other people’s horses using the Method, made me want to use it to teach and train professionally,” Jamie says. With her husband’s encouragement and support, she made the decision to attend the Academy.
As a Method Ambassador, Jamie is passionate about sharing the training program she believes in and helping others improve their horsemanship. “We’ve all been in a position in which we’ve felt lost in our horsemanship. We don’t know how to handle a situation or how to teach a horse a particular lesson. The Method works so well and eliminates those feelings of being lost or frustrated,” she says. “I’m really big on providing people the knowledge to build a partnership with their horse that’s pleasing and enjoyable for human and horse.”
Jamie is based in Mart, Texas, where she trains horses for the public and teaches private lessons and clinics that focus on the Fundamentals level of the Method. Learn all about Jamie on her website contact her directly at 910-964-3152 or [email protected].
