Although Method Ambassador Tracy Reed grew up in the city, that didn’t stop her from dreaming about horses or hoping to have a horse of her own. When she was 12, her parents made her wish come true by surprising her with Goldie, a buckskin mare. “We kept Goldie at my friend’s barn, and every Saturday, my parents would drop me off at her place. I’d spend the whole day riding and brushing her,” Tracy says.
The ambitious horsewoman has had horses in her life ever since, and now operates a boarding and lesson barn in eastern Oregon. The Method entered her life eight years ago when she was trying to find horsemanship help for her daughter. “We bought her a horse for her birthday that we thought was a step up from the horse she was riding at the time. It turned out that he was a couple of steps up, and the trainer she was working with had her doing One Reins Stops and a groundwork exercise during each lesson,” Tracy says.
The results Tracy saw her daughter getting with the exercises piqued her curiosity, so she asked the instructor about the training. “She told me that some of the exercises she was using were from Clinton and she let me borrow her Fundamentals Kit. I went home from the lesson and studied the kit and started working with my horses,” Tracy says.
Immediately, she noticed her horses becoming more respectful and easier to control and safer to be around in general. Tracy was driven by the results she got with the Method and was soon buying horses to work with. “It changed and impacted my horsemanship so much that I couldn’t get enough of it,” she says.
A learn-a-holic by nature, Tracy committed herself to learning as much as she could about the Method and bettering her skills as a horsewoman. After participating in several road clinics with Clinton and a couple of clinics at the ranch, her next step was to enroll in the Academy.
As a Method Ambassador, Tracy is in the business of building people’s confidence and helping them enjoy their horses. “People can’t gain confidence if the horses they’re working with aren’t safe and respectful. The Method has made my horses safe, and it’s kept my kids and clients safe,” Tracy says. “I’m passionate about sharing the Method with other people because I know firsthand the difference it can make in your horsemanship.”
Tracy is based in Summerville, Oregon, 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 Tracy on her website or contact her at 541-910-8383 or [email protected].
