My name is Sydney. I was raised in Virginia in a very comfortable home. When I was eight I got a horse for my birthday (I know, I basically lived every little girl’s dream). My sister and I spent most of our evenings and weekends riding our horses miles from home for hours. My amazingly patient mare took care of me and fostered a love for horses that I have carried all my life.
I began playing around with training her to do basic tricks and work at liberty. That was when God first started revealing Himself to me as I worked with horses. I started telling grown-ups that I wanted to be a horse trainer when I grew up. That plan was abandoned when I was told that horse trainers don’t make enough money and I should pursue a job with better pay.
I went to college and got a bachelor’s degree in Zoo and Wildlife Biology with intentions to go into wildlife behavioral research. I went from a dude ranch in Wyoming to a zoo in Virginia. All the while having my sights set on wildlife biology. Then I was faced with a choice between an AmeriCorps internships doing wildlife studies in California, or a private horse ranch in Colorado with hopes of becoming established in the area. I prayed over it for weeks. Finally, I made the decision to pursue horses again.
I apprenticed with the ranch manager as a farrier and went to school again, this time to shoe horses. My amazing husband dropped everything to help me pursue my dream. When I finished school we moved to Carbondale, Colorado and I began making my dream a reality. I am now a professional horse trainer and farrier. My purpose here is to share what God teaches me as I pursue Him through horses.