NAWD Professional Laura Padgett
Laura got her first pony when she was 3 and now has over 30 yrs of horse experience. She shares that her philosophy is “to help each horse become the best he can be in whatever discipline he is best suited for, and to teach the rider to understand the ‘whys’ of horsemanship.” Laura uses her training philosophy to help work with problem horses She says the “fun and challenge of training is to figure each horse out rather than trying to fit them all into the same program.”
Laura works with all levels of rider, and really loves teaching people who want to understand the art of riding. She started training her own horses in high school, worked at a girl scout camp as a horse wrangler, then began training professionally after college and have done that for about 10 yrs. She offers training from the ground up, start to finish, lessons individually or in small groups, along with workshops and playdays and mini-clinics as well as a series of 4H clinics in the summers.
She has shown in western pleasure, horsemanship, showmanship, reining, HUS, equitation, over fences classes, sidesaddle, speed events, and competed at the inter-collegiate level. She has driven horses, and trained several for dressage. Her favorite discipline is western pleasure, when a horse can be balanced and in self-carriage, with a long draped rein and a loose jaw and neck, when a horse will change gait or speed or direction just from the slightest change in her body or leg position – she describes this as “a special thing to feel”. She trains and teaches classical riding and use principles of dressage and proper equitation to improve both horse and rider for any and all disciplines.
Laura primarily rides quarter horses and paints but enjoys the experiences she has had riding arabians, saddlebreds, fox trotters, rocky Mountain horses, connemaras, clydesdales, thoroughbreds, and warmbloods.
She is a member of AQHA and APHA.
Western Dressage Thoughts and Goals:
Laura was drawn to western dressage because she has been using classical training for her western horses even before it became a discipline. In particular, she is glad to be part of North American Western Dressage because she likes the format of the NAWD STARS programs, and really like the 6 feet on ground and NAWD trail classes. Laura really likes the idea of video tests and virtual shows as a compliment to her training programs.
laurapadgetthorsetraining@yahoo.com
Training out of Eff Creek Ranch at
10922 W Armstrong Rd,
Brookville KS 67425
2205 Browning Ave,
Manhattan KS 66502
Phone: (785) 822-8086