Lessons
Ranch Life Program
Seminars
Clinics

Ms. Jean has dedicated her whole life to teaching and education. After working for the Marriott Corporation, she opened The Natural Connection part-time. However, full-time, she worked as a child care facility director for 7 years, and then worked as a public speaker at the University level. With a Masters in Education in Early Childhood Education, the desire to learn and teach has driven her to help inspire others on their own journeys. As an Instructor, Trainer, and Horse Communicator, Ms. Jean believes that continuing education is the key to the success of her program. Constantly going to clinics herself, Ms. Jean rides and trains in both English and Western disciplines.

During the winter, Ms. Jean's trail riding program shifts more into the round pen and arena.

BOY SCOUTS AND GIRL SCOUTS:

Ms. Jean stays up to date with the YTP, (Youth training protection certificate) a training required by the Boy Scouts of America. She is also an approved Merit Badge Counselor for the BSA.

The Natural Connection INC can accommodate scouts based on age.

For trail riders that are qualified to trail ride under the insurance requirements:

Ages 10-13 = 7 scout riders per ride + 1 adult troop leader/scoutmaster = TOTAL 8

Ages 14-17 = 9 scout riders per ride + 1 adult troop leader/scoutmaster = TOTAL 10

Boyscout and Girlscout rides are very popular and welcome here at the ranch. If you have a scout troop larger than 10 riders, we will schedule 2 separate trail rides. Please go to our Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts tab for more information.

LESSONS FOR OUR LOCAL COMMUNITY:

Ms. Jean is happy to offer private lessons on the trail on weekdays during Spring, Summer and Fall. In Winter, private lessons can move to the round pen, since the ground may be frozen on the trails. However, all lessons are subject to change due to the weather.

Lessons for children age 10 and up:

Lesson plans developed for each child take many factors into consideration, including, but not limited to:

Personality, attention span, interest in horses, fears, emotional, physical and mental capability to learn, etc. Therefore, it's best not to compare your children in this program to children in other, traditional programs. Hopefully, you enrolled your child in this lesson program for more one-on-one attention, in order to create a better, more well-rounded, up and coming horseman.

What do you learn in LESSONS in the round pen: $80 per person for 1 hour and can be booked under Private Lessons (Round Pen).

-Learn how to utilize the language of the horse in the round pen, create a bond
-Learn how to catch your own horse in the herd environment and learn about herd dynamics and why that's so important
-Learn how to read your horse's body language when grooming your horse and what he may be telling you
-Learn how to saddle your horse properly, with an awareness of what the horse is telling you and why
-Learn how weather affects the horse's demeanor and what exercises you can do on the ground to ensure a safer ride
-Learn to ride in the round pen and then eventually take those skills out on the trail! Walk, Trot, Canter, One Rein Stops, Emergency Dismount and more!

Take lessons weekly, biweekly or monthly, whatever works for your schedule!

RANCH LIFE PROGRAM:

A new program launched in 2023, the Ranch Life program is a 4 hour immersion program. Participants will assist in bringing in a large herd of horses, learn to and lead a horse, assist in medicating and caring for horses with injuries or in rehab, learn about basic horse care, learn how to trim a horses hooves, and then potentially participate in learning how to rope a cow dummy, or learn how to train a horse. The program ends with a trail ride, sometimes to Western Town, and sometimes on more difficult trails, for the more advanced riders. This program is fun for the beginner rider, the first time horse owner or the seasoned rider.

SEMINARS:

Ms. Jean is happy to offer seminars about various topics of horsemanship for Animal Science classes, 4-H, Girlscout and Boyscout troops and any other groups looking to further their education.

Seminars can be held here at the ranch to utilize our round pen for Demo's or we can use the Arena located behind our B&B for bigger audiences and subjects that demand multiple horses be used for Demo's. Seminar's can also be held in our Conference room, located upstairs in our Trail Barn. This room can seat up to 40 people, and does have a projector screen if needed. We will also be asking guest speakers to have their presentations here during the winter as well, all focused on equine education.

CLINICS:

Ms. Jean is available to teach off property during the months of December, January, February and March every year. Clinics are ALWAYS based on learning the language of the horse and how to better utilize that knowledge to create a better bond. The language of the horse is the underlying focus for all clinics and below are some topics of interest:

- Horsemanship 101 - Safety on the ground with a horse
- Horsemanship 102 - Safety under-saddle at the Walk, Trot and Canter
- Problem Solving - Horse's in need of exercises that will make them more safe for their handlers
- Confidence Building - Clinic focused on rebuilding the confidence of riders that have taken falls or have had traumatic experiences with horses
- Retraining the repurposed horse
- Retraining the horse with special medical needs
- Tips for training the Off The Track Thoroughbred