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An Age Old Partnership

A Girl and Her Horse

photo by Grace Family In the ring and hard at work, Julie and Casper work on the skills that are the basis of a life long partnership and a passion for teaching that will be Julie's career.

Tuesday March 20, 2012

By Cookie Steponaitis

Whether National Velvet, The Black Stallion, Misty of Chincoteague, 100 Acre Welcome or most recently Secretariat and Penny Chernery are mentioned, the images in books, movies and real life of teenagers and their horses can be identified with generationally. There is something magical about the bond between humanity and horses that reaches into the spirit and touches the soul. Partners for life, the bond that is created is only broken by the passage of time and death and here in Addison County this partnership plays out every day on farms and in backyards around the Green Mountain State.

Julie Grace admits that she was, “…the typical horse-crazy girl when she started riding at age eight,” because of her love of riding. Julie later grew to fall in love with the, “leadership, love, language and career direction all wrapped up with a special horse named Casper.” Although she had ridden when she was younger, Julie’s real journey began when she crossed paths with three extraordinary sisters named Claire, Mary and Betty at the Beech Hill Farm. Official Parelli Level One graduates, these three women shared with Julie their passion for competing in Hunter/Jumper events and developing their skills to use compassion and training to bring horses and people together using the Parelli model of instruction.

“I never had the opportunity to pursue Parelli because I didn’t own a horse until last year,” shared Julie. “I was introduced to Diligent Knight or Casper last year and a partnership began. Casper was not exactly what my perfect horse was at all,” remarked Julie. “He was 16 ½ hands high, gray, five years old and a just off the track Thoroughbred. Casper had never seen a Hunter/Jumper show, let alone been in one. But luckily for Casper, he could JUMP!” Julie began working with Casper employing some of the training lessons she had learned from her mentors and Casper began to grow. Each day at the Beech Hill Farm Julie and Casper worked on skills. Some days Casper would respond and on others he might simply explode off the ground. As time passed Casper and Julie began to form into a team, with their test of a first show straight ahead. When Casper came off the trailer he showcased some talents, but unfortunately they were not the ones Julie was looking for. “He became an instant giraffe horse,” Julie remarked. “Do you know what I mean? Head up, tail up and then all four feet came up, and they didn’t come down for four hours.”

While that experience might have soured some people, Julie took it as a challenge and at the next show worked with Parelli Professional Sarah Grimm to transition Casper to the new environment of the show. With trust and patience, Sarah showed Julie how to not only gain a pattern of trust but to actually get on and ride Casper briefly at the show. “I can only see us improving to the point where we can go into the ring and show. We plan to take the time it takes to help Caster be confident, responsive and safe in the ring and show,” shared Julie.  

Since that eventful show Casper and Julie have continued to learn more patterns and move toward small and large goals as a pair. In addition, the bond with Casper and her faith in the Parelli model of horse training has led Julie to a very important career decision. While she still has three years of high school left, Julie has her eyes set on the Equine Studies Program at Vermont Technical College and a career as a certified Parelli instructor. A partnership born of love and one that has expanded to include a shared language and a passion for being together and becoming the best they can.

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