Julie Fitzpatrick
Julie has been involved with horses for as long as she can remember (her mother was an avid horsewoman). Julie has owned competed and ridden horses all of her life, competing in a variety of disciplines, including pony club, hunter trials, dressage, show jumping, one day events and county level showing. She has gained a lot of knowledge along the way, although she admits after years with horses you can still learn something new every day and enjoys the learning process herself.. She did her training towards BHS stage 1 and 2 and Preliminary Teaching at The Mounts UK. Julie teaches all types of lessons from beginners to advanced riders, teaching private and groups on a daily basis, she says teaching gives me a buzz to see clients progressing in their riding skills. Every time I see a child mount a horse for the first time, I feel an overwhelming sense of pride and pleasure as I can imagine exactly how that child is feeling. And I am with them for every milestone they pass by, be it the first time they trot or canter or the first time they enter a jumps competition. A riding instructor, especially for children, is as much about building confidence as anything. And every time I see a child beam with pride because they have just mastered a new skill or broken down a new barrier, I know exactly why I do this job. It's the best job in the world and I can never imagine doing anything else at all." Julie has run her own riding school/livery yard for the last 10 years in the USA and has much experience dealing with a large range of horses. She has had experience with breaking and training young horses, and has retrained difficult horses to help them achieve their best potential, believing that correct basic training will improve every horse. Although Julie is passionate about training, she would like to find time to start competing again herself with her stallion Welt Marke. She is equally caring about teaching the clients and puts her heart and soul into this. Just as she enjoys training difficult horses she is very experienced and understanding when teaching a novice or nervous client who has perhaps experienced problems elsewhere. She has particular interest in the care of the horse, believing that correct bitting, foot-care, saddling, feeding etc, in a relaxed atmosphere can make enormous differences to the horses’ potential performance.
