About Rebecca Wirth

Where do you live?
Outside of Gresham, Oregon. My family’s farm is in Estacada, Oregon.

How long have you been involved with horses?
It felt like a late start, but got my first horse at age 12 (Little Joe, a QH)

Do you also teach riding? If so, what’s the focus?
The people I am giving riding lessons to are looking for training skills. They are new riders to riding instructors. They are from different riding principals but our focus is to have a horse that is well mannered and relaxed in their work. Nature tells horses they must try to be the boss of you but that also makes an otherwise sweet horse a pushy pig, always having to think of ways to boss you and say NO to your requests. When they are convinced that you are boss and the burden is lifted, they can relax a wait for the next cue to be given.

Your favorite quote or rule to live by regarding horses?
Be fair to your horse and if he doesn’t listen to you, then start speaking more clearly.

What types of riding do you do?
I enjoy dressage, reining, cattle sorting, and—best of all—Mountain Trail Competition in Eugene. As a teenager and through my 20’s I competed in jumping and dressage.

How did you get involved with teaching groundwork?
As a youth I raised and showed Arabs and a few thoroughbreds. Training foals for halter class involved teaching to lead, bathing, clipping, picking up feet, loading in the trailer.

In your mind, what’s the biggest benefit of groundwork?
It sets your horse in the process of learning. You have three years before a horse is under saddle, so why not use that time to teach a horse to learn. Leading, clipping, bathing, picking up feet, lunging, yielding, backing, loading, taking a bit, blanketing, ground tying, tying, saddling, ground driving. Owners tell me that their horses love me but the horse is really looking to me for guidance. I think of it as the....”what now, teacher?’ look. It’s very sweet and is the best compliment horse can give me.

Most common mistake you see with people and their horses?
They want their horse to love them & be their equal partner, which automatically makes their horse the boss. Owners have often said how much their horse loves me while they’re in training. To humans it may look like love but the horses respect me as their leader & can relax and wait for me to tell them what to do next....... also if people send their horse out to be trained, they must go and watch as often as possible to understand the process to maintain the horse’s level of training when they come home. If your horse comes back wonderful from the trainer it wasn’t a miracle that got him that way, it was someone’s hard work & the owner needs to understand to keep their horse that way.

Anything else about yourself you’d want people to know?
I’ve been married to my husband Mike Wirth for 29 years. With his help and support I have a job I love.

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