SERVICES

The way we do one thing is how we do everything - each moment with the horse deserves our attention and respect.

Lessons, training, clinics and more

To better serve your horse and to produce superior results, we take a limited amount of training horses. We focus on the whole horse, with special attention to physical balance, diet, alignment and suppleness, and rider balance and awareness.

Interested in having your horse trained by Amy?

Tell us more about you and your horse and apply for a spot in our exclusive training program. Once your application is submitted, we'll be in touch to discuss availability and answer any questions that you may have.

Phone Consultation

Book a 60 minute phone or Zoom Meeting consultation to work through movement and riding goals and strategies.

$100/Consult

Video Lessons

All you need for lessons near or far is good cell service, wireless headphones, and someone or something to hold your phone for you! Video lessons make learning convenient and affordable.

Lessons

Horsemanship with a dressage focus for every horse and rider – learn to get balanced and create solid partnerships, no matter what saddle you’re riding in. My goal as a teacher is not to tell the student what to do, but to teach riders feel and to learn to interpret their horses expressions and movements. Lessons focus on teaching riders to communicate effectively, observe and compare what works and doesn’t work for their horse, and to set up situations in which learning is easy for the horse. Teaching riders to be advocates for their horses means learning to carefully observe their surroundings, their horse, and themselves, and to gather an awareness of how their moods, physical fitness, and decisions affect their horses.

We welcome riders of all disciplines willing to undertake the journey of introspection and dedication required to be their best self for their horse. To get started, please click the button below to tel me more about you and your horse so that we can get to know you both before we schedule your lesson date.

Clinics

Offering private or group sessions for all disciplines and breeds. In clinics, people can come together to improve their relationships with their horse, learn how to improve their timing and feel, and take home a new awareness to improve their day to day lives with their horses. Clinics offer a fun, low pressure way to learn along with other riders, expose horses to things they may not see at home in a safe, controlled environment, set up situations to improve and expand comfort zones, and to learn from watching other riders as well.

Rehabilitation: Postural and/or Mental

Is your horse troubled, stiff, crooked, uncomfortable, or struggling in some way? This is a thorough, whole-horse approach to helping bring your partner peace and alignment through their bodies. Lame horses are made sound through correct in hand work and/or riding, and troubled horses are brought to calm by developing happy partnerships. We’ll take a look at their diet, hoof balance, dental balance, address physical issues, and every aspect that makes up the whole picture.

We have an excellent team of vets, farriers, dentists, and body workers here to serve you and your horse, and to help bring your horse to the place they deserve to be.

To create truly lasting changes, rehab cases require a minimum year long commitment.

Helping horses and riders find each other in the center is my passion

Testimonials

Amy is experienced and wise beyond her years. She can combine horsemanship, dressage and feel to provide you with the best approach to understand and improve your relationship with your horse. We’ve worked with her in various capacities; riding lessons, participated in her horsemanship clinics, sent our Lusitano to her for a month of summer boot camp (she also provided riding lessons) and I can’t say enough how wonderful every interaction has been. She has a great affinity for teaching and explanation and does so with kindness and softness, using both evidence based methods and her vast experience with horses of all backgrounds. All of that and she is an amazing writer and so fun to work with. We miss her in Michigan. My horse probably misses her most of all.

KAREN LINDBERG

I can’t say enough about Amy and her horsemanship. She is extremely hardworking but also very gentle, highly skilled but humble, and is always striving to further her knowledge and experience. She cares deeply for horses and their owners and will go above and beyond to meet you and your horses needs. Thanks for all you’ve done! Tony

TONY STRICKLAND

Amy Skinner is a rare being. She understands and reads horses and always gives them the benefit of the doubt. People talk about softness to the point that it has almost become a cliche without meaning. Amy's whole approach in everything she does with horses involves a softness and critique of her communication. Amy is an inexhaustible learner and has reached a point in her career where she has accumulated her knowledge from numerous sources and reached her own high level of horsemanship. I would never hesitate to ask her opinion or for help with a horse and I often have. I have not even mentioned her unique ability to teach and to articulate complicated concepts to people. She is also caring and very respectful, Unfortunately not something you always see in the world of horse trainers. I consider her to be one of the best and although she may still be under the radar, with talent like hers, I don't expect her to be there for long.

STEVE PETERS

Amy is a joy to work with. She is peaceful and kind, and committed to always putting the horse first. Without patronizing, Amy is able to help the rider understand feel and learn to respond to the horse with kindness and softness. Amy is always respectful and knows how to focus on the positive to move the horse and rider towards success and harmony.

MARY CONSTANTINO

Amy is a thoughtful and skillful trainer. I had the opportunity to take a lesson from Amy in Maine recently. After asking me what I hoped to work on with my horse and her careful observations, she was able to pinpoint exactly what was going on with my horse. His hind end doesn't track behind his front, in other words, he has too much disengagement of the hind. This made it difficult to get a balanced lope without him cross-firing. Amy has given me exercises to help my horse balance and for me to alter my weight and cues at our turns. Thanks so much, Amy, for your dedication to horses and riders having a better relationship!

JULIE KENNEY

Amy is so intuitive to each horse she is introduced to! Amazingly talented and patient. She goes the extra mile it takes to help you and your horse understand and learn. She knows that you can only learn without pressure and she examples of what she is explaining make things crystal clear!

TAMMY HANNAH LAMPHERE

❮ ❯

GIVE YOU AND YOUR HORSE A PATH FOR DEVELOPING QUALITY HORSEMANSHIP.

9402 Hampton Road Rougemont, NC 27572