Contact Us!
I would love to hear from you! Do you have a question about the Equine Assisted Services industry or adaptive/therapeutic riding instructor education and develpment? Do you have a request for a blog or video topic? Shoot us an email!
EMAIL:
Saebra.P@HoofFallsandFootfalls.com
PHONE:
623-326-7589
We are based out of Phoenix, Arizona but travel for national and international clinics, mentoring, coaching, and instructor development.
SO WHAT EXACTLY DOES HOOF FALLS & FOOTFALLS STAND FOR?
I founded Hoof Falls & Footfalls to provide high quality, thought-provoking, and professional content related to adaptive/therapeutic riding and other Equine Assisted Services (EAS). My goal is to challenge the status quo and encourage instructors, students, centers, and the EAS industry to raise their standards when it comes to the quality and safety of the services we provide. Beyond my website, blog, and various resources, I specialize in offering development and educational opportunities to adaptive/therapeutic instructors My approach emphasizes ethical collaboration with our equine partners and meeting our students of all abilities where they are to facilitate their growth and independence as equestrians. I want to help support and educate instructors because they are the the heart and soul of our industry. I strongly believe that hard work and perseverance can lead to unexpected achievements, and I’m here to inspire and support you in reaching your goals.
My CHALLENGE TO YOU:
- Constantly grow and learn to be a stronger instructor
- Raise the bar of services you provide
- Don’t’ compromise quality or safety because you’re affraid to say “no”
- Facilitate independence in ALL ABILITY students
- IMPACT AND CHANGE LIVES THROUGH SAFE, QUALITY EQUINE SERVICES!
ME…IN A NUTSHELL
I love God, my husband (who is my high school sweetheart), three energetic sons, and all my critters. We currently have 3 horses (my 4 footed coworkers) and 2 blue heelers.
I have an immense passion for the Equine Assisted Services industry and love mentoring and educating adaptive/therapeutic riding instructors as it pushes me to continue learning new things!
Hoof Falls & Footfalls has been a passion project that documents my instructor journey as well as challenges me to know my whats/hows/whys by doing research to support the content and education I provide.
In addition to the instructor education side of Hoof Falls & Footfalls, I run a small “inclusive” lesson program on my property where I offer traditional, adaptive, and Equine Assisted Learning lesson.
After almost a decade of working in various capacities at a large PATH intl. Premier Accredited Center that I care for deeply, I made the incredibly hard decision to step down from my position to stay at home withour (then) young children. I wanted a way to stay involved in the EAS industry and continue to grow as an instructor…so Hoof Falls & Footfalls was created!
I was raised in a world surrounded by equines and inherited the “horse bug” from my grandfather and parents. My grandfather, a genuine cowboy, trained and raced thoroughbreds, and his several of his ‘crazy’ old-school cowboy remedies still serve as my go-to solutions all these years later (and sciences is starting to explain why they work!). My parents operated a boarding and training facility in New Mexico, where Shetland ponies and chickens were my closest companions during my homeschooling years.
During my youth years showing pony hunters, hunter/jumpers, pony jumpers, English equitation, 4-H, I was fortunate enough to ride countless different horses and ponies. Most of ‘my’ equines were kill lot pones that were bought for meat value (because we did not have much money growing up) and years of hard work turned them into amazing animals that have taught me invaluable life lessons. My parents specialized in fixing ‘problem’ horses so I have seen the worst of the worst when it comes to horses which has been a true eye opener to reality that horses can be a dangerous sport and that safety should be first and foremost.
I’m living proof that being that awkward, horse obsessed kid can pay off and result in a beautiful life.
- CHA-IRD Instructor Certification: May 2024-present
- CHA- Instructor of Riders with Disabilities: Master Instructor: March 2023- present
- Call for Backup Suicide Awareness and Prevention for First Responders. Fall 2020
- Law Enforcement Perspectives for CISM Enhancement. Fall 2019.
- PATH Intl. CTRI Process Associate Faculty/Evaluator: March 2018-present
- PATH Intl. Instructor Mentor: June 2017-present
- CHA III (E,W,J): Sept. 2014-present
- PATH Intl. Equine Specialist: May 2012- present
- PATH Intl. Advanced Instructor: April 2012-present
- PATH CTRI Instructor: September 2009-present
- Clinic to Arena: PTSD and Optimizing the Equine Professional’s Role in Equine Assisted Therapy and Equine Assisted Learning. HETI 2021 Seoul- Invited Speaker. Virtual/In-Person Conference. June 2021
- HOW We Teach Matters! Optimize Communication and Cueing to Enhance Learning and Focus in the Arena. HETI 2021 Seoul. June 2021
- Isothermal Community College- Adjunct Instructor for Therapeutic Horsemanship Courses, Online, January 2020-December 2022
- The Ultimate Schooling Session for the PATH Intl. Certification Process- Developed & Instructed, Online by HF&FF, Fall 2020
- Instructor Mentor Boot Camp- Developed & Instructed, Online by HF&FF, Summer 2020
- Resuming Services Strategically and Safely Approaching the Future with Mindful Intention- Panel Presenter. PATH Intl. Online Webinar, May 2010
- Therapeutic Riding Instructor Development Course- Jeonju College, Jeonju, South Korea, December 2019
- Boots in the Barn- A Call to Action to Serve First Responders- PATH Intl. International Conference, November 2019
- The Hows and Whys of Safe, Professional Partnering with Equines- Hosted by Manes and Miracles, October 2019
- HOW & WHAT We Teach Matters!- Presenter at PATH Intl. Region 10 Conference, Colorado Springs, CO, 2019
- Presentation available in The Intuitive Instructor Club
- “Naughty” Horses: What are they trying to tell us?- Co- Presenter at PATH Intl. Region 10 Conference, Colorado Springs, CO, 2019
- Presentation available in The Intuitive Instructor Club
- The “T” Word- Article featured on The American Hippotherapy Association Blog. Spring 2019
- Tempe Mounted Police School – Instructor- Hosted by Tempe Mounted Unit. Spring 2019
- “First Responder Equine Activity Workshop”- Clinician & Workshop Developer- Let’s Run Park Seoul, South Korea, February 2019
- Equine Instructor Development Clinic- Goodyear, AZ, December 2018
- Equine Handling, Best Practices, & SOP Development Training- Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office (MASH II Unit), November/December 2018
- “PTSD Firefighter Equine Workshop”- Clinician & Workshop Developer- Let’s Run Park Seoul, South Korea, August 2018
- Body Mechanics: Does it Really Apply to ALL Ability Rider? – Presenter at PATH Intl. Region 10 Conference, Santa Fe, NM, 2018
- NextGen: Bridging the Gap Between Police and Youth – Co-presenter at PATH Intl. Region 10 Conference, Santa Fe, NM, 2018
- Hoof n’ Woof: Collaborating with Our Fellow Animal Organizations – Co-presenter at PATH Intl. Region 10 Conference, Santa Fe, NM, 2018
- Mounted Police School Instructor- Hosted by Tempe Mounted Unit. Spring 2018
- Joubert Syndrome Conference– Discover the Wonderful World of Equine Activities and Therapies. Phoenix, AZ, July 2017
- Horses Help Community Education Series: Discover the Wonderful World of Equine Activities and Therapies: 2017
- 85086 Magazine: 2018
- Phoenix Dog Magazine- “Horsin’ Around”: 2018
- Adjunct Faculty @ Scottsdale Community College: 2012-2013
- Course Topic: Intro to Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies
- PATH Int. Premier Center Accreditation Experience– 100% scores on accreditation. First while Equine Director and second while Program Director. Experience mentoring other centers in obtaining their Premier Accreditation Status.
- Program Development– Experience building successful, sustainable high quality programs in the various areas of Adaptive Riding, Adaptive Horsemanship, Equine Facilitated Learning, Group Outings, At-Risk Youth programs, Military/Fire/Police Programs, Summer Programs, Literacy Programs. Development of various clinics for instructors and volunteers: round penning, lunging, selecting therapy horses, desensitization, training for lunge line lessons, etc.
- Certified Instructor– Thousands of teaching hours at a PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center. Experience teaching all ability levels in both recreational and competitive focused classes. Dressage and English Equitation coach for a member of the 2011 US Special Olympics World Games Equestrian Team. Experience with both adaptive riding and adaptive groundwork.
- Instructor Training Programs– Success in developing or fine-tuning training programs with high success rates for those seeking PATH Intl. Registered TRI Certification, PATH Intl. Advanced TRI Certification, PATH Intl. ESMHL.
- Host Site Representative– Experience as representative and organizer for various PATH Intl. Workshops and/or Certifications (20+ unique events while at my 10 years at Premier Accredited Center)
- State and Regional Meetings– experience marketing, coordinating, and presenting at several PATH Intl. State and Regional meetings
- Barn Show Coordinator– extensive experience hosting and coordinating safe, timely on and offsite shows for adaptive riding students. Have organized schooling and state level shows for Special Olympics AZ.
- Equine Director– Experience as Equine Director and managing 16-20 head of horses at a high volume PATH Intl. Premiere Accredited Center that offers a wide range of EAAT programs
- Volunteer Training & Management– Development and fine tuning of volunteer training for orientations, sidewalkers, horse leaders, barn buddies, exercise team schooling, and various other specialty volunteer training. High retention rate of volunteers as a certified instructor using the obtain-train-retain mentality.
- 2023 Tempe Mounted Police School Guest Instructor
- 2019 Tempe Mounted Police School Lead Instructor
- 2018 Tempe Mounted Police School Lead Instructor
- Instructor for various clinics: round penning, lunging, selecting therapy horses, desensitization
- Horsemanship Series developer and instructor for Horses Help
- 15+ years able bodied riding lessons: beginner to advanced, group and individual, multiple disciplines and ages
- 4-H Hippology and Horse Bowl Instructor for 3 years
- Experience starting and training 100+ head: starting young horses, corrective training for ‘problem’ horses, fine tuning
- Significant experience in training rescue or ‘last chance’ horses and ponies with behavior issues
- Started two Canadian Warmbloods in 2011 for Dressage and Jumpers. Both qualified for ADA State Finals in 2012. Ducky lives with me while the other was sold and continues to have a successful Dressage and 3 Day evening career
- 15+ years training experience in ground work: horsemanship, ground driving, lunging, round penning, desensitization
- 25+ years riding experience: English, western, jumping, bareback, dressage, team penning, recreational trail riding, desensitization.
- 25+ years grourndwork experience: lungeing, round penning, ground driving, showmanship, desensitization.
- 16 years showing experience: Hunter/Jumper, Jumpers, Equitation, Western Pleasure, Bareback, Showmanship, 4-H. Competed at Local, State, Regional, and National levels.
- Multiple national, regional, state, and local awards in 4-H, Pony Hunters, Equitation, and Jumpers. 2012 Pony Finals qualifier and competitor in Lexington, KY.
