Contact Us!

We would love to hear from you! Do you have a question about the Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies Industry? 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 in and effort to provide high quality, thought provoking, and ethical content relating to traditional and adaptive equine activities. The content seeks to challenge the status quo and encourage instructors, students, centers, and the Equine Assisted Activities industry to raise the bar.

But even more important than the website, blog, and resources, I want to offer challenging development and educational opportunities to instructors.

Why? because Instructors are the heart and soul of the equine activities industry and they are the ones that are impacting the individuals we all serve.

 

Hoof Falls & Footfalls believes that little fish can make big waves. Hard work and perseverance can take you to places you never imagined. I came from humble beginnings, worked my tail off to get where I am today, and had (and still have) some amazing mentors along the way. I want to inspire and challenge others to keep driving towards their goals. To keep pushing through challenges and discover a way over the obstacles. I want to help YOU reach your goals an instructor, running a center, or whatever you strive to do in this unique and rewarding field.

Grow and empower quality instructors = growing the number of lives impacted through high quality equine activities.

My CHALLENGE TO YOU is for all of us to:

  • Grow together as instructors
  • Hold the bar high for the services we provide
  • Don’t’ compromise quality or safety
  • Facilitate independence in ALL ABILITY students
  • IMPACT LIVES THROUGH SAFE, QUALITY EQUINE ACTIVITIES!

On the HF&FF Social Media pages I shared that with every single certification, training, and intensive workshop I attended or went though severe self-doubt set in. I knew I had put in the time and effort…but there was still that nagging self-questioning on if I was ready.

Do you find yourself asking:

  • Am I to old/young to get started?
  • Do I know enough ‘yet’ to do ‘x’?
  • Have I experienced enough ‘yet’ to go for the next level?
  • I have not ‘yet’ been in a show…and probably never will. Am I suited for this industry?
  • I have kids, and a family, and a job, I don’t know if I have time ‘yet’.

If so…I’ve been there! I’ve been bogged down by those ‘yets’ that never came.

Fair warning: On all these topics I can and will empathize…but I will not sympathize. Use your past as a motivator to your goals instead of something that drags you down.

My goal is to work with, mentor, develop, or coach 50 instructors within the first two years of founding Hoof Falls & Footfalls.

I love mentoring. I love teaching. I love coaching and encouraging other instructors.

I KNOW that equine activities can impact and change lives (they changed mine through the grace of God). I want to work with motivated individuals and centers that are driven to be the change in the lives of those we serve. I want to work with people and centers that use their history as a launching pad to move them forward, not a weight to hold them back.

It is through Instructors, barns, and centers that we will impact lives thought SAFE, QUALITY equine activities for ALL ABILITY students.

ME…IN A NUTSHELL

I love God, my husband (who is my high school sweetheart), two energetic sons, and all my critters. We currently have 4 horses, 3 dogs, and a varying number of chickens and ducks.

I have a huge passion for the Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies industry, I love mentoring new instructors, and I very much enjoy learning new things! HF&FF is a great way for me to put my thoughts down in print and also challenge my views by doing research to support my writing. All of these are reasons why I have entered into the world of blogging and building a website to benefit instructors both in the able bodied and adaptive equine activities industry.

In addition to the Hoof Falls & Footfalls project,  I  have a hobby ranch in my back yard where I give traditional ground and riding lessons and board a couple horses. I am now a stay at home mom and homeschool both of of our kids. After nine years working in various capacities at a large PATH intl. Premier Accredited Center that I care for deeply, I made the incredibly hard decision to stay at home (and do HF&FF on the side)

I grew up living and breathing horses. My grandfather was a true cowboy who trained and raced thoroughbreds and is still my go to for all those ‘crazy’ old-school cowboy remedies that work. My parents ran a boarding and training facility in New Mexico where I grew up with Shetland ponies and chickens as my main friends (homeschool life!).

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’ horses 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.

  • Call for Backup Suicide Awareness and Prevention for First Responders. Fall 2020
  • Law Enforcement Perspectives for CISM Enhancement. Fall 2019.
  • PATH Intl. Registered Instructor OSWSC 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 Registered Instructor: September 2009-April 2012
  • 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-Present
  • 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
  • “Naughty” Horses: What are they trying to tell us?- Co- Presenter at PATH Intl. Region 10 Conference, Colorado Springs, CO, 2019
  • 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.
    • To date: 20 successful TRI candidates, 8 successful ESMHL candidates
  • 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.
  • 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.