Jessica Rattner's progress with Lady, a seven year old Hanoverian mare out of Walzertraum, is moving forward slowly and steadily, however this horse has raised new questions about training and philosophical approach.  For this reason and others, Jessica was selected as the first of several riders to work with Olympic veteran Courtney King-Dye in a training notebook mentorship exclusively available at Barnby Notes.

During the mentorship, Jessica writes down her training thoughts in her public online notebook at Barnby Notes while Courtney reads them and comments.  Courtney filled over thirty notebooks over the years with training notes.  Courtney's story is now available inside our Pro Notebooks.  For those who want to follow this mentorship, go to the Barnby Notes Training Community which does not require a log in and is free to all interested riders.  Jessica may write notes in her notebook more often than Courtney comments, however Courtney will comment on two entries per month.  Jessica plans to attach a video at least monthly. 

"Working in a vacuum doesn't really lend itself to answering all the questions that surface during training," she said.  "This is a perfect opportunity to explore those questions through writing and with Courtney's expert opinion."  Lady is hot, notices everything and can be spooky and tense.  Because of this Jessica often finds herself looking down while riding and Jessica wonders if this is partly because she's not communicating clearly with Lady.  And now she is looking down on other challenging horses as well. Among other things, Jessica hopes this mentorship will help her resolve this issue.

Jessica Rattner  is a professional rider, trainer and teacher based out of DevonWood Equestrian Centre in Sherwood, Oregon.  She considers herself more gifted at teaching than riding but aspires to be equally good at both.  Jessica clinics as often as possible but other than that she doesn't get regular professional help. 

When she was younger, Jessica worked for Lendon Gray and had an opportunity to watch Courtney ride almost every day.  Like many, Jessica is forever inspired by Courtney.  "So many trainers ride one way in the show ring, and not so nicely at home which is always a disappointment," she said.  "It was nice to see someone walk the walk, all the time, every day for every ride."

Putting herself on the "chopping block" in a public way is something Jessica is ready to do so that others can learn from her during this three month mentorship.  "I feel nervous and vulnerable about putting the way I process things out there," Jessica said. "Courtney always struck me as a natural rider but also someone who thinks while riding, more so than most. I think... a lot. Riding is not instinctive to me and I have to break things down in order to understand them. I've been lucky enough to ride some really amazing horses who have taught me about "feel" but it's taken a really long time to get my body to be even moderately obedient. I often feel like my brain and my body don't match -- which is frustrating. Training can be very personal, emotional, full of insecurities and misconceptions. I think many of people aren't willing to talk about that aspect of training in a public setting which is why I'm hoping to do so during this mentoring process. I'm hoping that Courtney will have a new and interesting take on my thought process and my riding so we can all learn from her insight. I'm really looking forward to reading what Courtney has to say!"

Note:  Online Notebook Videos by Equine Video Productions, Photos of dark bay by Susan J. Stickle, Photos of bay by Terri Miller.