(injuries), but I was proud to just even go into this race and to be able to do something that was so life changing. I have a huge respect for all the other competitors in that race and for all endurance riders. I did do some training to prepare, walking and running up to 20 km, but you have to train your mind as well! Alone, riding in the middle of a desert across the open land! Spending the day with nothing or no one, just you and your horse. I will be going back for sure to compete again someday!


In 2017 Lorie co-produced a film called “Humble and Kind”, which showcases Lorie and her Liberty horse Titan. Lorie, would you give our readers more detail on the film “Humble and Kind”, and how can they access the film to watch? Yes for sure!!! There’s a youtube video and I’ll share the link here.


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PiSWY_6eOqY The film was finalized and edited by Julianne Neal, Ridgeway, South


Carolina. She is just the sweetest person ever in the world. I loved work- ing with her to develop this short film that was later a Semifinalist for the 2017 Equus Film Festival. Some fun facts for the film; the centre point of the film was all about


the song “Humble and Kind” written by Lori McKenna, and performed by Tim McGraw. The song itself was what affected me so deeply. It was such a powerful message and I loved that I had an opportunity to use the song to showcase my Liberty horsemanship training skills with my horse Titan. I was in Lexington, Kentucky for an annual event called “The Road


to the Horse”, and I had my horse Titan with me. We were stabled at a friend’s place, Dan James for the week. It was a lucky set of rare cir- cumstances where I met the head production coordinator of The Road to the Horse, Kelly and his wife Michelle Campbell. I got talking to them and before I knew it, they were coming out to shoot some footage of myself and Titan for an afternoon. It was never really to be for a film, it was just taking the opportunity to film what we were working on. So we spent an afternoon shooting and having some fun. Kelly then sent me the footage weeks later and my daughter Callie and I edited the footage, to make a short film, really just a video, which then later became a part of the short film that Julianne Neal created. The film now is something I look back on and I am very proud of. It’s


short and sweet and to the point. It’s me, and how I teach. It shows you in a very short form what liberty is all about for me personally. I am very passionate about what I do with horses and I want to help as many people as I can in whatever way I can. I always thank God and thank my Mom and Dad, who always taught me to stay humble and kind.


Lorie is currently focusing on expanding how she reaches her clientele and writing a book called “How I Got There”. Bonus, you have a video series coming out as well. Lorie, tell us more about your book, the release date? What is the video series on, and when is the release date? The book that I’m working on “How I got there” is still a work in prog-


ress. I’m not quite sure of a release date yet. The videos are practical, very in the moment, hands on training tips.


It starts off with some basic training for groundwork with all types of different horses, into more advanced groundwork training man oeuvres and how you apply it all under saddle. Each video is 15 minutes long with a beginning intro about what the session is going to be about. I try to use actual client’s horses to talk about some of the struggles they are facing.


It might be a horse that’s crowding your space, a horse that has


some health issues, or horses that have trailer loading issues. Unfortunately, the release of the series has been delayed.


In 2007, Lorie re-located to Ontario where she started Liberty Lane Farm (located just outside Ottawa area) and continued on her path of refining her training methods. www.libertylanefarm. net Lorie, would you share some of the refining training methods you have learned and how you apply those to your horses now? • Having the opportunity to work with so many different people with so many different horses over the years has really helped me refine my training methods. I’ve been able to travel across Canada, the United States, and overseas. Listening to people tell their stories about their


journey with their horses has been amazing! • In the beginning I started out as a western rider and later enjoyed the “western reining” discipline. I started off some of my basic training with Melanie Gray, from Owen Sound, Ontario. She is a western coach, judge and trainer. I worked with Melanie on my reining and western rid- ing skills. Mel is one of the most inspirational women I have ever met. She changed so much for me personally at an earlier stage in my career by helping me overcome some things in my personal life. Many years later we both came to discover we were deeply connected to another amazing lady, Barbra Schulte from Brenham Texas. I had met Barbra through another friend Stacy Westfall. I invited Barbra to come to Can- ada to do a weekend event, a Symposium, at my Liberty Lane Farms. It was a weekend that changed many people’s lives, including mine! • When I first moved to Ontario I would train and coach and sometimes take horses in to start them under saddle. I would have some horses in for training that had behavioral issues, health issues and so forth. Over the years, I started to develop more of what I found worked for me. One of the biggest things I learned was to slow down and read the horse’s body language. A horse will tell you a lot while you work with them, but also how they interact in their herd. Watching horses and how they interact with each other is a big part of my understanding of the horse. I recommend it to anyone that is struggling with their horse. Take some time and sit and watch your horse in a field, paddock or pasture. A great foundation builds a better horse. A horse and rider that have a great understanding of foundation groundwork will transfer those skills under saddle. • Taking more time to understand the horse, spending time with sever- al different horses really made a huge change for me. The more horses I would train the better I understood. It didn’t matter what the circum- stances were if the horse was younger, older or a seasoned pro. The constant that made the difference was me and how I handled the horse, and how the horses began to understand me. • The groundwork methods that I use are very simple and very basic. A lot of what I do with a horse in the very beginning is to get some dis- tance and perspective so I have the horse understand what it is that I’m asking. I try to stay very still and very quiet once I have asked something of the horse. The message then has a clear meaning for the horse.


Lorie, as a headlining Canadian Clinician for the 2020 Art of the Horseman. What is the Art of the Horseman all about? Will it broadcast in the USA? Art of the Horseman is an online event and can be accessed from


anywhere online. The creator Paula Curtis, from Wisconsin, USA, created the online


HORSE & AG MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2020 15


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20