Jessica’s Story
Jessica’s family didn’t know much about horses, but they knew access to them was what she wanted more than anything, and hence gifted her riding lessons for her 12th birthday. She spent every subsequent available moment at the barn, learning everything she could about riding and caring for them. By the time she could drive, she was teaching beginner lessons with a focus on horse care and correct rider biomechanics in exchange for saddle time at a small Hunter/ Jumper barn.
Jessica feared spoiling her love for animals with the pressure of an animal centered career, so although she worked for vets and animal shelters as a young adult, she ultimately decided to pursue a Nursing career and obtained her BSN from Indiana University in 2007. After 10 years of Nursing in an acute hospital setting, she made a career jump to stay at home with her newborn daughter and assist her husband in starting up their catering company, Nameless Catering.
During all this time, she remained devoted to horses, purchasing her first in 2006. She self-trained this special OTTB, Romeo, to become a reliable partner across many disciplines and experience levels. When he was ready to retire, Jessica’s childhood dream was fulfilled in purchasing a small farm to bring him home to in 2020.
Since horses need friends, 2 more were added to the herd, but it wasn’t long before Jessica was reminded just how special Romeo truly was. He’d been a breeze to ride and train in comparison to the new additions! In her quest to uncover the cause of perceived pain related behaviors in one of them, a misunderstood Paint named Sherwin, she recalled a particularly compelling presentation she’d seen at her local library a couple years prior. Revisiting the Masterson Method at that pivotal time in her life felt like fanning a tiny flame that she never knew burned inside her, and that now-roaring fire could no longer be ignored. She attended her first Weekend Seminar soon after and continued down the intensive path to certification over the course of about 2 years.
Check out Masterson Method for more info on what this program looks like.
Masterson education changed just about everything for Jessica. The basic tenet of softening when we meet resistance found applications across all levels of not only her horse life, but her personal life as well, and the depth of knowledge and discovery that continues to stem from it shows no end in sight and fills her with gratitude daily. She deeply enjoys her work, and spends her remaining time maintaining and enjoying her slice of heaven with her husband and daughter, expanding her knowledge of the horse-human connection and sharing it with whomever will listen, and of course training and riding her horses whenever she can. At the time of writing this, Romeo still lives on her farm at the ripe age of 25, and though Sherwin’s life was cut short at 14, she credits him with leading her to Masterson and everything that has and will follow. 2 other horses, Simba and Forest, live on her farm along with a generous smattering of other creatures who each claim pieces of her heart.