A city girl who loves horses is pursuing her dream, thanks to a special hands-on Horse Training Program at a northern Alberta campus.
Originally from Vancouver, it was Sherry Spanza’s mother who saw an ad for the NAIT-Fairview program and encouraged her to enroll.
Despite having worked in a north Vancouver stable prior to her arrival on campus, Sherry discovered that she had a great deal to learn, but that the experience was wonderful and rewarding. Her biggest challenge, she confessed, was learning the “horse sense” necessary to train her own horse, provided by the program – a task that must be completed to a high standard in order to graduate.
“Everyone else had been around horses all their lives and even had their own horses, but I was used to “push-button” horses (the predictable animals in some commercial stables).”
She has a great deal of praise for instructor Wayne Gray, who helped her develop her skills and ensured that she and the other students had a good grounding in everything from equine business management and computers to equine health, disease, nutrition, and first aid.
Since every student had their own two-year-old horse to train, Sherry learned by observation as well. “It was a great environment. I was able to watch the progress of the other students as they trained their horses, which all had individual personalities.”
But it was a visit by a special trainer, sponsored by NAIT, that really changed Sherry’s life. Nettie Barr, owner of Canadian Natural Horsemanship Inc. in Elmworth, Alberta, conducted a one-week clinic for the students on campus.
Barr specializes in a new technique of “natural” training that focuses as much on the horse’s mind as on its body, Sherry explained. She was so impressed that she chose to do her six-week practicum at the CNH Centre.
While there, she had the opportunity to train a horse named Kahlua and put those lessons to work. The horse was one of Sherry’s favourites to train because the animal had no confidence and was scared of everything.
“Once she realized that she could trust me, she gained confidence and wanted to learn as much as possible. It was really an amazing experience to see how proper training can really help a horse.”
When she graduated in 2005, Sherry moved to Edmonton and began marketing herself as a trainer. Before long, she was self-employed as a trainer and conducting her own clinics.
Sherry has big plans. In partnership with a classmate from the NAIT-Fairview program, Erin Minich, she plans to open up a training centre in the spring of 2007. Erin’s folks have a quarter-section farm and the two women will be building corrals, rings, and other facilities between now and then.
Then, says Sherry, she will focus on her ultimate goal: to be a full-time equine trainer. In the meantime, she welcomes enquiries and can be reach by email at sherry_spanza@hot mail.com.
