Shelby’s philosophy is founded on the premise that patience, understanding and consistency will breed happy equine partners with a better work ethic and more willing attitude. There is no “one way” when training horses and with this in mind, Shelby’s intent is to design individual training programs using methods that best fit the individual horse while keeping in mind their similarities in behaviour and learning theory as a species. Using positive reinforcement with a mixture of traditional methods, Shelby works at a pace suited to the individual horse. With her experience working with neglected and abused horses along with many different breeds, she is comfortable handling a variety of horses coming from all walks of life.

Shelby firmly believes that good handling starts with providing horses with ample turnout and the ability to express their natural behaviours. Because of this, she is an advocate for educating people on the benefits of adequate turnout and social turnout with other horses. She has noticed huge changes in her own horses’ demeanour since moving from traditional stall/small paddock board to 24/7 outdoor field board. While this exact set up may not work for all horses, Shelby does believe that allowing horses the opportunity to socialize and move about without being confined to small areas for extended periods of time will only create happier and more adaptable horses in training and prioritizes this in her program.