Barn Manager
Emily C. Osborne
Barn Manager, Therapeutic Riding Instructor
Emily grew up in Fairfax, Virginia and was introduced to horses at age 5 by her grandmother Ethel, who lived in Connecticut. Ethel had always loved horses, but had never had a chance to get involved with them, so while Emily visited her over a few summers, Ethel encouraged her to have some lessons at a stable nearby. At age 7, Emily started taking weekly lessons at Tamarack Stables in Lorton, Virginia, riding ponies and Andalusian crosses. She rode there until high school, and then worked two summers as a horse camp counselor at Congressional Camp of VA in Annandale. During high school she enjoyed volunteering with a number of organizations in her community, one of which was the Northern VA Training Center, where she assisted mentally and physically handicapped residents while they swam in the heated pool.
While college shopping, she found Wilson College, in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, to be the perfect mix of horses and learning. As an added bonus, Wilson was offering a new bachelors program called Equine Facilitated Therapy, which would start during Emily's second year. Emily earned one degree in Equine Management and another in Equine Facilitated Therapy, meanwhile becoming a member of NARHA (the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association). While attending a NARHA regional conference, Emily came across Frank Bell, a "natural horseman" whose horse training techniques were so intriguing that Emily went to Colorado to spend a week learning his methods. She then went on to Lift Me Up! Therapeutic Riding in Great Falls, Virginia to secure her NARHA Instructor Certification. At a NARHA national conference, Emily came across a book by Mary Wanless, and was immediately convinced that Mary's revolutionary method of teaching horseback riding was more effective than any other she had ever experienced or heard of.
After some floundering around, Emily managed to get herself to Overdale Equestrian Center in the quaint Cotswolds of England, to study with Mary and her colleagues. While most of Mary's international students don't stay for more than 2 months or so, Emily enjoyed herself so much that she didn't want to leave, and ended up extending her stay to 8 months. After 6 months, Emily briefly left England for a 6 week backpacking trip through Europe, and visited a few friends along the way. One particularly memorable friend was Dada Suvak, the director, instructor, and chief everything of MOGU, a therapeutic horseback riding center in Osijek, Croatia. Emily spent fascinating 3 weeks with Dada and her wonderful family, and got to know the amazing students, volunteers, and horses of MOGU. Dada has since moved her family to the US, and is now the barn manager of Lift Me Up! Therapeutic Riding in Great Falls!
Upon returning from her overseas adventures, Emily found a job in Poolesville, Maryland, working for Francie Dougherty, DVM as a groom/assistant barn manager. Francie juggles several horse related jobs which Emily helped with, including but not limited to: organizing Mary Wanless clinics twice a year, maintaining a 'small' sport horse training operation (for which Francie does her own veterinary work), organizing a small drill team (which did competitions and performances), acting as home base for the Great Falls Vaulters (housing and training no less than three huge vaulting horses), and giving riding lessons to the general public and Pony Clubbers. Emily immensely enjoyed the three years she spent with Francie and her family, and came away stuffed with more knowledge and experience than she could have ever hoped for.
All these experiences made Emily feel like she could perform the duties of a barn manager and riding instructor to a fair degree, and so when she spotted a job opening announcement for Barn Manager of Great Strides, she knew it was the right thing to do. She had even heard of the wonderful people at Great Strides from Francie, who had brought the vaulting team to do a demo at the new Great Strides location for their Festival of Horses just a few months before. Emily was hired and has loved working at Great Strides since her first day: April 1, 2005.
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