About Andrea Osmond
My name is Andrea Osmond and I am a Western Dressage Trainer in Golden, Colorado. I became a full time Trainer in 2014, after realizing that I despised working in cooperate America and enjoyed my side job of investing in Hunter Jumpers to train and sell. At this point I left my cushy management job working for Bank of America, 400 employees and leaped into self-employment as a Western Trainer. This was the best decision I could have ever made!
I started my business at a little outdoor facility with one lesson horse and a round pen. With time the lesson program grew and the horses came into training, it was time to upgrade. Today, I am the Trainer at Silver Quarter Acres and have a co-Trainer Linnea True who brought Classical Dressage to the program.
So how did I land on Western Dressage, I suppose you would like to know? Well, as a child I began learning to ride with a riding Instructor and then began showing horses through 4-H and Stock Horse Breed shows. After my beloved Appaloosa passed away, I sparked an interests in Dressage. Through my teen years I rode and showed with several Dressage trainers. Typically I rode my trainers horses, as my family was not in a position to buy a high dollar Dressage horse that could perform to the level I was riding. I still needed to practice, so I would go home and practice on my Western Stock Horses in my Western Saddle. This is something I called Western Dressage at the time.
In my late teens I went on a Dressage break and became Miss Evergreen Rodeo 2006. For three years I traveled the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association circuit, with my palomino gelding. During this time I began training some horses here and there for clients. My favorite was an Andalusian Stallion named Spartacus. At the end of my reign I started my freshman year of college. For the next 3 years I took a bit of a break from riding, but my parent hung on to the horses in hopes my passion would return for them.
In 2010 I graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a Minor is Sociology. At this same time my parents sold their ranch and the horses were moved into a small boarding facility. So here I was, a college graduate, getting my first real job and I was handed the bill for my two horses... as I should have been. So I sold one horse and started doing a little training part-time to pay for my palomino, Cheyenne.
A notable person I met and worked with during this time was a young Hunter Jumper Trainer. She managed a facility up in Broomfield, Colorado and she really had a lot going for her. She and I became dear friends and I began investing in some Hunter Jumper horses with her to flip. I wanted to learn more about jumping... so I thought and was mostly interested in the flatwork. I became her intern, investor and assistant barn manager... Aka her right hand person, when I wasn't working at the bank. I learn a lot from this woman and she really encouraged me to make the jump into training.
I ended up leaving the Hunter Jumper barn and moved into the little outdoor facility where I officially started Osmond Equestrian. I worked mostly with behavioral horses, I broke a couple, I flipped a couple project horses and I gave riding lessons. It was about a year into it when I learn Western Dressage was now a recognized riding discipline. I was so excited and began re-writing my business plan to focus on Western Dressage, the niche I had been looking to become the master of.
It has now been three years and I have upgraded in facilities a couple of times and am now at a wonderful barn where I have the ability to focus on my discipline, Western Dressage. I have a large successful school horses program with students of all levels of riding. I also have many horses in training for Western Dressage and several that compete. The summer of 2017 I kicked off my Western Dressage Show Team. We had a fabulous year and attend several schooling show and The Western Dressage World Championships.
This year I earned the End of Year Hi-Point for the Basic Open division on my Appaloosa "Tiz A Way" with the Western Dressage Association of Colorado. One of my clients earned Reserve End of Year Hi-Point for Intro Amateur with the Western Dressage Association of Colorado. We participated in several shows with Rocky Mountain Dressage Society, which is beginning to include more and more Western Dressage opportunities.
Attending the World Championships as the youngest Trainer to be showing and coaching clients, I couldn't have been happier about the outcome. I took a junior rider and her Welsh pony, who won Top Ten in her Intro Junior division. I also took an amateur and her Mustang who place 15th out of 30 in her Intro Amateur division. I couldn't have been more proud of the work, effort, commitment and dedication they put into going to the World Championships.
Over the past year and a half I have had some wonderful opportunities to work with some world class trainers. I have trained under Joyce Swanson of Swanson Training Center in Castle Rock, Colorado. She and Cliff Swanson are some of the founders of Western Dressage Association and she has written the tests over the past several years. I have also been training under Frances Carbonnel of Classical Legacy, LLC. She is a remarkable Trainer, who I am so blessed to currently be training with. I've had the pleasure of attending several clinics with Trainers such as Julie Lorton and Ann Judge (Denver Bronco Mascot Trainer). It has been a wonderful experience to establish relationships with all of these amazing Trainers and WDACO/WDAA Board Members.
In addition, I have also been working on retaining my judging card. I currently have my Judging Card through Colorado State University, which allows me to judge 4-H shows and open shows. In 2017, I began the process of becoming a certified United States Equestrian Federation judge, specializing in Western Dressage. I am about 1/2 through the lengthy process.
I have decided to start this blog to share some on my practices, routines, some of my lesson plans, and interesting tips. I hope that you find this to be helpful and interesting. Please feel free to contact me with requests on topics having to do with Western Dressage.
I started my business at a little outdoor facility with one lesson horse and a round pen. With time the lesson program grew and the horses came into training, it was time to upgrade. Today, I am the Trainer at Silver Quarter Acres and have a co-Trainer Linnea True who brought Classical Dressage to the program.
So how did I land on Western Dressage, I suppose you would like to know? Well, as a child I began learning to ride with a riding Instructor and then began showing horses through 4-H and Stock Horse Breed shows. After my beloved Appaloosa passed away, I sparked an interests in Dressage. Through my teen years I rode and showed with several Dressage trainers. Typically I rode my trainers horses, as my family was not in a position to buy a high dollar Dressage horse that could perform to the level I was riding. I still needed to practice, so I would go home and practice on my Western Stock Horses in my Western Saddle. This is something I called Western Dressage at the time.
In my late teens I went on a Dressage break and became Miss Evergreen Rodeo 2006. For three years I traveled the Pro Rodeo Cowboy Association circuit, with my palomino gelding. During this time I began training some horses here and there for clients. My favorite was an Andalusian Stallion named Spartacus. At the end of my reign I started my freshman year of college. For the next 3 years I took a bit of a break from riding, but my parent hung on to the horses in hopes my passion would return for them.
In 2010 I graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a Minor is Sociology. At this same time my parents sold their ranch and the horses were moved into a small boarding facility. So here I was, a college graduate, getting my first real job and I was handed the bill for my two horses... as I should have been. So I sold one horse and started doing a little training part-time to pay for my palomino, Cheyenne.
A notable person I met and worked with during this time was a young Hunter Jumper Trainer. She managed a facility up in Broomfield, Colorado and she really had a lot going for her. She and I became dear friends and I began investing in some Hunter Jumper horses with her to flip. I wanted to learn more about jumping... so I thought and was mostly interested in the flatwork. I became her intern, investor and assistant barn manager... Aka her right hand person, when I wasn't working at the bank. I learn a lot from this woman and she really encouraged me to make the jump into training.
I ended up leaving the Hunter Jumper barn and moved into the little outdoor facility where I officially started Osmond Equestrian. I worked mostly with behavioral horses, I broke a couple, I flipped a couple project horses and I gave riding lessons. It was about a year into it when I learn Western Dressage was now a recognized riding discipline. I was so excited and began re-writing my business plan to focus on Western Dressage, the niche I had been looking to become the master of.
It has now been three years and I have upgraded in facilities a couple of times and am now at a wonderful barn where I have the ability to focus on my discipline, Western Dressage. I have a large successful school horses program with students of all levels of riding. I also have many horses in training for Western Dressage and several that compete. The summer of 2017 I kicked off my Western Dressage Show Team. We had a fabulous year and attend several schooling show and The Western Dressage World Championships.
This year I earned the End of Year Hi-Point for the Basic Open division on my Appaloosa "Tiz A Way" with the Western Dressage Association of Colorado. One of my clients earned Reserve End of Year Hi-Point for Intro Amateur with the Western Dressage Association of Colorado. We participated in several shows with Rocky Mountain Dressage Society, which is beginning to include more and more Western Dressage opportunities.
Attending the World Championships as the youngest Trainer to be showing and coaching clients, I couldn't have been happier about the outcome. I took a junior rider and her Welsh pony, who won Top Ten in her Intro Junior division. I also took an amateur and her Mustang who place 15th out of 30 in her Intro Amateur division. I couldn't have been more proud of the work, effort, commitment and dedication they put into going to the World Championships.
Over the past year and a half I have had some wonderful opportunities to work with some world class trainers. I have trained under Joyce Swanson of Swanson Training Center in Castle Rock, Colorado. She and Cliff Swanson are some of the founders of Western Dressage Association and she has written the tests over the past several years. I have also been training under Frances Carbonnel of Classical Legacy, LLC. She is a remarkable Trainer, who I am so blessed to currently be training with. I've had the pleasure of attending several clinics with Trainers such as Julie Lorton and Ann Judge (Denver Bronco Mascot Trainer). It has been a wonderful experience to establish relationships with all of these amazing Trainers and WDACO/WDAA Board Members.
In addition, I have also been working on retaining my judging card. I currently have my Judging Card through Colorado State University, which allows me to judge 4-H shows and open shows. In 2017, I began the process of becoming a certified United States Equestrian Federation judge, specializing in Western Dressage. I am about 1/2 through the lengthy process.
I have decided to start this blog to share some on my practices, routines, some of my lesson plans, and interesting tips. I hope that you find this to be helpful and interesting. Please feel free to contact me with requests on topics having to do with Western Dressage.
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