Leading Edge Equestrian Center

Leading Edge Equestrian Center Lois James offers all levels of eventing and jumping training & lessons. Course work, cross country, and dressage lessons also provided.

Our team's focus is on preparing horse and rider for success, with an emphasis on gymnastic and pole exercises.

The Leading Edge Equestrian Center wrapped up the recognized eventing season with Spokane Sport Horse Farm Fall trials. ...
10/07/2024

The Leading Edge Equestrian Center wrapped up the recognized eventing season with Spokane Sport Horse Farm Fall trials. Rosie Rupley competed in the beginner novice classic format and rocked it for a 4th place finish. Sarah did the novice classic and had a ton of fun, a slight steering hiccup kept her from the win but she finished in 4th so thrilled. Cindy Hahn did her second ever event with her young horse and despite some dressage wobbles and XC time had a great event to finish the season confidently. Mehgan Doneen rode beautifully and tactfully and had lovely moments - the development of a baby horse is definitely a marathon and not a sprint and I’m confident her mare will come into next season the better for Mehgan’s patience. Elle had a super dressage test and although an unfortunate miscommunication on a XC distance ended their weekend early, they are such a strong pair and will no doubt soar next year. I’m so proud of this team and their accomplishments, most of all, their stellar horsemanship 🩵🩵

The Leading Edge Equestrian Center had a fantastic event at Aspen Farms with Cindy Hahn competing in her first event on ...
09/16/2024

The Leading Edge Equestrian Center had a fantastic event at Aspen Farms with Cindy Hahn competing in her first event on her lovely youngster Tristan in BN, and Rosie Rupley riding her super star Ferdy in area VII championships in the BN Amateur division. Cindy’s goal was to complete, and she by far outdid herself finishing 8th in a big group full of pros. Rosie was class all weekend to represent in a very competitive division. I couldn’t be prouder of these riders and their horses. Making my job easy🩵 Thank you to Jonathan and the organizers for another beautifully run championships!! And apparently Aspen has nothing to do with skiing ⛷️🤪

08/18/2024

Letting the horse look at the jump, sniff it, stand near it, these are all things that decades ago, when I first started jumping I was told to never allow.

The idea back then was that a horse had to “just deal.” And if the horse quit at the jump, the horse was “being bad,” and needed to get a good smack with a crop.

But most of the time---not all, but in many cases---the reason that a horse quits is because of some sort of insecurity or fear or spookiness, and instead of punishing the horse, a better strategy is to try to get the horse to not be afraid, If a horse refuses out of fear, does whacking the horse, which adds fear to already existing fear, make a lot of sense?

Now, sure, sometimes a horse needs to be told to go, but generally a better first way is to try to let the horse have a “no big deal” attitude about what it’s being asked to do. Going back to that “old” way, I was also told this: “You have to make that horse more afraid of you than the thing he’s scared of.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard some version of that over the decades.

And while a horse does have to be taught to stay in front of the aids, the first step is to create confidence about that, and there are lots of ways to do this that work better than fear of being punished if he doesn’t, one of which is tons of trail riding with a brave and steady horse as a leader, so the younger or greener horse learns that it all that stuff it sees out in the wide world is not something to be afraid of.

So, generally, if a fence looks different, let him have a look first. If he stops, maybe let him look some more, or follow a braver horse. Some horses seem to be brave right from the beginning, and if so, lucky you.

But others are more spooky, and these usually need many more baby steps. Letting them have baby steps is often smart training, not a weakness or a surrender, and that’s something I had to learn as I unlearned what I’d originally been taught.

08/13/2024

Sarah and foxy’s XC spin at Rebecca!! So proud of them 🧡🦊

08/07/2024

Speedy Fox with quick feet at Rebecca! In a day where rails were raining down, this took them from 15th to 7th 🧡

08/07/2024

Sarah’s dressage from Rebecca. Foxy can always be trusted to not get tense, in fact a little on the lazy side this time with the heat, but a very pleasant test nonetheless 🧡

Our very own Bonnie Powell getting some well deserved recognition 🤩🤎🔥
08/04/2024

Our very own Bonnie Powell getting some well deserved recognition 🤩🤎🔥

The Leading Edge Equestrian Center had Tyra Fromm competing at the USHJA Outreach Blue Skies Classic today, and goodness...
07/14/2024

The Leading Edge Equestrian Center had Tyra Fromm competing at the USHJA Outreach Blue Skies Classic today, and goodness did she show up!! She and Chili ribboned in every class, bringing home Reserve Champ in the 2’3” hunter division. Such a lovely performance from this flashy pair 🧡

This weekend Leading Edge Equestrian Center hosted a Marc Grandia cross country clinic at Spokane Sport Horse Farm and m...
06/10/2024

This weekend Leading Edge Equestrian Center hosted a Marc Grandia cross country clinic at Spokane Sport Horse Farm and my goodness was it a good one! So much great technical learning from intro to prelim riders - and one of my new fave quotes from Marc “It’s not about the struggle it’s about the recovery from it”. Sarah rode foxy and tackled many novice and even a couple of training questions. So proud of their progress, and she has great homework. I rode Korbin Eckert’s Pride, who was a total dreamboat. Cindy Hahn had both her boys and made some truly spectacular progress with Tristan. All clinic riders came away with valuable insight, and we will definitely be hosting Marc again. Videos of Fox in Sox and Pridey Pants to come 🧡🤎🩵

06/02/2024

The Clear Round Hunter Jumper show was a ton of fun and great success for the Leading Edge Equestrian Center! Started the day with hunters - Cindy Hahn and Tristan took reserve champion in the cross rail division and champion in the 2’ division. Very proud of Cindy’s progress with her toddler lol. Then in the 2’3” division Charlotte Smith on Foxy was reserve champion and Avery Kirby on Marley won the on the rail class - so proud of these girls! Bonnie placed 2nds and 3rds in all her 2’6” classes, pretty impressive as this time last year they did their first cross rail class. Then on to jumpers - Deborah Harper’s Mister was fabulous in all his classes, all clear and reserve champ in the .6 division. Fielding Lee Lowrance’s Grace was a blast to pilot in the same division, winning the division champion. Then Fielding rode Prim in the .7, who was jumping amazingly well for some lovely rounds. Next up was Anika Sadler with Rousch - great riding to take champion in the .8. Rosie Simikel and Tracey Hopper rounded out the day in the .9, with some really nice moments and plenty of ribbons between them - so proud of these girls jumping around bigger courses that were challenging. A really great day. Love this team 🩵🩵🩵🩵

Event photos from Elizabeth Jane Knight and KCM Equine Photography from Spokane Sport Horse Farm Horse Trials 🤩🤩 Trophy ...
05/28/2024

Event photos from Elizabeth Jane Knight and KCM Equine Photography from Spokane Sport Horse Farm Horse Trials 🤩🤩 Trophy husband pics to come 🧡🦊

Address

8313 S Ramona Road
Spokane, WA
99224

Telephone

+15093859386

Website

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