The majority of my life has been spent trying to answer the question: what do I want to be when I grow up?
Fast forward through a few career changes, three horses later, starting a family with
my husband and two little girls — I’ve finally surrendered to the path life has lead me down.
Meet the trainer
Horses truly changed my life. They’ve always been my guiding force when it comes to my passions and career. After losing my soul horse, Jasper, in the summer of 2025 I truly questioned whether I wanted to stay in this industry or not. The thought of continuing on without him remains a hard one to hold onto. Thankfully, being surrounded by a number of wonderful horses and their owners, I was reminded why I got started training and teaching in the first place. After many tears shed, I decided it was time for Opal Grove Equestrian Coaching to come to life.
Opal Grove Equine Coaching was born out of a desire to memorialize my Jasper forever in my life, passions, and business. From my training philosophy all the way down to the logo, he continues to breathe life into my work and visions.
The pillars of my training philosophy
trust
Underneath all the layers of dreams and ambitions we have with our horses, the main goal we’re chasing after is to have fun and enjoy the time spent with them. In order to achieve that goal: we must have trust in our equines, and they in us. As with all relationships in our lives, trust is the defining factor that makes or breaks a partnership.
confidence
When a horse has confidence in their handler to take care of them, they begin to trust that they can do whatever it is they are asked. When the handler is lacking confidence in their choices or their horse, the partnership often suffers because no one is confidently leading. Making sure that both horse and handler are a good match to build confidence in one another is the key to a strong partnership between human and horse.
Patience
Both confidence and trust cannot be strengthened without patience. These two building blocks of a strong partnership take time to build. When rushed, there are holes left behind that when put under pressure, usually reveal themselves in unpleasant ways. All of that time put into building your relationship can crumble in a moment without patience.
The two little guys, Luke & Lenny, pictured were trained for driving by Kirsty Sztenderowicz a few years ago. Their lives, as well as mine, were enriched through our association with Kirsty. I learned along with our thoroughly loveable little donks. Kirsty exhibited patience with them and with me! She was not only patient with all of us; she was always encouraging. She helped me to identify miscues, miscommunications, and mistakes as I worked with them and she thoroughly explained and demonstrated how to fix them.
My husband and I truly appreciated Kirsty’s understanding of “donkey time.” She met them where they were and expertly and patiently guided them to where they needed to be. I also appreciated and greatly valued my lessons with her amazing little Jasper. I have much more to learn and wish we could get a refresher, but we moved 5 hours away.
Peggy Mcqueen
Meet the horses
I wouldn’t be where I am today without these special horses. I’ll always be grateful to each of them for all that they have taught me, given to me, and helped me through.
Opal Woods Freckled warrior
Wallace came to our family early on, just after having purchased Jasper. He has always been the silly kid of the bunch, so it’s fitting that he is now my daughter’s pony. He gives the best snuggles, loves all the attention (I call him the selfie king), and packs the kids around like the perfect prince. He is so kind and gentle with the little ones, and even a joy for beginners of any age to work with. This little horse loves liberty, and will follow you around anywhere over all the jumps. Just an all around good boy who our entire family adores.
in remembrance
opal woods hawks spotted jasper
coming soon…
action of arie
Arie was truly the horse who fell into my lap when we both needed each other the most. Before we met, I never in my wildest dreams thought I would have a horse like him. While he came to me broken, he still had so much talent, drive, and eagerness to please. His heart was pure gold.
I’ve been blessed to cross paths with some great horses in my life, but Arie was the first to truly make me a confident rider. I don’t think I ever felt actual confidence in the saddle before him. He is the one who made me feel good enough to advance in the horse world as a professional, and pushed me to become a better horsewoman.
I’m so grateful I was able to give him the love and happiness he has always deserved in his final years. He’s been a family member since day one. I’ll always be heartbroken I couldn’t do more. As much as I know I did all that I, or anyone, could — it will never feel like enough. This was the last sacrifice I could make for him, and I’m at peace knowing his last day was spent in the sun, being loved on. My boy is finally at rest, and will never be in pain again.