Learn from someone who has over 20 years of experience and has run quality lesson and training programs. Adults and children welcome!

I have taken lessons with Candee on and off for three years.  She helped me start my six year old quarter horse over fences. Even though I had no previous jumping experience, she helped my horse and I to become quite a team. She also helped me to develop a rehabilitation program to build strength on his weaker side that occurred from and injury he had as a yearling. Even if you do not take lessons from Candee, she is a great contact for any horse-related questions. The thing I like most about Candee is that she works with you and your horse at the level the two of you are capable of performing together and will not push you, or your horse if you are not comfortable or confident.

-Elyse Williams

As an avid hunter rider for more than ten years, I was a little skeptical about taking any sort of dressage lessons.  I had heard people talk about how boring it was, nothing like the thrill of taking a jumping lesson.  Then I met Candee.  What I found is that she teaches so much more than the average dressage trainer. She actually taught me how to RIDE my horse instead of being just a "passenger".  She helped me to open up the communication between my horse and me. I was always taught to use artificial aids such as martingales and draw reins....not with Candee!  She actually taught me how to get my horse to do what I ask, with gentle methods that my mare understood and seemed to enjoy.  Before long, I had the tools I needed to actually pursue showing dressage!  I found her exercises to be challenging for me and my horse.  Candee always kept me motivated to keep at it even when it seemed we wouldn't figure it out.  Surprisingly, I found that my mare's flatwork was becoming phenomenal and her jumping became flawless!  I would recommend Candee in an instant for anyone who wants to understand their horse better and improve their riding and horsemanship.

-Kelly Rutland

Candee is very effective in bonding the horse and rider together.  Her vast experience with all sorts of horses and riders enables her to demonstrate how to ride and execute movements from the easy or simplistic to the more advanced dressage and jumper requirements.  My horses and my daughter are able to compete and train as a happy, cohesive team under Candee's instruction. I feel that Candee's strength lies in her flexible training methods and an innate versatility to extract positive attributes from both the horse and rider to meet their goals, whatever they may be.

-Lori Williams

Being a horsewoman myself for 36 years now, riding and competing hunter/jumpers, saddleseat, and eventing, I thought I was fairly proficient at teaching students myself...until I met my kids!  Yikes, brought them along to a certain point and wham....the rolling of the eyes in back of the head, the shrugging of the shoulders, the "I know...I know!, the "tude"!!  Arghhhh!!!  

I witnessed Candece working with some of her students at a Poplar Place schooling show.  The kids were attentive, their horses/ponies were attentive, and they were pulling in killer dressage scores!  It was then I knew I had to get her to work with Kelley and Meaghan.  Candece is a guru of patience and has a wonderful progressive method of teaching!  My kids have only recently started working with her, but I can already see a difference in their riding. They are becoming "thinking" riders instead of passengers.  And a major plus is that she will not advance a rider until they have their A,B,C's down. Thank goodness for that methodology in a world of too much, too fast, too soon for rider and/or horse.  

Kimberly Lennon-Freire

UCF Stables

My daughter, Ginger, has been Candee's student for 3 years. Candee has been a fantastic instructor for Ginger. She is patient, soft-spoken but firm and knowledgeable. I breathe a sigh of relief when Candee is teaching, knowing that she has my daughter's best interest and safety at heart. My horse is also in good hands. Candee knows when to push Ginger to challenge her confidence and when to go back and fine tune the basics of horseback riding. Candee has gone well above the call of duty for us many times. She has helped us with everything from finding a suitable blanket for our horse to taking my daughter on "field trips" just for fun. More often than not, Candee ends up teaching me as well. I trust her with my most precious possession, my child.

Karmen Thomassy

“I am thrilled to be working with Candee!  She has incredible insight and was able to quickly help me fix riding issues I’d been struggling with for years.  Her style is upbeat and positive, and with each lesson she helps me improve my riding and communication skills, which leads to more enjoyable trail rides for both my horse and me.  I highly recommend her!  

Shala Nicely

It is my honor to recommend Candee Niss for any aspect of Equestrian Counseling. Her methods and results are the most powerful I've ever seen. Her power comes from her ability to get to that quiet place where she can hear exactly what the horse and rider needs. Her students become graceful, quiet, harmonious riders and the horses become willing, attentive partners.

I met Candee at her farm when I returned to horses after a 17-year hiatus. She patiently answered no less than a million questions from me. I hung on her every word as each time I applied her advice it made me a much better rider and friend to my horse.

After Candee moved, I spent time at various barns of different disciplines from Western Pleasure to Dressage. I observed other trainers and methods and it completely reinforced that Candee has something incredibly special. I believe it is her Zen like way to be open and present with the individual needs of the horse and rider, rather than assign a solution based on tradition.

She has owned and operated a large successful boarding and training barn. She's been single handedly hauling horses in huge trailers to horse shows since she was fifteen. She has extensive experience with horses with medical issues. In short, she's been there, done that, and knows what works.

Since my time with Candee, I've gone from leasing a horse to owning a herd of three, two of which were troubled horses on their way to auction. Not a day goes by where I don't apply what Candee has shared with me> My relationship with my horses has exceeded my grandest expectations. Most of the time I work with my horses at liberty, ride bridle-less and my horses paint on canvas with brushes in their mouths. Allowing horses to paint has become a foundation for rehabbing troubled horses through Art Therapy. Candee's open-minded approach and advice has been a constant support for me for over 10 years.

It would be my pleasure to share more information. You can contact me, Cheryl Ward, at www.paintinghorse.com

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