On June 14th, 2021 many lives were forever changed when the life of Wendy M. Reitz was suddenly taken in a tragic accident. Wendy was a dear friend of mine and client at Next Level Horsemanship. We worked with Wendy and her horse Willow on many occasions to build a better partnership. Wendy always brought her smile and “A” game to the lessons and she was always mentoring other young riders to help pave the way for their enjoyment with horses. In lieu of flowers, Wendy’s family asked that donations be sent to Next Level Horsemanship to establish a fund for free lessons to assist “future generations of horse enthusiasts”. We are humbled to honor the memory of Wendy Reitz in this way and would like to acknowledge those receiving the gift on Wendy’s behalf by sharing here. We sincerely hope that the stories of the recipients of the Wendy Reitz Memorial Fund will inspire those who want to get started in horsemanship to do so, and encourage others to promote the hopes and dreams of future equestrians by giving their time, talent and resources to those in need. First Recipient of the Wendy Reitz Memorial Fund: Pictured is Soniya […]

A Life Forever Changed Next Level Horsemanship.

When we find a product we can’t live without it’s like a wonderful thing!  So we thought if we like them so much maybe you will too.  Below are some of the products we have put into our Must Have list and wanted to share with you so that you too can reap the benefits of these great finds. EquiFuse line of horse hair care products: EquiFuse brand is by far that best hair care products we have found for our horses.  They have a sulfate-free mane and tail shampoo (Citrafoam ), and conditioner (CitraCream); a concentrated body shampoo that can be used with a foamer (CFS Concentrate + Paste Shampoo); a concentrated coat protector and conditioner (ReHydrinse); a shine spray (Shine Perfect); and a shine serum (Gleam).  All of their products are all natural and encourage hair growth.  I can attest to the quality of these products  as they make the horses SO shiny and leave their manes and tails exquisitely soft and manageable.  I like these products so much I now use the shampoo and conditioner on my own hair!  Follow this link to watch a short video of how to use the products in the 6-step program.  […]

Product Review Next Level Horsemanship.

Staying healthy is always a good priority especially if you plan to stay active with your horses for a long time to come.  And there is no better time than the present to set new goals for the coming year.  Exercise is a very big part of staying healthy.   With busy lifestyles of managing a career, child rearing, home care and all of the other duties we place on ourselves our days can be overwhelming leaving us unenthused about exercise.  Who has time to go the gym AND the barn? Don’t despair, I would suggest you go the barn and implement some exercises there that can integrate well with time spent with your horse.  This will leave you feeling empowered on multiple levels and may even get you motivated to go to the next level in your exercise program in the future.   In fact there are many things you can do with your horse that constitute both a legitimate aerobic and isometric exercise program for you, AND good training for your horse. Below I will outline just a few exercises that will benefit both your health and your horse’s training. Walk,Jog/Leading beside:  Likely your horse leads beside you at […]

Staying Fit Can be a Breeze Next Level Horsemanship.

What Will You Do With YOUR New Year? Next Level Horsemanship would like to wish all of our friends a very wonderful New Year!  It goes without saying that 2020 posed multiple challenges and likely no one was immune from the fallout of those.  Now though, we have an opportunity for a new beginning — that’s what I love best about January and the new year. Personally, I view the new year as a fresh start.  It’s the time of year when we can reflect, regroup, restructure, set new priorities, project, and plan for the coming months.  I like to reflect not only on what our business and myself as an individual have accomplished over the past year, but also the things I’d like to change based on what I’ve learned. The challenges we faced over the past year have forced us and many others to rethink the status quo and do things differently; however, meeting those challenges has made us better.  Those challenges have been the driving force for improvement that otherwise may not have happened.  As Benjamin Franklin once said “Out of Adversity Comes Opportunity”.   Even though the weather and conditions outside may be “frightful” at times, the […]

Hello 2021! Next Level Horsemanship.

  View this post on Instagram   It’s #motivationalmonday! 2018 Rookie Professional World Champion Suzanne Myers sees her win aboard Juice Chex N as a stepping stone to even greater things. Congratulations Suzanne on your amazing accomplishment! 🏆 #slideofyourlife #nrha #reining #reininghorses #reserveworldchampion #horseshow #slidingstop #amazingaccomplishment A post shared by NRHA (@nrhareining) on Feb 4, 2019 at 10:29am PST Well, it’s official.  The final results are in from NRHA and Cooper (Juice Chex N) and I are the NRHA Rookie Professional Reserve World Champions for 2018!  It’s a great feeling to know that our hard work throughout last show season has culminated in a world title.  I have many people to thank for helping us along the way and I have done so.  Something like this doesn’t come easily but it is definitely worth all of the time put in to making it happen.  So what exactly does it take to win a title?  I can share some of my thoughts on that with you.  The title standings in NRHA are based on the amount of money you earn, so the more shows you can attend, and the more classes you win at each show, the higher you will be in […]

A Reserve World Championship for Suzanne Next Level Horsemanship.

This summer has been a whirlwind of activity at Next Level HorsemanshipTM.  We had 10 wild mustangs in for training and preparation for competitions in NJ and TX.  We recently competed with 4 of these mustangs in the Mustang Makeover in Gloucester NJ on August 2nd.  These mustangs were picked up in April and the gentling process began.  Three NLHTM Interns and I worked very hard through the end of July to gentle and train these mares for the NJ competition and in the end they were very successful.  My horse Jada and I were 6th overall in the finals!  I was very pleased with Jada – she is a very talented and ambitious mare and her potential for a promising future is very high.  After the competition in NJ, the mustangs were auctioned to Bureau of Land Management approved bidders and Jada was purchased by a wonderful woman who lives in Long Island, NY. Many people ask me if it is hard to let these horses go after working with them for so long.  The answer is a resounding YES!  I’ve been involved in the Mustang Challenges since soon after their inception. In 2008 I won the Midwest Mustang […]

Mustang Mania Next Level Horsemanship.

Hi Everybody, Well already this year is getting off to a running start and we are so excited about our 2012 schedule!  We hope that all of you will join us at some point through clinics, demonstrations, and/or workshops that will be hosted at NLHTM throughout the year.  Our schedule commenced this year the week of January 2nd when we hosted two Penn State University students for a week-long training externship.  We have been participating with Penn State to host externship students for three years now.  We typically accept 2 students both on winter break and spring break weeks.  We look forward to working with the students because it is a great way to introduce people to horsemanship like they’ve never known it before! The NLHTM Program is very broad based and comprehensive, both for the horses and for handlers.  I know this because I developed the Program through nearly 27 years of working with horses of all breeds and most disciplines.  I’m finding out more and more through talking with people that I’ve trained horses for and those that have participated in our clinics, that most had no idea what was possible with their horses until after they’ve gone […]

Off and Running! Next Level Horsemanship.

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve chatted with everyone after the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover (SEMM) in Fort Worth.  What a rush!  After returning from that event we had a lot of things to do to play “catch-up” back home as you might imagine after having been gone for nearly 10 days.  The event was fantastic and we had so much fun participating in it.  Both Viggo and Sparrow performed extremely well and Lauren and I were both very proud of them throughout the weekend.  A little too much “cow-work” in this competition kept us out of the finals but we are extremely satisfied knowing how well trained these horses are after only 5 months in training and how thrilled their owners are with their progress. Sparrow is now in Pittsburgh with her owners helping out in their lesson program and Viggo is back at NLH getting some well deserved R&R intermixed with some trail riding.  He will be continuing his training here for awhile. What a ride it’s been and in the end, two families are fulfilling dreams because of two very special mustangs that have entered their lives. Viggo continues to be a blessing in my life too […]

On the Back of a Horse Next Level Horsemanship.

What a great day it is when I can get up in the morning, enjoy a cup of coffee and a morning hug from my daughter, and head off to the barn to spend the day training horses!  I’m so very blessed to be in the position of making a living from what is truly my passion!  Every day is a new adventure.  Sometimes people ask me if I ever get sick of riding horses – I just smile and shake my head.  “Are you kidding me?”…I think to myself, but then I respond simply by saying “never”. And, I love the feeling I get when people come to visit their horses after being in training with us a short while.  It is SO utterly rewarding to me to see the smiles on their faces and get their feedback, comments of pleasant surprise at the progress they see in their horses.  Again, I’m blessed –  to be in a position to help people.  By improving their horse, we can improve people’s lives! Today  we had many people stopping by the facility to visit with their horses.  We had a chance to demonstrate the progress of several horses in training and […]

Countdown to Competition Next Level Horsemanship.

May 16th to July 26th…a lot has happened with Viggo in his gentling and training in the two and half months since he arrived at NLHTM!  With less than 7 weeks remaining until the competition in September we are moving into the final phases of our training – at least for the short term. Viggo will continue his training at NLHTM beyond the competition for sure, but because he’s had such a solid Foundation from our training Program, he has advanced SO far already.  I was riding him on the trail the other day, listening to music on my I-phone and trying to get a feel for what songs will suit his tempo and way of going to use for our freestyle performance in the finals at the Supreme Extreme Mustang Makeover in TX.  As we trotted and galloped seamlessly in the wide open fields, it occurred to me how nice this horse really is.  I LOVE his strides and the constant reminder with every footfall of how proud he is of his own accomplishments.  Every day he has more and more confidence in his newfound relationship with me and with his owner -  who more and more everyday steps […]

Ride Like the Wind Next Level Horsemanship.