Lady is a 15.2 hand beautiful dapple gray mare out of Bud’s Sterling Bullet with 6 world grand champions on her papers. She was born in 2000 and is a registered Tennessee Walking Horse. She is a graceful and sensitive horse and is always eager to be chosen to ride! She has been trained using natural horsemanship techniques and has been shown, trail ridden, and used on our farm as a lesson horse. Lady is as calm as they come. She is a great trail horse and is suitable for a wide array of riders, from beginners to advanced. Lady would really thrive having a special person who would pay more attention to her and love her (and one who has a nice stall for her- she loves to lie down and sleep!).

Kate and a Friend

Kate is a 14.2 hand quick, athletic blood bay mare out of Bud’s Sterling Bullet. She was born in 2000 and is a registered Tennessee Walking Horse. She is beautiful and friendly and loves to get attention. Kate has 6 world grand champions on her papers and has been trained on our farm using natural horsemanship techniques. Kate has a very willing attitude and would appreciate a skilled rider who would allow her to use her athleticism.

Jewel is a 15.2 hand beautiful palomino Tennessee Walking Horse and was born on our farm in November of 2004. She tried to eat hay an hour after birth and has been fiercely independent ever since. She has never been bothered by being alone, and proved herself both calm and brave on her first trail ride. Jewel’s greatest gift, besides her beauty, is her gait. She has an amazing over stride and a phenomenal head shake. She is currently in training to be shown at Walking Horse events this year.

They say you should never buy the first horse you look at, but I did anyway when I was 12 years old. The first time I saw Dierdra (or Dee as I like to call her) I fell in love with her: the four year old, beautiful dark bay mare with brilliant red dapples and the sweetest eyes I had ever seen. When I rode her, I fell in love with her even more. She has one of the most comfortable canters I have ever sat. And she could jump the moon.

We brought her to my farm in Brookeville, Md, which has about 100 horses, including about 20 mares that she would be living with. Dee was a complete angel, minus the fact that we could not pull her mane, and I knew I had to have her. Plus she was spunky. The vet warned me that she was temperamental because we couldn’t touch her ears, but I didn’t care. I needed this horse.

Unfortunately, our honeymoon didn’t last long. Soon enough I learned how spunky (to put it kindly) my new horse was: one of the first times I was bridling her, she bolted and took off down the isle right as the owner of the barn was walking down to meet her. Then, during our very first show season, I fell off at least once at every show because she would do dirty stops in front of all the jumps. A few times, I fell off twice. And it only got worse.

Dee began charging people who went into the fields to get their horses. She got so mean that she had to go out by herself in “solitary confinement” as we called it. She wasn’t much better when she was in her stall either. I said she was territorial, everyone else called her mean. We had to put up rubber pads along the walls of the inside because she kicked them so much she actually kicked herself lame. We put a metal gate up instead of the door because she banged on that. People hated to go in there because she would cow kick at them.

The kicking got so bad that we eventually had to get “kicking chains” for her. Kicking chains are essentially padded bands that go around the horses’ hind coronet band (ankle) with metal links attached that don’t feel too nice when they hit the leg when the horse kicked.

Dee was notorious at my farm for being “evil;” people called her “Princess Poo” or “Moo Cow.” I couldn’t even count the number of phone calls I received from people telling me she had kicked someone or bitten someone. I dreaded talking to people sometimes because I knew they were just going to tell me a horrible story about my horse. To put it simply, she seemed to hate people.

I still absolutely loved my horse though, and my trainer put up with her because she was so good under saddle (once we got past the dirty stopping)… until she began bucking every time I got on. I couldn’t even trot her, much less ride for longer than twenty minutes. I became so frustrated I stopped riding her and rode other horses. I hated it. I wanted my horse back, the beautiful, kind-eyed mare I had bought 4 years previously, but I didn’t know how to get her back. It killed me to see my horse so unhappy.

For my sophomore year of college I brought her to Virginia Tech and kept her at a small farm where she lived outside 24/7. This worked well until she kicked the owner of the farm while he was putting hay in the field one day. And then she didn’t eat for three days because I couldn’t bring her in. I knew I had to find a new farm so I could bring her back to school with me for my junior year, I just didn’t know where to go. I was literally praying every night for an answer, when one finally came. My next-door neighbor gave me an article from the Roanoke Times about Canterbury Farms and a woman named Paula Danyi who did Natural Horsemanship. God had answered my prayers, now I just had to get the courage to call.

I had heard of Natural Horsemanship before and been to a few expos, but I had never done it. No one in my area trained with it, they all thought it was silly. I didn’t care. I was at my wits end and if learning how to speak “horse” for my horse didn’t work, well something was going to have to change.

I was sitting in my basement at home in Maryland the first time I ever spoke to Paula. We talked for at least an hour. She asked me everything about Dee, and I told her how almost everyone hated her and thought she was evil. Paula was so understanding and kind and told me I could come out and look at the farm to see what I thought.

My Mom and I took a trip down to Canterbury the summer before my junior year, and I fell in love with the farm immediately. The barns were beautiful on the inside and out and there was just a peaceful, relaxing feeling at the farm. And Paula was just as wonderful in person as on the phone. We decided to give Canterbury a chance.

I don’t think I have ever been so nervous as the first day we spent at Canterbury. I was terrified Dee was going to hurt someone or tear up her stall. Worse still, I was absolutely convinced she was going to attack Paula in the round pen. I literally told her, “I’m terrified she’s going to try and kill you.” Paula laughed and said not to worry about it, but Dee’s first moments in the round pen terrified me. She did give Paula a good amount of dirty looks, and she did kick out at her, but she didn’t try to kill her. She actually worked very well.

For the next couple of days Paula worked with Dee in the round pen, teaching her the basics. Dee learned very quickly (she’s almost too smart for her own good). Paula began teaching me how to round pen with her horses who are a little calmer than Dee, so I would be ready to work my horse.

I remember how happy I was the day Paula told me that my horse wasn’t mean. I hadn’t heard someone, other than myself, say that in ages. In fact, Paula actually liked my horse. She could truly see the potential that Dee had, and that she acted up when she was unhappy or frustrated, not mean.

Paula and I have been working with Dee for a little over 6 months now, and she is a completely different horse. I can’t even explain the change in her, she is just so much happier. She doesn’t kick out in the round pen or pin her ears and charge. She doesn’t kick in her stall or try to bite people who clean it. Her ground manners have gotten exceptionally better though we’re still working on standing still. And best of all, I can ride her again. She’s not perfect, in fact she bucked the other day, but using Natural Horsemanship techniques, such as the One Rein Stop (you use one rein to pull the horses head around toward your leg, essentially stopping them), and then making her pivot in small circles. I was then able to control her and continue to trot and canter around the ring.

Dee loves Canterbury. You can just tell by the look in her eye. She goes out in the field with the entire heard and hasn’t tried to hurt anyone out there. She loves working in the round pen, and even more, loves working in the ring. We’ve walked her while dragging a noisy bag behind her, played with a giant exercise ball, and walked over scary tarp. She’s unfazed. When we let her run around the ring, her ears prick forward, her tail swishes, and she’ll even take herself over jumps.

I finally have my horse back.

When we went to Canterbury Farm the first time, we were visiting to meet Paula and decide whether to bring our horse Tigger there for training. As we pulled up the driveway, Paula’s husband John was working a horse in the round pen and my ten year old daughter Heather’s mouth dropped as she said “Did you see that? That horse is cantering around the ring with no halter or anything and all he did was point and it changed directions!” I was thinking the same thing, even though I already had an idea of natural horsemanship training techniques.

In addition to Paula’s evident knowledge and skill and the beautiful facility, one of the things that impressed me on this first visit was that Paula was very clear about her expectations for commitment and involvement from the horse owner in the training process. I wasn’t looking for a place to just leave my horse and then pick him up a month later with current problems solved. After our visit, the question was no longer should we bring Tigger to Canterbury Farm, but rather, how soon could we get him there!

A few weeks later, Tigger was checking out Canterbury Farm – his new home for a month! Paula was great in the interim period, with helping us find a trailer to transport him there and other questions we had. I was very excited and had high expectations for what he would learn.

There were two main problems we were having with Tigger that we needed training help from Paula for. Whenever he felt the pull of being tied, he would “freak out” and pull until he either broke the rope or what he was tied to, which was very unsafe. He also always acted up with the farrier and was beginning to rear when he was being asked to do something he did not want to do. I knew that these unsafe behaviors would only get worse and multiply if we did not learn how to handle them early.

Tigger (and Heather and I) spent a lot of time with Paula during that month and there is no way to describe the enhanced comfort level and relationship that we have now with our horse! The results of working with someone who understands natural horsemanship and teaches you to truly understand your horse are amazing. As Paula told us from the beginning, some of the problems that we had talked about would seem to go away without being directly addressed and she was right. We started in the round pen with getting Tigger to respect us and be attentive to us. We learned what to do when he “shows a little bit of attitude”. Tigger became more confident and trusting in us as we gained more confidence and trust in him.

Paula’s ability to work with horses and with people of all ages is very impressive. The most worthwhile aspect of our training was that we can approach new issues as they come up. I have been able to continue to apply the techniques we learned with Tigger and also with our other horse since we’ve been home – and we feel like we have a whole network of new “horse friends” to call on!

Thanks Paula!!

Susan and Tigger

Once my arm healed, I was very hesitant about riding again. Luckily, I found Paula and Canterbury Farms. I explained my situation to Paula and she was the answer to my prayers. She was very patient and helped build my confidence.

At age 46, I had been riding for many years, and was very embarrassed by my fears. Paula helped to alleviate them and made me feel more confident; she even helped me find the perfect horse! I recently purchased a horse that Paula had raised and trained. Her name is Zia and she is GREAT!! Before Paula sold me the horse, she wanted to make sure that Zia and I would make a good team. She found the perfect match for me and I couldn’t be happier or more confident riding. I recently got up enough nerve to canter and with Paula’s help I have no doubts that I will be galloping one day!!!!!

The facilities at Canterbury Farms are really nice. I keep telling Paula I would love to live in her barn! The horses have it made. There is a great field for the horses to run and enjoy. There is also a riding ring, a round pen for ground working, several grazing and/or riding fields, and like I said, a barn that would make any horse envious! I now board my horse with Paula and am very pleased with the overall general care that she receives. Paula is very conscientious about the horse’s health and nutrition.

As you can see, I can’t say enough good things about Paula and the facilities at Canterbury Farms. I am amazed daily at her abilities to train and understand horses. She has given me more insights into the horse’s way of thinking, and how to deal with them, in the past few months I have learned more than I had learned in the last twenty years with other trainers. I would recommend her to anyone of any skill and/or age. Thanks Paula for everything!