Professional Experience
1994 – Present Creation, construction and management of West Winds Farm and The West Winds Center for Equestrian Arts 1998 Rocky Mountain Dressage Society Champion at Prix St. George 1996 Choreography for 8 riders “West Winds Hoe Down” Square Dance on Horseback Performance at National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO. 1995 Choreography for 8 riders “In the Mood” Big Band Swing on Horseback Performance at National Western Stock Show, Denver, CO. 1993 Rocky Mtn. Dressage Society 4th Level Horse of the Year, “Orcas”. 1991 U.S. Dressage Federation 2nd Level Freestyle Champion, “Andiamo”. 1991-1994 Post Graduate Studies including: Human Anatomy, Developmental Movement, Kinesiology, Neuro-Muscular Repatterning 1990-1995 Movement Teacher, Boulder School of Massage Therapy, Boulder CO. 1983-1989 Post Graduate Studies including: Psychology, Biofeedback, Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP), and Dance Therapy. 1978-1983 Teacher Bilingual Elementary Education in Longmont, CO. 1975-1977 Lived and studied in Spain, riding everything from racehorses to international level dressage horses. 1975 Earned a US Pony Club “A” rating, the top level of honor possible, competing throughout Colorado and the Midwest states. USPC educates young riders in the disciplines of horse management, dressage, show jumping and cross country jumping. |
Maria's Background
Maria grew up with horses in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. She rode in the United States Pony Club (USPC) organization as a youth. USPC educates young riders in the disciplines of horse management, dressage, show jumping and cross country jumping. She competed throughout Colorado and the Midwest states, eventually earning an “A” rating. After graduating from USPC, she continued her riding career in Spain for two years, where she rode everything from racehorses to international level dressage horses. Upon returning to the states, she rode at a variety of stables training horses and in 1980, purchased a thoroughbred and began to concentrate on dressage. Maria has been working with horses professionally since 1989. She has studied with many world renowned trainers and competed at FEI (international) level in dressage. She has an extensive background in education, dance and movement studies. Maria has choreographed and performed “equine dances” at the National Western Stock show in Denver, Colorado and at other events along the Front Range. She combines this knowledge with her teaching, to provide a supportive and dynamic training program for all her students — horses and humans alike. Along with providing the technical instruction necessary for classical dressage, she welcomes working with riders of any discipline to improve balance and understanding between horse and rider. 
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Educational Philosophy
Learning fascinates me. I have spent my entire adult life learning about learning. I marvel at how differently each of us perceives our inner and outer worlds. I am amazed by the power and the tone words can have on our minds and bodies. I am intrigued by the process of communicating with a horse through touch and body language as opposed to using words. Why I Teach I teach because I love sharing what I have learned. I teach because I learn so much about myself. I teach because I love to watch the process of learning unfold. Read Testimonials |
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Quadrille Benefit Performances
After competing in freestyle dressage in the 1990’s, I had a dream to form an equestrian dance company. I wanted to combine my background in movement and dance with dressage training of horses and people and host benefit performances for worthy causes. West Winds Equestrian Dance Company was formed in 1996. Ten horses and riders formed the dance company and we performed three full length benefit dance concerts and many other small performances along the front range before the group disbanded in 2011. It was an extraordinary group of people and horses who gave a remarkable amount of time to this creative endeavor. Check out the link below for a more in depth look at the dance company and the 2009 benefit concert. (password for the video is DancingHorses) West Wind Farms Equine Performance and Benefit - Great Expeditions (password: DancingHorses) www.greatexpeditionstravel.com/WestWindsFarmBenefit.php |
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