Testimonials
Joy Gallupe is awesome. I am learning so much from her and she is a wealth of knowledge. Highly recommend her!! Oh and Minnie is the sweetest horse you will ever meet.
- Kristina Elliott (Boonsboro, MD)
Rocky had his first one on one lesson today. Learning hand signals, side-passing, circling, backing and disengaging the hindquarters. Thanks so much Joy Gallupe for an amazing lesson…we look forward to the next one.
- Missy Rox (Pennsylvania)
My horse, Perfecto and I just completed a 5 lesson package with Joy Gallupe. It was phenomenal. Joy taught my horse, (who learned very quickly) and started the process of teaching me. In each 2 hours session that Joy would work with my horse, she was explaining what she was doing and why. Then she worked with me and I was able to practice what she taught. She has a beautiful indoor arena that is truly a playground for both horses and people. She also has an amazon outdoor obstacle course. She is extremely patient and very kind. My horse learned much more quickly than I did and I came to the painful realization of how little I actually know…… Many trainers can fix or train your horse, but don’t give you the tools to do it yourself. Joy can do both. As Perfecto and I go down this great journey, we both look forward to many more lessons with Joy!!!
- Michele A. McKenna, DVM (Boonsboro, MD)
My 4 year old horse and I spent several hours with Joy last week. (10). I’ve had horses for 44 years. I ride and I am pretty good at it, but I’ve never done a lot of groundwork beyond having my horse respect my space, stand quietly while tied, move feet when I ask, ground tie, etc. I want to learn more now that I’m training a green horse. Joy is a GREAT teacher. I think what I have learned most is to have patience, something I lack. I always asked for more, now I’ll ask for less. I’ll ask for baby steps, not perfection. Why? Because as Joy was teaching me a particular technique, I was stressed and got a little confused. As she explained and I finally got it, I had a huge release and a revelation. I cried because I finally realized the stress that horses must feel when they are asked to do too much too soon. Joy breaks her methods down step by step and builds their confidence and at the same time, their abilities. I cried because I realized how my horse must feel at times with me. That is HUGE! Game Changer. What a breakthrough we have had and how differently I will now be when teaching and working in our new found partnership.”
- Barbara Dixon
I have had the pleasure of working with Joy and my mule - Sweet Sue. We have completed the 5 week, “Introductory” classes. Joy’s love of working with equines was so obvious to me and to Sue. (Sue was her first mule to work with). The arena became a “Zen” for Sue after she had a good roll in the sand footing. Thanks so much to Joy for her patience with both of us learning and for helping me to be more aware of my body language and patience. I am looking forward to improving my relationship with Sue and continuing to progress! Thank you, Joy! - Judy Smith (Maryland)
I first met joy Gallupe in 2006, when she came to cattle events with her horses, Minnie and Hershey. She would participate every weekend from May to October in team penning and sorting. After a short time, she also added trail challenges to her weekend repertoire. I knew Joy then as an adequate rider and horse enthusiast.
But it soon became apparent that Joy was determined to become an exceptional rider and partner with her horses. She embarked on a journey that required over 3,000 hours of concentrated study and working with her horses. But Joy has the persistence, dedication, and patience to achieve her goals.
Now Joy is ready to share her talent, her gift of working with horses, and her knowledge with others who are searching for the way to become a partner with their horse. She instructs both horse and rider with patience and precision to achieve the team you always knew you could become.
- Beverly Long - Owner of Double Rock Farm Rocky Ridge, MD
I first met Joy Gallupe several years ago when she was competing in Fun-Day horse activities, Trail Challenges and Team Penning events. I watched her intently and appreciated her excellent horsemanship in each event. Through the years, Joy and I have become friends and she has provided advice to help me with my horses.
We were invited to attend Joy’s Parelli Test where she used both of her horses to audition for Parelli Tests. It is a very comprehensive training program in which she passed many levels with flying colors. It was fantastic to watch and an excellent learning experience as well.
Joy has provided videos of her training young horses through groundwork. I took my horse to her and within 30 minutes my horse was performing some work at liberty under Joy’s instruction. It was very impressive. I have since attended her trail challenges, taken lessons and surrendered my horse to Joy for two weeks of training. Best thing I could have done and so well worth the results that were obtained.
I can think of no better trainer than Joy, who has the knowledge, patience and a true love for working with horses. She has a special, “THING” that horses recognize and respond too. Watching from the side lines, you can see it happen. SHe uses more than one training method and she keeps trying until the right method is working on the horse. Her real life application to training and providing unique solutions to get a positive experience is a driving factor. She gives the horse the confidence to obtain these results, which is essential as well.
Joy provides and emphasizes what has worked the best for the horse and recommends how the owner can continue the positive experience. I believe the owner will come away feeling happy and more confident in their abilities to move forward and continue the training with their horse.
Joy is definitely a credible and trustworthy person. She is well worth your attention. She uses her abilities to start young horses with the best possible foundation, which is her forte too. I think you will come away talking about Joy with a positive attitude.
- Linda Shambaugh Long time horse owner and enthusiast.
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Joy is a Horse Trainer Specializing in Liberty Work
“Patient, Passionate, Persistent, Proficient” are the 4 “P's” that perfectly describe Joy's abilities with horses......of all ages. After watching online videos of her work with yearlings to teenage horses, I was convinced of her special talents. For the past 68 years I have owned, rode, trained and exhibited horses. However, I had never done liberty work. After watching various clinicians' videos, including Joy's, I decided to “give it a go.” I purchased videos on ebay and started my journey of learning something new. An unfortunate accident last spring prevented me from riding for the entire summer. Concerned about one of my horse's long period of inactivity, Joy graciously agreed to come to my farm, providing “Mel” with a session. After watching the progress made from a single meeting, I promptly arranged for Mel to spend a month at Joy's the following spring to prepare him for riding and the trail challenge show series season. Mel's Journey at Joy's:
Prior to arrival, a contract was signed, goals discussed, a written goal list provided to Joy. The usual maneuvers were included, such as side passing, drags, ground tie, 360 on box, bridges, etc. I elected to visit each week for a lesson to make sure there would be a smooth transition when Mel returned home. Accommodations: Two very large paddocks were separated with no-climb fencing. A very nice, large run-in was available in both paddocks. Joy's personal horses were in a pasture just across the driveway. Mel had a great view of Joy's horses, as well as another client's horse in the adjoining paddock. The large indoor arena is just steps away from the paddocks. The arena is filled with obstacles of ALL sorts. Joy's “blow up” obstacles were a spring/Easter theme of various big and small bunnies and an Easter arch to navigate. Of course, there were also the many standard obstacles, such as the teeter totter, water obstacle, bridge, box, etc. Joy also has a round pen and large outside obstacle course.
My weekly lessons: Our first session started with a discussion of my goals. Learning the in hand cues was at the top of the list. I wanted to be able to properly signal for the side pass, inside/outside turns in the round pen, etc. You quickly realize the subtleties of the signals, especially with a sensitive horse. The following week we progressed to under saddle work, transferring the in hand/liberty work to cues from the saddle. We worked on platform turns, side passing a U, pole straddling, a drag, etc. Weather that day did not permit round pen or outside obstacle trail work. My third lesson progressed to hand signals for Mel to side pass to a mount block, as well as learning to work him at liberty performing figure “8's” around barrels. We also side passed 2 small barrels, both mounted and unmounted. A trip to the outdoor trail challenge course improved our backing the U mounted and dismounted. We worked the pole straddle, as well as a variety of other obstacles. We then participated in Joy's “Spring Trail Challenge” mounted. We turned on the forehand, went through a narrow water obstacle, with the object to get all 4 feet to enter the water, backing, going under the Easter themed arch, etc. It was fun to put together all that Mel and I had learned. My final lesson before bringing Mel home was a culmination/review/refinement of our previous lessons. Once home, to my delight, I have been able to continue our learning journey. As stated previously, there are many cue subtleties that one must work to master to get a good connection between horse and rider. Joy left me know that she is there for me with questions, which I appreciated!
Brenda H. Brown Waynesboro, PA
