Wild Oak Dressage

Joyce Heier, USDF Bronze Medalist and Senior Resident Trainer Joyce Heier brings to teaching her passion for horses and classical riding. Riding since she was 10 years old, she has dedicated a large portion of her life to dressage because, "it works." It works to improve and refine the rider's communication with the horse, to strengthen and supple the horse so that it can better do its work, and make partners of two disparate beings so that horse and human find harmony and unity. She has studied dressage for over 19 years under such excellent FEI-Level trainers as Paul Belasik, Jurgen Göhler, Jane Kelly, Felicitas Neumann-Cosel, Carole Grant, Alex Gerding and Tonya Grant Barber. Teaching for 17 years has not only brought the satisfaction of helping people ride well, but also of helping horses find happiness and relaxation in their work. There truly are very few bad horses--but there are confused ones. Joyce has competed to numerous year-end championships, and earned her USDF Bronze Medal with Ghost Dance, her half-Arab partner that she trained to upper level from an unruly greenbroke 8 year-old. She continues to attend clinics and workshops to further her education and is pursuing her Silver Medal with her homebred Hanoverian-cross mare, Meeko. She owns and operates Wild Oak Farm in Liberty Center, Ohio, with her husband and Facilities Manager, Paul, assisted by their son, Kevin.
Joyce emphasizes a solid foundation and correct basics in her lessons and training. Instruction includes correct lungeing, lungeing of the rider on the horse, work-in-hand and lateral work. Her philosophy of teaching is to help students become thinking riders, that are competent and able to apply dressage solutions to their everyday riding problems. "I want my students to be able to think for themselves and to have a 'tool box' to go to when they have a problem. I want them to understand what works and how to use it." In addition, Joyce excels at making the theory of classical riding understandable and applicable. "I was never a "natural talent". Talented riders sometimes don't communicate well when teaching average riders--they do so many things naturally, without having to think about them, that they don't understand that others don't feel it, or they don't even realize that they are doing something that other riders don't. The theory of dressage works on virtually every horse because it is based on their natural reaction to an aid, or direction. I had to struggle to learn how it should "feel" when its correct. The struggle has made me a much better teacher, and to understand how to make "feel" comprehensible to the student". Joyce's students range from beginners to dressage to those who are pursuing ambitious competitive goals. Many are mature adults who have returned to riding after raising families and establishing careers. Some are in their 60s, and enjoy the mental and physical challenges and rewards of dressage. Younger riders benefit from the superb foundation that dressage provides them for any equestrian pursuit. Joyce is available for lessons 6 days/week, and travels for lessons and clinics. Trailer-ins are welcome. Lessons are 45 minutes to one hour in length. We also have superb schoolmasters available as lesson horses. Please see the "Fees" page for details on fees. Joyce travels to dressage shows, both schooling and recognized, and is available to coach her students at shows. Training is offered on a selective basis. Please contact us to discuss your needs. We offer training from beginning through tune-ups. All training is conducted in a manner to produce a horse sound in mind and body. We believe that if you make the right choice easy for the horse, he will choose to do what you want. We've had outstanding results with horses of many breeds.