Your horse called: it prefers kindness over boot camp

Tired of “push harder” training that leaves you and your horse tense, confused, or sidelined? Meet a different path. We sit down with Megan Sorentino of Classical Horsemanship in Fort Collins to unpack a humane, time-tested system that trades force for feel, clarity, and real partnership—no pricey unicorn required. Megan shares how classical methods, rooted in historic European schools and refined through mentorship with Craig Stevens, help everyday riders build balance, softness, and soundness that last.

We dive into the big myths: that only expensive horses reach high levels, that bigger animals need bigger pressure, and that quick wins are worth the fallout. Megan explains why modern, military-influenced training often prioritizes speed over longevity, and how classical work—think precise timing, thoughtful biomechanics, and patient progression—keeps horses willing and sound. You’ll hear practical insights on shifting from bracing to balance, setting up exercises that invite lightness, and recognizing when a kinder cue yields a better answer. For adult beginners, there’s an encouraging roadmap that starts with safety and clarity, then scales toward more refined work without fear or shame.

Megan’s personal story gives the method heart. From overcoming dyslexia to growing from a backyard round pen into a 35-acre training facility, her journey models the very principles she teaches: start where you are, focus on small correct steps, and let consistency compound. We also explore how her team is expanding access with YouTube tutorials, social content, online courses, and a new podcast pairing an expert’s lens with a beginner’s questions—perfect for riders who want substance, not slogans.

If you’re frustrated by lameness issues, overwhelmed by conflicting advice, or convinced it’s “too late” to ride, this conversation offers a hopeful alternative. Come for the myth-busting; stay for the concrete tools that make riding lighter, safer, and more joyful. If this resonates, follow Classical Horsemanship on your favorite platform, share the episode with a horse-loving friend, and leave a review so more riders can find a kinder path forward.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, Nick George.

SPEAKER_02 (00:12):
Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast.
Today I have the great pleasureof introducing Megan Sorentino
with Classic Horsemanship.
If you're in need of sometraining, not just for the
horse, but for the rider too,she might be what you're looking
for.
Megan, how's it going?
I'm doing well.
How are you?
Excellent.

(00:32):
Tell us all about classichorsemanship.

SPEAKER_00 (00:35):
It's uh actually classical horsemanship.

SPEAKER_02 (00:38):
Or classical horsemanship, sorry.

SPEAKER_00 (00:40):
No worries.
So the reason that we have thatname is because a lot of riding
is based off of a moderntraining system.
So the roots of the type oftraining that we do actually
date back to antiquity, and it'sa very old way of working with
the horses, and so that's why wecall it classical horsemanship.
Um, we are a riding schoolthat's just a little bit

(01:03):
northwest of downtown FortCollins, and we offer riding
lessons, we offer training forhorses, and we do offer
boarding.
We are unique in that we don'tdo open boarding, so all of the
horses that are boarded on theproperty are students' horses.
And the reason that we do thatis because we have a very

(01:25):
special and particular way ofworking with the horses.
We focus more on each horse'sunique ability and using
gentleness and kindness to trainthe horses.
And so because we have thatapproach, we try to have a very
good community of people thatare also like-minded in the way

(01:46):
that they work with theirhorses.

SPEAKER_02 (01:48):
Megan, how did you get into this business of
classical horse training, peopletraining?

SPEAKER_00 (01:55):
Uh, I was lucky enough to have a mentor.
His name was Craig Stevens, andI met him in May of 2012, and he
taught himself uh French andtranslated a lot of old French
riding books, which is where theroots of this type of riding
that we teach came from.

(02:16):
So he learned French, translatedbooks, he learned it from a few
different masters all over theworld, and then he himself
trained horses and taught ridingall over the world.
So I had the pleasure of livingwith him for about a year and a
half at his riding school inWashington, and then him and his

(02:36):
wife at the time split up, andso then he spent the last four
years of his life living with mein Fort Collins and training me.
So he was the one who taught methis different style of riding.
And the first time I met him, hewas the first person who told me
that I could be friends with myhorse again, which was something
I'd always wanted because fromthe time I was a little girl, I

(02:59):
loved horses.
And every instructor I hadbefore him was always like,
don't let them do that, don'tlet them get away with that, hit
them harder.
And I would just do what myinstructors told me to do, but I
never felt like it was right inmy heart.
So when I met my mentor Craig,it was so nice to be able to
feel like I could not only befriends with my horses again,

(03:20):
but also get my average andexpensive horses to be able to
do high-level work.

SPEAKER_02 (03:26):
You kind of answered the next question I was going to
ask you, maybe.
What are some myths ormisconceptions in your
particular niche of training?
And uh that may have been one ofthem.
Anything else that you'd like tocover, or would you like to
elaborate more on the myths ormisconceptions about what
training looks like?

SPEAKER_00 (03:45):
Oh, there's so many of them.
I mean, one of them for sure,like I just mentioned, is that a
lot of people think that theyhave to get a more and more
expensive horse to be able to dohigh-level work, and that they
don't realize that the moderntraining system is broken, that
there's an older way of workinghorses, that the modern training

(04:07):
system is based off militaryriding.
Well, in the military, the horseis expendable, there's always
another horse.
And so the biggest misconceptionis that anybody, whether any
rider and any horse, if you putin enough time, can get to a
high level.
Another really importantmisconception that I also kind
of touched on is that horses arebig, and so people think that

(04:30):
they have to be aggressive tohandle them.
And a lot of people, sadly, thedefault setting for handling
horses is fear and aggression,and it's essentially bullying
the horse.
And it's not that you can't getthe horse to work that way, but
it's like, who are you gonnawork harder for?
Somebody who bullies you orsomebody who listens to your
thoughts and your feelings andyour opinions, and so that's

(04:53):
gonna be the better leader, andthat's what we have to be for
our horses.

SPEAKER_02 (04:57):
Wow.
So um we know that marketing isthe heart of every business.
Who is your target clientele andhow are you reaching out to them
now in the digital world?

SPEAKER_00 (05:10):
Well, we actually just started creating some
online content and onlinecourse.
So we are in the process, it'son sale now, but we're in the
process of creating our firstonline course because I'm trying
to reach out to other peoplethat aren't just local to be
able to help them with theirhorses.
We've been creating a lot ofcontent on YouTube.

(05:31):
Um, there's a lot of free videoson there about our philosophy
and about how we teach.
So a lot of social media and alot of just website, and then of
course, word of mouth.

SPEAKER_02 (05:44):
Have you ever thought about doing your own
podcast?

SPEAKER_00 (05:48):
Yeah, I actually had a podcast with my mentor before
he passed away.
And so you can go and watchthose on YouTube.
And then my social mediamanager, who's also one of my
students, me and her juststarted a podcast and recorded
our first episode a few weeksago.
And that's super fun becauseI've been doing this for almost

(06:09):
14 years.
I have a lot of experience, Iwork a lot of horses, and she's
coming at it from a beginnerperspective.
So it's really fun to hear uschat back and forth, coming from
the two different points ofview.

SPEAKER_02 (06:19):
How can we find those?

SPEAKER_00 (06:21):
They will be posted on YouTube.
Our YouTube channel is uh calledClassical Horsemanship, just
like our business name.

SPEAKER_02 (06:30):
Nice.
What do you do for fun whenyou're not having fun?

SPEAKER_00 (06:35):
I am really blessed that my job is very fun.
Uh, and even though I love whatI do on my weekends, I'm so
thankful that I have a husbandwho is not a horsey husband.
And so on our weekends, we liketo do outdoorsy things, other
things like skiing and campingand playing golf.

SPEAKER_02 (06:56):
Is there a hardship?
And stop me if you don't want totalk about any of that, but is
there a hardship in your lifethat you overcame that made you
stronger?
Something you'd like to sharewith people about, you know,
just connecting with peopleabout how you maybe you didn't
have the perfect life andeverybody has struggles and how
you overcame yours and how itled to this.
Anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 (07:17):
Yes, definitely.
Um, I was actually dyslexic, Iam still dyslexic.
I had a really hard timelearning how to read.
And I think that was one of thethings that actually made it so
that I was able to learn how todo this different type of
writing and build my business.
That I always thought I was notvery smart when I was little

(07:38):
because I had a hard timelearning how to read, and now I
read multiple books at once.
I know that if I put my hardwork and energy into anything,
that it'll pay off, and that youcan't just wait for things to be
perfect, that you just gottastart.
I started my business out of myparents' backyard and a little
round pen, and now we have 35acres with employees and an

(08:00):
indoor.
So that challenge of learninghow to read when I was younger
is definitely what helped meovercome and get to where I am
today.

SPEAKER_02 (08:10):
What is the most important thing, Megan, that you
want people to take away fromthis podcast interview with you
and classical horsemanship?

SPEAKER_00 (08:19):
Um, I want them to know that if they're frustrated
with the modern training systemor they have lameness issues
with their horses, that there isanother answer out there, that
it's not just you have to getrid of your horse or you have to
uh buy a more expensive horse,and that one of our favorite
target market clients isbeginner riders.

(08:41):
So it's never too uh beginneradults, so it's never too late
to learn how to ride.
That's actually one of myfavorite demographics to work
with because I know there's somany adults that, as a little
boy or a little girl, alwayswanted to learn how to ride, and
now they feel like it's toolate.
So I think people who arefrustrated with the modern
training system and those peoplewho think it's too late to learn

(09:02):
how to ride, that there's anopportunity to do those things.

SPEAKER_02 (09:06):
Well, Megan, it's been a pleasure having you on
our show, and we definitely oh,one more thing.
How do people find out moreabout you?
Both what is your website andwhat are the other social media
ways that people can find you?
And a phone number if you givethose out.

SPEAKER_00 (09:22):
Yeah, so our website is classc-la-shorsemanship.com,
and then you can find us on allsocial media platforms.
We have uh Instagram, which isat Classical Horsemanship,
Facebook, which is at ClassicalHorsemanship, uh, TikTok, that's
at Classical Horsemanship, andthen YouTube at Classical

(09:43):
Horsemanship.
And we do quite a bit of postingand trying to teach people
through videos and such online.
Is there a phone number?
Yeah, it's 970-215-3330, andit's always best to text for a
faster response.

SPEAKER_02 (10:01):
Well, that's all very easy to remember.
Again, Megan, it's been apleasure having you on our show,
and we definitely wish you andclassical horsemanship the very
best moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 (10:10):
Thanks.
Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 (10:13):
Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor
Podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on the
show, go to gnpfortcollins.com.
That's gnpfortcollins.com orcall nine seven zero.