Taking Priority to Positive® to the Next Level in 2022… Part Two

Priority to Positive® Student Trainers and Interns
Our Priority to Positive® Student Trainers, Cami and Jasmine, arrived at Via Nova in August of 2021. With minimal knowledge of R+ training but a keen desire to learn, over the last six months, both students have gained a wealth of knowledge and techniques specific to R+ training. Learning how to apply R+ to their traditional backgrounds, Cami and Jasmine have spent time in the classroom and have also taken their new perspectives to the barn by creating training plans with various horses at our facility. Read more details in the posts A Day in the Life and It’s All Starting to Click.

Reward is a key component of our work, and both Cami and Jasmine have achieved that feeling of accomplishment on the ground and in the saddle at Via Nova. Watch video clips that illustrate success with our young Mustang mare Taz, as well as older mare Luna.

We are also excited to welcome Thais, who will be an intern at Via Nova through the spring. Thais is currently a student in Equine Behaviour, Health, and Welfare at Nottingham Trent University in the United Kingdom.

Liberating Experiences
We applaud the work of the Via Nova trainers, Meredith and Gilly.

Along with being a glowing expectant mom, Meredith is in charge of the student trainers and our intern, guiding them through training plans and practicing R+ skills with different types of horses and goals.

Gilly’s client Jenny, who competes in dressage and eventing, had quite a successful and positive year, including two first-place finishes for Open Training and Novice Rider in the Area X Eventing Championships and a third-place finish in the American Eventing Championships (AECs).

After the AECs, Jenny was featured in this US Eventing article:

“We also have a wonderful trainer and friend in Gilly Slayter at Via Nova Training. Pants (Excel Star Lance’s barn name) and I love working with her. He always perks up when he hears her voice… Working with Gilly and using R+ has allowed our relationship to grow exponentially and our training to progress in ways that would have never been possible.”

Show Season Success – Kicking Off the Season in the Show Ring
Two of our own horses, both trained and ridden by Gilly using our Priority to Positive® principles, kicked off 2022 with some super dressage scores and blue ribbons at the CARA Champagne Show in Arizona.

More details to come on the success of Imagine (Imagine Via Nova) and Tulip (In Lieu of Flowers)!