Katrina Natwick is an Independent Trainer and Lesson Instructor offering her services at Deer Creek Equestrian Center. Katrina has an extensive background in training for performance and pleasure, using personalized, replicable, and positive instruction through confidence building, psychology, Horse behavior, and biomechanically correct focused training.  

Her passion is training riders and horses to be emotionally and mentally prepared for the task they are completing.  Giving them the tools to problem solve and tackle anything that comes their way with harmony. No matter what that is! 

 Katrina strives more to create well rounded, confident and proficient horses and riders.  Using a teaching style of head knowledge, demonstration, and coaching to create a positive and effective  learning environment for her students.  So whether you are a pleasure or competitive rider, her goals are to help you develop a  more harmonious relationship with your horse. 

Katrina has a strong foundation in natural horsemanship principles, has Eventing experience up to Training Level, and has schooled second & Third level Dressage movements, currently working on getting her scores knocked out for her Bronze medal!  She plans to continue training and moving up the levels with a focus on Eventing. 

She has extensive experience developing horses to trail ride in the mountains of Montana, experience working cows and ranch sorting, champion and reserve champion in obstacle completions, bridless and liberty demonstrations, and is a C2 Pony clubber/HB candidate.  Katrina also has extensive experience teaching students and training dogs for agility, obedience, and trick training with her own dog holding multiple titles in all disciplines, this has morphed into trick training horses and using marker/clicker training in some areas of horsemanship. 

Continuing Education is extremely important to Katrina, and she strives to learn as much as possible so she can pass that knowledge off to her students. She loves teaching children and adults, with an emphasis on those who really want to develop better relationships with their horses. 

Her longs term goals are to compete internationally while keeping the principles of happy, strong, and willing partners.   She is married to her best friend and live with their two dogs . 

Katrina offers Liberty, Dressage, Eventing, confidence building, groundwork, and horsemanship lessons at Deer Creek, as well as case by case problem solving sessions, and very limited slots for full training horses. 

KATRINA’s PHILOSOPHY ——

I started off knowing I loved competing and am a very competitive person by nature, but knew I wanted to develop a relationship with my horse beyond getting on and making pretty circles.   I strive to show people what their horses are capable of, beyond winning ribbons, even just in simple tasks. Whether that’s every day tasks like bridling and trailer loading, to liberty, trick training or a firmer understanding of the task asked. 

I was exposed to the Parelli program at a young age, and it gave me a great foundation to work off of and started my journey of asking questions, listening to my horse, and changing accordingly. As a young teen though, I wanted more than what the program offered and started searching for something better.   My philosophy’s of training are ever changing and evolving as I learn from each horse, but always come back to the foundation of putting my horse, and their needs physically and emotionally, first.  

You’ll hear me say this a lot — I care more about what your horse feels (and thinks) like during and after an exercise, than how they actually perform it.  My #1 priority is confidence and softness, in horses and riders. 

I love pairing my knowledge of horse behavior into training performance horses.   I’m a very competitive person by nature, but my horse means more to me than a score. I don’t care if it was the worst or best score of the day, I care how my horse feels when we leave the arena.  It’s not how your horse performs the task, it’s how they feel performing it for you.  

Some of my favorite trainers and authors are Mark Rashid, Warwick Schiller, and Walter Zettle. 

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