OUR STORY
Avalon Performance Horse and Rider Support is owned by Tim and Lisa Haldane. Both professional engineers, Lisa has been competing with cutting horses since 2002, became a certified practitioner of Masterson Method™ Equine Performance Bodywork in 2009, and has been an Instructor in the Masterson Method™ since 2010. Now upon his retirement, Tim is taking an active role in the vision and support for the company.We alternate seasonally between Tucson, Arizona and Beavercreek, Oregon. In Oregon we raise a limited number of registered Corriente cattle for cutting horse practice and grass fed beef.
Avalon Performance Horse and Rider Support has offered an online equine anatomy course to prospective equine bodywork practitioners since 2012.
The goal of our company is to provide education and resources for people involved with horses so they can make better choices which will allow them to:
- Spend less with a better outcome
- Have confidence that the horses under their care are as comfortable as they can be
- Be more comfortable as riders
We ride and compete in the sport of cutting. The name cutting refers to the activity of separating a cow from the rest of a herd, “cutting” a cow from the herd. This is a critical skill on ranches so that cattle can be sorted and doctored.
Some horses have exceptional abilities to read the motions and intentions of a cow, quicker than a rider. These are the horses that have now been bred for this very specialized sport.
What’s unique about cutting is that during the most active part of the event, the rider is not using any reins to control the movements of the horse. It takes several years to train and season a horse to do this, it takes an truly exceptional equine athlete to compete successfully.
It is one of the most physically challenging of equine events, and because of this, great care is taken by competitors to ensure to the best of their ability and knowledge that the horses are comfortable. If a horse is uncomfortable, it will definitely show up in the performance and will affect the outcome. The same is true for the riders.
Our approach to helping people enjoy their competition experience more fully is to lay out what we see as the fundamentals that need to be evaluated in both horse and rider in a logical way so that the teaching and training of horse and rider can be more successful.