Nicola Baumann and Rolo

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I came to horses as an adult, and each horse has taught me something different. Max was my first horse and my heart horse—the horse I built my barn and arena for. Quincy taught me confidence and patience, and Shiloh challenged me to become a stronger, more effective rider. Through all of them, Lita has been a constant, helping me understand that becoming a better rider isn’t simply about mastering maneuvers. It’s about developing feel, learning to listen to the horse underneath you, and building a partnership.

Then came Rolo. I bought him as a young reining horse, hoping I had finally found a horse I could show and truly have fun with. With Lita’s training and coaching, we transitioned him into ranch riding, and together Rolo and I have gone from simply trying to get through a pattern to beginning to be competitive in the show pen. The ribbons are wonderful, but my favorite moments are the quieter ones—realizing that he trusts me in unfamiliar situations, feeling him soften and move underneath me, and hearing Lita tell me after one class that we looked “so connected.”

That connection is probably the best description of what Lita has helped me build. She has challenged me when I needed challenging, encouraged me when I doubted myself, and adapted her teaching to the horse and rider in front of her. After years of lessons, training, shows, setbacks, breakthroughs, and a lot of laughter, horses and Lita have become an enormous part of my life. I’m still learning—and I hope I always will be—but today I have the confidence to set bigger goals because Lita has helped give me the skills to pursue them while never losing sight of the thing that matters most: the relationship with the horse.