Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Samantha Hoffman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Parents play a huge role in our development as youngsters and sometimes that impact follows us into adulthood and into our lives and careers. Looking back, what’s something you think you parents did right?

I’m very fortunate to have parents who supported my dreams, and also worked to ensure that I understood that if I wanted something that I was capable of working for it. My parents balanced encouraging and empowering me to follow my dreams, without solving every problem for me.

My involvement with horses began at age 7. I feel like a lot of 7 year olds are interested in horses, but my parents saw that interest in me and really supported it. After I went on my first trail ride, they enrolled me in a week-long summer camp. And when I loved that, they signed me up for a second week. Pretty soon after that I was taking weekly riding lessons and becoming more and more involved.

In fourth grade, I decided that I wanted my own horse and started begging my parents to buy me one. One of the things that I work on demonstrating for my students, and helping them learn, is how big of a responsibility it is to own a horse. The responsibility is part of what makes riding so rewarding. It’s a partnership between you and the horse, and the relationship that is formed both on the ground and under saddle.

My parents continued to invest in my education and made sure that I built up a solid foundation because they wanted to make sure I was committed. I was really upset at first, and even made this elaborate powerpoint to convince them to buy me a horse. I kept taking riding lessons at least twice a week, and then leased a few horses over the years. After years of commitment, my parents bought me a horse my senior year. His name was Lucjan, and he was my dream horse. I didn’t realize it until a few years later, but he fit the description of my “dream horse” from childhood. Together we won many dressage competitions together.

Looking back, I know that all that time I spent working with horses set me up for the foundation I have as a therapeutic riding instructor, and it’s something that I pass onto my students. I want them to connect their passion and excitement to something deep inside of them and they get the same empowerment that you can only get by putting in the work for something you want.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have always been an avid horseback rider, and competitive dressage rider. Throughout my teenage years, I recognized how much better my depression and anxiety felt after working with horses and knew I always wanted to have horses in my life.

After graduating from SDSU with a bachelors in Anthropology, I was feeling lost. As much as I loved the subject, I knew that there were few career paths in the field that would afford me the ability to own horses. My horse at the time was having some physical issues so I decided to study and become an Equine Body Worker and learn sports massage for horses.

Through my program’s externship, I connected with a local therapeutic riding program so I could practice massaging their horses and complete my certification. They were looking for a new instructor, and I began my career as a therapeutic riding instructor. Therapeutic riding combined my love of horses and helping people. I left the ranch each day feeling so inspired by my students, and experienced an even deeper level of understanding as to how healing horses truly are.

In October 2020, I founded my program Joy For Horses. I help people of all ages and abilities achieve their goals through the use of horses. I love blending working with horses and learning lessons about life, as horses have so much to teach us. A belief that I share with my students is that there’s always a way that they can align their vision for their lives with what they’re learning and doing. It’s not always a straight path, but there’s always a way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Well, I feel like if you ask anyone who starts a business for a story of resilience they can rattle off example after example. One of the entrepreneurs that I look up to talks about how going out on your own is a personal, maybe even spiritual journey. It’s like staring into a mirror every day and getting feedback about what’s working and not about how you’re living your life. Everything is on you.

For me, 2021 was really a hard year. The pandemic was hard on everyone because it brought up so much for all of us. I was about six months into starting my business, and everything started going wrong all at once. My lesson horse got injured, I broke my big toe which makes it extremely hard to ride and walk around teaching lessons. I also had some losses in my personal life which made focusing on business a challenge.

One of the biggest lessons I learned from all the challenges was that I knew I wasn’t going to give up. My belief in my dream and vision was stronger than all the hardships I was facing.

You always hear that “most businesses don’t make it out of their first year or two” and I think that’s not because people start bad businesses, it’s because in your first year or two you’re going to have the opportunity to look in the mirror and get the choice to evolve into the resilient person that you need to become to make the business work.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Covid was a major factor that forced me to pivot. When the pandemic hit, I was still working at a therapeutic riding center, and I started seeing how the isolation we were all experiencing was creating some of the challenges I’d been able to overcome with horses as teenager. I knew that even though it might not have looked that way on the surface, it was the perfect time to start a business that was focused on teaching riders personal development, leadership, and empowerment through working with horses.

If you haven’t ever ridden on a horse before, I’d encourage you to try. When you’re up there in the saddle, in order to get the horse to follow your lead it’s critical to be present and learn how to connect with them. You’re on top of this massive, powerful, beautiful animal and you start to realize you have to partner with them in order to move. Horseback riding becomes a relationship and a sense of purpose.

When you come out to the ranch to see the horse, they know you and they’re excited to see you. And as you learn to ride, you learn what it means to become a leader. The horse is looking to you for guidance, and you get to learn how to earn their trust and let them earn yours over time.

And because a horse has a mind of their own, riders learn that things don’t always go as planned, and that’s ok.

One of my riders during COVID told me that school and the world felt so scary in 2020 and 2021, but when she was riding at the ranch it was one of the only places that she felt safe. I pivoted so I could bring that experience to more people.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joyforhorses.com
• Instagram: @JoyForHorses
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoyForHorses/