For Cave Creek, Arizona professional trainer Erica Owen, her own training business wasn’t exactly planned but since taking over her boss’ business after she retired Owen has thrived doing what she loves. 

Growing up in Stanley, New York, Owen began riding at the age of 3. Her maternal grandmother had horses even before she was born so you could say it was almost engrained in her. At 6 she began taking serious lessons and started showing under the tutelage of Christine VanGee as well as her parents, Merle and Linda. 

“When I was a kid, my two best friends, Lisa Burley and Alicia (Fish) Danforth, and I would ride our horses down the road to each other’s houses,” Owen recalled. “We would pretend the cabbage in the fields around our houses was our ‘cattle’ and we had to check on them. We would spend full summers riding, laughing, and watching our “herd” grow. It’s so funny what kids come up with to entertain themselves.”

 After graduating from Taylor County High School Owen decided to try her hand at training horses professionally so she went to work for AQHA Professional Horseman and judge, Bennie Sargent of Paris, Kentucky, during her first few years of college. Then, she moved to the north Texas area to ride Reining horses for Lynda (Adlof) Weaver. While working for Weaver, she got the opportunity to ride with some of the best Reining/Cowhorse trainers in the business, like Andrea Fappani, Ron Ralls, Shawn Flarida – just to name a few. After a short stint showing horses in Canada for Duane and DeeDee Hicks in 2010, Owen moved back to Texas in 2011. She joined her good friend Sam Holloway and together they started their own business – Dynamic Performance Horses in Sherman, Texas. They focused mostly on Reining horses but had a few all-around contenders too. Their paths took them in different directions and Owen stopped riding for two years to finish her Associate’s degree in Equine Studies and Bachelor’s degree in Business from Midway University in Kentucky. Then in 2016, she started working for Christy Snyder-Kelly in Cave Creek, Arizona, a move that eventually presented an opportunity for Owen to again start her own business. 

“Christy was experiencing some personal health issues and decided to trade her trainer’s hat for an amateur card. She approached me about taking over her clients that I’d already been working with and I agreed,” Owen said. “Since then it has grown exponentially.” 

Erica now specializes in all-around horses – Western Pleasure, Horsemanship, Hunter Under Saddle, Equitation, Trail etc. She also still rides Reining contenders and is starting to get into the Ranch Riding. Her current facility is located at at Pinnacle Peak Equestrian Center. There are six barns on site with a large mare motel as well, eight arenas, two round pens, a large track, a cross-country course, and all the amenities that come with it like wash racks, bathrooms, turnouts and hot-walker.

Recently she and many of her horses have accumulated an impressive roster of accomplishments including It Will Be Al Right , 2017 Solid High Point Youth All Around World Champion,  Pinto Horse Association two-time World Champion and three-time Reserve World Champion; He’s Really Solid, 2017 Youth Pinto World Champion; Satisfactionguarantee, 2019 Top Five NSBA World Open Color Longe Line; Instagram, 2018 AZQHA High Point 2-Year-Old Open/Amateur Gelding and several NRHA money earners that she rode as 2-year-olds including Chex Are Cashin (AQHA VHR World Champion), Spooks N Sparks (Level 4 Non Pro NRHA Futurity Champion), Lonesome Cowboy Chex, Spooked N Hollywood, Chicstep, Load Your Gun, Cache of Jewels. 

“I am extremely proud of Sabrina and It Will Be Al Right. They were the first duo to give me a world championship as a trainer and it will resonate with me for the rest of my life,” Owen said. “I am also super proud of my latest top five at the National Snaffle Bit Association’s World Show with Satisfactionguarantee. That the first World Show I ever competed in myself in so it was really a dream come true for me.”

Owen really enjoys training yearlings and 2-year-olds. She says being able to see them transform from a gangly, awkward youngster to something really beautiful is very rewarding. Her training methods include asking her horses for something and rewarding them when they respond in a positive way. 

“I am a huge believer that horses learn on the release of pressure – ask for what you want and give back when the horse responds in a positive way – and I base everything I do on that,” Owen explained. “I prefer to ride all my horses with forward motion, driving their hind end into my hands through leg pressure instead of using only my hands to knock their head down. I want to see propulsion from behind that gives the horse an overall arc – meaning their back is picked up and engaged as well as their rib cage – that transcends across their entire body, resulting in a softer face and flatter front leg, with the hindquarters driving forward underneath. I love working straight lines and 90 degree corners, especially with babies, because it helps them understand how to be confident moving forward but how to also collect in the corners and then carry themselves out of it.”

As talented of a horse trainer as Owen is, some might be surprised to learn that she is an equally good singer. Though she has never had professional lessons other than choir practice in school she often dreams about her “back up plan” of singing in Nashville. Owen says she believes she gets her talent from her grandmother who also sang in church and around the house. She also enjoys reading, particularly anything with even a drop of historical information in it. 

“I just love history and I am really intrigued by American history in particular,” Owen confessed. “Really anything prior to the close of the Civil War.”

These days she said she’s living her idea of perfect happiness — A barn full of healthy horses, happy clients, a great support system…. 

“I’ve already found that, now maybe I will find someone to share it with,” she said.