Top 50 Riding Instructors in America:

Marilyn Lucas
15391 NW 115th Court
Reddick, FL 32686

phone: 1-866-557-0458
email:  mrl4mk@yahoo.com

I began riding when I was 2 years old and have worked with many instructors, including some upper level classical trainers from Europe , and Marilyn is my favorite riding instructor.  I have known Marilyn since 1994, when we met at a stable in Florida where I was taking lessons from another instructor.  I was immediately impressed with the great devotion, care and patience with which she treated her horses and I could tell that she shared my philosophy towards riding and training.  My other instructor moved shortly thereafter and Marilyn became my new instructor.  I have found her to be very knowledgeable and able to meet each student at whatever our level, and to explain and apply her knowledge to each student’s own situation in a way we could relate to and understand.  Along with this, most importantly, Marilyn has a very warm, calm and encouraging manner which helps to put a student at ease and bring out their best.  I have worked with other top-level instructors who were no doubt technically excellent, but whose manner made me feel like I was the stupidest person alive, or possibly the worst rider on earth.  Once when I was on the verge of tears, one explained that no, I was actually a pretty good rider, which is why he felt obliged to be so hard on me!  But Marilyn has never, ever brought me to tears.  She manages to turn even a relatively bad session into a positive learning experience.  She has a wonderful sense of humor which helps to defuse stressful situations and keep things in perspective.

I also appreciate the fact that Marilyn’s training method is very classical, especially in the sense of taking the time to build a strong foundation to support correct progression into the higher levels.  Marilyn will allow a student to experiment and try to reach beyond to the next level, and she encourages sometimes challenging exercises to build confidence, but she maintains an emphasis on safety and will never push a student or a horse beyond what they are capable or comfortable doing.  I have even seen her tactfully turn away wealthy paying clients who refused to adhere to her standards of safety and/or integrity because they wanted to push a young horse or a young rider too hard too fast in competitions for which they really were not ready. Her integrity would not allow Marilyn to be involved in that, for which I deeply respect her.

Marilyn has helped me with all aspects of riding and training.  She has instructed me on her own wonderful school horses, especially Aerial, my favorite, a gray Appendix Quarterhorse who has the flashiness, style, energy and impulsion of a thoroughbred along with the intelligence and steadiness of a Quarterhorse and an incredibly kind, generous and patient manner.  Marilyn and Aerial taught me to do flying lead changes every few strides and made it seem easy.  Aerial has been nominated for Best School Horse and he is certainly most worthy and I would second that nomination!  Marilyn also trained me and my then 6-year-old goddaughter on my own beloved upper-level dressage mare who has since passed away, and has assisted me in schooling other peoples’ horses, and more recently, in training my own young mare.  She has helped me keep a positive attitude in difficult situations, e.g., remaining calm and kind while not allowing a very strong and spirited young horse to get the upper hand.   She is very good at remaining in control while being totally kind and gentle in situations where, frankly, other trainers might be tempted to beat a horse.

Marilyn is also very generous with her time and has been a volunteer in The Great American Teach-In, and helped and encouraged the kids in 4-H while serving as a judge at their shows.  I myself have benefitted from her generosity to people with special needs when I was out of work and broke, when I was on Disability for CFIDS.  At that time Marilyn was kind enough to teach me at a reduced rate, or even for free, and she was very patient with my disability.  More than once when I was sick I showed up at the barn to tell her I was cancelling the lesson because I simply had neither the energy nor the money, but Marilyn would not let me give up.  Knowing that my horse was totally gentle and highly trained, she said, “That’s o.k., no pressure, you don’t actually have to do anything, just let the horse do the work!” and we ended up having a wonderful lesson which really built my confidence and made me feel better about my life.

Since she moved to Indiana I have had the opportunity to be instructed by Marilyn over the phone or via internet, or whenever she is in Florida visiting in person.  I am privileged to have had the opportunity to train with Marilyn for the past 15 years and would highly recommend her to anyone, regardless of level.  I have referred friends of all levels of riding ability to her in the past, knowing that she will give each of them exactly the training that they need and help them to develop better communication and trust with their horse.  I would nominate Marilyn for Instructor of The Year based on her incredible talent, her integrity and her generosity, and at the very least, there is no question that Marilyn must be among the Top 50 in the nation!

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to nominate Ms. Lucas and I appreciate your consideration.  Sincerely,

Ms. Jamie Brown
5704 Arnold Road, Panama City, FL 32404
phone/fax: 850-747-1904
e-mail: srjulian@bellsouth.net

Jamie Brown