“As the awareness of equine behavior grows, so does the interest in positive reinforcement. But not all trainers have an equal amount of knowledge or experience. Abigail is an exceptional resource. Her experience with zoo animals gives her a unique set of skills. The science is imperative when working with exotic animals. This multi species experience takes a lot of dedication. She brings that same dedication into her work with equines. Abigail continues to grow and learn and she gets exceptional results. Furthermore, Abigail is an extraordinary teacher. This combination is not easy to find. We have worked with her on multiple occasions and she is a favorite for us. We love our Abigail time. Her training results, her teaching style and solid science make her one of our favorite resources. We will never hesitate to send anyone to Abigail.”
— -Shawna Karrasch and Jessie Hillegas
“I had the pleasure and honor of working with Abigail as her manager at the Memphis Zoo.
Her innate training instincts are amazing. Do not doubt her abilities because she is young. It was a privilege to be able to mentor her and watch her develop her skills and build incredible relationships with her animals at the zoo, most notably an extremely sensitive Jaguar named Philomena. Her gentle patience and exquisite timing enable her to build trust quickly and allow for clear communication to the animal that helps the whole process move forward smoothly and efficiently for all involved. She is hard working and relentless in her pursuit of improving the lives of animals and their people everywhere.”
— Anna Chaney
“Abigail Greenwalt is a prior employee of Steph K Equestrian, LLC (SKE). Mrs. Greenwalt’s duties included equine training, equine handling, assisting with veterinary and farrier care, volunteer coordination and supervision, lesson instruction, and more.
Mrs. Greenwalt is an incredibly skilled and talented animal behaviorist. She is kind, effective, and inventive with her training. Her approaches are systematic and thorough and her results speak for themselves. While employed at SKE, she worked with a variety of equines, including unhandled mustangs, special needs horses, and valuable show horses. She treated every equine with care and respect. I would trust her to train any animal in my care.
When assisting with handling, veterinary care, and farrier care, Mrs. Greenwalt demonstrated an excellent understanding of overall equine wellness. She is a skilled handler and is very competent with veterinary medical procedures. She was able to prepare equines for veterinary and farrier handling, was able to handle equines trained by both her and others, and was able to assist and effectively handle during routine and emergency procedures.
My clients and students have given glowing reviews of Mrs. Greenwalt’s teaching skills. She has effectively taught a variety of students with different ages, experience levels, and goals. She gives effective instruction, is very kind to her students, and is able to make learning fun for her students and their equines.
Mrs. Greenwalt has successfully managed numerous groups of volunteers as they assist with the day to day functions of our rescue program. She is able to give effective instruction and ensure the necessary work gets done while also maintaining good morale. Mrs. Greenwalt coordinates and prioritizes very well while playing into each volunteer’s strengths to maximize efficiency.
I am certain that Mrs. Greenwalt will be successful wherever she goes. She will undoubtably be an asset to any team. If you have any questions or would like to discuss Mrs. Greenwalt’s work with me further, please do not hesitate to reach out using the contact information above.”
— Steph Bradshaw
“Working with Abigail of Greenwalt Equine has forever changed the way I train and spend time with my horses. I was burnt out on riding and felt extremely unmotivated to train my horses, but I knew I had to do something different because I was committed to keeping them in my life. I became curious about positive reinforcement training and took a 'Positive Reinforcement 101' online course which helped explain a lot of the foundation behind the method, but I was struggling putting it into practice and not making much progress. I was frustrated and wondering if I should just abandon the attempt at +R.
Thankfully I had a friend recommend Abigail, so I thought I would give private virtual lessons a try, at least for a month or so. Over a year later, and I have made an incredible amount of progress not only with my original horse, but also a new (more opinionated) mustang who has presented a lot of entirely new training challenges. It has completely redefined how I spend time with my horses, and made it enjoyable and interesting to work with them. They meet me at the gate every day, eager to get to work (although for them it's more like a game than a job).
Abigail is a skilled teacher, and has made me a better trainer, which in turn helps me work through training challenges on my own. I've been able to problem solve some training challenges independently as I progress my understanding of how to put these principles into practice, but she is always there to help me work through the stickier issues. Every horse is an individual, so having a 1-on-1 style session to focus on working with the specific quirks of your animals is incredibly valuable. I'm convinced that just taking a 'one size fits all' +R course, while helpful to getting started, can actually be detrimental to those who hit roadblocks that aren't addressed by the course. It's easy to think you know more than you actually do and get frustrated when it's not working the way the course says it should. I wish more people getting started with +R would seek out individualized help, like the virtual lessons Abigail offers. Due to her experience putting +R into practice in real life situations, Abigail is often able to think several steps ahead to what could be a potential pitfall that I would never have anticipated. I have learned that it's far better to train something the correct way to begin with, rather than trying to get your horse to unlearn bad habits.
I've made incredible progress with my horses in the past year. This training method is living proof that the old adage 'slow is fast' is very true. Once you take the time to build a foundation of trust and a common language with your horse, the momentum builds on itself and progress is quick.
I recommend Abigail without reservations to anyone learning positive reinforcement who wants a more gentle, ethical, and science-based way to train their horse.”
— Sarah (client)
“We recently competed in our breed’s world championship’s show and I can honestly say that without the training and guidance from Abigail and R+, getting there this year would never have been possible. We ended up placing top 5 in every class. It has been a life changer!!”
— Brea (Compass Equestrian - client and my riding instructor)
“The virtual lessons are logical and Abigail breaks it down to match the student and the horse. I am loving incorporating R+ into my training with other horses and seeing their brains working. I couldn’t recommend Greenwalt Equine enough!”
— Client and professional trainer