Toni Faria

 I have had a love for horses since my earliest memories. Many a road trip with my parents, I would be staring out the window excited by every horse I saw and wished one day I would be riding my very own horse through the pasture.

It wasn't until I turned 18 and was able to drive that I regularly started Trail Riding. I would be at the farm nearly every weekend, with eventually taking out riders, loving every moment.

A few years later my professional career started with an appointment in the accounting division with a major Oil Company in the City of Melbourne. During this period I meet and married my husband Chris.

We then moved to the Cape Schanck area where every day I would drive to and from work observing all the horses in their paddocks until one day.....it just clicked.....this is the perfect place for me to have a horse of my own.

Luckily where I boarded my horse there was a small group of 3 people which clearly stood out from the crowd of seventy horses and riders studying all types of horse related disciplines.

From there I purchased the Pat Parelli Savvy System Level 1 home study kit which I totally immersed myself into. I was working full time and long hours but each night found the time to play with my horse even if it was only for 5 minutes.

I started to change. I became more Positive, Progressive and Natural and my colleagues at work started to notice and became very interested in what I was doing. I had many a team member practicing lead changes to the photo copy machine and using their left hand for many office tasks.

In 2009 I achieved my Level 3 in all Savvy's and was progressing well into Level 4 when we were invited to the USA to study an externship at the Pagosa Springs Ranch in Colorado. This experience took my horsemanship to a whole new level. We meet so many like minded and passionate people from all over the globe.

We were fortunate enough to return to the Colorado ISC in 2010 for the Performance Summit where we witnessed where you can take the program beyond Level 4 for those with professional or competitive aspirations.

Recently I have returned from a supporting role at the first ever Fast Track course in Australia at the Parelli Centre in Wilton.

I am now beginning my Professional journey as a 1 Star Parelli Instructor and look forward to helping you achieve your own horsemanship goals.

Email Toni at tondara@netspace.net.au or call 0438 83 9410 to arrange a lesson.

"The more I learn, the smarter my horse gets!"