Where We Started

Emily Phillips – Owner and Lead Trainer

Emily has been riding horses since the age of six.  Her first lessons were with Al-Marah Arabians in Tucson, Arizona.  She grew up riding Arabians, Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds though Arabs have always been a favorite of hers.  Riding Western with a few trainers she wanted to start, at the age of 8, to try English.  Emily took lessons from several English trainers in the following years. Taking a little more information from each trainer, Emily thrived as she borrowed horse after horse for lessons.

At the age of 11 she got to half-lease her first horse, Amigo (Spanish for “friend”), a 12yr Quarter horse and went back to western.   Emily and Amigo were inseparable for the next year.  Amazed longtime boarders at the facility eventually told Emily of Amigo’s “known” issues under saddle and as a stable mate to their own horses.  Working from instinct and with the knowledge accumulated through extensive training, Emily had transformed the gelding from a stable horror to one of the most requested mounts on trail rides.

Amigo’s owners moved to Canada and that’s when Emily decided to start training for other people.  If you ask her, this is where it truly became a reality that she could actually train horses for a living.

She rode other peoples horses in exchange for tack, riding privileges and odds and ends.  After about a year of training for other people Emily bought her own horse, Shadow.  Shadow was just slightly saddle broke and was a great challenge for Emily.  He is still with Emily, now giving lessons and helping her teach people what she has been taught.

After a year with Shadow Emily gave her first paid lesson to Cody and Eddie McKenzie.  They had never had a horse before and had no idea where to start.  After months of training them and their registered paint horse Cisco, Eddie went on to go to shoeing school and then became an instructor of the school. Cody now does College Rodeo with several of his family horses.

Emily soon became know as the problem solver at the Ranch where she boarded her large herd and gave lessons.  Fixing every horse with issues from head tossing to bucking, saddling to loading. She decided to focus her skills on the “lost horses”;  the horses no one could help.

She would bring home a rugged looking horse, freaked out from past experiences and abandoned by its frustrated owners.  Most of the horses Emily brought home couldn’t even be saddled. Within months she had a completely different horse.  A horse that would tie, load, bathe, and shoe calmly.  A horse that she could jump on bareback and take for an hour trail ride.

As head wrangler for Tanque Verde Guest Ranch, Emily managed a herd of 180 trail horses.  Coordinating everything from shoeing to vetting; training both horses and guests provided a true immersion into the concept of quick, quality evaluation and training.  During her time at the Ranch Emily participated in many clinics and was interviewed for multiple publications. A few links for you to view:

The Arizona Guide: Marketing Publication for the Arizona Office of Tourism

The AZNightBuzz: A supplement to the Arizona Daily Star

True West Magazine: Profile of the Future of Dude Ranches

Emily got Tripoli (originally Triple E – Emily’s Equine Enterprises) going so well in Tucson that when she moved to Tennessee, it was a natural decision to start her business up again.  She sold most of her horses for the move and left some for Jon and Lakota to keep up the training in AZ. There was one horse she couldn’t leave behind. She brought Shadow with her.

Come see how Emily and Shadow can help you and your horse comunicate like they do!