About Growing Green Farm

Mission Statement:

To provide a safe environment where humans and horses can learn, interact and grow together while discovering new methods of natural horse/human communication.

Trainer and founder, Holly Fite, started her journey with horses at a young age. As a child she blew out candles on every birthday cake wishing for a horse, not a pony, but a horse. By chance one summer she ended up going to an after school childcare provider that happened to be a horse trainer who gave riding lessons to children. Already addicted to horses, lessons were a must and so began her lifelong affair with the equine species.

After less than a year of traditional western lessons, her parents bought her a palomino quarter horse. His registered name was Our Golden Bucks. "Blue" as he was fondly called, was purchased from a private horse owner in Estes Park, Colorado in 1991 and was used previously as a dude ranch horse. Shortly after he made his home with the Fite family at a local boarding facility, Blue found his way into the show ring. He won many ribbons for Holly and she learned some of life's most important lessons atop his back. Over the years he grew older and was unfortunately sold, much to the heartbreak of Holly. Although he is now in greener pastures, he is never far from memory. His name says everything, he was worth his weight in gold.

Having caught the horse "bug" it was only natural that when the time came to choose a college and major Holly aptly chose to study Equine Science at Colorado State University. After riding for nearly 10 years at this point and doing extensive showing with the American Quarter Horse Association, Holly felt right at home with the idea of a career involving horses.

During her time at CSU, Holly not only studied feverishly but also held office on the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association team. Being a member for all four years while attending college, she was additionally the Show Secretary and English Horse Manager for two of those years. Having thought she knew everything about horses at this point, she was humbled by the structure of the I.H.S.A. The notion of picking a horse out of a hat minutes before your class at a show, then hopping on and going around the ring over a course of fences was something that was pretty foreign at the time. However, hindsight has provided wisdom as this gave her the opportunity to ride hundreds of different horses and get a true feel for the many types of horse personalities and behavior traits that exist.

Holly graduated from CSU in 2001 with a Bachelors of Science in Equine Science. Within this degree she also carries an Equine Industry focus with a concentration on Horse Behavior. In addition, she obtained a double minor in Equine Nutrition and English/Creative Writing.

Immediately after graduating she began her career as a horse trainer. She landed a job with Vernon Performance Horses in Kiowa, Colorado while studying under professional reining trainer Guy Vernon. Her duties included managing his training facility and also starting young reining prospects under saddle. Shortly after that she took a job as a Groom with McPhaul Performance Horses in Golden, Colorado. Under the guide of trainer Kathleen McPhaul, Holly learned the ins and outs of riding and showing horses within the National Reining Horse Association. She assisted Kathleen at many NRHA and NRCHA (cowhorse) shows over the course of 6 months. Her knowledge base grew and she began networking.

While working for the McPhauls, Holly was introduced to client Pam Bailey. She and husband, Todd, owned a small acreage facility, Kingdom Come Ranch in Golden where they enjoyed horses. With a back gate opening to hundreds of acres of open space, their barn attracted many horse lovers. Holly spent quite a lot of time here training and helping the Baileys with problem horses and barn chores.

After almost five years of helping out with the horses at Todd and Pam's, Holly was given the gift of a lifetime. Pam's father, Ed VanHarn, then in his 70's decided to give his horse, Baron, a new life. One late December evening, Holly came out to the barn for some much needed 'horse therapy' and discovered a holiday greeting card taped to the stall of her favorite horse. It read, "For Christmas, I am giving you a great big hug (horse!)" Baron was given to her as a Christmas gift by Ed. Overwhelmed with joy, here began the start of a lifetime friendship between a girl and her horse.

Holly and Baron have been partners for nearly 7 years and have grown to know one another very well. Baron has assisted many students over the years and allowed them the patience and practice they need to become better horsemen. He has proven to be steadfast and true and one of the best lesson horses Holly has ever known.

Because the connection between Holly and Baron is so honest, it is very beneficial for her to use him to teach from. Although all horses are true to nature and can be unpredictable, Baron has shown this as a mild characteristic. It is important that you feel safe and confident around horses, Baron truly allows this to happen.

In addition, Holly has been studying under the Parelli Natural Horsemanship program since December, 2007. She is currently a self-assessed Level 3 student and has goals to grow further with the program. Although Holly is not a certified instructor for PNH and encourages you to seek a professional if you choose to study this program, she does have over 10 years experience training horses naturally. Holly has worked extensively with a local 3-Star Parelli Instructor, Tina Giordano and is seeking help towards becoming a certified instructor, like Tina, in the near future. Learn more about Parelli Professionals near you! Please note also that some equipment used in her lesson program is branded Parelli equipment but it should be noted that lessons taught under the guidance of Holly are not certified Parelli Natural Horsemanship lessons.

In May of 2009, Holly attended an official clinic where she became certified with an accredited Riding Instructor organization called CHA, Certified Horsemanship Association. She participated in numerous training classes to further develop her skills for teaching both individual and group riding lessons. She also polished her public speaking skills when she demonstrated lectures on varying equine industry topics, including horse health, care and management. CHA has given her certification as a Level 3 Western Instructor and a Level 2 English/Jumping Instructor. For more information on the benefits of becoming certified with CHA visit them online at www.cha-ahse.org.

Looking towards the future, Holly has ambitions of becoming certified to perform EAP (Equine Assisted Psychotherapy). Please check back for upcoming details.