“Horses help us personally and spiritually.”
Lisa Johnson evaluated her own experience, and now she’s dedicated to spreading that message to others.
“Horses have changed my life,” Johnson said. “It is my desire to show more women how they can improve their lives, too.”
She’s doing this through her Reins For Renewal clinics throughout the Midwest.
“It’s so much more than just riding,” Johnson emphasized. “Horses teach us and heal us. They give us confidence and purpose.”
A farmer’s wife and mother of four children, Johnson lives near Lewis in Edwards County at Dazzle Family Farm, a diversified agricultural operation.
“My husband, Doug, and our children are a true blessing,” Johnson credited. “It’s exciting, but I rarely feel qualified for a task as great as helping raise our children.
“Thank the Lord for our 17-year-old daughter who is wonderful help, especially with her brothers: 13, nine and five. All of the children assist with the horses, but the boys sure like the farming and, of course, football.”
Always a “cowgirl at heart,” Johnson didn’t get her own horse until seven years ago. “I’m dedicated to improving my riding ability. I ride a lot now,” she related. “It’s God’s plan for me. I have had more blessings through my horses than I could have ever imagined.”
Johnson was riding her world champion Palomino reining horse Heza Peppy Melody at the Al Dunning Horsemanship Experience in Topeka.
“A person can always learn something to improve your horse, your ability and your life,” Johnson evaluated. “I was so excited to get to ride here after another participant canceled out.
“I can apply what I hear and then share it with participants who attend my clinics. I always take life one step at a time,” continued Johnson, who also had her own booth there.
Two weeks later, Johnson was at the Stock Horse of Kansas event in Wichita presenting a ranch horse reining clinic.
“God’s a good God,” Johnson qualified. “He has blessed me repeatedly, using horses to teach me and reach me. My objective is to help others in the same way.”
With no sign of chauvinism, Johnson explained that men and women both attend her presentations, but the clinics are generally “geared toward women.”
Johnson conscientiously continued, “I think women feel differently about horses than men do. Women frequently have their horses more for connection, friendship, companionship and emotional security.
“The objective of my clinics is to help women personally, spiritually and with their horses. If a woman has a problem with her horse, it will usually have a direct connection to a problem she’s having in her life,” Johnson contended.
“I have a deep passion for women’s ministry and encouraging women to find renewal through God with horses,” she confirmed. “Renewal means to begin again, and we serve a God of second chances, even third and fourth chances.
“We have to let go of the past and grab hold of the future with a fresh outlook on life,” Johnson indicated. “It’s essential to find comfort in forgiveness, but yet deal with everyday life.
“Every person is called to a different objective in life, and it’s essential to follow that call,” she insisted.
People must be obligated to their horses, according to Johnson. “Horses aren’t just a once-a-month thing. They require year around care,” she noted. “Women often claim they don’t have time, to ride, but it doesn’t take an hour or two hours to ride.
“A woman must make the commitment to ride three or four days a week in succession for at least 20 minutes at a time,” Johnson declared.
“ They and their horses learn together, and the lessons will stay with them both, until the next ride,” she critiqued. “It’s a tough balance, but an essential commitment and investment to reap the benefits of your horse.”
Finding horses suitable for riders is a difficult task. “There are lots of horses, but matching the right horse to a person is so important,” Johnson recognized. “I have several contacts that I use to help locate horses that fit each individual.
On a related note, Johnson contended, “Every kid needs a good horse. It’s important for young people to learn to put something before them selves.”
With 14 horses on her farm, Johnson is now raising colts and has two foals already on the ground this year.
However, her own champion Palomino was already a trained horse when she got him. “I developed him along myself, and I continue to work with him every time I get on,” commented Johnson, who claimed several blue ribbons in a recent National Reining Horse Association competition, like those she frequently enters.
While the future is “unknown and scary,” Johnson promised, “My goal is to walk with God in offering renewal to women through horses.”
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