ABOUT

“Helping people understand horses, and horses understand people”

-Elizabeth Roten

The Ranch

Shoals Creek Ranch is a beautiful 100 acre equestrian facility tucked away in the foothills of North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

The Ranch’s facilities include a 55 foot wooden round-pen, a 100 by 200 foot outdoor arena with excellent granite sand footing and over 4 miles of well maintained, beautiful mountain trails along the Reddies River.

The Ranch currently has a 9 stall barn along with several acres of well maintained pastures, all fenced in with Centaur Fencing’s safety polymer-coated electric fence.

Elizabeth Roten –Trainer and Instructor.

With a passion for both horses and teaching, Elizabeth aims to strengthen the communication and relationship between horse and rider. Helping them to develop the necessary tools and skills to succeed in any arena, with a foundation in horsemanship built on mutual trust and respect.

Elizabeth has ridden with and studied under many renowned horsemen and women, doing everything from colt starting and traditional ranch work to dressage. She has ridden with Buck Brannaman, Joe Wolter, Greg Eliel, and Susan Hopkins as well as two Road To The Horse champions, Jim Anderson and Nick Dowers. Elizabeth recently spent a week with Nick Dowers starting colts on his ranch in Nevada.

Elizabeth’s parents purchased her first pony, Belle (pictured above) when Elizabeth was 8 years old. The pair were immediately inseparable, and within a few years began to compete heavily in the Extreme Cowboy Association; an event that showcases the speed and versatility of the all-around ranch horse. Elizabeth and Belle went on to win the 2011 EXCA Novice World Championship in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Belle is now enjoying her retirement here on the ranch, getting plenty of peppermints and love from Elizabeth and her students. Elizabeth also competed in Mustang Million, the largest Extreme Mustang Makeover to date, held in Fort Worth, Texas in 2013, and in the 2016 Virginia Extreme Mustang Makeover, where she and her mustang, Lori Darlin’, won the 18-21 division championship.