![Folsom is a young horse that Marian bred and raised on her farm in Carbondale, CO. “For Folsom and most young horses it’s having them move forward into the contact and stretch over the back, because that is the foundation," explained Kathleen Raine.](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/hash/6d/5d/6d5d27298e241b530e15af7a06855dbc.JPG?itok=itUNmOiY "Folsom is a young horse that Marian bred and raised on her farm in Carbondale, CO. “For Folsom and most young horses it’s having them move forward into the contact and stretch over the back, because that is the foundation," explained Kathleen Raine."){kind=small}
![Kathleen Raine has helped Marian a lot with her horses. “Every lesson Kathleen raises the bar for us and helps me feel where I am headed. Since she helps me to feel it, I can then work on it on my own and am ready for our next lesson.”Here Marian is riding Frodo, who Kathleen says is a "really talented horse."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/thumbnail/hash/96/7b/967b61748a51a7de32493c4b0e8f4078.JPG?itok=tvf6VRQb "Kathleen Raine has helped Marian a lot with her horses. “Every lesson Kathleen raises the bar for us and helps me feel where I am headed. Since she helps me to feel it, I can then work on it on my own and am ready for our next lesson.”Here Marian is riding Frodo, who Kathleen says is a "really talented horse.""){kind=small}
![Marian focuses on engagement and strength with Day Tyme who is getting stronger every day. "He is a big horse with a big gait and he just needs more time and strength to develop the balance. He will always go big. Now he needs time and confidence but he's doing extremely well,” Marian commented.](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/image_content_width/hash/8e/54/8e5441be801cd985ff23b5be9584f4db.jpg?itok=hQRt9pql "Marian focuses on engagement and strength with Day Tyme who is getting stronger every day. "He is a big horse with a big gait and he just needs more time and strength to develop the balance. He will always go big. Now he needs time and confidence but he's doing extremely well,” Marian commented.")
Marian Nilsen has two sides of her life. One is devoted to her health food store for horses called Healthy Horse Boutique (www.healthyhorseboutique.com). The other is focused on training and competing horses in the sport of dressage.
Marian is based in Carbondale, CO but between her horses and her company, she travels quite a bit around the U.S. While she is the main trainer of her horses she also gets help from noted World Equestrian Games Bronze medalist Kathleen Raine, WEG alternate Catherine Haddad and Olympic veteran Evi Strasser. She appreciates the knowledge they add to her already strong riding and training skills.
At the moment Marian often rides as many as six horses a day and loves every one of them because every horse is different and at a different level in their abilities.
So, take a moment to meet some of Marian's mounts.
![Marian focuses on engagement and strength with Day Tyme who is getting stronger every day. "He is a big horse with a big gait and he just needs more time and strength to develop the balance. He will always go big. Now he needs time and confidence but he's doing extremely well,” Marian commented.](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/e9/86/e986a2cf950bf1e34ed65a2999f97363.jpg?itok=cOcTim2M "Marian focuses on engagement and strength with Day Tyme who is getting stronger every day. "He is a big horse with a big gait and he just needs more time and strength to develop the balance. He will always go big. Now he needs time and confidence but he's doing extremely well,” Marian commented.")
![Kathleen Raine has helped Marian a lot with her horses. “Every lesson Kathleen raises the bar for us and helps me feel where I am headed. Since she helps me to feel it, I can then work on it on my own and am ready for our next lesson.”Here Marian is riding Frodo, who Kathleen says is a "really talented horse."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/96/42/96426916512083c204fccbc97ab6e562.JPG?itok=4gn371Mg "Kathleen Raine has helped Marian a lot with her horses. “Every lesson Kathleen raises the bar for us and helps me feel where I am headed. Since she helps me to feel it, I can then work on it on my own and am ready for our next lesson.”Here Marian is riding Frodo, who Kathleen says is a "really talented horse."")
![Folsom is a young horse that Marian bred and raised on her farm in Carbondale, CO. “For Folsom and most young horses it’s having them move forward into the contact and stretch over the back, because that is the foundation," explained Kathleen Raine.](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/55/22/5522b2fa4117fc76dbb4eef5de3dfb2e.JPG?itok=MngDFoXc "Folsom is a young horse that Marian bred and raised on her farm in Carbondale, CO. “For Folsom and most young horses it’s having them move forward into the contact and stretch over the back, because that is the foundation," explained Kathleen Raine.")
![Fiesta is another horse Marian rides but she also believes that training begins with a healthy horse. While the training is key, Marian adds another dimension to her training. “It’s all about the inside of the horse,” she explained. “I started my Healthy Horse Boutique because of things I was noticing that weren’t related to the training. With the guidance of nutritionists I started to put some emphasis on solving the problems horses have with their gut and once I did that I noticed the training of the horse improved."](http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/default/files/styles/profile_large/hash/15/90/1590e3d97d99c6a11faf26d8802b77ab.JPG?itok=Fi80Uftm "Fiesta is another horse Marian rides but she also believes that training begins with a healthy horse. While the training is key, Marian adds another dimension to her training. “It’s all about the inside of the horse,” she explained. “I started my Healthy Horse Boutique because of things I was noticing that weren’t related to the training. With the guidance of nutritionists I started to put some emphasis on solving the problems horses have with their gut and once I did that I noticed the training of the horse improved."")
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