Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameron Griffin
Hi Cameron, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My life has been a blessed, and unique life to say the least. I wouldn’t even know where to begin. However, to keep things simple and to the point, I will sum it up as best as I can.
I was born and adopted in Lima, Peru. Most of my childhood I was brought up in Central and Latin America. I grew up with my brothers and with a bit of a golden spoon. I lived, what I would assume, most people would not consider a normal childhood. My mother was from Atlanta, Georgia and raised me true to all the mannerisms of a polite southern bell. She wasn’t alone with this task as we had nanny’s, tutors, and maids to help with all the essential day to day tasks. My mother’s dream for me was to be as well rounded as possible. She tried to accomplish this through piano lessons, ballet, tap dancing, and anything else that was the norm for a young “well to do” lady. None of those electives really resonated with me. My education was her absolute highest priority and, because of the nature of my fathers business, it was preferable for my siblings and I to attend private schools in all of the countries we visited and lived in. I do remember going with my childhood friend on a horseback trail ride and, that was it! I was hooked! I immediately wanted to start riding lessons. My mother was briefly hesitant about horseback riding as it can be a dangerous sport for a young lady. My father simply replied with “It’s just one lesson, where’s the harm in that”? From there, my extensive and broad journey with horses began.
Throughout my high school years I continued with my riding lessons during the school scheduled breaks. This was also a unique experience because I would attend high school in the continental United States, and visit family in a different country almost every year. The reason this is interesting is because this also contributed to the expansiveness of my experience with horses, as I would mentor with multiple horse trainers in different countries such as Kuwait, Sweden, Holland, France, and Germany. As anyone would suspect, being in a different place than my parents were, was frustrating for a young lady to cope with all the changes life throws at you at that age. Out of all I had been taught, I developed a love for photography as well, and it definitely sufficed as a coping mechanism for both, not having my parents there full time, as well as the culture shock I was experiencing through being “ping ponged” around different places all the time. As my high school years were coming to an end, I was offered a scholarship to an Art institute in Florida. This was at a time when photography was starting to take on a more media centric platform in which digital photography was becoming the main staple. At the time I really just didn’t have the feel for that. I enjoyed the rawness and “hands on” photography aspect of pictures, and it made me feel a little closer to my father. Having not decided to further my education in photography, I applied and was accepted into Meredith Manor International Equestrian Center.
During my tenure at Meredith Manor I was introduced to and excelled in Equine health studies which teaches you the internal anatomy, advanced first aid, emergency care, nutrition, and overall well being for the horse, Equine massage therapy incorporated two focuses, the first teaches the foundational techniques and applications of massage therapy, and the follow on introduced me to sports massage therapy. Lastly, teaching, which introduced me to the various communicative aspects of mentorship and leadership to others and influenced my decision to, later on, become a trainer.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road getting to where I am today. I had everything I needed to succeed in this industry and I was so hungry to just get out there and show the world what I was capable of. My biggest struggle, I would say, started in 2010 when I made a mistake that would both change my abilities and my understanding of riding, and ultimately be my way forward. I was on powerful, very athletic, jumper that I believed would be a successful prospect. My coach had already helped me with a few jumping lessons with him but I was still having some challenges, so it was determined that I needed to do some dressage training on him to iron out the issues. For every action there is an equal to opposite reaction. During one of my lessons in which half halts had to be exactly precise and executed at the exact time it’s instructed, my timing was a little off which affected the communication I had with the horse. The horse went against the communication I gave him, which caused me to brace, which resulted in an acute, severe whiplash. In most cases of whiplash, you don’t really realize it happened until a little later. Think of a car accident, the number one injury reported is always the whiplash, and it always comes like a day later. So this injury I had endured didn’t present right away. It wasn’t until I dismounted the horse that I realized there was something severely wrong with my back. I found out through the emergency room that I had fractured my back in three places. I had a thoracic fracture, a lumbar fracture, and a sacral fracture. The doctors had advised me that I was lucky because I was in very good shape and that helped keep everything in place. I was lucky that the places the fractures were located would heal over time, and that I should consider a different lifestyle with no high impact because it was likely that if there ever was another impact of this nature to those areas I would be more likely to suffer a far worse injury. Over the next year I was in physical rehabilitation to recover from the injury. I was scared about what would happen after. I didn’t know if I would be able to compete or even ride again. I was becoming a little frantic over how to move forward and had started reading into how this could have been avoided and trying to educate myself to understand why after everything I had been taught and how, doing things “by the book” this had happened to me. I felt frustrated because I had done everything right and yet, here I am, broken. With very little hope. I did not believe there would be a way forward.
My focus became researching and reading about anatomy, movement, function, relation to rider, balance, basically everything about what had happened to me and why. Through this, what I call “down time” because I wasn’t riding horses at this point, I was focused on my recovery. I found a few programs called Science of Motion instructed by Jean Luc Cornille with his wife Helyn Cornille based out of Georgia, Horses inside and Out with Gillian Higgins based out of England, and Balance Equine Training by Arlyn DeCicco based out of California. I began to realize during my own drive to further my education through these programs, was that there were a lot of horses in their teens to twenties, that were becoming injured within their own disciplines due to very similar miscommunications and like-minded agenda’s that I had experienced leading up to my own injury. It was like a light bulb went off in my brain. Finally!!! My path found me! I was starting to slowly get back in the saddle and get re-accustomed to riding again. I was very cautious, anxious, and coming off of this injury I was feeling a little low on confidence that I could get back to a place where I could teach both on and off the horse. So I reached out to Arlyn DeCicco. Her journey back to the saddle after her injury, really resonated with me. She had experienced a head trauma from a riding accident in 1997 and I became aware of her successful recovery and it truly motivated me that a full recovery of my own was possible. This vision, this idea, was like a reinvigoration for me. A revival if you will. Whereas before I felt rushed to make things happen, rushed to be the best, rushed to learn quickly, wrong or right. This was the way, to give back to the industry, an equal measure of joy, it had brought to me up to this point.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
So, I guess the biggest question in everyone’s mind would be, what exactly “IS” Griffin Equestrian? In a nutshell, I operate a rehabilitation program that welcomes horses that are older, and showing signs of compromised movement. What I specialize in isn’t specific to any one “thing” rather it is a conceptual ability of authenticity of both rider and horse. At present, my program consists of clients who own their horses and are ready for their next journey. There is a percentage of horses who want to continue to be part of a journey. My focus is getting them healthy enough to do just that. Each horse comes from a very different background. Realizing where they are compromised, I tailor a program for their specific needs.
What sets me apart is that my program is split into two different parts by design. A part of the rehabilitation is geared towards the horse. Horses are athletes, and it is my job to make sure that they can perform their best to the best of their ability. The second part is the rider. Like horses, riders also come from many different backgrounds. Identifying what the rider brings to the relationship I am able to tailor their program to build a more authentic relationship to the horse. I teach the rider through a series of very specific lessons both on the ground and in the saddle how to focus on the quality of what they are doing as opposed to the quantity of performing it. My belief through my education and leadership is that this will ultimately lead to a better communication, through the saddle, between rider and horse. Then, when a rider faces a challenge, the rider can go back to the basics, to identify where the communication was lost, instead of just drilling through the movement, which would eventually lead right back into a compromised horse and frustrated rider.
What I am most proud of is my team. They hold me accountable. Without them this part of my journey could have never been realized. First to be mentioned is Luis Barrera. For twelve years, his dedication to the horses is demonstrated through his attention to detail in the stall and around the workplace and is essential in making the horses truly accept their environment as a safe haven to call home. Second to mention is Health Span Equine Therapies owned by Risa Daniels which focuses on massage therapy through cold laser and acupressure. Whereas my strengths are more rooted in myofascial massage therapy. It has been a joy to watch her further her education and to see her strengths grow and she has been an incredible asset to my team. Also to be mentioned is Ryan Heaton with West Coast Equine Medicine and partners. Not enough can be said about having a great veterinarian second your guidance and decision about the way forward in recovery. Having that trust which has been developed over years and multitudes of situations in many different horses has done so much for me mentally in this program, because it serves as a “half halt” a type of “check and balance” and a reality reminder. Next is Cowherd Farrier and Forge owned by Ryan Cowherd, he is a young up and coming farrier that has joined my team who has an immense thirst for knowledge, and a good eye and hand. Ryan continues to take the time to educate himself about my program. He is genuinely authentic and always willing to listen to ideas to keep things simple and user friendly. Of course, a very honorable mention to my mentor, Arlyn DeCicco. It is such an honor to have Arlyn in my life, and to get to work with her, and incorporate her training style, both in concept and to have her there personally to reaffirm to my client base that what we are doing is correct and will continue to better the communication and experience between horse and rider. She is so instrumental literally from start to present with my program and continues to be my most powerful asset. It is an honor and privilege to work with all of you and thank you so much for being a part of this dream called Griffin Equestrian.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: griffin_cameron
- Other: griffinequestriantraining@gmail.com
Image Credits
Treena Hall
Sarah Eastman
