My name is Rachael Wood, I’m one of the co-owners of HW Acres! I taught horseback riding lessons for the two years over at CMB Training under my sister who has taught me pretty much everything I know!

I’m the youngest of 6 kids- my sister, Abby, was the owner of CMB Training who closed their doors in December 2023. She started taking lessons either right before I was born or right after, so I quite literally grew up around horses. I think I was 3 weeks old the first time someone held me on a horse, and I started riding/showing around 3/4 years old.

I started out riding western, and developed a very deep seat because I couldn’t quite reach the stirrups for a long time. I remember learning how to do the posting trot when I was somewhere between 7 and 9 and I struggled for several months because I couldn’t get up out of the saddle at the beginning. Everything I remember from being little and riding horses is being around my mom and my sister.

My mom was my second trainer when I first started riding, she taught me that horses were hard work and if I wanted something I had to work to get it. I learned how to take care of my horses stall and started feeding him any chance I was out at the barn. I remember being homeschooled and not being allowed near the horses until I finished my math homework.

I made the switch to English when I was 13 or 14 on my personal horse, Peppy. We had a lot of work in store for us from the time we bought him and even still today when I get on to ride. I enjoyed jumping, and even showed some of Abby’s boarders/lesson horses at a couple of English shows around Lincoln County.

My primary showing experiences were the NEC Frost and Frolic horse shows and the Lincoln County Fun and Frolic Shows. These shows basically covered the whole year every year. I also went to the Youth Fall Harvest shows when they happened up in Columbia, MO, and I showed at several Curious Owl English shows.

I would help Abby ride any 2 year olds that she had in for training, as well as exercise horses for her boarders. I showcased a lot for her lesson kids too when she first started teaching lessons.

Around 2016, I decided to stop showing and ride just for fun. I was a senior in high school and had spent the past 3 years working hard in school and marching band to get some scholarships to college. I graduated in 2017 and went on to get my degree in Early Childhood Education from Lindenwood University in 2021.

I got married in 2021 to my husband Christopher and he encouraged me to get back into working consistently with horses, especially when the opportunity came up to start teaching lessons under Abby. I started small, teaching only on Saturdays, but by summer 2022, I was teaching 4 days a week and by the end of the summer I began teaching 5 days a week with a boatload of lessons.

One of the biggest blessings of my life has been getting to sit next to my sister and teach with her for the past few years, and get to learn from her different methods of teaching the same concept to different kids. It will be so different branching out on my own to teach with Katelynd, but I trust God will provide for us.

I am so excited to begin this new adventure with the support of my mom, my sister, my husband and the rest of my family and friends!