![\"Rider](\"\/echo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/FB_IMG_1517272490022-1-220x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy Faith Boyum
\n<\/b>Managing Editor
\nFaith.Boyum5336@mb.rctc.edu<\/p>\n
Horses are in her DNA and have impacted many aspects of her life.<\/p>\n
Ever since Stephanie Bruggeman graduated from RCTC\u2019s equine science program in 2007, she has been riding, training and teaching others about horses. As a result, she has assisted with the equine science classes before.<\/p>\n
But for the first time, she is an adjunct instructor at RCTC, teaching the colt starting class this semester. This class teaches students to train horses that have never been ridden to accept their rider and the directions they receive from the rider. However, Bruggeman has used her experience at RCTC in other capacities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was great to be able to come through the (equine science) program and get the knowledge and hands-on experience,\u201d she said because, \u201cI was set up to go into the business world and to start my own businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bruggeman is the manager of SKM Riding, a business that trains horses and teaches riders to improve their communication with their horses. SKM Riding was founded in 2010.<\/p>\n
Bruggeman\u2019s main focus, however, is Refuge Ranch, a nonprofit organization established in 2014 that rescues horses and mentors children. As of now, Bruggeman is renting space for the organization, but her goal is to build her own facility because that will allow her to rescue more horses and help more children.<\/p>\n
In addition to teaching and running her businesses, Bruggeman competes in dressage, a sport that demonstrates a rider\u2019s communication with their horse and works for a \u201charmonious relationship with the horse.\u201d Bruggeman hopes to win her bronze, silver and gold medals in dressage.<\/p>\n
Not only does she spend much of her time working with horses for her jobs and her leisure time, but horses have shaped her into the person she is now.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the type of person that when I start a job, I give it my all, and I don\u2019t go home until the job is done,\u201d she said. \u201cHorses have taught me to have a really great work ethic. They don\u2019t conform to our normal business hours.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
2007 Equine Science alumna Stephanie Bruggeman returns as an adjunct instructor, business owner, and dressage rider.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3196\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rctc.edu\/echo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}