Our Team
OUR TEAM
Owner Sara Manetti
Sara has over 48 consecutive years of horse ownership, buying her first horse at age 12 with her paper route money. Throughout all her moves be it college or career, she has made those moves with her horses, she has never been without a horse companion.
She has a formal education in Wildlife Biology and Animal Behavior and a career as an animal care professional in AZA accredited Zoo’s including Minnesota Zoo, San Diego Zoo and Seattles own, Woodland Park Zoo.
Her animal behavior background and years of working in the Zoo industry greatly influenced how she manages her own herd of horses and other animals, farm and domestic. She approaches all animal care, across species, from an animal behavior perspective. She believes, horses thrive when their behavioral and physiological needs are met.
Sound Stables, humane horse handling, as well as the friends, forage and freedom approach the farm fosters is the pinnacle of her life’s work and an ode to her love of horses.
The preservation of the 100 acres that is the back drop of Sound Stables, its wildlife, meadows and woodlands is a reflection of her deep commitment to animals, conservation and the natural world.
OUR TEAM
Trainer Briana “Bri” Li Fo Sjoe
Bri lives on-site and brings with her over a decade of experience in the horse industry from rodeo work to English sports to carriage driving. She has a Bachelors degree in Animal Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA and her Masters degree in Animal Welfare and Behavior from University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Should your horse need training or help with a behavioral issue, her reward based learning approach ensures that horses are active participants in their training while reducing stress and avoiding aversive measures. She believes in cooperative care, training horses to willingly accept routine tasks like vaccines, deworming, and farrier work without the need for forceful tools. She specializes in positive reinforcement (+R) and LIMA (least invasive, minimally aversive) training to create calm, willing, and responsive horses in a low stress environment.
These proven principles, now industry standard in dog training and used across species in zoos, research, and military applications, are now revolutionizing horse training. With over a decade of experience and 2 degrees clients feel at ease knowing their horses are in the care of a qualified and educated animal welfare professional.
Bri’s primary focus is to teach owners and clients lessons on positive reinforcement training for horses. Solve behavioral issues and use positive reinforcement to train young horses, mustangs, and rehabilitation cases.
Our experienced horse care applies what science tells us horses need.
A top tier horse facility fully meeting your horses behavioral needs with all the perks of a comprehensive riding facility.