Rachel Steen, head trainer at the Balance Point Equestrian Center, has been surrounded by horses since before she could walk.(Picture left: Rachel
at 18 months, 1974) 
As a teenager, growing up in Hawaii, she spent as much time as possible with her horse, Major Sport Twist, exploring limitless miles of beach and sugar cane fields on the North Shore of Oahu. (Picture right: A favorite swimming spot). By the age of 13, Rachel was
not only training her own 3 year old Quarter Horse gelding for bridle-less
riding, but was also receiving requests from neighbors to work with their
horses.
At 14, Rachel was hired by a local polo player to care for, exercise and
train a string of Polo horses. In the fast-paced sport of Polo, Rachel
saw for the first time that the world was full of mistreated and misunderstood
horses.(Picture right: Rachel and Ducky at the Mokuleia Polo
Field, 1988) Soon, Rachel expanded her services to include rehabilitation
for injured and stressed polo horses. She worked to find ways to teach
the horses to trust humans again and relax in their new home.
In
1989, at the age of 16, Rachel (& her horse Major Sport Twist) left
home to attend college in Oregon.
In Search of the Endless Forest
The first year of college, Rachel worked in a saddle shop, repairing saddles, and apprenticing with the Western Saddlemaker, Monte Beckman. In 1990, Rachel also began working at an Arabian breeding farm & training stables where she learned stable management and gained experience handling breeding stallions. 
During that time, she began showing Arabians and National Show Horses in Halter, Saddle-seat, English Pleasure, Hunt Seat, Western Pleasure and Endurance. She also starting her own breeding program of Arabian performance horses.(Picture left: Rachel's second Arabian foal, Zahir Kamal, 1994)
Rachel worked her way through college training horses, and began using various "Natural Horsemanship" methods in the starting of colts, wild Mustangs and the remedial training of saddle horses. (The great horseman, Tom
Dorrance, had grown up near La Grande.) 
Living
in the Blue Mountains also gave her the experience to organize and lead
packs trips in the high-country Wilderness
of the Eagle Caps. (Picture right: The Little Minam River)
From the Fridge to the Oven
In 1995, Rachel graduated from Eastern Oregon University with a B.A. in
Pre-Veterinary Biology. She then moved across the country, trailering
her 2-year-old Arabian stallion, one mare, one weanling, a yearling Kiger
Mustang (with a few months of taming), and one babysitter gelding. Once
in Central Texas, it took another year to establish a breeding and training
stable in Bastrop, Texas.
(Photo
left: Zahir as a yearling, QH mare Sapphire, Max the Mustang, & the well-travelled,
Major Sport Twist)Central Texas gave Rachel access to a wide
range of equestrian professionals. In 1996 she delved into the concepts
of Centered Riding and participated in a Centered Riding Clinic taught
by Internationally known Level IV Centered Riding Instructor, Wendy
Murdoch (Georgetown, TX). (Picture below right: Rachel and
her Arabian stallion Malakh complete an Endurance ride in East Texas)
That
same year, Rachel also had the opportunity to learn from Grand Prix dressage
trainer, Loma Fowler during her two trips to Central Texas. It wasn't
long afterward that Rachel found herself moving from Endurance races to
dressage competitions. She also added a Trakehner filly to her breeding
program. For 2 years Rachel was also a participating member of the Central
Texas Sporthorse Breeders.
It's not just about the Horse
After years of studying horses, Rachel felt the need to communicate more
effectively with horse owners. In 1997, she travelled to Missouri and
completed a Centered Riding Instructors course also taught by Wendy Murdoch.
Once back in Texas, Rachel moved closer to Austin began teaching riding lessons using the concepts of Centered Riding.
Rachel taught three clinics with Lynn Larson using Centered Riding Techniques
on the ground, in a round pen, and in the saddle (Georgetown, TX). While
Centered Riding seemed to help teach riders to flow with their horse and
stay out of their horses way, Rachel found her periodic dressage lessons
with Loma Fowler taking the concepts of balance to a much deeper level.
In a quest for more knowlege and understanding, Rachel contacted a local
dressage trainer and judge, Bobbie
Paulk, and began weekly lessons. In the next few years,
while continuing to study balance and straightness with Bobbie Paulk,
Rachel also rode with Olympic medalist, Michelle
Gibson; German riding master, Col.
Von Ziegner; French riding master, Dominique
Barbier; Grand Prix dressage trainer, Wolfgang May; and international
dressage trainer, Loma
Fowler. 
With a renewed focus on teaching, Rachel taught weekly lessons in dressage,
natural horsemanship and problem-solving at several Central Texas stables.
Students from all disciplines have been able to benefit from Rachel's
simple approach of teaching horse and rider to balance and communicate.
Some students use what they learned in dressage competitions, some do
competitive trail, endurance, eventing, jumping, or western pleasure.
Even carriage drivers and gaited horse enthusiasts have found their way to Rachel's training facility, The Balance Point Equestrian Learning Center.
In 2001, Rachel took her first Equine massage course and began incorporating massage into her rehabilitation work. Several years later, she tool another course in Myofacial Release and began using bodywork on all the horses coming in for training to identify issues before they become larger problems.
Happy Trails
To help students and horses gain confidence and experience, Rachel has organized several overnight camping trips into the high-country Wilderness
of New Mexico, California as well as destinations closer to her Texas ranch. At the end of 2004, Rachel expanded her training
facility by moving to a larger property in Bastrop, TX. 
In the Fall of
2005, the new Balance Point Equestrian Learning Center hosted an Open
House and Equestrian Exhibition (of Liberty, Driving, Jumping and bridle-less
Dressage).The new facilites includes wooded trails for driving and riding, a large outdoor dressage arena, and great areas to train for combined driving events.