Born in the midwest, Gary Heins knew by age 4 he wanted to be a cowboy.  However, they took away his well-worn cowboy hat, which is what shaped his SWINGIN' G brand.  So DOWNHILL SKIING is what got him west to begin with.  Then, once he remembered his lost hat, he got into WESTERN RIDING.  WESTERN SWING is where his heart is at in the evenings.  . . . The Heinsian Philosophy is not "many irons in the fire," but rather "one iron in many fires."   "Colt Starter Ray Hunt . . . and the horses themselves . . . mostly influenced my horse-handling.  Myself and my ski students are what influenced my ski-teaching, which is similar to casual ranch horse-training.  Columnist Donald Kaul, novelist Sinclair Lewis, Robert Pirsig of Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, . . . but mostly free-thinker Stuart Wilde . . . have influenced my writing."

Gary Heins believes more in Qualifications.