Growing up on a California ranch that had been in the family for over 130 years exposed her to the lifestyle of being a steward of the land and animals, and also helped her develop her feel for horses. Her father and his close friend, Tom Dorrance, served as an early wealth of wisdom into the language of horses. As she got older, Erickson-Noe took this strong foundation of Spanish-influenced horsemanship and built on it through her own instincts and pursuits.