Horsemanship Edition Does your horse have more woah than go? & why does it matter 🤔 📍Introverts tend to have less fire in their feet. 📍Extroverts tend to partake in movement. more freely & with less encouragement. What influences a horse’s character? Innate Characteristics Environmental Factors Spirit Level All horses benefit from time to process what they just learned. This ‘Wait Time’ often looks like asking a horse to stop & relax or dropping to a lower gait. How long y

When we feel tense or unsure on a horse, there is often a good reason for it. It can be a genuinely tense or dangerous situation or it can remind us of a time in the past where something went wrong or that we felt under pressure or out of control. Confidence in the saddle is not about never feeling unsure or unsafe, what it is about is building capacity. Capacity to read a situation accurately & to make good decisions for you & your horse in that moment. Confidence for me has

1. Horses learn through prediction, not dominance Horses’ brains prioritise predictability over hierarchy. Studies show reduced stress responses when cues & outcomes are consistent & increased anxiety when they’re not. This reframes “leadership” as providing clarity, not control. I have seen this with my mare Sage in particular, she came to me as a restart & the root of her issues was a lack of understanding, when the cues became clear & predictable she was in a position to l

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” James Clear As equestrians, we live in a world where structure & flexibility must go hand in hand. Training a horse isn’t a linear process; progress rarely moves in a straight line. Having a plan matters, but so does being ready to adapt when your horse shows you they need something different. The art of training is learning how both can coexist. The Variables We Ride With A training session

1. Set Realistic Goals - Break down big goals into small, achievable steps. The smaller the step the greater chance you have of achieving it. This goes for you & your horse. Start the sentence in your head, ‘Today I am only going to…’. 2. Support – Enlist the support of an instructor, coach or friend that understands your specific challenges & stretches you without overwhelming you. It’s almost impossible to learn or grow when you are extremely stressed. 3. Confidence & Comp

Understanding Impatience Through a New Lens Most horse owners & professionals have met the ‘impatient’ horses, the one who paws at the ground, fidgets at the mounting block, or can’t seem to stand still. It’s tempting to see this as defiance or poor manners, but impatience is often information, not insolence . It’s a window into the horse’s nervous system & emotional world. Impatience isn’t defiance, it’s communication from the nervous system. When we look at these behaviours

https://www.equitopiacenter.com/barriers-to-learning-for-equestrians-part-1/ Part 1 is free to read on the Equitopia website, happy...

Check out a blog I wrote a few months back for our yard blog, that documents my horse journey so far over on Saddles & Prosecco....

I have been fortunate enough to work with both Laura and Jasper over the last two years. I have learned so much from interacting with...

The Twists and Turns on the Road to Resilience… By Helen O’Hanlon BA, PGDE, M. Ed, MSCPMC Life Coach and Natural Horsemanship Instructor

Horsemanship Journal Podcast Link