AHS Horsemanship

AHS Horsemanship Agistment, Starting, Training, Problems, Floating, Riding & Groundwork Lessons
Hawkesbury NSW I have also done mustering and cattle/sheep work on farms.

The Hawkesbury

"Gentle yet firm methods to produce a respectful, responsive, calm horse"

Agistment
Retraining & Education
Starting Under Saddle
Foal Handling & Foundation Training
Float Training & Transport
Riding & Groundwork Lessons

Fully qualified Horse Riding Coach with over 15 years professional experience I have developed skills through working professionally with some renowned horse pe

ople in different disciplines

I was foreman and trainer for Endurance Quilty Champion Brook Sample
Breaker and trainer of Hunting and Jumping horses in New Zealand Trained Cutting, Reining & Camp draft horses with Ian Francis
I am experienced in helping problem horses

I have competed successfully in Hacking, Show Jumping, Endurance (open rider) and Mounted Games. I offer a range of Equine Services and can come to you!

27/09/2025

Another great day out at Sydney Mountain Trail. The beautiful Lilly has been here for starting under saddle and she took to all the obstacles like an absolute star! ⭐️
She will be for sale in the coming weeks!

Introducing our gorgeous Australian Shepherd puppies! 🥰 Please PM for info
24/09/2025

Introducing our gorgeous Australian Shepherd puppies! 🥰 Please PM for info

04/09/2025

The ultimate goal is to have the horse in self-carriage. With a relaxed and swinging back and open throat latch. That means that the horse maintains his own frame and rhythm to some degree without the rider creating every single stride with their aids. For this to happen, the rider must first be passive with their aids and allow the horse to move on his own.

The goal of good riding is to engage your horse’s hind legs to create energy, and welcome it with your hands. This develops a connection from his hind end to his front end, helping him to move forward in self carriage and soft feel. Hips and legs drive the horse forward while the hands channel this force through gentle rein aids.

04/09/2025

Warwick Schiller has talked about the term ‘trigger stacking’ quite a bit and I think the concept is bang on.
Have you ever had a horse that is usually pretty quiet and one day had melt down ‘out of nowhere’. Or a horse that you’ve just purchased and was great when you first rode him at the sellers place but when you rode him at home for the first time he freaked out and automatically it’s assumed ‘he must’ve been drugged’.

Trigger stacking is the little concerns that eventually add up to a big concern. Just like us when we have a few things going on that might start to stress us out. The first thing that happens, you can handle it, the second thing you get a bit more stressed but no one notices, the third, the fourth ect then you loose your cool, that’s as much as you can take, it’s the straw that broke the camels back.

Trigger stacking happens with horses too.

Quite often horses are stoic and deal with things internally, maybe displaying small signs of worry or uncertainty that may go unnoticed. Until the horse looses it. It didn’t come out of nowhere. These reactions could be a physical pain response obviously, however quite often, It could be ‘trigger stacking’.

We need to do our best to listen to those little signs and not take them for granted. Horses can have bad days, they can have little stressors that add up…

I did not write this, but everyone needs to see it... When we rush our horses in their training, we aren't expediting th...
27/08/2025

I did not write this, but everyone needs to see it...

When we rush our horses in their training, we aren't expediting their fitness or building muscles faster - we are breaking them down and rushing to a place that will require more veterinary intervention, more alternative therapies, more time off, more risk of injury, more wear and tear on the fragile structures, and a quicker end to the riding career and soundness of our equine partners.

You cannot rush fitness, you cannot rush collection, suppleness, relaxation, it's impossible. Wherever you do rush and cut corners, you will end up with holes and issues in other areas of your riding and the overall health and welfare of your horse.

Don't want to take the time to teach your horse to collect, and instead just force him into a false frame? Well, you're going to be stuck with fixing the slew of problems that come with the tension that was just created.

Don't want to work your way up the scale to create true endurance and stamina? You now risk your horse pulling a muscle or injuring themselves from overexertion and being pushed too hard for too long when the body simply isn't ready for that workload.

Don't want to waste time working up the scale of collection to achieve the proper head set without force? Let's just throw a harsher bit in his mouth, maybe tie the nose shut with both noseband and flash to get him into "frame". You've now lost all relaxation, the wrong muscles are activated and depending on how deep you yank the horses face in will determine if he's even able to swallow. Tension throughout the jaw and neck translate all the way to the hind legs, so zero collection is possible, even the slightest bit of engagement and lift of the back cannot be achieved.

Rushing will lead you nowhere except to more problems that could've been avoided had you taken the proper time for development.

📝 Unknown

Just couldn’t wait to get back to the paddock lol Loves a roll after her rides, Drop and roll first chance she gets ☺️
23/08/2025

Just couldn’t wait to get back to the paddock lol
Loves a roll after her rides, Drop and roll first chance she gets ☺️

There seems to be a mentality that if you get off your horse, you are  “letting them win” but that is not true, the hors...
22/08/2025

There seems to be a mentality that if you get off your horse, you are “letting them win” but that is not true, the horse is not your adversary.

It is not you versus your horse. It’s you and your horse versus the problem.

And in many circumstances getting off and using groundwork can be incredibly beneficial for helping your horse through something.

If they’re scared, having you beside them on the ground instead of on top of them can bring them confidence.

If you’re scared, getting off and on the ground lowers your anxiety and likely, also your horses.

The “ride through it” mentality is for human ego. You don’t need to ride through it and sometimes doing so can be anti beneficial and dangerous.

Softness and patience have value and merit. Oftentimes, the last thing a stressed flight animal needs is toughness and force.

The mentality of always riding through antics and getting straight back on after a fall can be a harmful one, for both horse and rider. Prevention is better than cure.

Honouring your horse and yourself by having the humility to know when to stop or when to change something is a strength, not a weakness…

30/07/2025

I’ll miss this sweet little filly! 🐴
‘Diamond’ came to me 4 weeks ago as an unhandled rescue. She was very timid and nervous, and it’s been a beautiful journey working with her.
Watching her go from a stressed, shut down, rather depressed little baby, into a very sweet, patient and loyal beautiful filly.
Poor girl had really bad rain scald and greasy heel all throughout her thick coat. How they feel and the care they receive here is of the upmost importance to me. Once she was ready for me to start treating her the scabs lifted revealing lots of inflammation and puss. Didn’t take long before it started clearing up and she began to look and feel so much better. ❤️
During her time here we worked on all the handling basics…
Haltering, leading, feet handling & first trim, float training, basic groundwork and desensitising…
Love working with these babies and watching them develop, so glad I was able to help her 🥰

26/07/2025

In some ways it’s disappointing being a trainer who puts the horse first, goes at their pace, does an incredible amount of useful ground work, focuses on biomechanics and correct movement and wants the horse to feel happy and confident.

It’s hard to find clients who not only want the same thing, but realize that doing it correctly takes time.

Everyone is in a race to the show ring to try to beat the other guy.

Every horse I train gets worked with at their pace. 10 minutes here and 15 minutes there and it’s little bits at a time. They get the days off that they need. I never wear them out, drill or over do it. I want them to get it, think about and come back again fresh in the afternoon or the next morning to try the next step for a few minutes. It’s slow and steady building blocks with me.

There’s no fluff and frill. There’s no 5 and 6 year olds practicing Grand Prix movements - that takes years and how many years depends on each individual horse.

There’s no race to the show ring. No competition to see who can climb the levels the fastest.

It’s about building a happy, healthy athlete who feels confident in their body and in their work. Those are the horses who last - physically, mentally and emotionally. Those are the horses that I train and put out into the world.

I wish more people were in it for the right reasons.

The horse first. The date of the show is unimportant.

🌻 © Cara Blanchard

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

Beautiful sunset here tonight 😍
15/07/2025

Beautiful sunset here tonight 😍

Beautiful moment this morning. Diamond here for handling (previously unhandled) and the first time she let me come up to...
14/07/2025

Beautiful moment this morning. Diamond here for handling (previously unhandled) and the first time she let me come up to her while lying down, always a special moment 🥰
She’s about 7 months old, very timid and nervous, been here about 2 weeks. I love watching them develop and begin to trust ☺️

Address

Hawkesbury

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when AHS Horsemanship posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to AHS Horsemanship:

Share

Category