Starner Equestrian Services

29/08/2024

This sound is how I feel every time I sit on her🥰.

Grace’s🦋 canter is just going from strength to strength at the moment, it’s definitely my favourite gait of hers to ride now🫢!

I’m really looking forward to Swan River this weekend, hopefully we can continue our confidence building trajectory we’ve been on this season🙏🏼.

Life has been absolutely insane lately, I can’t share any details as of yet, so for now I’m excited to being able to focus wholeheartedly on Grace🦋 for the show✨.

As always thankyou to Jo for giving me the ride on this little mare🦄.

10/08/2024

It’s about time that I introduced Carma🏝️ to the page!

He’s a lovely thoroughbred gelding who is here for some flatwork education.

We had a really productive session in the round pen today, working on moving away from light pressure and finding a relaxed but forward rhythm.

I’m looking forward to the rest of his stay, he’s such a level headed guy with so much love to give💕.

Thankyou to his owners Vickie and Jennifer Gatso for trusting me with his education.

07/07/2024

What fantastic news! Let’s hope Australia is soon to follow👏🏼👏🏼

07/07/2024

I am thrilled to announce that Clare Downs Lisheen, also known as Fish, has joined the Starner Equestrian team🥳!
Thankyou to everyone who has made this possible, I am so incredibly lucky to have this mare in my stable😍.
I viewed her for the first time in February 2023(!) and have been thinking about her ever since. It’s surreal that she’s finally here🍾, and this is just the beginning of the adventure.

Send a message to learn more

01/07/2024

So proud of Brookevalley Gwyrth Evriadd for placing in both her classes at Brookleigh on Saturday, being the only pony against some lovely horses🙌🏻🤩. This young mare is showing so much potential in the dressage ring😍.
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Her greenness and tension showed through in her trot work, but I was very pleased to not have a single spook in the ring or the warm up👏🏼. The green bean is becoming less green!
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The 1.2 was lovely and consistent with 10 scores of 6.5 and nothing below a 6 for 64.5%💕.
Rider accuracy mistakes in the 1.3 resulted in 2 scores of 5, which really let the scores down to end up on 61.5%. We did however achieve 7s for 5 movements!
Turns out that learning a test you’ve never ridden, the day of, is not a good idea. Who would have thought🤦🏼‍♀️.
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Thankyou to her owner Mike Jacobson for the ride and Brookleigh for running such a lovely event as always!
Looking forward to the last one of the series🥳.
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08/06/2024

Mia🌻 has such a bright future ahead of her, feeling privileged to be apart of her early education💕.
Even since this shoot she has developed so much in her understanding of the aids, I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season with her🙌🏻.
Huge thankyou to Reagan’s Equine Photography for capturing the beginning of our partnership so beautifully😍.
Mia is owned by Mike Jacobson.

29/05/2024

First competition with Mia🌻 was a huge success!
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Brookevalley Gwyrth Evriadd placed 2nd in both the Participant Prelim 1.1 and Participant 1.2 with 64% and 64.28% respectively, up against some really lovely horse and rider combinations.
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Her owner and I are very happy with how she handled the competitive environment and how rideable she was in both tests, with just one green moment in the 1.2.
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Thankyou Brookleigh Dressage Club for putting on a great event, we can’t wait for the next in the series!
Mia is owned by Mike Jacobson.
📷cover by Reagan’s Equine Photography
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Spaces in the full training and campaigning program are limited, PM to see if Starner Equestrian is the right fit for you.
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26/05/2024

Grace🦋 and I completed our first official elementary test at the Brookleigh Dressage Club HP Championship Series 1 event on Saturday🥳.
In November we rode our first 3.1 at the K&K Equine Open Tee Dressage Day, my goal for this show was to improve on that score.
Grace🦋 was holding onto tension which resulted in some expensive mistakes, however improvements in other areas resulted in a better score than our first attempt, and some promising comments🤩.
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As the pieces are feeling put together in training, I’m looking forward to getting out more and training in different venues to achieve that vital relaxation in the show ring again.
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Thankyou to Brookleigh Dressage Club for putting on such a great event, can’t wait for the next in the series🥳.
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Thankyou to her owner, Jo Green, for trusting me with Grace’s training.
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27/04/2024

Grace🦋 had her first bridleless ride at her new agistment recently, I love to see all the training paying off so we can have these lovely moments🥰

24/04/2024

I’m excited to announce that BROOKEVALLEY GWYRTH EVRIADD, is joining the Starner Equestrian team for the season✨.
Affectionately known as “Mia”, she is a 5yo Welsh D, by Anakie I’m So Ffansi, out of Teifi Valley Derwna Dawnsio.

Thankyou to her owner Mike Jacobson for this opportunity.

17/04/2024

Week 7 was the most exciting week in Pablo’s🌞 training. He had his first ride🥳.
I am absolutely stoked with how he is coming along, he really is taking everything in his stride now🙌🏻👏🏼.
Pablo is owned by Mahdi Vallance.

14/04/2024

Week 6 was an exciting one for Pablo’s🌞 training!
We had our first layover🥳.
So pleased with how much his trust and confidence has grown lately.
Pablo is owned by Mahdi Vallance

14/04/2024

Pablo🌞 week 5
Super happy with how Pablo is ticking along in his training, taking things at his pace and his pace only.
I’m aiming to nurture confident and trusting horses, rather than obedient ones.
Pablo is owned by Mahdi Vallance

14/04/2024

Very delayed week 4 post for Pablo🌞.
Having to evacuate the horses due to a fire definitely threw a spanner into the works, very grateful that no homes were lost in the fire and we could go back to normal fairly quickly.
Pablo is owned by Mahdi Vallance.

08/04/2024

Advanced Feeds Youth Dressage Festival 2024 🦚
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Very pleased to have come 3rd in the 2.1, and 2nd in the 2.2, resulting in Grace🦋 and I achieving Reserve Champion in the participant novice!
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We were lucky to have two judges for our tests, Grace received 69% from one judge in the 2.1, and 68% from the other judge for the 2.2. Some exciting scores and comments to start off the season!
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Thankyou to Dressage Western Australia for running such an organised event with such a positive atmosphere.
Thankyou to Advanced Feeds Pty Ltd for your very generous sponsorship of the event and the fantastic prizes.
Thankyou to Penrose Park Garlands for sponsoring both the participant 2.1 and 2.2 classes, us riders really appreciate it!
Thankyou to Meimipix for the beautiful photos📸
Thankyou to Grace’s owner, Jo Green for your support, and Jeremy Green for taking me to events💕.

21/03/2024

Pablo🌞 has done so well in his third week of training🙌🏻.
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I am so glad that I took the time to get him comfortable with his surroundings, because he has graduated to be doing his sessions in the arena🎊! If you go back to his last video, you’ll see that it took him some time to settle outside of his paddock😥.
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His general demeanour has become so much more relaxed and I am loving seeing his sweet, cuddly personality blossom🥰!
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In his training we are moving onto some more exciting steps, while always prioritising the relaxation🍃. Can’t wait to continue his training, he is so rewarding!
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Pablo is owned by Mahdi Vallance
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11/03/2024

Pablo🌞 has been a star🤩 for his first few weeks here at SES.
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This video covers a snapshot of his first week with me and part of what we’ve been working on. Included are some unpolished clips to show his progress.
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Having a horse in a calm mindset🧘🏼‍♀️ is crucial to any training program, so that was my priority for week one as Pablo is an anxious type👻.
As I’ve mentioned before, they cannot learn if they are stressed! I want to nurture a confident horse, and that starts here👇🏼.
Making sure that this early groundwork is solid is crucial for building his confidence.
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Just because he is a standardbred that has raced in the past, doesn’t mean he is confident in all stages of his training, I need to be sure that he’s not shutting down to cope with the stress so we are going over everything again to make sure🧠.
This just keeps us both safe and builds trust between us moving forward🥰.
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Being very aware of his threshold and responding to the small signals has really helped him come out of his shell, he used to be a horse that didn’t respond to scratches!
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This coming week is week 3 with Pablo and he is underway in his prep to be ridden🤩.
Always such a privilege to work with a sensitive, clever horse, they are incredibly rewarding when you are resilient with your patience💕.
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Pablo is owned by Mahdi Vallance.
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07/03/2024

If your horse offers you unwanted behaviour, first ask yourself, what emotions would he/she be feeling to behave like that?

I am not saying personify him or anthropomorphise him, I'm saying relate to how he feels EMOTIONALLY not intellectually.
Don't try and figure out what the trigger is, you may not be able to control that. What you can help him with, is how he FEELS about the trigger.

FOCUS ON THE EMOTION, NOT THE TRIGGER!

He felt an emotion and that emotion led to a behaviour.

That's the quickest and easiest way to answer the "why" and from there, you can easil support that emotion.

Imagine if you felt that emotion and what support would help you feel understood in your time of need.

Relate to your horse's emotional perspective at ALL times and watch your relationship soar!

Happy brain training 🧠 💪
Charlotte 😊

06/03/2024

Pablo🌞 is demonstrating a lovely big release here with lots of yawns, licking and chewing, and showing a much more relaxed facial expression by the end😌!
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Have you ever wondered why your horse stops responding to learned cues when they become stressed? One reason is: when there is too much stress, the ability to retrieve memories (or recall learned skills) is significantly impaired😰. Simply put, if your horse is too stressed they cannot be as responsive and willing as normal.
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Attempting to learn something new while stressed will have a similar result, the stress prevents the new information from going into the memory in an effort to protect the brain from the traumatic event🧠. So trying to teach a horse something while they are stressed is completely ineffective, possibly causing more harm than good.
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Getting your horse to release like this gets their stress and anxiety levels back down to a more neutral state, where they are actually able to learn and problem solve. Side effects of this are your horse learning that you are a safe space to be and will become more trusting.
Being able to cue your horse to focus and then relax is an extremely useful tool to any horse owner and has endless implications.
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Pablo is owned by Mahdi Vallance.
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When do you see your horse yawn? 🥱
Save this reading later🤓

13/01/2024

Make your dreams a reality😍✨🙌🏻

Riding and owning horses can be incredibly tough mentally. Having someone you can turn to for advice, to motivate you through tough periods and to hype you up when things are going well can make the world of difference🙌🏻. Finding the right trainer will help build a supportive community that believes in you and cares about you.

Horses thrive off consistency, but life often has other plans and consistency can feel like a dream😅. Having a trainer by your side to fill in the gaps when you can’t, will keep your horse happy and on the right track so that you can keep doing the things you love.

Every horse has their own quirks, and it’s easy to fall into tunnel vision. A trainer can bring you not only a fresh perspective, but they have an experienced eye that can pinpoint the root cause of the problem to help you overcome it once and for all.

The easiest way to stay safe around horses is to prevent problems from occurring in the first place. Having an experienced trainer on board will help identify problems before they can escalate, keeping your training stress free for everyone.

There are so many skills involved in riding, so it’s easy to feel lost on where to go next without making mistakes in training, a trainer will know what the next step is to keep you and your horse progressing towards your goals, instead of around in circles🏆.

Limited spaces available for Jan and Feb, PM for more details✨🏇

13/12/2023

This may be controversial👀
But I think December/ January is the best time to start your horse’s re-education. You can be working towards your goals while everyone else is sleeping on theirs 😴.

If a patient, understanding trainer that believes in correct groundwork and dressage basics sounds like your cup of tea☕️, please reach out via PM or email✨🌈.

Without the pressure of getting out to competitions, now is the perfect time to start re-educating your horse into a new discipline🤩, or to further their education.

Starner Equestrian has openings in our program for re-education (like Rory🌷 here), or for furthering their education.

Rory is owned by Helen Cole.

Send a message to learn more

16/10/2023

This is Nacho🌮 one of my lovely client horses that I have had the pleasure of working with recently!
Currently I am working on getting him stronger in his transitions and his canter.
Such a lovely tempered pony, I am having a lot of fun with this little guy💕.
Thankyou to his owner Helen Cole for trusting me with his education.
Limited spaces available for groundwork and ridden education, PM for more details.

08/08/2023

On Friday morning Reagan’s Equine Photography came out to take some ridden photos of Grace and I am so happy with how they turned out😍
Thanks again Reagan!!

Grace is gaining so much strength and her quality of work is really starting to improve. The novice work is feeling more secure everyday and we’ve started introducing some of the elementary work🥳.

Spending the hundreds of hours on the basics: rhythm, suppleness and contact, is really paying off when asking the more difficult questions💆🏼‍♀️.

This is a reminder that dressage is FOR the horse. Any sound horse can become a dressage horse and I can teach you how🤩.

🌟Spots available for educating/campaigning, and limited availability for lessons. PM me for more details!🌟

Little disclaimer that dressage is a process, not a destination and these photos reflect that! Some photos my posture isn’t amazing, some photos Grace’s posture isn’t amazing. But they can be admired for Reagan’s photography skills if nothing else🙌🏻

Proud ambassador for Reagan’s Equine Photography
Thankyou to Jo Green for giving me the ride on your gorgeous mare💕

26/07/2023

💕💕

“Why are you so hard on yourself?”

Because I never forget that kid.

The kid who saved her pocket money to buy the latest pony magazine, to then spend hours pouring over each page, analysing every photo and reading every single word.

The kid who was incessantly bullied for being the “weird horse girl”. The one who was never at the parties, but always at the yard. The one who found a way to make every single school project about horses.

The kid who overcame, what felt like enormous fears, because she believed that was the only thing that stood in the way of her biggest dreams. The one who used to be sick before jumping round 60cm because she wanted, so badly, to do well.

The kid who sat in the stands at Olympia every year, watching the showjumping, completely mesmerised by the whole thing, deep down hoping one day it would be her in that ring.

The kid who would canter along overgrown tracks on a little 30 year old pony every Saturday morning, pretending she was at Badminton, truly believing that one day she could be doing it for real.

That kid who believed in the power of the underdog, who didn’t believe money dictated success, who didn’t care about having the newest saddle or shiniest boots, the one who cared about nothing but her pony.

So yes, I’m hard on myself. But only because I refuse to let every sacrifice that kid made, every tear she cried and every mountain she climbed to be for nothing.

18/05/2023

Good groundwork is the best way to build a good relationship with your horse, not just for teaching safe ground manners. There is something truly meditative about working with horses on the ground. You develop a very specific and seamless communication with the horse as you learn how to accurately read their body language. The connection you can create with the horses when you simply pay attention to them is profound, and you just can’t get anything like it under saddle.

Daniel Seigal is a professor at UCLA and he talks a lot about attunement and how it’s very important for creating strong social bonds in humans. He uses the phrase “feeling felt” to describe when a person can emotionally and authentically connect and with another person and react appropriately to their needs (Penman, 2014). Sarah Schlote is a psychotherapist who expanded on Siegel’s term and came up with the notion of being seen, being heard, feeling felt, and getting gotten. When we interact with others who are attuned to our needs, we feel a sense of safety around that person (Schultz, 2022).
This perfectly encapsulates what the horses need from us, and you can develop this with groundwork.

I’ll get more into Polyvagal Theory in another post, so here’s a nugget of info about it. When we feel safe in an environment/with a person our nervous system can go into “play mode” where we can effectively problem solve, become creative, even digest food more effectively and many other positive effects.

When a horse feels like you understand them and that they can trust you, this accelerates their learning process as they are free to deeply think their way through questions, instead of reacting to remove pressure ASAP. Learning how to accurately read AND react to your horse’s body language will drastically change the relationship you share. I have seen horses previously described as dull come alive with personality, anxious horses learn to let go of tension, standoffish horses becoming “cuddly”.

If you’re interested in reading more, I recommend going over to Warwick Schiller's Attuned Horsemanship , as he talks a lot about Polyvagal Theory and more specifically how attunement relates to horses. He has had a massive influence over how I handle horses over these past few years and I seriously recommend checking him out if you haven’t already!

If you need some help starting your groundwork journey, flick me a message! I’d love you help you💕

Proud ambassador of Reagan’s Equine Photography , the lovely photographer of these photos.

Reference list

Penman, R. (2014). Feeling felt: The heart of the dialogic moment? [online] Center for Intercultural Dialogue. Available at: https://centerforinterculturaldialogue.org/2014/01/17/feeling-felt-the-heart-of-the-dialogic-moment/.

Schultz, A. (2022). Leading Consciously: Staying Relational with Presence and Attunement. [online] Reboot: Better Humans Make Better Leaders & Better Leaders Create Humane Workplaces. Available at: https://medium.com/reboot-leadership-resiliency/leading-consciously-staying-relational-with-presence-and-attunement-a6af1d1233f6 #:~:text=What%20Is%20Attunement%3F .

13/04/2023

YOU DON’T NEED A VALEGRO OR GLAMOURDALE TO DO DRESSAGE

Many of us fall into the trap that we need a purpose bred warmblood to compete in dressage. “Dressur” directly translates to “to train”, so why do we tell ourselves we need a specific type of horse to simply train?

The breeding and competitive industry has skewed the original intentions of dressage training. If you google “dressage definition” you will repeatedly see words such as: precise, balance, flexibility, well trained, art, and nothing about needing a $100,000 horse to do it. Creating a strong and powerful but relaxed and willing dancing partner was the original focus, once we stopped training horses for the battlefield.

Dressage has been described since the 16th century as an art form, and you don’t need expensive oil paints to make art, you can use $2 crayons from IGA. If dressage really is an art, then the same applies. Your 17 year old standardbred can be a dressage horse, your downhill quarter horse can be a dressage horse, your child’s 11hh Shetland pony can be a dressage horse. Remember, dressage is for the horse.

All horses will benefit from learning how to balance with a rider, how to understand the rider’s aids, how to accept and become comfortable with the bit, and how to align themselves posturally for long term soundness.
When a horse learns these things, extraordinary changes can be seen in the way they move and feel. People will ask you what the breeding of your horse is, because to them it’s imperceivable that training alone can create such a beautiful dancing partner.

If you can’t afford to buy a dressage horse like most of us, create one instead.
Yes it’s true that your “regular” horse may not be competitive against the horse that costs as much as a house, but remember dressage wasn’t made to compare horses.
Play the long game, compete only against past versions of yourself.

Riders will acquire good problem solving skills when undertaking the task of taking a “regular” horse and making them appear like a more talented horse. “regular” horses are a gift to the dressage rider, a unique opportunity to grasp a deeper understanding of the foundations. They will teach you how to make any horse more graceful, more supple, more engaged, more willing and more powerful. And that of course is the forgotten purpose of dressage training.

Go and enjoy your four legged dancing partner for what they can offer, not what they can’t.

Enjoy the images below that demonstrate the changes possible when you let go of the competitive mindset and focus on the horse in front of you.
Any horse can become a dancing partner.

If want to learn how to turn your horse into a dancing partner, send me a message and let’s chat about it!

- Hannah Fear

05/04/2023

Here is a long overdue update on Grace’s flatwork training🤸🏼‍♀️.

She has been back in work for 6 weeks now after I went on holiday, and she is going better than ever🤩.
Grace is feeling so much more consistent in the hand, nice and supple and her strength is coming back nicely💪🏼.
The right canter is still a weak point for us both, but we’re finally starting to find a bit of sit.

If you’d like to find more suppleness and consistency in the contact with your horse, don’t hesitate to reach out to organise a lesson or training! All breeds/ages/training level are welcome at Starner Equestrian🥳✨

Send a message to learn more

16/03/2023

Putting the groundwork to the test🙌🏻.

Very pleased with Grace’s efforts today and looking forward to the season ahead.
So excited to see where she will go this year!

Thankyou to Jo for taking Grace and I out today💕.

For more information on the groundwork exercises, I have some videos up on my page already that cover the subject!

If you’re interested in getting your horse competition ready, mentaly and physically, contact me via private message🥳.

07/03/2023

REST DAYS ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS TRAINING DAYS, HERE’S WHY

It might be surprising to learn that training days are only half the story when it comes to building muscle and strength. Learning how muscles grow, what muscle fatigue means and how to speed up recovery is essential to creating an effective training schedule for your horse.

BASICS OF MUSCLE GROWTH

For a muscle to grow bigger and get stronger, it needs to tear slightly and then be rebuilt. In a training session, many micro-tears appear on the muscle. The rest period is when the tears are repaired, creating bigger and stronger muscles.

MUSCLE FATIGUE

Muscles take 24-96 hours (about 4 days) to completely recover and repair the tears (McLester et al., 2003). In another study by Jones et al they found that 70% of participants were fully recovered after just 48 hours (Jones et al., 2006). It is unrealistic to expect our horses to be able to perform at a high intensity, doing the same tasks, for days on end.

IMPORTANCE OF REST DAYS

Muscles that don’t have sufficient recovery time cannot perform at their max, are more vulnerable to injury and grow slower than muscles that have sufficient recovery time. A well-structured recovery period is essential to make the most of training sessions performed (Bishop, Jones and Woods, 2008).

ACTIVE VS PASSIVE REST

Active rest is described as an activity that is low intensity. a trail ride, low intensity ride with no collection, a short lunge session, encouraging a long frame and stride is a great way to add dynamic stretching. Passive rest is described as very low or no activity.

Mika et al found that participants doing active rest between resistance training were able to produce significantly more strength opposed to those only utilizing passive rest. This study suggests that active rest speeds up recovery more than passive rest or stretching alone (Mika et al., 2007).

MASSAGE THERAPY

One study found that massage significantly reduced muscle soreness after exercise, (Bishop, Jones and Woods, 2008). Learning how to correctly palpate and massage your horse can also be hugely beneficial in learning when your horse is still sore and needs rest.

VARYING YOUR TRAINING SCHEDULE

Now we can create a better-informed training schedule for improved performance. Different types of riding utilize different muscles. An endurance session uses muscles differently to a jump school. We know that muscles need ~48 hours to recover, so we should schedule the most dissimilar sessions adjacent. E.g. An endurance focussed ride can be performed the day after a lateral focussed dressage ride. An active rest day following high intensity sessions will speed up your horse’s recovery.

A gallop is different to dressage, but your horse is using similar muscles to carry you regardless. Therefore, passive rest days should be included as well to ensure all muscles are given sufficient rest.

Every horse is an individual and their training schedule needs to be tailored to their needs specifically. When setting up a schedule for your horse, pay attention to when they tell you they need a rest and when they can keep going.

CONCLUSION

Allowing sufficient recovery time is essential for maximizing muscle growth, injury prevention and for peak performance. Muscles should be given 48-72 hours to recover before performing the same tasks for optimal performance. Active recovery is the most effective known technique to speed up muscle recovery. Creating a schedule that spreads out your high intensity rides throughout the week with active recovery days will help make the most of every training session.


Please follow the link below to read the full article and access references

01/02/2023

January Wrap Up🙌🏻

Here’s a few snippets of what we got up to in January! More details in the picture captions.

From flying into Queensland to advise on horse shopping, to riding in a half breed saddle for the first time, January was one full of firsts and was such a fun adventure 🥳.

Thankyou to all my wonderful clients who’ve made the start to 2023 so fantastic😍. Let’s go smash some more goals in February!

Availabilities open in February for:
• Lessons (groundwork and flatwork)
• Schooling / Educating
• Re-education OTT
• Getting Back Into Work
Flick me a message if you have any queries😊