Sound Start

08/06/2026

Nothing like pushing boundaries! Today we introduced another horse to Roo’s session to see if he would stay focused on his rider … and he was more than obliging! Just another little test we can give him a big tick for! … second horse is home bred Murphy who has been out spelling the last three months after having just 10 rides and never having been ridden off my property. She came back into work without any drama, so hopefully I can now get serious and get her finished off!

07/06/2026

I don’t often work over the weekends, but we are in the last week of Roo’s breaking and I’m really focusing on getting his mum and him working as a well versed team.
So today I stepped back and let Sarah crack on straight from the get go. I just supported her from the ground, but really she didn’t need much help!
I really can’t be more happy with Roo and also with how well Sarah is handling him!
He’s such a great minded little horse I’m excited to see where they go from here!

03/06/2026

We have had some pretty horrible weather this week, so we are super grateful to the owners of this absolutely smashing roof and would like to give them a massive THANK YOU 🙏 ❤️ we are so very very thankful.
It has allowed us to keep on progressing with Roo’s breaking and his mums lessons!
It’s also a fantastic opportunity to show Roo that regardless where we ask you to work, it’s still the same rules … just enjoy the change of scenery and business as usual. Lastly, the footing here is super solid and stable … so no more slipping and sliding and worrying about potential injury or confidence loss…
Today was his second time working under the roof, and he couldn’t care less, little champion 😍
I started asking him today to stay between the reins and my hands and once he figured it out he did really well, then onto canter … a little more work to build his strength and everything will fall into place… I haven’t included the last 3/4 of the session where it was time for Sarah to climb aboard, both Roo and Sarah are doing so damn well together, I’m very proud of them both.

02/06/2026

I've been putting together a collective of ideas that have been swimming around my head for at least the last 18 months and have now managed to put them together with some structure.

In the new financial year I will be offering new training packages which I have designed to help the owner and horse, they are a little niche, but I am hoping it appeals to some of you who have either wanted to go through this process themselves and/or worried about sending their young horses away!

The Young Horse program will be an amazing opportunity for anyone wishing to set their yearling and 2yo saddle prospects up for a successful future under saddle.
The follow up 6 week program will only be available to those who have done the Young horse start up program.

The 8 week program will be an inclusive program and open to intermediate riders and above.

For anyone who has availability, a passion to learn and a drive to succeed, this might be worth a consideration.

Feel free to pm me with any questions, and stay tuned for further updates with more details.

01/06/2026

Roo’s mum is back in the saddle! Lots of really good stuff starting to come together, we are now approximately 2 weeks out from handover so I’m going to be doing less from the saddle from here out and more instruction from the ground.

30/05/2026

30/05/2026

When you put the time in on the ground to teach your horse balance and body control, everything under saddle just comes together. Today I felt Roo was ready for a canter again… I haven’t asked for one since his his 3rd and 4th ride. Initially I need to make sure it’s there, but my focus returns back to getting the jog and trot and extended trot established… today he told me he was ready for a canter again… so I made sure he was set up for the best possible transition (considering we are only at ride 13) and let him find the canter … and this is the result! Soft, lifting his back, driving up and balanced … right through to the beautiful stop where he maintained his frame and softness the whole way.
Note; yes he was on the wrong lead! … that is a super easy fix … I’m never looking for perfection at these early stages … and he offered so much here, why not pick 😉

29/05/2026

Day 3 for Roo in the bridle, second day ridden in the bridle. Just a short one today, we have all the pieces in place, so now its just getting the miles on him and starting to make everything more solid. It all takes time. This was his 12th ride. I'm happy with how he is carrying himself, and he is now starting to move really nice and forward (sometimes a little to forward) ... you'll see me pull him into the rail a few times, this is because im letting him follow the rail and he starts to increase speed without being asked ... so instead of trying to slow him with two reins, i simply ask him to turn into the rail, change directions and just let him run into himself. Today I started asking him to stop with "two hands" .. its not a typical two handed stop, more left right and "whoa" at the same time ... at the end he just stops beautifully!

25/05/2026

Bridle day!!! Was a wet week last week so Roo got the week off (and he needed some down time as he was buggered). But back into it this week.
Todays session was Roo first introduction to the bridle, I pop it on and do a bit of lunging for respect for a few minutes and just let him have a chomp and feel first (not in the below video). I also firstly tied him laterally first and just let him feel a bit of contact out on the lunge, I didn’t capture this on video either but did want to explain the whole process.
The video starts once I’ve shifted the reins to between his legs so that he learns how to respond correctly to poll and bar pressure this results in vertical flexion/softness and needs to be done carefully and slowly so that they don’t panic and flip themselves! … I tie him so that initially he can take most of the slack and will only feel slight pressure, once he’s getting the idea, I take more slack out.
Why do I tie them instead of long rein them? Because in the learning stage I want the “give” to come from exactly the same place … when human hands are involved, regardless of how steady they are, the give point will shift every time.
Once they understand to look for it, then we can ask more by shifting that “sweet spot” around.
Lastly I return to tying him up laterally, I take out more slack, remove the lead and ask him to create bend by softening to the contact on the bit and then I’ll draw him into the circle step out help him follow the feel by helping pish his shoulder through and follow by his hip, lasting inviting him back out onto the circle to create bend again.
It’s a pretty cool part of my program where the time spent putting everything in place up to this point comes back and rewards me with these results. I’ll recap this all tomorrow and then finish tomorrow’s session with a short 10-15 min ride … then we just carry on building Roo’s education!