The Young Horse Confidence Club

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The Young Horse Confidence Club Helping riders achieve a calm and confident riding partnership with their young horses

3yo Oliver has passed his rug-wearing probation! He's been wearing an old, hand-me-down rug that's a size too small for ...
11/06/2025

3yo Oliver has passed his rug-wearing probation! He's been wearing an old, hand-me-down rug that's a size too small for the last few weeks. Now that's he's proven he can look after his rug out in the big paddock with the herd, it's graduation day 🎓 and he gets a brand new rug (in the right size) all of his own!

YOUR COACH - since this page is gaining some momentum these days I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself a...
04/06/2025

YOUR COACH - since this page is gaining some momentum these days I thought it would be a good idea to introduce myself and give our new followers a proper welcome 💙

My name is Jessica Bryce, my Dad once introduced me as, "this is my daughter, Jessica, she's horsey mad." 🤣 As a fully fledged adult woman who owned and ran a riding school that I'd built from scratch, I found the label undermining and offensive...
..these days, however; I'm embracing it! "Horsey mad" is really much easier to say than the full spiel, and to be honest, it pretty much nails it!

I'm a forever student, I have studied and trained in a lot of modalities, from barefoot trimming to equine body work, and the classical dressage training system. I'm a coach, a trainer, a rider and I pretty much live and breathe horses every single day... yep, horsey mad, that's me!

The Young Horse Confidence Club evolved out of the Young Horse Social Days that I run in person most months of the year. The Club makes my coaching and mentoring available to riders who can't see me in person.

Perhaps they live too far away to travel to where I am, it could be they don't have a float (or their horse doesn't load or travel well) or maybe they just don't feel ready to get out and about and would rather work along at home for a while longer...
..whatever the reason, you can work with me online, from home, instead (or as well!) as in person. My specialty is in holding space, offering support, being there to guide and mentor you as you navigate the journey that is a horse-and-human partnership.

There's plenty I can teach you, if you're ready and if you want it, but I'm equally happy to let you lead the dance and simply join you step by step.

Pictured is my PRE gelding, Flamulo, he's retired now (due to a dicky hip) but he was my teacher, and the poster-boy for a lot of my imagery for a long time; so he's still very much a part of the Club (and you can meet him if you're ever at my place!) He's been one of the most challenging and also most rewarding horses I've ever worked with, and boy can I share some stories about our journey!

So from one "horsey mad" woman (who never grew out of it, by the way, despite my Dad's predictions!) to you, welcome to the YHCC community 💜

Tomorrow I'll introduce you to my current equine teacher, Polly. Feel free to introduce yourself and your horse in the comments if you feel inspired to do so.

x Jessica

Does this sound familiar to you? Are you worried about making mistakes, stuffing things up and ruining your horse?Is the...
02/06/2025

Does this sound familiar to you?

Are you worried about making mistakes, stuffing things up and ruining your horse?

Is the mounting block the biggest stress point in your riding experience? Perhaps it takes ages to get everything just right so that you can get on.

Do you feel like things are working out for everyone else but you're still stuck in the same old rut?

When I first started The Young Horse Confidence Club, the idea was to offer help to riders with young horses so that they could give their horses good basic training and stress-free experiences so they could grow into calm and reliable riding horses...
.. what I didn't realise was, many of the riders I'd be working with were having confidence issues of their own. Sometimes it was just because they'd been out of horses for a long time (busy raising families for example) and now they're back into horses but so much has changed and they're feeling a little lost and like they don't know what to do anymore... a little guidance, support and education and they're on their way again 🙂
.. but sometimes it's the other end of the scale, and I meet riders who are too nervous to enjoy their riding time, who desperately want things to be different but just can't find a way, and it's breaking their hearts...

When riders in this situation reach out to me for help, the first thing I do is reassure them, you are not alone. It's not just you, honest; there are so so so many riders out there struggling with their confidence to some degree or another.

So if you're feeling like everyone else has got it together, and you're the only one whose nerves have got the better of them, please know that it happens to lots of us, and you are not alone.

If you're tired of feeling this way, and you're ready to put in the work to get back to enjoying riding again, the next round of our Rider Confidence Booster program is opening on 5th June. If you'd like to know more, send me a message. x Jessica

How do we get from "green as grass" to a calm and reliable riding partner that you can take anywhere? It can feel like s...
08/04/2025

How do we get from "green as grass" to a calm and reliable riding partner that you can take anywhere?

It can feel like such a long journey that you're missing out on doing the things you want to because your horse isn't ready yet.

Or maybe you thought your horse was ready so you gave it a go but it didn't work out and now it feels like you've gone backwards, or stuffed it up, and don't know how to get back to good.

Pictured below is a horse I've been working with for the last few months, called Polly. She's not a young horse (in her teens, in fact) but had been out of work for several years and we didn't know if she'd been to Club rallies before.

I wanted to take Polly to a clinic with one of my favourite trainers, but it was an expensive clinic, over 3 hours drive away and we'd have to camp overnight there. It was a big commitment of resources to get us there and I didn't want to "waste" my time and money if Polly was too stressed or unsettled to be able to participate in our lessons or learn anything while we were there.

Here's what I did: I booked us in for a lesson at Riding Club, planned to allow the whole day so we wouldn't be rushing to get there on time, or needing to get home again to do something else (aka set myself up to be calm and present). I made sure we arrived really early, so Polly would have plenty of time to relax in the yards and take in the busy atmosphere, and for me to walk her around the grounds before our lesson time to let her become familiar with the environment. (aka set my horse up to be calm and present)

Before our lesson started, I explained to the coach my intention was just to give her a positive experience out and about and be able to ride calmly in the arena, and that we weren't all that fit and may not last the full hour. (aka I pre-set the expectations with others involved).

I reminded myself to listen to my horse as she showed me how she was feeling and how equipped (or not) she was to take on this kind of outing. I reminded myself not to get caught up in wanting to achieve anything in particular, and not to compromise on my horse's wellbeing for my own ambitions. (aka. pre-set my own expectations).

As it turns out, Polly was a superstar, she stood calmly in the yard munching on her hay bag and she was calm enough walking around the grounds that I felt it would be okay to attempt the lesson.

Polly was somewhat distracted by the horses showjumping in the next arena while I was riding, but otherwise took everything in her stride. We didn't finish the lesson because I felt she was getting tired and becoming resistant to moving forward (which she never is at home) so I politely excused myself from the lesson at that point.

Success! We went home feeling like winners! Feeling like it would be okay to book in for the clinic away from home, and feeling grateful for the experience and that I stayed true to my principles and held my horse's wellbeing as my highest priority even while expecting her to cooperate and participate in activities that were fulfilling my human ambitions!

The HOW is much more important than the WHAT that we do with our horses, and finding that harmony between participating in our chosen activities/equestrian sport and respecting our horse's half of the partnership can be like walking a fine line, not always easy!

My four keys to feeling like a winner no matter what are:
🤩 setting myself up to be calm and present
🤩 setting my horse up to be calm and present
🤩 pre-setting expectations with others involved
🤩 pre-setting expectations with myself

If you've got a young (or not so young but still green) horse and you're looking for a low-fuss outing to give him positive experience going somewhere new, that's what our Young Horse Social Days are all about 🤩 See the Events section of our page for upcoming dates and locations.

Allowing your horse time to become settled in a new place BEFORE expecting him to give his attention to you and move int...
19/03/2025

Allowing your horse time to become settled in a new place BEFORE expecting him to give his attention to you and move into a frame of mind that's open to receiving learning or training should not be underestimated.

When horses are feeling uneasy in a new environment, their first concern is for their own safety and they tend to look up and off into the distance. As the begin to feel more comfortable their attention and focus comes in closer they'll begin to be curious and start exploring their immediate environment.

We see this at our Young Horse Social Days all the time, where the horses will go from looking off into the distance at the beginning of our sessions to wanting to sniff the arena wall or the mounting block, or paw at the sand, as they move from a stage of being concerned about the larger environment to being curious about the closer one.

The time that it takes for this process varies hugely from horse to horse, and it's something we can't rush them through or do for them. All we can do is be patience, plan for arriving with plenty of time and understand that our horse won't be able to give us his full attention, cooperation or willingness to learn until he's satisfied himself that the environment is safe and no longer his main concern.

For upcoming Young Horse Social Day dates/venues, and other clinic opportunities check out the events section of my page or see my website, and as always, if you've got any questions or would like to chat about how we can help you with your horse please be in touch 🙂

Young Oliver hanging out in the stable for some environmental familiarisation time 💜
10/02/2025

Young Oliver hanging out in the stable for some environmental familiarisation time 💜

Which of these benefits of doing groundwork shine brightest for you?🐴 Support and influence - the closer we keep our hor...
19/01/2025

Which of these benefits of doing groundwork shine brightest for you?

🐴 Support and influence - the closer we keep our horse to us (ie. the shorter the line we give him) the easier it is to manage him.
The young/green horse has not yet learned to take his cues from our posture and movement and he may get distracted or feel "too alone" and without guidance out on the end of the lunge, where things can quickly escalate into behaviours we can't control, or unhealthy postures that we can't correct from a distance.

🥦 Healthy movement - observing our horse in movement from the ground give us a view we don't get when riding and allows us to really look and really see just what's going on. We can influence the horse to change the way he's using his body and promote healthy movement, so that he's using his body in a biomechanically sound way, that's going to promote strength and balance, while reducing wear and tear.

⚖️ I'm not talking about gadgets that get strapped onto the horse, by the way. I'm meaning a carefully considered use of exercises (both standing and in movement) that teach the horse to find his own balance, to use his body with ease and to move in self-carriage, even if just for a few moments at a time as the young horse finds his way in a body that's constantly growing and changing.

📚 Education - through the timing of our aids and rewards, we can teach our horse all of the things we'd like him to understand when we sit on him. As well as refine his responses and allow him to learn "the right answers" so that when we ride it already makes sense to him, and he already has an idea of what we're wanting from him.

❤️ Bonding - working closely with our horse can develop stronger bond between us, establishing a system of communication and understanding, and building trust and confidence.

✉️ Leave a comment (and a pic!) to share what kind of groundwork you do with your horse and the benefit that shines brightest for you?

The mounting block can be a real pressure point for a lot riders. When you finally think everything is just right to mak...
08/11/2024

The mounting block can be a real pressure point for a lot riders. When you finally think everything is just right to make your move, the horse takes a step and you have to start over! Sometimes on is the hardest part of the ride, and it can make you want to give up before you've even started.

Mounting block manners go both ways, the horse needs to understand what's expected of him so he knows how to behave. Likewise, the rider needs to take care to make sure the horse is ready to receive them into the saddle, and mount using a technique that minimizes strain.

It might seem like a minor detail to some riders, but to others getting this right is a huge relief, and it's a topic I always help riders with at my Young Horse Social Days. The next one is on Sunday 17th of November, you can find all the details here https://www.facebook.com/events/460325630213194

We, humans, are wired to always want more. How many times has "one more" become four more, or five more? There's no such...
09/07/2024

We, humans, are wired to always want more. How many times has "one more" become four more, or five more?

There's no such thing as "too little" with our young/green horses. Sometimes, when our horse is calm at the mounting block, waits patiently to be asked to move off and walks quietly on a loose rein... that's success right there! Job done, good work, no need to do more.

'Quit while you're ahead' is never bad advice when we're building confidence and trust between horse a rider. 5mins might be all that you need, while 6mins might be too much.

Once things start to get "less good" we, humans, want to get it back to good again... and we keep going, keep trying, and often end up getting a whole lot more "less good" instead.

We want to 'finish on a good note'... but what if that actually means stopping while it's good, rather than trying to get back there once the moment has passed?

Next time you're working with your young horse and he does something so well that it seemed effortless, stop there; thank him and finish up. There's a risk of wanting more, wanting the horse to do it twice, and depending on your horse's age, confidence and training, that risk might not be worth taking.

There's no harm in having a break and doing another session later on. Allow your horse time to process what it was like to get it right and feel good about it, before asking him to do it again.

The best thing we can do for our horses is become aware of when our human nature is getting in the way. It's not easy and it's not always going to be what we want in the moment, but it might be exactly what your horse needs, and the best thing for your partnership in the long run.

Horses that get "stuck to the ground"It's not just because Nutmeg here is a bit of a heavyweight... it's more to do with...
06/06/2024

Horses that get "stuck to the ground"

It's not just because Nutmeg here is a bit of a heavyweight... it's more to do with her being a "freeze horse" more than a "flee horse".

Yep, we're back to the good old fashioned "fight or flight" response that all animals (and humans) have. Although modern science and research into Polyvagal Theory has recently added a third F word to the equation...

despite the F word that might slip through our lips when our horses have a fight/flight moment, it's actually FREEZE 🧊

How many times have you heard "he's never done that before, he's normally so quiet!" when a horse that appears to be well behaved and well adjusted, unexpected loses his cool and does something extreme.

Horses that "freeze" when they're feeling uncomfortable, uncertain or anxious can appear to be ok; but really they're not. One of first things I teach at Young Horse Confidence Club is how to spot your horse's subtle signs, so that you can start to recognise the red flags before something goes wrong.

In those moments where Nutmeg is "stuck to the ground" in her freeze mode, that's when I know she needs time to process and that pushing her through before she's finished would be a mistake.

Is your horse a "flee horse" or a "freeze horse"? Post either a runner 🏃‍♀️ or an ice cube 🧊 in the comments to let me know.

For me, winter is all about the young ones. It's all those small things you can do that make a big difference to the way...
16/05/2024

For me, winter is all about the young ones. It's all those small things you can do that make a big difference to the way your horse copes with the big things when they come up.

I'll be running my Young Horse Social Days (in Romsey VIC) again this winter to offer support and a low-stress social outing to riders who are taking the time to bring on their young horses slowly and carefully.

If the recent cold mornings have got you feeling like you'll just have to wait it out over winter and get going again when springtime comes around, remember, there's plenty you can do (even if you don't have access to an arena) to keep ticking boxes along the journey from young and green to a calm and confident riding partner.

If you'd like to know more about the Social Days, there's a Sign Up button at the top of this page that will take you to my mailing list.

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