Inspirited Equine

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United Kingdom
Barnsley
Inspirited Equine

Using reward based methods to teach horses tricks, liberty, groundwork and bitless riding
(9)

I am a freelance horse trainer based in South Yorkshire aiming to help horse owners escape outdated, punitive training techniques by sharing knowledge on how to use reward and relationship based training instead. I offer assistance with everything from general horsemanship to tricks, liberty and starting. I have a level 3 in horse management and an additional level 3 in equine psychology. Please don't hesitate to send me a message with any questions, I'm always happy to help.

05/08/2024

21/07/2024

Lots of positive changes for this lovely lad.
His owner has been dedicated to helping him in every possible way and the results are speaking for themselves.
One of the things helping with this transformation is classical inhand work.
Classical dressage is designed to help the horse, building them up both physically and psychologically, helping them to become more capable of carrying themselves and a rider. It doesn't matter what discipline you enjoy with your horse, even if they are a happy hacker or retired veteran, classical work benefits every horse, giving them the best chance of staying sound and happy into old age.

21/07/2024

Handsome Cruz loading up wonderfully with his owner for their trip to the vets ❤
Like all other schooling sessions, loading is not forced and the goal is not to simply get them up onto the box as there's so much more to it than that.
This is the result after 2 groundwork/obsticle sessions and 2 loading sessions.
There is no quick fix when it comes to overcoming anxiety and building confidence.

15/07/2024

Last camp of the year with Freelance Equine - Trick Training and Horsemanship at the CHAPS horse adventure park

15/07/2024

First client horse to use the box was the lovely Cruz, gaining some confidence ready for a trip to the vets tomorrow.
We started with basic groundwork and obstacles including walking through narrow spaces and over pallets, then put everything into practise for loading.
Everything was done gently using lots of patience, understanding and rewards.

10/07/2024

It's taken a while to unstick his back feet but we now have a little progress towards the Spanish walk 🥰

07/07/2024

This weekends camp with Freelance Equine - Trick Training and Horsemanship at the CHAPS horse adventure park

07/07/2024

I'm now able to offer trailer loading sessions locally for those who have a safe, off road area. Perfect for those of you who don't have your own trailer or box to practise with but would like your horse to have confidence loading ready for fun days out and dreaded emergency situations 😊

03/07/2024

Super proud of baby Kevin and his mum successfully taking part in their first show together at the weekend. He handled wonderfully and took everything in his stride.
Kevin is the previously feral foal who kicked and broke the transporters knee on arrival, was understadably terrified and had a long road to being handleable.
Clips of his first time wearing a headcollar and having to be lead to a new field (unfortunately one of those needs must situations) vs show day ❤

02/07/2024

Something rather different today, taking King for his first pony club experience

01/07/2024

Little Merlin giving his best efforts, combining weight shifts with jambette to achieve more lift ❤

25/06/2024

Sometimes not doing much of anything is better.
Another terrified feral c**t, one that's finding domesticated life particularly difficult.
Today all I did was put his headcollar on and help him relax. I give him a little groom and spent 30 minutes simply brushing and plaiting his mane whilst at liberty so he could leave if he needed to.
It might sound simple, but it's a lot. I wanted to give him the opportunity to start relaxing and letting his guard down a bit. I've worked with him plenty of times before, but he still struggles a lot.
I relaxed myself, released any tension and focused on breathing. Eventually he did the same, started to relax, release, slow his breathing and show lots of positive signs.
Of course there's a lot that I want and need to be doing with him, he needs to learn how to respond to pressure, how to lead, to have his back end handled, he needs lots of gentle desensitising and other basics, even more so as he needs to be gelded very soon.
However, what use is all of that if he can't actually relax, if he tolerates but doesn't feel comfortable or safe around humans? If he would rather run than be around a human then everything else is pretty much meaningless.
He needs lots of positive interaction, which despite our efforts won't happen if he feels something is expected of him whenever a human is around. Having the opportunity to just relax and have something that feels good is sooo important right now.
He still ran off when I finished and moved into a different position (too much movement is still super scary) but it's progress.

23/06/2024

This weekends camp with Freelance Equine - Trick Training and Horsemanship at the CHAPS Collingham horse adventure park

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Barnsley

Website

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI9gT-BkN8nocIhRJpXtV6A

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Videos

Handsome Cruz loading up wonderfully with his owner for their trip to the vets ❤ Like all other schooling sessions, loading is not forced and the goal is not to simply get them up onto the box as there's so much more to it than that. This is the result after 2 groundwork/obsticle sessions and 2 loading sessions. There is no quick fix when it comes to overcoming anxiety and building confidence.

It's taken a while to unstick his back feet but we now have a little progress towards the Spanish walk 🥰

Super proud of baby Kevin and his mum successfully taking part in their first show together at the weekend. He handled wonderfully and took everything in his stride. Kevin is the previously feral foal who kicked and broke the transporters knee on arrival, was understadably terrified and had a long road to being handleable. Clips of his first time wearing a headcollar and having to be lead to a new field (unfortunately one of those needs must situations) vs show day ❤

A little school halt and mountain goat progress

Merlin is now confident and happy to lay down on cue consistently 🥰 Teaching a horse to lay down should never be stressful or done by force, which unfortunately i still see happening quite commonly. There are many ways to teach the lay down, some methods involve ropes, bridles or sticks to shape behaviour. However, most of the time it can be taught at liberty with positive reinforcement by simply encouraging and capturing behaviour, then adding a cue. This way is easy for both horse and human, and creates a more natural movement from the horse.

Some little jumps at liberty, lots to work on but a good start for Merlin

After a few sessions of shaping, today Merlin laid down for the first time ❤

Introducing some canter. It's so important to have good breaks without having to rely on tack and equipment.

Liberty loading practise with Bryn

Sometimes the simplest of tasks can be huge achievements. This nervous little rescue mare would not be caught. It took a lot of time, patience, bribery, her running off multiple times and putting the headcollar on a specific way to finally get hold of her. She was also very hesitant about it being taken back off again and would sometimes start to panic. However, thanks to positive reinforcement training she will now accept the headcollar going on and being taken off without a fuss and her trust grows each session ❤

Huge improvements recently from this little one as he learns some important basic handling skills

Making a start on some spook busting with the lovely Zara. She did great with the tarp despite the breeze 😊

Some vaulting and trick riding with Rosey on her very own Ernie 💪

Merlin learning to catch

A cute little moment this morning with the previously timid feral foal. He not only let me approach and fuss him whilst laid down, but he also accepted his feet being picked out for the first time which is a big deal for him as he was quite unsure about his back legs being handled until recently. He then had them all cleaned out whilst standing with no issues too 🥰

That's my last job now finished until after boxing day. Wishing all of my lovely clients, past, present and future a wonderful Christmas 🎅 🎄

Having a play with little Merlin ❤

Introducing Zareena to the backing process. This mare is a nervous rescue who came uncatchable and untouchable due to past trauma. Using positive reinforcement methods has gradually helped her to progress into a more confident and sweet little horse. We have no idea if she has ever been sat on previously so we're starting from scratch as we have done with everything else. It has taken time for her to reach this point but she's coming along beautifully now. There's still a long way to go but I'm excited to see how much more her trust and confidence has grown by summer time 🥰

Trick training, liberty, groundwork, backing, trick riding, bitless and tackless schooling are just some of the services available. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any inquiries ☺️