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Katie Adamson Equine Services

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Bideford
Katie Adamson Equine Services

Freelance Horse Trainer/Rider ☺ Fully insured. Also offering, sales, schooling and holiday livery 🦄
(18)

Since 2015, I've been the main rider; backing and producing horses for a large Arabian Stud. I have also backed and produced Sport horses for another stud farm alongside riding for a few smaller private yards. I currently compete one of my own horses to foxhunter level (1.20m) in British Showjumping who I have produced myself from an unbacked 4yr old. Before my freelance career, I held a position

for over two years, training alongside a very well known Equine Behaviourist. If you need help with riding your horses, schooling/backing, loading or hacking, or helping you build confidence with your own horse, whatever your requirements, please don't hesitate to drop me a message :-)

28/03/2024

Listening 👂(long post - sorry 😬)

The importance of listening to your horse.
I have worked with horses for over 10 years now, and still very much stand by "there is no such thing as a naughty horse" only a horse trying to communicate to us something, of which we need to listen. But so many people are quick to just label the horse as bad or naughty, and "ride it through it" or put some contraption on it to force it to submit, silence it and go into a frame.

Horses can't speak English, they can only speak with their body language, and no horse woke up one morning and said "I really want to p**s my rider off today"... They are the most willing, kind, forgiving and honest creatures to live on this planet, we humans could learn alot from these amazing and special beings if we could have an ounce of their qualities.

Horses start their conversations subtlety at first, perhaps moving away when you walk in with the saddle, a little swish of the tail as you girth up, reluctant to go forward, to bend or yield in a certain direction, or unwillingness to pick up the correct lead etc, but the more they are ignored they will "up the level" and it could end up in a much more expressive and even explosive behaviour, from exploding when girthing up, broncing or rearing, napping, aggression towards the handler etc. But all these behaviours started somewhere, they didn't just wake up and decide to behave like that today.

I'm not saying all these behaviours are pain related, sometimes it can develop from a miscommunication in training too, napping for example - if an inexperienced rider is riding a green horse and is unable to give the horse kind and confident support when the horse is showing you it's unsure of something, because they as a rider lack the confidence to do so, then the horse learns to make the decision for his or her own safety. They are of course flight animals, keeping themselves alive in the threat of perceived danger.

It doesn't always have to be something major either. My showjumper Lou lou has felt a little "off" when it comes to jumping since her field accident last January, just not quite able to give me 100% like she always usually does, couldn't put my finger on it and my vets were unable to determine what I was explaining to them. I got a second opinion from a different vet recently, and finally we have a diagnosis and she's currently in rehab and doing very well and I'm optimistic of her return to jumping to the level we were prior to her accident, in the near future. If I hadn't listened to the subtle signs Lou was telling me, her behaviours could have progressed into much more undesirable traits. I'm grateful that I listened to my gut, all the little things Lou was telling me, and we also had the help of a very good physio, who supported us along the way.

So I just want to leave you all with this; the next time your horse is displaying a less than desirable behavior when you're asking them to do something, stop, think and ask the question "why?"... They'll almost always show you if you listen.

13/03/2024

This little gem 💎 😍... Taking everything in her stride.

Been hacking out in company and alone the last couple of days. She's been amazing and very inquisitive when she comes across things she hasn't seen before.

She did live a rather sheltered life at Halsdon, as it was very much out in the country area with lots of fields and woodlands. She was ace there, but I did wonder what she would think of the village and all it's goings on. Especially the house covered in hessian material flapping about! Didn't bat an eyelid... 🌟 She just genuinely loves going out and about seeing all these new things 🦄

07/03/2024

Awwww she's just the bestest 🦄 🤩

Only day two getting her back into work and after a little long rein around the village, of which she was impeccable of course. We then hopped on board and had a little walk around the yard, albeit in the ba****ck pad for now until her saddle arrives. Little superstar 🌟

05/03/2024

Its been a while since I last posted. I'm not brilliant at keeping up with social media. I've been so busy these last few months and the weather hasn't been the best.

But had to share this from today...

Some of you might remember HS Esperence, who I backed at Halsdon in January 2023 and we then sold her in February 2023. Well today we've been reunited! 😁 Alot of you will remember she was one of my favourites, and will always have a special place in my heart 🦄. Her new owner contacted me end of last year to ask if I would be able to bring her back into work and ride her away for a bit. I jumped at the chance of course. So here we are, the sun shining finally ☀ and little Essi in my stable block 😍 she settled in straight away, had a good groom and tucked into her dinner and haynet. Really looking forward to getting back on her 😁

Katie Adamson

28/12/2023

The diary is now open for taking horses in for schooling/training/holiday livery in 2024. Please don't hesitate to get in touch to discuss your requirements. As the days get longer, I will have some extra slots available on the freelance riding/training front too.

18/12/2023

Mr Split! He's got to be the coolest cob I know 😍... So often people under estimate cobs and think of them as just ploddy happy hackers. But there are so many that have so much more to give! Mr Split is turbo cob 😉 having done previously very well in his dressage, he still continues to amaze me how beautifully schooled he is, light, responsive and has so many buttons!!! 🙈 He's so much fun to ride. If only I could clone him 🥹

Katie Adamson

24/11/2023

Well this darling boy had quite the fan club and those queuing up to come and try him. But there is only one lucky person who's managed to snap him up.
He's been an absolute sweet heart to have here for the last 2 weeks. He's off to his new home tomorrow and we wish his new owners the best of luck with him 🌟 🍀 😍 🏡

Katie Adamson

16/11/2023

He's such a sweetheart! 🥹 Dear Rocky, he is an absolute pleasure to have on the yard and a gentleman on the ground too.
He's going to make someone very happy 🦄
Super lovely to hack out alone and in company, and lovely in the school, basic schooling, very sensible, kind little horse 😍

11/11/2023

This gorgeous boy arrived this afternoon 😍 he's an absolute gentleman and I cannot wait to get cracking with him.

He is for ⛵ and will be in search of a new 🏡. I will put more details up about him in a week or so once I've worked with him a bit ☺

Katie Adamson

06/11/2023

I've been a bit quiet on here for a while 🙈 I've just been having too much fun with all my lovely new clients and their fabulous horses 😍, it's just been 100mph recently, so much exciting stuff going on I can't wait to share 😁

But I just had to share this lovely little lady, Sky. Who I've been working with recently. She is 5 months old and had only just been weaned from her mother at the sales she was purchased at. She hadn't had any human interaction until that moment and it was all new and scarey for her turning up in her new home with her friend without their mothers to guide them. I've never really done wild foal training, but she came along so quickly once we got the halter on, she just loves attention and I could just cuddle her all day 😍 now leading like a grown up around the yards!

17/09/2023

Just some of the beautiful views seen through some of the most lovely ears the last week 😍

08/09/2023

"when one door closes, all you have to do is walk up the hall, there's another door waiting for you to open" 🚪

Today was officially my last day walking through the gates at Halsdon Arabians... It all felt very surreal, the last time walking along the [now empty] aisles of stables in the barns, the last time hacking HS Evelyn around the block we've backed so many horses and taken them on their first rides around, last day seeing the "work family", last day driving the road home from there 🚙 ... It hasn't sunk in yet 🙈 and I don't think it will for a few days or a week, until I realise its really real!

Mixed emotions of course, I started there beginning of May 2015, and been there ever since! I've had such a great time, and experience, and learnt so much from every horse I've had the pleasure of working with and backing and seeing them find their own special humans 🦄.

I am of course sad to say goodbye, but also super excited about the future too! New and exciting possibilities and opportunities around every corner and new people and horses to meet along the way.

The stables arrive this weekend 😁 and once they're up (in the next couple weeks, before October) that means more doors open for me to be able to offer my skills and expertise to clients needing help with their horses; problem horses, schooling, backing, loading issues etc.

I am a little apprehensive, as its a big step, but also optimistic and excited about what is to come 😁
If you need any help with a problem horse, need your horse schooled, backed, or groundwork issues, please drop me a message to discuss 😁

28/08/2023

🌟 The exciting news I've been waiting to share with you all 🌟

‼️From October 2023, I can now offer backing and schooling livery ‼️ 🐴

After several people enquired recently about sending their horses to me for backing, at the time I was unable to fulfill this service and could only do it locally, freelance, to yards that had the facilities themselves; I decided I just had to find a way to be able to offer this service. Now I can.
Spaces will be limited, but I offer a quality service, priding myself in producing happy, confident horses. I will not rush any horse through the process, it is done very much to the horses time scale to enable lasting confidence and solid learning results.

I've produced many horses over the last 10 years freelancing, from lovely little cobs, to Sport Horses for a large stud, where I then backed my little Lou-Lou, bought her and produced her to jumping consistently to 1.25m myself, and the many many Arabian horses for the Halsdon Arabian Stud who I have worked closely with for the past 8 1/2 years. My aim is to always produce a happy, confident horse, who's personality and individuality shines through, keeping the horses happiness paramount throughout the process and listening to their own individual needs.

If you're interested in sending your horse to me for backing or schooling livery, please don't hesitate to get in contact to discuss ☺

Katie Adamson

25/08/2023

A day of pretty ponies 😍 🤩
Ticking HS Evelyn over until she leaves us for her new home. And taking dear Cracker out after his box rest period, first time ridden in couple months and an absolute angel 😇

17/08/2023

And that's the last one... HS Evelyn has graduated as a ridden horse 😇 albeit still not having a saddle that fits her but she's happy doing everything in the ba****ck pad for now 😇
Off to a lovely home in Europe soon, where I hope she continues to behave herself and flourish... 🦄🌸 She has really grown on me, come out of her shell and a beautiful little soul lives within her.

But this also means, from mid September, I'll have some availability in the diary to take on other people. So if you or anyone you know is looking for someone to exercise horses, (hacking/schooling) or bring on a young horse then please get in touch ☺ if friends would mind sharing this, I would be very grateful 😁

I will also hopefully have some exciting news I'll be able to share with you all very soon 🤞

02/08/2023

Had a little play on this gorgeous boy of Karen Frost's earlier 😍 such a bouncy boy Scoobs🦄

Katie Adamson

26/07/2023

To say I'm proud of this horse is an understatement 😍 it's been a long road, and we've still got a long way to go but HS Evelyn is finally getting the hang of this riding malarkey. From the angry, explosive little mare that came in who we struggled to get a girth round her and she seemed to just hate being asked to do anything. To this lovely sweet, angelic little love 😍 who's so proud of herself, you can see it in her face after dismounting every time. She's happy to be caught now and super chilled with tacking up. And happily allowing me to passenger around the yards. One day she's going to be an incredible little horse for someone special 🦄

Katie Adamson

14/07/2023

HS Evelyn having her first sit on yesterday 🤩
It has been quite a challenge with her and a long old process, she's not been easy and we've had to adapt and do things very differently to how we usually would. I always treat each horse as an individual, and in the backing process follow a little tick box list before moving to the next step, but it's not set in stone and occasionally we do have to change things to suit the individual. This lady has been quite the challenge, but we've built alot of trust up together now and she's coming along nicely 😁 still going to take baby steps and keep building her confidence solidly. But hopefully one day when she's ready she'll make a super little horse for someone.

Katie Adamson

11/07/2023

Having a little pop on my little Lou-la-belle at the weekend 😇 can't wait to get back out on her soon 🦄 🚀

Katie Adamson

24/06/2023

Little trip down to Widecombe-In-The-Moor today to help a lovely client, Josie Curran, with her horse Pagan.

I'd backed Pagan when he was at Halsdon, although a lovely boy, was always a very sensitive chap who could over think things and make things a bigger issue than they really were. They'd had a little mishap when mounting one day, and Pagan, being his sensitive self, thought it was the end of the world for him 😅. He didn't like being mounted or dismounted with quite an explosive reaction.

Today, his owner and I set out to teach Pagan a little trick to help, lining up to the mounting block. Still a working progress, but made huge improvement in one session, the video below shows his owner being able to now mount, and dismount without any dramas ☺.

Katie Adamson

21/06/2023

Please contact for more information ☺

Katie Adamson

16/06/2023

Shout out to all the horses past and present who have played a role in making us the riders/horsemen we are 🦄 🙌

This is my darling Maizy, semi retired now, but still my absolute world and loves a good beach ride 🌊🐎

She might not be the horse I jump big fences with, or travel around the country to shows anymore. But she is the one who helped sculpt me into who I am today and the way I work with horses.
She's seen me through so much of my life so far, from getting her when I was 15yrs old leaving school, getting my first job, starting my own business, the highs and lows of life, she's been there through it all, and I hope she still will be for many many years to come. She's been invaluable in teaching Lou (my bay mare) in her greener years learn the ropes and accompanying her on many outings.

I do think I should have a veterinary and farrier degree 🤔 thanks to her and her many curveballs she's thrown at us over the 12 years I've had her though! 🙈

But in all honesty I wouldn't change her for the world, and everything she's taught me along the way and still is very much so. Only perhaps things I have learnt now I wish I could go back and change things to make her happier and more comfortable.
She's taught me from the get go, that horses are never naughty. There is always a reason behind the behaviour, either discomfort, or a lack of training somewhere along the line. It is thanks to her I've learnt to pick up and listen to the very first subtle signs that something isn't quite right and act upon it swiftly.

I'd love to hear your stories of your amazing horses you credit your riding skills to? 🦄

Katie Adamson

15/06/2023

Well this little lady is just so perfect 😍 HS Angelola.
I've always admired her the whole time I've worked at Halsdon Arabians. But when she come in for backing less than a month ago, I was very excited to be able to start her. And she has just been a pleasure the whole way through, her answer to everything is a willing and enthusiastic "yes" 🦄. I forget I'm on a newly backed horse taking her out alone she's so chilled and amenable 😍. A very lucky person has bought her, she's going to be incredible for them whatever they go on to do together.

Katie Adamson

10/06/2023

Feeling very grateful to get to ride horses as gorgeous as this handsome chap 😍 🤩🦄

Katie Adamson

26/05/2023

One of the many views from the office today 😍 ☀ 🌸 🌻 🌷

19/05/2023

As the old saying goes "when one door closes another opens"... But what if you really don't want that door to close....

For nearly a decade (just over 8 years) I have had the privilege of backing and producing so many beautiful horses for Halsdon Arabians. And have been blessed with Mrs Watts' loyalty towards me and my work over that time. After the sad passing of Mrs Watts back in December last year, we all knew it meant now the end was looming. But today I looked down the aisle at the final few in for me to back and it felt overwhelmingly real, that it's really not far away now.

It's not just a job... it's a family...

I have had and shared so much laughter, joy, fun, thrills, spills, highs, lows and created so many memories with the team at Halsdon Arabians over the years. I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather work. It's the people that make the place. Every one of the employees there all share the same shared value - the horses come first. It's not about budgets and targets or profits and placings. It's about the horses and their happiness.
Seeing first hand how hard each and every one of them work to care for each horses individual needs, I can say, you wouldn't get that kind of care in many places. I am so proud to have been apart of it all for so many years, and have been able to do my dream job for as long as I have; to have started so many horses in their ridden careers and seen so many find such wonderful homes. I am forever grateful for the experience and opportunities I have gained there. But most of all the people who I have met along the way. I would like to thank everyone at Halsdon Arabians, and wish you all the very best of luck in your futures wherever it takes you. If only circumstances were different, I'd like to think I wouldn't be writing this.

But it is now that I can say I have some availability in my diary approaching, if you need someone to exercise/school your horses or help with yard work, please don't hesitate to get it contact ☺.

Katie Adamson

16/05/2023

HS Angelola sat on for the first time today 😍 she's such an awesome little horse, so chilled and laid back about life 🦄

11/05/2023

A few more youngsters backed and out on their first hacks, HS Edith and HS Soizik 😇.

Loving backing HS Angelola 😍 she's so gorgeous and super lovely temperament, only been in work 3 days and already laying over, think she just wants me to hurry up and get on 🤭 she spends most of her day sleeping when she's not working 😂... And then appreciating some nice hacks in this sunnier weather too ☀ 😎

17/04/2023

HS Pretence backed and out on her first hack today 😍 she's going to be such a super little mare for a lucky someone. She is so willing, kind and gentle 😇 🦄

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Videos

Had a little play on this gorgeous boy of Karen Frost's earlier 😍 such a bouncy boy Scoobs🦄 Katie Adamson

Little trip down to Widecombe-In-The-Moor today to help a lovely client, Josie Curran, with her horse Pagan. I'd backed Pagan when he was at Halsdon, although a lovely boy, was always a very sensitive chap who could over think things and make things a bigger issue than they really were. They'd had a little mishap when mounting one day, and Pagan, being his sensitive self, thought it was the end of the world for him 😅. He didn't like being mounted or dismounted with quite an explosive reaction. Today, his owner and I set out to teach Pagan a little trick to help, lining up to the mounting block. Still a working progress, but made huge improvement in one session, the video below shows his owner being able to now mount, and dismount without any dramas ☺. Katie Adamson

HS Pretence backed and out on her first hack today 😍 she's going to be such a super little mare for a lucky someone. She is so willing, kind and gentle 😇 🦄

Another day, another one backed 😇 this little lady seems to love every minute of her work, she's going to be a cracking little mare for someone. This is only her second time being sat on and walking up the aisle 🦄

I love teaching horses to load, it's so rewarding 🥰 This is 3yr old Gabriel, he's only had the very basic of handling in his life. But he's been sold and needed to learn to load so it's not so stressful for him when his new owner comes to pick him up. He's such a good boy. First time seeing the box and within 10 minutes, after having a good sniff, he waltzed on like this 😍 🦄