Bridging Hearts and Hooves

05/07/2025

Just a little video of my new student, ✨️ love how my wee community is growing

16/06/2025

✨️Hi dear all...✨️
We are all doing amazing ...
I’m finally doing what I was meant to do — and my horses are too.
They’re not just riding horses. They’re alive, wise, and ready to teach.
He’s not ‘retired’ — he’s doing what he does best: guiding, showing, sharing.
And I’m finally working with the next generation —
children and young people who are learning to truly listen,
to rebuild their relationship with their horses from the ground up,
with patience, curiosity, and heart.

It’s not just about horses. It’s about trust, connection — and learning to speak a shared language.

07/06/2025

✨️What Happens When a Horse Is Met with Presence, Not Pressure✨️
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Today was a quiet, but powerful shift for Elita.
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Elita is one of those horses who learned to not be.
She avoids contact.
She doesnt tolerate touch
She doesn’t seek people.
She doesn’t really notice the world around her—until it’s too late, and her body reacts on autopilot.
⠀
This isn't just “her way.”
It’s a survival strategy.
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So many horses, especially those caught in routines and expectations, gradually shut down core inner functions:
— presence
— emotional processing
— openness to connection
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They appear obedient or manageable, but inside, they’re checked out—floating on their own island.
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When they “explode” suddenly—jump sideways, lash out, panic—it often looks like unpredictability.
But it’s not sudden at all.
It’s a sign that they couldn’t pause earlier.
Couldn’t process.
Couldn’t choose.
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Today, Elita did choose.
⠀
We didn’t train.
I simply gave her the space to be.
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We spent almost 30 minutes with a fly spray.
No forcing.
She looked away.
She thought.
She came back.
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Then, in the open arena—not a round pen, not a routine—we just existed.
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And in that space, she:
— approached
— followed
— watched
— returned
— explored
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And most importantly:
Each time something startled her or made her uneasy—
she turned to me.
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She came close, grounded herself near me, and found peace.
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She didn’t need to run or shut down.
She found regulation through connection.
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This is what rehabilitation truly is.
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Not getting a horse to do things.
But helping her reconnect to her own awareness, so she can connect to the world around her.
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This is how safety is built.
This is how trust begins.
⠀
🎥 In the video, you’ll see the moment-by-moment reality of that shift.
Quiet. Thoughtful. Slow.
But incredibly real.

13/05/2025

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Follow me here guys 💓
Its being updated all the time hope to see you there!!!

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05/05/2025

✨️Two Days Before Goodbye — and the Moment We’d Been Waiting For✨️

Today marked our final session with Derek and Maverick, and it couldn’t have ended on a more powerful note.

When we first began, Maverick was shut down — disconnected, quiet, moving through life on autopilot. Derek sensed it. He wanted more for them both but wasn’t sure how to shift what had become the norm. They were operating on completely different wavelengths, mentally and emotionally.

But Derek made a choice. He committed to change, even when it was unfamiliar and uncomfortable. He showed up, again and again, with openness and honesty.

And today — for the first time — he and Maverick worked completely unassisted. Just the two of them, with a simple stick between them as a gentle extension of Derek’s intention. no lead rope. Just energy, breath, body language.

Maverick followed.

Not because he had to — but because he wanted to.

It was the connection we’d been building toward all along. And it came just two days before I leave. I couldn’t have asked for a more meaningful goodbye.

Sometimes the deepest transformations happen quietly, in a still arena, with two souls finally hearing each other...

Thank you Boys for this 🎁.

29/04/2025

✨️Meeting the Real Scout✨️

"Trust is not built through commands. It’s built through patience, choice, and heart."
RVL

Today was my last session with Scout and Caroline.
And today… I met the real Scout — playful, curious, exploring, testing, trying.

Caroline has done a beautiful job this week, bringing Scout closer to us — not through pressure, but through presence. It’s been amazing to watch the shift: from a guarded horse to a soul willing to open and connect.

We explored a grounding session, discovered that Scout can jump hehehe 🤷‍♀️, and spent time at the mounting block. Scout was incredibly patient and so full of effort. She tried her heart out. The look on her face at the end — so soft, so proud, so peaceful — was the real reward.

When we ask something of a horse — like lining up, standing still, letting us climb onto their back — it’s not just about technique. It's about trust.
We have to be clear. We have to be fair.
We cannot impose our needs onto them and expect them to carry the weight of our impatience.
They deserve the space to think, to feel, and to choose.

Take your time. Build the foundation.
Let them prepare — physically, mentally, and emotionally — for the journey ahead.

Because the greatest gift we can receive from them is not obedience.
It’s partnership. It’s trust. It’s freedom shared between two hearts.

When we honor their process, we don’t just create better horses.
We build bonds that can carry us both forward — stronger, freer, and more alive than before.

24/04/2025

✨️This was our last session with Rhiann and Scout, and we focused on something so simple yet so often overlooked: body language and clear communication.✨️

One of the big issues Rhiann had before was trying to send Scout out on a lunge. She’d been told she needed to use a whip to get him to go—but every time she tried, Scout would go straight into defense mode. Sometimes he’d even come in to bite. Needless to say, the whip wasn’t helping the situation—it was only adding pressure to a horse who already didn’t feel safe.

After spending time rebuilding their relationship, we decided to check in on how he responds now.

And what we discovered is that Scout is one of those horses who picks up on everything. He checks boundaries—not to be difficult, but to figure out where the safety is. If you’re not clear, not present, not aware—he notices. And he’ll try to take charge, not out of dominance, but out of self-preservation.

That’s exactly what happened at the start of the session.

Things began messy. Rhiann wasn’t quite sure of herself, and Scout knew it. He started using that uncertainty—not to be naughty, but to take control because she wasn’t offering the clarity or leadership he needed.

To make things more interesting, there’s now a new mare in the field with Scout. She’s very attached to him. He’s not particularly attached to her, but if Rhiann isn’t fully engaged, he disconnects from her and tunes into the mare instead. It’s not ideal—for connection or for future independence.

So, we went back to the basics. A simple circle on the long line, just checking for communication and understanding.

When I stepped in, it took Scout two seconds to respond. Soft, clear, connected. When Rhiann took the line again, Scout immediately started testing her—because that’s what horses do when they’re figuring out if they can trust your leadership.

And Rhiann wasn’t quite aware enough of her own body yet. She let him push into her space, and he took it—not as a challenge, but because the space was available. He was doing what horses do when we’re not fully present.

That’s really the heart of it. Horses know exactly what their own bodies are doing, and they know when we don’t. They read us clearer than we read ourselves.

And when we become aware—when we hold our space, move with intention, and stay grounded—they stop needing to take over. Because finally, they feel safe.

*it's not about lunging... its not about the task, it's about how we communicate....