Katie Fishlock- Bit Bridle Saddle Horse Rider

10/12/2023

👅 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐇𝐲𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 👅

It’s not just a bit.
It’s not just a bridle.
It’s not just a tongue sticking out the side.
It’s not just a contact evasion.
It’s not just “but they just don’t like to work in a contact”.
It’s not just “because they’re a mare”.

All of the inconsistencies or problems encountered with a contact, are all related to this very complex array of relationships between the tongue, hyoid and associated muscles.

To learn more, I am launching a webinar on The Hyoid, The TMJ & its Relationship to Neck Tension! https://vetphysiophyle.co.uk/product/winter-webinar-the-hyoid-tmj-and-its-relationship-to-neck-tension/ 🤍

01/12/2023

This story is the perfect explanation of the equestrian industry we have today.
Wouldn’t it be amazing, for horses and owners alike, and also the professionals working with in it, that if when someone finds something that goes against everything we’ve previously been taught and is finding something different happening to what was believed people turned around and had a conversation about it, opened up to the fact that their own teachings or beliefs maybe flawed and there may be a better way of thinking 🤔

01/12/2023

Really interesting 🧐
Holding the opposite leather while mounting really does make a huge difference to the pressure distribution over the horses back.
If you mount from the ground or a block lower than the horse, grab the opposite leather, your horse will definitely thank you for it

29/11/2023

‼️WARNING.PRICE RISE COMING‼️

Over the last year I have held off raising the price of my services. Unfortunately I cannot hold off any longer and so prices will be rising as of the 31st December. For anybody booking before this date the price will stay the same, so if you’d like to save some money, get booking ☺️
All price changes are on my website

Your comfort is just as important for you and your horse. Katie is now offering off horse rider optimisation sessions. Why not make it fun with a group clinic? 

23/11/2023

I haven’t seen the content of this course so I can’t recommend you take it, but, I can recommend you what h the video in the advert. It’s all too common today to see a horse pulled in at the front to achieve “an outline” and we need to recondition ourselves to see what the picture should look like. We need to retrain our eye and to understand it all comes from the body

19/11/2023

Another head piece to play with, to help you and your horse 🐴

Coming soon. Our new headpieces with the central padding removed. This results in zero poll pressure, as can be seen with the gap between the headpiece and the Poll.

14/11/2023

https://www.facebook.com/reel/884545966608334?fs=e&fs=e&s=TIeQ9V

03/11/2023

03/11/2023

There's a statement I think about a lot because in my job I hear it a lot.

"That's just the way they are" or "they've always been like that"

This is usually with direct reference to a behaviour or presentation, which may or may not be problematic for the horse, that myself or another person has drawn attention to.

My issue with this statement is that, regardless of the timeframe in which the horse has been exhibiting said behaviour, dissmissives like "they have always been like that" have the power to condemn the horse to that state indefinitely.

And I believe this becomes a slippery slope to poor welfare state.

I appreciate that the path of least resistance feels like the safest route to follow, but when catching yourself thinking "this is how it is"

Maybe you could challenge yourself to think "does this have to be how it is?"

Or "has anyone made a concerted effort to get a different result?"

-

The Fundamentals of Horse Posture:

https://www.yasminstuartequinephysio.com/fundamentals-of-horse-posture

25/10/2023

Search for a professional or join us 👉 www.progressiveequinepartnerships.com

please share. Thank you

21/10/2023

BE THE CHANGE.
👉 head over to our website to find out more about our be the change campaign and about our free 4 week mindful horsemanship course. 👉 https://progressiveequinepartnerships.com/mindful-horsemanship/

19/10/2023

We really do have fun. Laughter makes learning easier. We like to bring this to each fitting and clinic too 🥰

18/10/2023

It’s time to retrain ourselves in how to learn and expect learning to go.

For decades, top names have pedaled programs in digestible, easy steps. You can buy a dvd and a trademarked stick and stick to the plan for success; follow the flow chart, follow a paint by numbers routine. Trainers have rotated horses in and out of their barns at lightning speed, 30 days to broke. We’ve subconsciously learned that you can buy results, in a customer is always right mentality -
But you can’t buy it, and the customer is not always right. The horse is.

You can’t buy an education, and you can’t buy training. Not really. You, the student, have to open your mind, do the work, be your own salvation. The teacher can guide you to it, but you can’t buy it.

It’s time to get comfortable being uncomfortable. It’s time to accept information you don’t like- to be told you have to go back to basics. It’s time to stop seeking tips, tricks and tuneups, and start seeking a real basis of knowledge. Its time to understand the horse doesn’t come reading the training manual- it’s time to learn to observe and think for yourself, stop seeking a step by step plan.

It’s time to be ok with hearing no- your horse is too lame to jump, you can’t ride him til he’s ready, hes going to break down if you don’t rehab him first.

It’s time for clinicians and trainers to stop dumbing the content down, and to start taking their craft seriously. It’s time to tell the public what they need to hear, not what they want. It’s time for clinicians fo say you’re not ready to piaffe, or flying changes, or whatever -
you need to learn how to sit better or quiet your mind., to handle your reins with care, to post more softly. It’s time to start delivering the truth and not what’s going to make you popular.

It’s time for real change in the industry - it’s time for real change within ourselves. It’s time to get comfortable not knowing, not being validated, and not being sold a magical cure. You know it to be true, but it won’t happen until you take it to heart, and put it into action.

18/10/2023

The stifle a mirror of horse tensegrity…..

So much information is written about strengthening the stifle, so much information is written about different types of stifle dysfunction, but very little is written about how it functions.
Which may be the root of the reason there are so many of the treatments for this joint that have little to midlin results.

The paradox is that while there are plenty of remedies and opinions when I ask people simple questions about the kinematics of this joint, most don't have an answer.

Form and function !!! Understanding the shape of the structures and how they should function in conjunction with influence from neighboring structures is key to keeping this joint healthy.

The stifle is the perfect mirror of tensegrity in the horse's body.

In my opinion stifle dysfunction is always secondary unless there is direct trauma involved.
The stifle joint is composed of many structures that all need to move in a synchronized cycle from flexion through to extension coupled with medial and lateral rotation.

The stifle is a very unstable and mobile joint located between two very stable joints the hip and the hock. Nature designed it that way to accommodate force transmission up and down the limb.

The horse has a complex system called the passive stay apparatus that allows it to stand for prolonged periods of time while using minimal muscular effort.
The stifle has a locking mechanism; this mechanism, when engaged, enables the horse to rest its caudal body weight on the "locked" stifle joint.

The stifle is also part of a reciprocal mechanism , ensuring that the stifle and hock joints work in unison with one-another. This mechanism allows the horse to navigate the pelvic limb in a smooth and coordinated manner. When things are coupled and codependent in their function they are also symbiotic in their dysfunction.

Think of all the hocks we inject: are they truly the offending joint ?? Or are they just the result of dysfunctional structures further up or down ??

Let's deconstruct the joint and look at the influences on the components of the joint.

The bony components are the femur, the tibia and the patella.
The femur is influenced by the pelvis through the function of lumbar spine, sacrum, ilium and soft tissue, all will influence the range of motion of the femur in the acetabulum.

The tibia is influenced by the distal limb and the foot.
All the bony components, especially the patella are influenced by ligament and muscle balance and the synchrony of these structures with each other.

The meniscus distributes forces that travel through the joint across the joint surface.
The meniscus has two very different shapes here again we need to remember form and function. So if the bones that are gliding over the surface of the meniscus are not perfectly aligned or lack freedom of motion because of musculature or neighboring joint dysfunction the meniscus will not be able to do their function. The result will be damaged!! Damaged meniscus will impact the functionality of the joint in force distribution. Form and function!

It is important to remember that before mechanical failure there will be compensation patterns set up in the body to try and avoid the pain or restriction. These compensation patterns depend on many factors that are particular to that horse. Things like keep , work, previous injury, foot and tooth balance and rider etc.

The ligaments of the stifle consist of the patellar ligaments, cruciate ligaments and the collateral ligaments. Muscle synchrony and bony alignment will influence their ability to function and keep joint tensegrity. Ligaments are closely linked to muscle function and muscle function closely linked to spinal nerve root function, which is dependent on spinal integrity. Do we start to see the pattern?

Musculature is always hard to isolate as they work in groups. There has to be a synchrony between the muscles and mobility of each muscle independently. This synchrony depends on correct neurological impulses that depend on spine functionality and mobility.
The biceps femoris is the big one to keep in mind and those that work with me all know about the “knee boob” overdeveloped biceps femoris and under working quadriceps group indicating imbalance in the horse's body.

The stifle is a reflection of the core musculature and the core myofascial slings that support the body. Stifle mobility reflects on diaphragm and sacral motion. Stifle mobility reflects on pelvic floor and abductor muscle function thereby illuminating the stability of the hind end.This is why the stifle is a good reflection of the horse's tensegrity.

Food for thought next time you are working your horse in an attempt to strengthen stifles.

What are you working on ? Why are you working on it ? Should you be working on it?
If you have dysfunction or suspect issues in your horses stifle it is important to understand what is causing this as the stifle itself is very rarely the real issue and more likely the consequence of weakness or immobility somewhere else in the body.
Knowing the cause is imperative before setting out to “work” the “weak” structures.

Footnote: Local invasive therapies are often a band aid to dysfunctional tensegritty. Their application should be thoroughly discussed with your veterinarian and should be your last port of call rather than an everyday fast fix to the problem.

16/10/2023

Not a bad office for the day

14/10/2023

🚨NEW WEBSITE ALERT 🚨

I have battled the technical gods and produced a website. Anyone who knows me knows technology comes to me to die so I’m quite proud of myself 🥹

Pop on and see what you think 🧐

Your comfort is just as important for you and your horse. Katie is now offering off horse rider optimisation sessions. Why not make it fun with a group clinic? 

10/10/2023

Back from a fabulous week in Sweden 🇸🇪 with some brilliant people all getting very geeky about horses saddles and humans.
It’s such a refreshing perspective to work from when like minded professionals from not only all over the equestrian industry but the world 🌍 get together in harmony to share thoughts 💭 perspectives and opinions to bring owners and horses alike better knowledge and understanding of their own partnership.
Too many photos to share but I’ve popped a few on.
Elite Saddle Fit ErgoX2 of Sweden

10/10/2023

Ergonomics for Horse and Rider Human Shape We have a renewed understanding of the interaction between the human body and the saddle and how this impacts on horse and rider performance Pelvis ErgoX2 of Sweden has developed a system to establish the shape of your pelvis. Position This will help you in...

07/10/2023

04/10/2023

📖 𝙎𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙩

🐴 I love reading about misconceptions when it comes to feeding horses, but today I’d like to debunk some common myths about good old sodium chloride.

🧂 Myth #1: Salt only needs to be fed when the weather is hot.

🐴 Truth #1: Salt needs to be fed 365 days a year because it is vital for many bodily processes and is excreted in sweat, saliva, mucous and urine. Even in the midst of winter, horses need salt.

🧂 Myth #2: Horses instinctively know to drink water regularly, especially when they are hot and sweaty.

🐴 Truth #2: A horse’s thirst reflex is triggered by sodium, which is a component of salt. Horses’ sodium requirements need to be met in order to seek water.

🧂 Myth #3: A horse can meet their sodium and chloride requirements with a salt block alone.

🐴 Truth #3: Unlike cattle, horses do not have an abrasive tongue and are not designed to lick harsh surfaces to extract nutrients. While it is technically possible for a horse to consume their daily salt requirement from a salt block, it is much less work and more physiologically-appropriate for them to consume loose salt that is either provided in a meal or left out free-choice.

🧂 Myth #4: Horses know what nutrients they need and can self-medicate with supplements such as vitamins and minerals.

🐴 Truth #4: Salt is the only nutrient horses have been studied and proven to actively seek out when it is required. They will not seek out other nutrients “because they know they need it.” Look at how much salt and molasses (palatable additives) are added to free-choice supplements.

🧂 Myth #5: Himalayan rock salt is better for horses than plain salt.

🐴 Truth #5: Himalayan rock salt contains naturally occurring components other than sodium and chloride. Some may view this as a positive; however, it is usually a more expensive means of supplementing salt, and often contains traces of iron which almost never needs to be supplemented given horses are generally oversupplied iron by their forage intake alone.

🐎 Your horse should be receiving a minimum of 10g of salt per 100kg of body weight each day; typically more after exercise, intense weather, or illness.

04/10/2023

Off to Sweden 🇸🇪 for the next 7 days training on the horse saddle rider side of things with Mandy Etherton and Georgie Welge from Elite Saddle Fit
and learning more about the ErgoX2 of Sweden saddles.

I will be attempting to answer messages etc but I may be a bit slow

01/10/2023

Yes!

If you depend too much on the reins and try to pull your horse into a frame …

Imagine the bit being in front of your horse’s mouth. Instead of pulling back, you want to push him forward into the bit for a softer, springier horse.—Phillip Dutton

Seven-time Olympic eventer Phillip Dutton won Olympic team gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and individual bronze at the 2016 Games. He has competed in seven World Championships and won two U.S. team Pan American gold medals in 2007 and 2015. He is based out of True Prospect Farm in West Grove, Pennsylvania, and Buck Ridge Farm in Loxahatchee, Florida.

🎨: Sandy Rabinowitz

25/09/2023

So today we saw footage of a well known UK farrier who is quite vocal on social media.

The point of this post is to highlight the problem the equine world has when it comes to resolving pathology, specifically the route of most pathology, laminitis.

This farrier spent approximately 2 hours with a client discussing/trimming/shoeing - front feet shod only.

He then charged like a wounded buffalo and left. We mean EYE-WATERING in the hundreds. At least 3 times what her usual farrier would charge.

During his entire visit, he would pick the foot up, put it down, look at it from all angles, decide it didn't look quite right... so he would walk the horse, then pick the foot up, put it down, looked at it from all angles - and repeated this process many, MANY, times.

It was a case of...

"hmmm, shall we do a bit more here, or a bit more there, wedge here, or pad there...?"

Then decided the best way forward was wedges (under the shoes) to get the angles of the dorsal wall to the HPA. He also then set the shoes back to 'improve breakover'.

After all, that toe "was long".

He rasped approximately half of the toe dorsal wall right through to expose the inner part of the stratum medium (eg the water line) to ensure a better 'looking' HPA.

All this was done to make this compromised horse's hooves 'look' like a foot with all the 'correct angles'.

TBH, if we were that client who at that time knew really no better, and we'd been searching and paying handsomely for answers to our horse's issues - we would maybe have taken everything on board too and gone "gosh, that was impressive".

And then gone 'ouch' at the money exiting our bank balance. But it was only the once... and he is very well known... and surely my farrier will know what to do now... won't he?

But there was one tiny, teeny, weeny little issue, that he didn't do...
.. discuss with the owner on how to help her cure her horse from laminitis - which was the crux of all this horse's problems.

You can 'make the foot' look like it fits into a neat box of angles from the outside, but with a laminitic foot you are simply chasing pathology.

The horse, of course, carried on having problems. Well, that's because he had chronic laminitis, and no vet or farrier with any magic drugs or rasps, had ever managed to cure it.

Lots of money spent trying, though.

Why? Because there was no conversation about diet.

The conversation was ALWAYS "what can we do to make the feet fit into that neat little box of angles, and 'look' better from the outside?"

So the owner went on searching with a horse that continued to dip in and out of lameness. The farrier never returned because he'd 'done his bit'.

Then the owner somehow finds us. We turn up, do a natural trim, tell the owner that the problems this horse has been suffering from have been many fold, including incorrect diet and management - and incorrect meddlesome hoof care.

Charge not even a ¼ of what the farrier in shining chaps charged.

The owner now finally, after many years of money spent, searching and heartache, has a future plan to heal her horse - which is all she wanted in the first place.

Has there been long lasting damage to this horse from the previous attempts at making him sound, and the meddlesome shoeing and digging and chopping? Yes.

Will he recover entirely? Let's hope so🤞

We can show the owner how to stop the laminitis. We can give that horse his hooves back - you know the ones that mother nature created for him.

But what we can't do is reverse history. If we could time travel back, this horse would never have got this bad.

See this little ditty as you will. Call it farrier bashing and just ignore what we've said here, and keep on slipping down that funnel of pathology - the rabbit hole of despair.

What we call it... is a wake up call - the equine world has indeed had many - and it keeps ignoring its wake up calls. And horses keep on being pts.

As one vet said to us recently... "it is like the blind leading the blind."

The heat is now on we feel, particularly lately. Feathers are being ruffled, and tides around the world are changing.

Let's not hide behind that word 'welfare'... when if fact we mean continued suffering.

The picture below is NOT the farrier's shoeing. For the purposes of anonymity, it is a random shoeing from Google - but we chose one that was somewhat similar.

Please don't ask who the farrier is, we will not say (we don't do that at least).

This is not to point fingers at this particular farrier, it is to highlight the cynicism of the equine world.

Love us or hate us... we are trying to raise the standards of horse & hoof care.

It's a very bumpy ride - but we're strapped in!

HM.

25/09/2023

Fascinating 🤨

Had to share 🐴♥️ How true …..

♥️💋🐴♥️💋🐴♥️💋🐴♥️💋🐴

5 Things Your Horse Will Always Remember!

Horses have an exceptional level of awareness meaning that they can understand situations much more deeply than other animals. They are so attentive that they can pick on other people's emotions through body language, voice, or just the general vibe you give off. This type of awareness can lead to much more intense experiences for horses. Here are some experiences your horse will remember forever!

1. Places

Horses have quasi photographic memory, meaning that they can remember places very clearly. It can be positive or negative, depending on the experience they had in a particular place. Imagine your horse witnessed a very traumatic event. Most likely he will never forget the place or event and move away from that area. If your horse seems hesitating to go somewhere, listen to him, comfort him and trust him, he knows what he's doing!

2. People

As horses have an almost photographic memory, it’s no surprise that they remember people by their faces. Show them the picture of someone they know and they will probably react. Horses can even recognize people after years of being apart! But their memory goes far beyond our general appearance. Horses can read our facial expressions and remember them for later, too.

As part of the study, horses were shown pictures of people with happy or sad expressions. After meeting these people in person (with neutral expressions), the horses reacted based on the original expression they had memorized in the photos. If you meet a horse for the first time, then you have to make a very good impression on him!

3. Emotions

Besides places and people, horses have an innate ability to recognize human emotions. Horses have a tendency to perceive body language, even the most subtle, which helps them determine a person's feelings. If we are feeling stressed, sad or angry, our physical appearance tends to reflect this. Same goes when we feel happy or excited! Horses don't just read emotions, they also remember a person based on the last emotion they felt from their last interaction. This is a useful strategy for horses to avoid any possible aggressive encounters.

4. The other horses

Humans aren't the only ones who can leave an indelible imprint on a horse! Horses can remember and recognise other horses from their social network. Whether it takes a few years or decades, one horse will never forget its relationship with another. This doesn't mean as much they will pair up with each other if they ever get together. One horse will only react to another if the bond they had was particularly strong. If he knows a horse from a previous encounter, he may treat it differently than others.

Other important bonds between horses, like the one that unites a mare and her foal, are known to last a lifetime. As horses also remember smells, this can help a mare recognize her baby, even years after separation.

5. The words

Horses are able to understand words much deeper than we thought, but not in the traditional sense we give words. They understand the words by tone, height and length of the voice. Words with fewer syllables tend to stick better to horses. They can tell when someone is insulting them and when someone is complimenting them. Don't underestimate their intelligence, because there's a good chance they're listening very attentively to every word you utter.

Horses are incredibly gifted animals, and should be treated as such! Having an idea of the memories horses hold with them forever will allow you to understand and communicate with them even more deeply. Whatever the experience, good or bad, you can be sure your horse has felt it fully. Do your best to give them a good memory, and they will surely do the same.

22/09/2023

I wrote what follows a little while ago and actually decided not to post. Writing it was cathartic and I reasoned maybe that’s all I needed to do.

But of the three webinar/podcasts I’ve participated in during the last 48 hours, one was all about burn out.

This is a subject close to my heart and something friends who are also equine professionals and I, discuss frequently.

I have been through several periods of total burn out and ran on fumes for several years.

Burn out is all too common in the equine world. Those of us who earn our living through horses, do what we do because we love horses. Because of this it can be extremely hard to say no. And on top of that working with horses is typically not well paid so actually there’s often a feeling that you can’t afford to say no.

The podcast I listened to yesterday described a common scenario where someone who is good at their job gets busier and busier, spreads themselves more and more thinly, until they are so wrung out mentally and physically that they can no longer function as effectively as they once did and they don’t perform to the standard their customers are expecting… and the end point can be essentially the equine industry equivalent of the scrap yard.

So I decided, I am going to share what I wrote a while back, because it’s not just about me. It’s about all the equine professionals out there.

If, as an industry we want good farriers, trimmers, effective trainers and skilled saddlers, we have to value them!

We have to value them enough that they can afford to take the time to stay up to date, to further their training. Value them enough that they can take time off in order to return to work energised and refreshed.

Somebody said to me recently “I don’t know how you do all that you do”
I jokingly replied “With large amounts of caffeine, ibuprofen and the occasional meltdown”. But really it’s no laughing matter, and we shouldn’t be glorifying ‘busy to the point of breaking’.

So:

Why your lessons cost an arm and a leg…

As much as I love my job, there are aspects that can be difficult in numerous ways. I think sometimes I do too good a job of highlighting the fun rewarding side and this year have made a conscious decision to keep things a little more ‘real’.

One of the things I really struggle with are slightly barbed comments about the cost of sessions- they are incredibly rare, and as much as I try not to let them get to me it’s not always easy. I sometimes want to respond by saying: “Wanna swap overdrafts with me?!”

I often describe my business as ‘successful but not lucrative’ or ‘busy but not lucrative’.

Some of the reasons I am never going to be your cheapest option for horse help are:

- I come to you. I personally have lessons with two excellent instructors, both of whom base themselves at one, maybe two yards for the entire day and you need to travel to them. They can then do lessons back to back which means they spend a significant part of their day actually teaching and earning rather than driving. One is comparable in price to me and the other charges significantly more than I do.

- I cover a large area (smaller than it used to be, but still a large area) and in an average day spend more time travelling than I do teaching.

- I never want people to feel that I am rushing off and I can’t bear being late as it stresses me! So if clients are say a half hour drive from one another, I will leave an hour gap in my diary. This allows for a 15 minute over-run which is not at all uncommon, and then allows for hitting traffic or a road closure etc and still being on time for my next session.

- So if for instance I’m doing an ‘area day’ say out on the coast, I will have driven an hour to my first client and will probably have hour gaps between clients meaning that four clients with five hours of ‘travelling time’ built in to the day is a fairly average day.

- Occasionally I have more local people or multiple people at one yard and I can see more than four people in a day, but it’s definitely not the norm.

- And beyond that, what I do is both physically and mentally demanding and there is a limit to how many people I can see in a day and still do my best work.

- I’m a specialist. Obviously my behaviour training work is very different to instructor work and has required very different training. But even my ridden training is quite specialist as an Enlightened Equitation teacher.

- For a while I charged a different price for ridden lessons to behaviour training as I recognise it’s a slightly different dynamic. With behaviour training there is generally an end point to the help you will need, whereas ridden training people tend to continue with. However I found that this got very complicated as I very often had a foot in both camps! In say rebuilding confidence in a broken relationship between horse and handler there’s going to be help needed on board as well as on the ground. And even my ‘purely’ ridden clients I am often incorporating aspects of what I have learned as a behaviour trainer, and the psychology of confidence building.

- Admin: Dadmin is a HUGE help and is, sorry Dad, unpaid. He was shocked when he took on some of my admin, at how time consuming it is. Before his advent, I was frequently still answering emails after midnight. But there are still a lot of calls, emails and messages that need a direct response from me. Organising the diary is hugely time consuming - and it’s still work, if I don’t organise the diary I don’t earn anything! It is time I spend on the business which needs to be incorporated in to your lesson price.

- I have spent years training and honing my craft.

- I have spent large amounts of money on training, and continue to do so. I take keeping myself up to date extremely seriously and invest heavily in my own CPD.

- If I don’t know something I will endeavour to find out! If your horse has some vague unexplained symptoms you can pretty much guarantee I will be staying up late in to the night reading and researching trying to find answers for you.

Earlier this year I had a particularly low patch. I seemed to have a particularly bad run of people postponing and needing to change sessions around, which always results in a loss of earnings. I had bills coming out of my ears with various vehicle and vet issues. I got kicked. And then my back decided it was a really good time to fully seize up on me. I simply couldn’t afford to take any time off work but frankly couldn’t walk very well, let alone ride or lead, or longline, or load and pick up reluctant feet and all the other things I needed to do!

A little voice was saying: what on Earth are you doing?

I’m going to level with you here… I got my CV up to date and I actually applied for a couple of jobs.

As the time drew nearer I got more and more tearful at the thought of giving up and pulled out of a job interview the night before it was due to happen.

Ironically it was getting to the point of giving up that allowed me to make some changes. I finally put my prices up (people had been telling me to for years!) and brought in payment in advance- something I had resisted vehemently, but something that ultimately had to happen as the incidence of last minute postponements was just not financially viable. I was only able to make those changes because in my head they were only going to be in operation for a month or two anyway, because I believed I was on the verge of stopping.

I do what I do because I love helping people. I love helping horses to feel better. I love the process of holding someone’s hand who is going through a rubbish time with their horsiness. I love the smiles, the lightbulb moments, the ‘because of you, me and my horse can now….’ comments.

I do it because I love it. I love my clients- four and two legged. I care how things turn out for you. I pour my heart and my soul in to being the best I can be so I can help you the best that I can. Sometimes I’m able to help more than other times, but you can guarantee that I will always give my all. (Just occasionally I will walk away where I feel that I’m not the best match for you, but that’s a post for another day).

I don’t do it for the money. If I did I would have given up years and years ago. There’s are hundreds of things I could do that would earn me more money.

No, I’m not the cheapest. But truthfully, I could not do it any more cheaply without compromising myself and then I can’t give you my best work. I know it’s tough for literally everyone right now, I get that I really do. I love what I do but I’d rather NOT DO IT AT ALL than get so burned out I end up doing it badly.

This is not a woe is me. I’ve come through my burn out and come out the other side stronger. But it is a call to action for all of us to value all the equine professionals in our lives, and if you are an equine professional then yes that means valuing YOURSELF.