Thea Woods - Equestrian Training

25/08/2024

A wonderful hack gets even better when you come across these cuties!

09/08/2024

I recently rode Juliet Ward’s lovely Lola and thought this little sequence of the first 5 trot circles of our ride is quite interesting. I’m recently experimenting with the idea of ‘doing less’, just giving a little position and basically trying to staying out of the horse’s way as much as possible.
At least for Lola this approach works really well. Previously she took a minimum of 20-30minutes to find the level of relaxation she found here within 5 circles.
We then spent the remaining session on maintaining it throughout transitions/changes of rein/school figures and had both lots of fun.

03/08/2024

Brilliant evening ride with the best boy and what a treat to have our bridleways cleared

02/08/2024

And special varnished nails after lots of scratches Estrella deserved through her beautiful mountain block work
😂

02/08/2024

After lots of quiet leading practice over the last few weeks Estrella mastered the next stage in her education tonight without any doubts or teenagery outbursts. What a super girl! Brilliantly led by Bex and Elf.

23/07/2024

Turnout, on actual green yummy grass???

Dani could not believe her eyes when I opened up the field for her. She literally stared at me asking am I really allowed out there…? 😆
Last year she suffered from laminitis caused by hormonal imbalances coupled with the 20mins of muzzled turnout she had back then. After 9 months of medication (cushings) I feel she’s ready for re-introducing tiny amounts of grass to her diet again.
Fingers crossed I am making the right decision!

01/07/2024

Dani is so familiar now with the facilities at EDC that she was not the least bit concerned and went straight to the first haynet in sight and started munching away. Got to love a foody :)

27/06/2024

Thanks to antibiotics Dani is looking a lot brighter again. We had a couple of worrying days where she ran a high temperature and wouldn’t eat.
Massive thanks to Samantha Linge Frith who first spotted something wasn’t right!

One benefit of close monitoring is to be down with the ponios at stupid o’clock when everything is quiet and sooo beautiful 🌅

24/06/2024

Experimenting with the boys. The first time we tried to lead Billy of Dundee neither was very impressed. But since they spend much more time together and even ate from the same feeder the other day it was worth trying again.

Providing they can continue to go so nicely next to each other without squabbling Billy’s fat camp can start!

24/06/2024

Back at my desk but still full of joy from a full day of horses yesterday. 3 lessons, 1 schooled and 1 hacked out and everyone was excellent 😊

Photo: 7 year old Freya demonstrating beautifully how the ‘eyes first’ concept is sometimes all you need for a beautifully balanced turn.

13/06/2024

Two teeth extracted, two fillings done.
I hope Dani is now comfortable munching her hay again and eternally grateful as I spent a small fortune!

It’s brilliant having the specialists Equine Dental Clinic Ltd just round the corner.

07/06/2024

7am hacks are simply the perfect start of the day.
thanks Samantha Linge Frith for letting me enjoy some Dundee time and Anne-Marie for the company.

02/06/2024

Juliet and Lola on top form today 👍😀

30/05/2024

50 shades of buckskin in one pony. I love how Dundee’s colour changes with the light.

27/05/2024

Planned outing turned into practicing loading. After an hour or so Dundee was so chilled out about the whole trailer thing that we did take him for the outing in the end. And coming home he loaded just as well. Clever clever pony!
Thanks for a brilliant afternoon Sam

25/05/2024

Many years ago. Pre house extensions, pre children and with a very young and gangely looking Nella.
How time flies - make the most of it.

20/05/2024

Herd animals? Tonight everybody enjoys the peace and eats alone.

19/05/2024

Horse riding is a sport - the colour of my face is the proof 😂
It was lovely to school Lola with her big yet comfy paces for the first time in ages.

17/05/2024

🌅🐴

24/04/2024

☀️🐴🐴🐴☀️=😀

17/04/2024

I can deliver CPR in my sleep I reckon. Phew, two days of first aid done and dusted.
As boring as it is, I sincerely hope I will never need to use my refreshed skills. So please stay on while you are under my duty of care 😉

13/04/2024

Finally back on board and having the best of times with Dundee, the pony with the happy ears. It’s been 4 months to the day since I last rode, which is 4 months too long!

11/04/2024

Well said!

I think we have to take this one out of the realm of and start a new category, let's call it . Here we go:

It doesn't matter if your horse likes you.

Let me rephrase: your first priority shouldn't be, "Am I my horse's favorite thing? Do they enjoy training more than anything else they're doing that day?" That is an unrealistic, and frankly self-centered approach.

Your top priorities should be: 1. is my horse healthy and happy 2. is the training I'm doing with my horse improving their health and wellbeing, and increasing their longevity?

Notice, you don't factor in. It's wonderful to have a relationship with a horse, to build trust, to treat them with kindness and respect is absolutely essential. And who doesn't feel joy when their horse interacts with them, of their own free will? There are few better feelings in the world.

But you know what, you can do all of this, and they still might rather eat grass or enjoy their grain than go for a ride with you. And that's not a moral failing on your part. Your horse may enjoy your company from time to time, but as hardwired by nature, prefer the company of other equines most of the time. That's normal. You haven't failed your horse if your relationship with them is not their primary focus.

In fact, when you put your horse's perception and relationship to you above how they live naturally, with their herd and forage, you're actually centering your own ego. This can be really problematic, because if in your kind and ethical training you reach a roadblock, you may take it personally: "I thought my horse liked me! What have I done to deserve this? "

And, more often than not, people perceive this as a personal betrayal. They anthropomorphize the horse's rejection as they would that of a friend. I've seen people switch over to truly aversive/abusive training methods when they feel personally betrayed. There is a level of fear, conscious or subconscious that resonates with bully trainers, whose need to control and belittlr animals of course also comes from fear. And they could avoid this pitfall completely, simply by centering the needs of the horse, rather than the horse's relationship to them.

After all, we're with the horse 1 hour a day - what happens in the other 23 hours? If we had a horse that longed to be with us for their only sense of security and joy, we could create a horse that was totally neurotic and non-functional most of the time.

Our goal should always be to add to our horse's lives, and not center our own needs and wants, or worse our egos, above what's best for them. When our horse presents an unwanted behavior, it's not a personal affront or a betrayal. It's a communication that there's a problem, or that the horse has a different priority in that moment. This is normal. Address the need. Don't blame the animal. They don't owe us anything, and we owe them everything. How we center our approach matters.

03/04/2024

This is how I spend the evening - DIY testing of sugar levels in hay.
The result is acceptable with 7.3 (we want it to be

27/03/2024

IMO the grey only makes her prettier

22/03/2024

What a treat, I got to watch the famous Rafael Soto teaching Bex Hallewell Hayward. Until autumn 2022 he was the head trainer at the Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.
I love watching lessons anyway as you take so much away from it, but when you know horse and rider and then have such a skilled instructor it’s particularly special. It actually reminded me of a HIT Pilates sessions, exercises were not performed as individual tasks but it resembled a smooth flowing from one posture to the next.

Kudos to Bex and Elf, who gave everything and did some excellent work!

10/03/2024

Yay, mobility and strength in my arm are slowly returning and lovely Elf was very forgiving during my first attempt of using my arm with a little in-hand session. Thanks Bex Hallewell Hayward

08/03/2024

The old lady enjoying a snooze in the sun 🥰

03/02/2024

Bex and Estrella progressing nicely through the groundwork. It’s lovely to watch how Estrella enjoys the ‘work’ and remains concentrated and interested throughout our short sessions.