Leah Haworth Equestrian

For the past four weeks I've had the pleasure of working with this complete dude 🦄 Skye is an ex race horse, he had some time off to chill out from his racing days and he is just at the start of his retraining. He originally came into work with his owners and presented with a few issues. Once all health professionals gave him the all clear, he came to me to see if I could help. I found Skye to have a number of little issues that would all build up into one big tight mess. To start with, Skye has an incredibly sensitive mouth, and he wasn't a fan of his bit ( fair enough - easily sorted!) However I also discovered he was almost scared of the contact. Knowing he had a clean dentistry record, I had to work out why he was so scared and what I could do to help him. Secondly, Skye had learnt to shut off from the leg. Quite common in racehorses - especially the ones that haven't enjoyed their career. Being made to run as fast as he could from day one, Skye didn't enjoy going forward - he found no reason why he should and it was much easier to shut down and ignore. Next up, Skye was completely locked in his body from poll to tail 😅 not unusual and not helpful for me- no wonder he couldn't go forward! No idea where his body or legs were and what they were meant to be doing. On top of all these things, Skye was anxious and lacked any concentration skills, but he was desperate to do the right thing. All of this creates one worried and tense horse. The first thing I did was a few groundwork sessions to show Skye how to relax and carry certain areas of his body without the weight of a rider. (Sadly no video as I was on my own alot at this stage) but it was all done in a head collar, no contraptions and mostly in walk. The next step was to show him he could do the same ridden.... but the big difference came when I swapped his bit. He was in a simple lozenge loose ring snaffle and I changed him to a hanging cheek comfy barrel. *The comfy barrel is ergonomically sha

Superstar 4yr old Willow was only here for 2 weeks but what an impression she made 🦄 In the worst weather possible she was a perfect pony and made the transition to ridden work effortlessly. Her owner had already done a fab job on the ground with her, so it was just a case of taking that education forward with a rider on board. What an exciting future this little mare has. 🦄

There's lazy and then there's Squeal.... 😅 Not much work going on today when he wouldn't even get up to have his feet picked out 😂🤦‍♀️ At least he is relaxed in his environment I suppose!🦄

She is definitely her mother's daughter! 😅🐎 naughty Peggy pulling the exact same moves Isla use to 🦄

Almost back to normal after my little leg op so if I haven't been in touch regarding lessons etc then give me nudge 🦵 Still absolutely buzzing after Silver's national win so here's his xc round courtsey of Action Replay 🎬 😎 As you can quite clearly hear 😅 I was delighted with him and how well he jumped. I love xc especially on such a fab horse 🐎🦄.

A long and hot weekend out competing. Silver went SJ for team Longton on Saturday. Clear and 3rd indiv and team 3rd for the style class 💪 stepping up a level he then jumped a fab clear in the first round ( video). I've played around with our rhythm and keeping a light seat and he really seemed to appreciate the freedom. Sadly our 2nd round ended in a big fat E as he completely misread a poley double down the long side, forgot what legs go in what order and popped me out the side door on landing. 🤦‍♀️ It's been a while since I plopped off so I was due one soon 😅 Bless his heart he tried so hard to keep jumping even with a pole inbetween his front legs. I've watched the video back multiple times and I genuinely think he just didn't read it well in the bright sun with lots of poles and the arena fence line and he didn't really do a thing wrong. A shame the day ended like that after 2 great rounds but sharp reminder that they aren't machines and I definitely need sit up on landing 😅 we are both fine though and will dust ourselves off for next time - he is still Mr perfect 🥰🦄 Evie has been the cause of a permanent headache and lots of grey hairs for us recently 🤦‍♀️ in true thoroughbred style she has had us on speed dial to the vets. HOWEVER!! Today she was foot perfect from start to finish during her little outing. Sadly we were the only ones in our class 😅 🥇 But a big shout out to the lovely ridden judge who allowed us to do the go round with the next class so she could experience being in a ring with quite a lot of horses. Its so hard to try and give them the best education and this was really a perfect outing. I've added a little bit of video that I'm watching on repeat and can't stop laughing at 😆 As she canters round she jumps the shadow of the arena lights thinking its a pole 😅 such a cute little baby, her attitude has changed so much and she really loves her work now. Onwards and upwards hopefully!! #Ror #loveyou

Happy mothers day to all mothers out there especially the horsey mums who sacrifice lie ins, weekends, holidays and practically their souls to help their kids -I know I would be lost without mine 🥰 I did give my lovely mum a day off today 🤣 but we thoroughly enjoyed a trip to Somerford with Silver yesterday. He is just the best little dude! I really loved being able to play around with our rhythm and practise shifting up a gear and then coming back down. He was foot perfect and it was a great confidence boost for us as a partnership before our first ODE next weekend 😱💗 Very excited to leave the start box again after 3 years! 💪🤞 once again a big thank you to his wonderful owner Olivia ❤️

🥰Walter 🥰 It never ceases to amaze me the incredible trusting nature of horses. The last time Walter went on a lorry it was to move homes to come to me. Before that, it was to the races and his last race was abit traumatic with him refusing to start. This would give any horse a reason to hesitate about loading however yesterday, Walter calmly followed me into our lorry for the first time, travelled perfectly and then jumped round a course of showjumps in a strange arena! As far as I know, Walter has never been in an indoor and neither has he ever seen a course of jumps but he genuinely didn't put a hoof wrong. The video shows his progression from trotting to a cross pole, to cantering to it and then popping round the course so sweetly. Of course he isn't perfect yet, but at 4 yrs old and few months out of training from a totally different discipline, his natural ability is pretty obvious! He certainly has a very exciting future 🦄

Oliver

I'm not crying it's just my allergies 😭💔 Good luck my gorgeous boy 🦄 you've been a star and I'm sure you'll continue to shine ✨ 💗

Evie 🦄

4 yr old Evie the ex racehorse attended her first clinic yesterday 🥰 I'm well aware that this isn't perfect and there is a very long way to go but it's lovely to see the change in her and the progression throughout the lesson. We started off with poles on the ground and ended up over little jumps 😆 for a horse that has been so challenging in many ways, it's lovely to see her enjoy life. Thanks once again to KP Equine Solutions for a great confidence building clinic.

Oliver and evie at craven

Thank you to everyone for all your kind words about William. It's not been easy and it's had me in a strange place mentally but I'm very lucky to be surrounded with fantastic friends, family and clients. Today we took Oliver and Evie to Craven. I wouldn't normally take two 4yr olds together for the first time without a lead horse and when we set off I did question our sanity! However they were both amazing and I had fun for the first time in a while 🥰 mum rode Oliver and they jumped some pretty impressive stuff! Evie was a complete star and behaved amazing. Both ponies jumped everything asked of them and we all had fun. Its #NationalRacehorseWeek and I'm so proud of Evie and the incredible journey she's been on - if she wasn't my own horse I wouldn't believe the transformation! #LoveYourRoR #babypony #cravencountryride

Harry

🦄 Harry update 🦄 grab a brew cos it's a long one! I'm so happy and proud to share this update 🥰 Harry came to me with quite a serious history of bucking in a number of previous homes 😪 However, it's worth noting that on one yard he has been a very good horse! There are videos of him competing in dressage and arena eventing as well as xc schooling over some pretty decent fences! Sadly its unclear what has happened to Harry but what is very clear is the fact that he is now one very worried, confused and tense boy. Luckily for him, he landed on his feet with his current owner who has done a great job in building his confidence and ensuring his reactions weren't pain related 💕 Harry has clear back X-rays, enjoyed some pyhsio and has been successfully treated for ulcers but his behaviour continued 😔 when he arrived with me he was terrified - of everything and would seriously over react to even being touched. His main issue however has been mounting and the first couple of steps away. I spent the first two weeks doing groundwork, building his trust and showing him how to relax around the block. Next step was leaning over. This is where the video starts. It's so clear how tense and worried poor Harry is. His whole posture, facial expression and even his breathing pattern shows just how badly affected he is. I slowly built up his sessions but poor Harry also suffers from " learned helplessness" Harry is scared, but he knows he shouldn't move, so he stands. Until his natural flight instinct is too much and his fear bubbles up and he completely over reacts. I never allowed him to get into this state so there is no video of his reactions. ( which to me is a bonus!) Every time I felt him bubble, we went back a step. Eventually he allowed me onboard 🥰 he is still clearly worried but my mum does a great job in keeping him relaxed. We then progress to just been lead around with no pressure from the rider. We then moved on to being ridden off the lunge. I th

Deacon

With the arrival of Seal, the total number of horses on the yard has gone up to 10 😬 ( I also then have all my freelance work as well! 😴) Quietly working hard with all of them, Deacon here is almost ready for home. He started off with a bit of cheekiness 😅 but he settled quickly and now works lovely in the arena and is gaining confidence out hacking. He is quite noise sensitive and can worry about things but we've gone nice and slow and he's now happy, relaxed and turning into a rather lovely ride. 🦄