Connection and relationship is key to a healthy partnership and this is what we are all about.
We offer a variety of services for all abilities from beginners to those who have more experience around or on horses/ponies. We have a team of horses and ponies that you are welcome to use or we also cater for those with their own four legged friends. For those with their own we can either come to you or you come to us. Some of the options include lead rides, lessons, Sponsor a horse or pony, sch
ool holiday programmes, Ride to the Hills adventure and much much more (see the services page for more details).
03/01/2025
HAPPY NEW YEAR AND ALL THE BEST FOR 2025 !!
It has been a busy end to 2025 for us and our 4 legged team members with Christmas Parades and off site outings at various venues in December. They were all great and well supported with many people of varying ages, from preschoolers right through to adults, enjoying the lead rides provided and the feeling of riding for the first time in their lives. For the Lincoln Christmas Parade it was very very hot so in one of the photos the horse/pony team wanted to cool off with an ice cream as well as the humans. Please note in that photo Jemima has knowledge of horse behavour and how to keep herself safe, usually I would not recommend being off your feet when around The Horse. Enjoy the photos.
We are already into our holiday programmes and still have a few spaces left but not many so contact us now so you don't miss out. Take a look at our website (www.abisnh.nz) on the options page, drop down menu, and click on school holiday programmes or events page to find out more.
Not long until Sandy Stanway's one day clinic on the 18th of January at our Waterholes Road base. It will run from 9am until 4pm. All rider places are now full but there are unlimited auditor/spectator spaces on offer. There is lots to learn from watching and the ability to be able to see various partnerships between The Horse and their human develop, sometimes better than doing it with a four legged companion. The fee is $50 for the day and all you need to do is let me know you want to come and be a part of this educational, fun and special event.
We have had a lot of interest for lessons in Term 1 and will be offering afterschool sessions on weekdays from Tuesdays to Fridays as well as at weekends (most Saturdays and some Sunday afternoons). We can also take people at other times during the day on weekdays too not just afterschool. You choose either a goup (2-5 participants) or individual lessons. We don't just cater for younger riders but those not so young in age too - we welcome adults.
Abi and the team
29/11/2024
COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS EVENTS COMING UP
Don't forget the Rolleston Christmas Parade from 11am until 4pm this Sunday (1st of December) just behind the Rolleston library. We will be offering lead rides for a small fee for all ages so bring some change along and have a ride.
On Sunday the 8th of December we will be doing lead rides for the Halswell Community church family fun day at 7 Oaks school in Halswell. This event is free with various entertainment and food available. Be a part of this great occasion.
The following weekend on the Saturday morning (14th December) its Lincoln's turn for their Christmas parade. Lead rides will be offered before and after the actual parade for a small fee.
We look forward to seeing you at one of these events.
29/11/2024
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS ARE NEARLY HERE !!
Do you have a young person who loves horses/ponies?
Do you want a fun, educational, outdoor activity where they learn life skills as well as caring for an animal?
Do you want to get them off their 'screens'?
We can provide all this and more at our holiday programmes.
We offer half day, full day, one and a half days or two day holiday programmes on the following dates.
Tuesday 24th of December 2024
Friday 27th December 2024
Tuesday 31st December 2024
Thursday 2nd January 2025
Friday 3rd January 2025
Tuesday 7th January 2025
Wednesday 15th January 2025
Thursday 16th January 2025
Wednesday 22nd January 2025
Thursday 23rd January 2025
For more information please click on this link -
A fun outdoor educational activity where young riders will learn to prepare their pony or horse for riding, receive tuition. Call Abi on 027 649 4685 now.
25/11/2024
The Christchurch show is done and dusted for another year and what a great time we had in the Rare Breeds area, despite the weather at times.
There were various horse/pony breeds on display such as Norweign Fjord (Que), Paso Fino (Bee), our Max, Morgan (Tui), Highland pony, Timor, Shire, Rocky Mountain and Percheron mare with her 2 or 3 month old foal.
During the 3 days I did lots of demonstrations on various topics including ground work, ridden stuff and some liberty. I played with Max of course as well as Tui, Bee, the Timor pony and did one demo with one of the 2 Rocky Mountain horses that were there. A special treat was having a walk around on Que the Norweign Fjord. Megan (his owner) had been the only person on his back so far and I was the second. He was awesome and such a dude with me as Megan walked on the ground alongside to give him reassurance in this new situation.
There were lots of great memories created with various comical moments such as when the Percheron foal was with his mum off lead in the demonstration area and he decided to experiment with various obstacles in it of his own accord while in there. At one point he got the sacks filled with old duvets/pillows and pawed at them with his front feet as well as 'tasting' them with is mouth just like any other human toddler would put things in their mouths. He also volunteered to go up to the public (who were on the other side of the fence) without his mum close by his side, an independent and inquisitive fellow !!
I will include some photos for you to enjoy.
Our next event is the Rolleston Christmas Parade this Sunday from 11am until 4pm. We will be doing lead rides for all ages including adults and join in the parade itself down Tennyson Street. There are lots of stalls and entertainment so come and join in the fun.
Happy horsing,
Abi and the team
09/11/2024
Today has been a very successful day at Abi's Natural Horsemanship and Riding School.
A huge congratulations to everyone who participated in our Natural Horsemanship assessment day. Participants tried for Level One and Two certificates and everyone passed.
Lucky has had a busy day and is such an amazing, talented, special and versatile team member !!! Two participants used him for their assessments in the morning and then he competed with another one of my regular riders at a primary schools showjumping competition at Clip Clop Equestrian Centre in the afternoon. At the competition Lucky and his human partner, Aurora, acheived 5th place. It was her first time competing and Lucky's first time at that venue. Well done to both Aurora and Lucky !!!
Our next event is demonstrations at the Christchurch Show next Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Come to the Rare Breeds area and say hi. We look forward to seeing you there.
Abi and the team
08/11/2024
07/11/2024
We are at Christchurch show !!!
Come to the rare breeds area where I will be doing demonstations with a variety of horses and ponies at this years show, including our herd member Max, for all 3 days (Thursday, Friday and Saturday). See what Natural Horsemanship is all about and what you can do when you have a partnership built on trust, respect, good communication and leadership. See the benefits for both the horse and human.
This year there will be various rare equine breeds on display such as Timor, Paso Fino, Fjord, Icelandic, Highland pony, Connemara, Shire, Percheron, Morgan horse, Rocky Mountain and maybe Suffolk Punch. This a unique opportunity to meet the owners and find out more about them !!
See you there.
Address
Waterholes Road (near The Boundary Road Corner) Lincoln 7672
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My journey with horses and ponies started when I was 6. I began having lessons at a traditional riding school in England, which is where I was born, and did many things including learning about the different paces, basic dressage movements and competing in their low level shows which was mainly showjumping. When I was in my early teenage years I started to help with the horse care at the riding school as well as the livery horses (people keeping their horses on the property and paying for someone to do the daily care for them) and sometimes in the showjumping yard which was all on the same site. As I gained more experience I started to take young riders for lead rides on the property as well as help instructors with lessons and when I was competent and old enough take riders out on rides around the local countryside. Fortunately we had this literally just outside the gate and in the UK there are bridleways which have been around for centuries and are basically horse rights of way so people are able to ride openly across ‘private’ fields not just by the roadside. Another one of my highlights was helping the owner to back/break in a pony and take her to a few local showjumping shows. This was the only riding school I attended while I lived in the UK.
In 1994 when I was 16 my family and I moved to Christchurch and I carried on where I left off helping at a traditional style riding school in the Halswell/Wigram area. During that period a lady asked if I would like to exercise one of her horses and of course the answer was yes. A couple of years after I had finished school and had a full time job the lady asked if I would like to buy him due to her downsizing on numbers. Again I said yes and after all the years of wishing for one of my own my wish came true. I had him as a pleasure horse and rode in the paddock, around the local roads and did some local events on him mainly showing. We won several ribbons include a Champion at the Mill Creek Ashburton show. We tried a bit of showjumping and eventing but that wasn’t his thing and it was an area I wanted to do more in. I decided to sell him and look for another one that I could do more jumping with. I did find a Thoroughbred however that did not work out and sold him after a reasonably short period of time. I then bought a Standardbred however my health started to decline rapidly and I decided it was unfair to him to keep owning him so put him up for sale. I then waited until my health recovered to a suitable level before taking on another horse.
During the later stages of owning my own four legged friends a paddock mate at the time was heading to a Natural Horsemanship demonstration in the Prebbleton area and invited me along. We went and I was truly inspired by what I saw. The person demonstrated, both on the ground and ridden, being with her horse with literally no strings attached just the connection, partnership, leadership and respect between them. It was amazing and I walked away thinking that I knew a bit but wanted that deeper connection and the horse to be with me through their own free will not because I was physically attached to them in some way.
In 2004 my parents had bought me a gift of a Riding Weekend at Mt Lyford which was one of Kate Tapley Horse Treks branches, Kate’s business used Natural Horsemanship techniques in her trekking which mum and dad knew would appeal to me after my latest discovery. Once my health progressed to a better level then I made the booking to take part. Kate knew me from my work at the local riding school I had helped at (she had come for lessons with her own horse there) so we instantly had something in common apart from a love of horses and Natural Horsemanship. Early in the weekend she discussed a work opportunity for trek guiding at her Otahuna branch near Tai Tapu situated just outside of Christchurch and I immediately accepted.
When I was back at home Kate got in touch and invited me to a staff meeting so I could meet the others, both equine and human, as well as get to know how everything was done. At around the same time Bashful aka Bash also arrived at the treks and had been bought by the then owner of Otahuna Lodge, at the time Otahuna Horse Riding was based on the Lodge’s grounds, for his daughter. I started to ‘play’ and work with him and we were very similar in our personalities. The more time we spent together the more we enjoyed each others company and our bond grew stronger. After a while the daughter lost interest and I approached Kate to see if there was a possibility of buying him. Kate discussed it with the owner and he became mine. In the roughly 7 years with Kate I had various roles such as chief trek guide, herd manager, co-ordinator of the volunteers that came to help, instructor of young rider term time and holiday programmes and was one of the mainstays of that branch. After a while my interest was more with people that wanted to create a more long term bond with horses and understand life from their point of view rather than just go for a one off ride on a trek. I started to think about what next along the lines of teaching/training horses. I asked myself ‘Why not give this a go for yourself and see where it leads’. In a sense that is when Abi’s Natural Horsemanship and Riding School was born. I am very grateful to Kate and Walter for the opportunities they gave me as well as providing clinics taught by local and overseas instructors that I was able to take part in and all that I learnt from them.
During this period I gained my Level 1 in Parelli Natural Horsemanship (PNH), Level 2 in Australian Natural Horsemanship (ANH) and National Certificate in Horse Trek Guiding.
In 2011 a friend (Marti Winn from Winnfarms Spanish Stud - https://www.winnfarms.co.nz) asked if I could start one of her young horses i.e. be the first rider on her. I said yes and used all I had learnt in my years of being around The Horse to do this for her. This went successfully and I then was asked by her neighbour to start her horse, which had been bred by Marti, as well. I still had Bash and grazed him at the above neighbours property by that stage. Later that year I organised renting paddocks at Court Road and moved Bash onto that property. It was just paddocks with a couple of baths so very basic when I first got there but have slowly added in a grass based arena, round pen and tie up area among other things. Other people started to ask me for lessons or to start horses and the business has now grown to what we are now.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of my past, current and future clients for their support of this venture. It is very much appreciated.
