Connection and relationship is key to a healthy partnership and this is what we are all about.
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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).
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.
02/09/2024
Hi all,
Some information on the difference bewteen conformation and posture of The Horse. Also how you sit on them can make a difference.
When it comes to our equine companions, understanding the nuances between posture and conformation is crucial for their well-being and performance. Often mistakenly used interchangeably, posture and conformation hold distinct meanings in the context of a horse's physiology and movement.
So what’s the difference?
Conformation refers to the inherent structure and physical build of a horse. It encompasses the skeletal framework, muscular development, and overall body shape. A horse's conformation is largely genetic and serves as the blueprint for its physical attributes.
Posture, on the other hand, pertains to the dynamic positioning and carriage of a horse's body during movement or at rest. It delineates how the horse carries itself—whether it's standing, walking, trotting, or engaged in any other activity. Unlike conformation, posture can be influenced and improved through various means, including training, exercise, and the equipment used.
We hope this is useful for you.
25/08/2024
UPDATE FROM THE HORSE'S MOUTH -
WE ARE SHIFTING!
We are excited to tell you that, after thirteen happy years here at Court Road, the time has come for Abi’s Natural Horsemanship and Riding School to shift to new paddocks.
From 23rd September 2024, the horses, sheds and humans will be moving north west of Lincoln to a new site at 293 Waterholes Road, Rolleston. Our final lessons at our Court Raod site will be on the 21st of September.
We will be closed from 22nd — 27th September to enable us to get everything shipshape and the horses settled into their new home. Lessons will restart from 9am on Saturday 28th September onwards.
Car parking will be on the grass verge outside 293 Waterholes Road by our new signboard and signage will show you through the gate and into our new riding arena. We really look forward to welcoming you to our new home!
OTHER NEWS -
We will be running our holiday programmes in the next school holidays and will put the available dates on our website, this page, other Facebook sites, etc, so keep an eye out for them. If you have a specific date in mind that you would like to come then let us know and we will do our best to accomodate that. For more details then click on this link - https://www.abiricketts.com/school-holiday-programmes
Abi will be a part of the Rare Breeds display at the Christchurch show this year. The dates will be 14th, 15th and 16th of November. I will be demostrating Natural Horsemanship to the public at this event either with other peoples horses or one of ours, maybe a bit of both. Max came along last year and was a part of the action !! We look forward to seeing you there. Here is the link - https://www.facebook.com/share/xSYPy5jdApP8APac/?mibextid=9VsGKo
On the 9th of November we are holding a Parelli Natural Horsemanship Certificate day with Sandy Stanway coming to assess people who would like to gain official recognition for their partnership with The Horse. This is open to all our clients and we aim to hold these days twice a year, if there are enough participants to run them. It is a great way to be recognised for the efforts you put into the work you do, gives you goals to aim for/progress towards, gives you the chance to have fun using your imagination and enables you to increase your skill level with horses and ponies.
We will be involved in the Lincoln Santa Parade again this year offering lead rides and be a part of the parade itself through the streets of Lincoln. Bring your spare cash to have a ride (this will be available to adults as well as kids) and see our 'reindeers' (aka horses/ponies) decorated in full Christmas attire. It is a community event not to be missed !!!
We may also be involved in the Rolleston one too so keep an eye out for that.
We will be running a one day horsemanship clinic with Sandy Stanway on the 25th of January 2025. There are 7 rider places available and they will be offered to our clients first then to others. There will be the opportunity to watch (this is called auditing) for those that want to learn more about Natural Horsemanship and what it involves. More details to come.
As you can see we have lots going on in the coming months so plenty of options to choose from, alongside our regular services.
It's nearly the start of Spring so warmer longer days will be here, a perfect time to get into the outdoors and maybe try something new or renew your acquaintance with these amazing animals.
Feel free to contact Abi with any questions you may have.
And finally a few images to make you laugh and brighten your day, especially for those animal lovers. Please click on the images to see them in full, it is worth it.
We look forward to seeing you soon,
Abi
27/06/2024
SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAMME DATES
This time there will only be 2 running and the dates are:
10th July - full or half day options
16th July - half day only in the morning and 2 spaces left.
Contact us if you would like to book in for either of these.
Click on the image below to see it fully, it is worth seeing the final couple of words which for some reason cut off when I uploaded it for the post.
Abi and the team
25/06/2024
Hi all.
Apologies for the long radio silence on our page, there has been a bit happening !!
Schools will be finishing soon for another term and we will be publishing the dates school holiday programmes will be running shortly so please keep an eye on our website events page as well as this one. There will be limited opportunities to participate and the dates will mainly be in the first week of the holidays with potientially one on the Tuesday of the second week. Please let us know if you would like to be involved.
We will be running a horsemanship clinic and a Parelli Natural Horsemanship assessment day with Sandy Stanway in October or November for those that want to advance their horsemanship skills further. The details for this are still to be organised. If you are interested in doing either/both please contact us.
There is an exciting development happening in the business soon so watch this space for more news on that.
We will be offering lessons and all our usual services through the winter months for those who have their own equine friends and the use of the ABNH herd for those that don't. Even though this season is not as inviting to be outside as others if you need a horse fix we are there to assist !!!
Finally a couple of quotes to think on:
"The struggle you're in today is developing the strength you need tomorrow." Robert Tew (Writer)
"Believe you can and you're halfway there."
"No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world." Robin Williams
And last of all a Thelwell cartoon image about horse/human friendship and what it can be - being each others best friend in life.
18/03/2024
SCHOOL HOLIDAY HORSE RIDING AT ABI'S NATURAL HORSEMANSHIP AND RIDING SCHOOL
They are fast approaching !!
Do you have a young rider who is passionate about animals?
Would you like them to gain life skills such as learning responsibility, decision making, build their self-esteem and confidence?
Would you like them to attend an educational activity in a supportive and caring environment?
We can provide all this and more in our holiday programmes.
Learn how to communicate with The Horse so they see you as a firm, fair, confident leader. Make a new best friend with horses, ponies and other people. Enjoy being with nature and what it can teach us.
These programmes are open to those with their own horses/ponies as well as those without who would like to use one of our herd members.
We look forward increasing your knowledge of The Horse.
Abi and the team
18/03/2024
Part 2 of our clinic update
2 more huge days of learning for both horse and human. Repeating what we did on Day 1 with the liberty dance, fine tuning it on the ground, as well as practing the skills learnt in the saddle. What do they say practice make perfect, or something like that anyway !!! Clinics are a wonderful way to upskill yourself and your equine partners, make new horsey friends, have a concentrated time with The Horse away from everyday distractions and be around people who share the same passion as yourself.
We are aiming to host Sandy for a one day clinic in September so watch this space or head to our website (https://www.abiricketts.com/events) for details.
Here are some more photos to enjoy including Shaun and I (Abi) recieving our Parelli Natural Horsemanship Level 2 certificates.
10/03/2024
Hi all.
Currently two of our equine herd members (Ollie and Doddie) and their human partners (Abi and Shaun) are taking part in a Parelli Liberty and Freestyle clinic with Neil Pye from Australia at Sandy Stanway's place. We have also had several of our clients auditing/watching it from the sidelines. It has been and is a fantastic opportunity to remind ourselves of the basics and why we do them as well as fine tuning them to take our partnerships further. It has been inspiring, fun and there has been quite a few 'light bulb' moments for me which I aim to bring back to my teaching in the business. We are looking to invite Sandy to run a one day clinic at Court Road in September, more details to come soon on the events page on the website so keep checking in there too. Here are a couple of photos from day one of us putting the theory into practice. More photos and videos to come of day 2 and 3.
23/01/2024
Hi everyone.
First of all a very happy new year and hope that it has started well for you and your families.
Towards the end of last year we were involved in some off site events such as the Lincoln Santa Parade and lead rides at the Halswell Community Church family fun day. They all went really well and the human helpers and our equine herd did a great job promoting the business and showing how versatile they are in doing their jobs.
During these holidays we have done various things including an outing to Spencer Park for our regular riders riding through the forest and on the beach, holiday programmes at our base and holding a Parelli Natural Horsemanship assessment day with Sandy Stanway for our clients again at our base. There were 7 of us of varying ages that decided to give Parelli Natural Horsmanship certificates a go. 4 participants tried for Level 1 and 3 of us did Level 2. Everyone did a fantastic job with their equine partners and we all passed with flying colours. We will look to hold more assessment days and even 1 day clinics with Sandy on a regular basis when we have enough interest to run them. There will be the option to use one of our herd members or bring your own four legged equine friend. If you would be keen to participate then please let us know.
We are now begining to look forward and plan for the up and coming school term. We still have spaces available weekdays Tuesday through to Friday, after-school and at weekends in group sessions (2 - 5 participants) as well individuals on offer too. We are making the Saturday 1.45pm and Thursday 10am sessions specifically for those that want to work towards Natural Horsemanship certificates, that is not to say we will not vary it with road rides, etc, to mix it up a bit too. This may be the ideal opportunity to get rewarded and be officially recognised for the time, energy and effort you put into your journey with The Horse !!
And finally a thought/quote - "I often encourage my peers about patience, persistence and doing the right things to establish trust and confidence from clients. That can only be built over time."
This can be the same when we play/are with horses or ponies either on the ground or on their backs. The client being them. Horses/ponies value time spent with them, particularly when it is unconditional. Unconditional means picking up their poo in a paddock, sitting in the paddock with them doing nothing or reading a book, etc. We need to remember we are human beings not human doings !!
If you would like to visit us to see what we are about in person, have any questions or would like to make a booking then please don't hesitate to get in touch.
We look forward to inspiring you in life to be a better you with The Horse as your teacher and guide.
Abi and the team
19/12/2023
ITS NOT TOO LATE !!!
Do you have a young rider who is obsessed with horses and ponies?
Do you want to find a new best friend in human or animal form?
Do you want to learn life skills not just how to ride a horse/pony?
Do you want an outdoor educational activity where your young rider can learn about the responsibility for caring for animals?
We can provide all this and more in our lessons or holiday programmes. We have a big emphasis on safety, communication, awareness of others along with having fun, developing new friendships and enhancing our connection with horses and ponies.
The holiday programmes include a lesson and tuition in horse care as well as exploring the local countryside on horseback, if staying for a full day. Our groups are small with a minimum of 2 and maximum of 5 participants per group. We have half day, full day, one and a half as well as two day options.
Generally our holiday programmes and lessons are suited for those 5 years + with the option of a lead ride for those who are younger.
Questions are great so if you have them do get in touch with us or if you would like to book in for one of our services then do let us know.
We wish you all a great Christmas and a safe start to the New Year.
Abi and the team
04/12/2023
Abi's Natural Horsemanship and Riding School taking part in the Lincoln Christmas Parade.
Come and join in the fun this year !!!
04/12/2023
LINCOLN MARKET AND CHRISTMAS PARADE THIS SATURDAY (9th December) and we are part of it.
The annual community event that brings Lincoln together and celebrates all it has to offer !!
We will be offering lead rides for all ages including adults in the grass area between the Lincoln Pharmacy and Hillyers/Cottage Cafe before and after the parade as well as taking the herd in the Parade itself. Bring your spare change and experience horses/ponies/riding in the centre of Lincoln. The event is running from 8.45 until 12.30.
We look forward to seeing you there !!
21/11/2023
Max has had a busy week !! As you are aware he took part in the Rare Breeds display at the Canterbury A and P show and yesterday he was entered in a inter schools show jumping competition with one of his sponsors. It was the sponsors first time competing and they both did really well. They won a ribbon and really enjoyed the experience.
Our next off site adventure is the Lincoln Santa Parade on the 9th of Decemer. We will be offering lead rides for anyone of any age who is able to sit up as well as walking the herd in the parade itself. Make sure you mark that date in your diaries and we look forward to seeing you there !!!
21/11/2023
SHOW UPDATE - Day 3, the final day.
The last day of the Canterbury A and P show and what a fantastic 3 days. Thank you to the Rare Breeds folk who invited us along to demonstrate Natural Horsemanship in action. A huge thank you to the owners who allowed me to play with their horses and ponies, I very much appreciate it. Lots of great memories, fun, friendship and most of all enjoying and celebrating The Horse for all they choose to give us. A finally a photo of Max with the flags of his breeds countries of origin (Wales/Ireland).
16/11/2023
SHOW UPDATE - Day 2 continued.
Now we are on it is time to check in with Lotus to see if she can keep her feet still when I ask her to bend her neck softening it as well as her whole body. For this I need to give her the clues to know what to do i.e. relas in the saddle, breath out and then guide my rein in a semi-circle toward my leg resting it midway between my knee and my hip. When we get worried or anxious we tend to grip, cling and curl with our bodies to whatever we are on. For the horse/pony the predator is now really digging their claws or teeth into them and they realise they are pretty much dead. As you can see at first she can't help but move her feet because her instincts are telling her to move to a better situation however soon she realises that actually when she is bent with softness it is a good comfortable safe position to be in. This creates trust, respect and enhances the partnership between horse and human.
12/10/2023
Hi everyone. Well Tuesday was a sad day when we said farewell to our dear friend and collegue Bash. He has now joined other ABNH herd members (Connie, Alfie and Pixie) in horsey heaven. Will put another fuller tribute post up soon. This is a photo of Bash and Pixie at my friend's place were they were treated like royalty in their retirements. If you have any memories or photos you would like to share please feel free to add them.
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Videos
Abi and Max playing at last years Christchurch show. In this video I am riding with one rein and using my body language to communicate what I need him to do. He will be there again this year so come and see what you can do with Natural Horsemanship !!
Abi's Natural Horsemanship and Riding School taking part in the Lincoln Christmas Parade.
Come and join in the fun this year !!!
Abi's Natural Horsemanship and Riding School taking part in the annual Lincoln Santa Parade.
SHOW UPDATE - Day 2 continued.
Now we are on it is time to check in with Lotus to see if she can keep her feet still when I ask her to bend her neck softening it as well as her whole body. For this I need to give her the clues to know what to do i.e. relas in the saddle, breath out and then guide my rein in a semi-circle toward my leg resting it midway between my knee and my hip. When we get worried or anxious we tend to grip, cling and curl with our bodies to whatever we are on. For the horse/pony the predator is now really digging their claws or teeth into them and they realise they are pretty much dead. As you can see at first she can't help but move her feet because her instincts are telling her to move to a better situation however soon she realises that actually when she is bent with softness it is a good comfortable safe position to be in. This creates trust, respect and enhances the partnership between horse and human.
SHOW UPDATE - Day 2 continued.
The next part for Lotus (Cleveland Bay). This time it is helping her to realise that the mounting block is her friend and not something that is about to eat her, ending her life prematurely - particularly when she is standing next to it for me to get on. As you can see from the video she loves investigating anything and is not scared about experimentation !!
Show update - Day 2
Today instead of a cold wind and putting layers on we were taking them off and down to t-shirts for the majority of the day only needing to add layers in the late afternoon !! Today I played with Bee (Paso Fino), Max and lastly Lotus (Cleveland Bay) in the afternoon, even got on and had a brief ride. In the following video we are doing ground work which is a very good preparation when wanting to ride.
Show update - Day 1 continued.
An alternative way to dismount or get off your horse/pony. Before doing this make sure your four legged friend is happy with things happening behind them, by their back legs and tail.
SHOW UPDATE - Day 1
Max is at the show !! He is helping with demonstrations of Natural Horsemanship and promoting the Gypsy Cob breed. I also played with Bee (Paso Fino) and Lotus (Cleveland Bay) today which went well. Here is a video of Max and I playing in the active display part of the Rare Breeds Society area. I am riding with only one rein to show how to control a horse without needing 2. The other horse is Lotus being ridden by her owner.
Enjoy and see you there !!
Here's some more footage from the parade
Here's some video from the parade
Abi is working with a gypsy cob right now in the rare breed section.
Some video unedited from today before setting off into the forest
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.
