Pure Horse

12/21/2024

Excited for another adventure together with Spotted Bear Ranch- Horseback Adventures.

All the info is online as of right now! Check it out!!

https://www.purehorsemontana.com/event-details/wilderness-wandering-adventure-in-the-bob-marshall-wilderness

Another magical weekend planned with Pure Horse!! 🦄⛺️
August 2025. Details coming soon.

11/27/2024

11/23/2024

Now that’s a good horse

10/29/2024

10/11/2024

One of my instructors in the Netherlands, Greetje Arends-Hakvoort. She rides her senior horse Bongo (20 yo) with a neck rope only. I love how he carries himself and again, she doesn’t need to hold his face to get collection or self carriage.

🧡Neckrope Dressage🧡

For Bongo and me, it has been an incredible journey overcoming numerous challenges to ride him in neck rope dressage. ❤️We meticulously broke down every aspect into smaller pieces, ensuring he comprehended and synchronized with my 'new' aids effectively. On the ground, we devoted ourselves to teaching all cues with love and passion, which we now impart to our students.

Transitioning Bongo from riding with a bridle to bridleless riding was not without its challenges, yet it taught me invaluable lessons. These lessons may resonate with you and your horse as well:

Gratitude for Subtle Transformations: Appreciate and acknowledge even the smallest progress and understanding shown by your horse. Celebrating these moments reinforces positive learning experiences.

Breaking Down Challenges: When your horse struggles to understand something, break the exercise into manageable steps. This approach ensures consistent small victories, boosting both your and your horse's confidence over time.

Groundwork Problem Solving: Address riding challenges by first solving them on the ground. This approach minimizes tension during mounted sessions and fosters clearer communication between you and your horse.

Cherishing Magical Moments: Enjoy and cherish the small, magical moments spent with your horse. These moments strengthen your bond and make every interaction meaningful.

Regular Video Analysis: Record your sessions regularly to observe your horse's movement objectively. This visual feedback helps align your perception with the reality of your horse's performance.

Embrace these lessons as part of your journey with your horse, nurturing a deeper connection and enhancing your training experience.

Link in bio🐴

10/11/2024

100% agree with her. The dressage I ride and looking for is not a certain contact. I want it to be weightless. That to me is what self carriage is about.

10/03/2024

Currently one more spot available for a training horse that stays through winter with me. Starting mid November.

💲1️⃣6️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ a month, includes full training, board and a weekly lesson with you and your horse.

Atter this spot fills my first available training spot will be May first. Please inquire in time for 2025.

📷 taken by

09/29/2024

I know you think you understand what you thought I did, but I’m not sure you realize that what you saw is not what I did.

This is the most challenging part of teaching. Also because I choose what to talk about and what not to talk about. I feel and see more than I share. Too much details can be overwhelming, therefore I try to simplify it. Simplifying something that is not easy, trying to make something understandable that I still try to wrap my brain around. Trying to explain something that is actually constantly changing as knowledge, skills, experience and feel around horses keeps developing. There’s still so much I want to learn, and some days I feel I shouldn’t be teaching at all. As the amount of learning is still so big and there’s still so much I don’t know. So many questions I can’t answer, and maybe never will be able to answer. We are all on our own journey, which in my opinion never ends.

When I teach I try to get a feel for the level of understanding, knowledge and skills the person I’m working with has in terms of horsemanship. Experience is not the same as knowledge, knowledge is not the same as skills and feel is a whole different thing again and on top of that the person’s ability to be present in the moment. I think that last one is actually the most important one.

Being misunderstood is something we all deal with.
If what I’m saying or doing is perceived in a different way it makes it really hard to change that.
I need to learn to accept to be misunderstood, like we all do. I’ve accepted the fact that I’m not everyone’s cup of tea and not everyone is my cup of tea either 🙆‍♀️.
The goal is not to be acknowledged or being popular or even being liked (even though that would be nice!). I wouldn’t have the consistency or motivation if that was my purpose. But accepting to be completely misunderstood is still very challenging for me. Especially if I can’t change the perception of me or what I’m doing.
I’m happy with where I am today, but I’m not even close to where I want to be.

Thankful that captured this interaction with together with her horse Heinzy, we have been working together for almost 3 years🩷

09/26/2024

Sweet memories of our Equine Connection Retreat together with . We’ll share our plans for next year soon🤞🏼🩷.

took this beautiful picture of Neam and me in the river. Grateful to have this memory in a picture🌲🧡.

09/16/2024

It was a good weekend retreat, will post a recap soon🩷

09/07/2024

TODAY: Dressage for the horse Workshop

🕤 9:30 - 12:30
🏠 Whitefish, MT
🐴 Auditing workshop

All info in link below ⬇️

https://www.purehorsemontana.com/event-details/dressage-for-the-horse-workshop

09/05/2024

Come join this spectator-only workshop THIS Saturday September 7th, where I’ll work with 3 different horses of various levels. My main focus is always the combination of the mental and physical balance of the horse. But in this particular workshop I’ll talk more about the style of dressage that I’m doing when I work with horses. I’ll talk about different techniques, positions and movements in both the groundwork and riding.
There will be lots of opportunities for questions!

Coffee, tea and light snacks will be available in the heated lobby area of the arena.

Starting at 9:30 till about 12:30.

To secure your spot, please get your tickets via the link below ⬇️ (limited spots available!) (or link in bio)

https://www.purehorsemontana.com/event-details/dressage-for-the-horse-workshop/ticket-form

* This workshop is for spectators only *

09/03/2024

🌲🌲🌲

09/02/2024

🌲🧡✨ Equine Connection Retreat ✨🧡🌲
********* September 13 - 16 *********

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to sign up for this year’s ✨Exclusive✨ retreat! Only 2 spots left!!

🐴 Create a deeper understanding with yourself and your equine partner

🦄 Ride your horse (or one of ours) in the Bob Marshall Wilderness

🙆‍♀️ Unplug, reflect and practice yoga in nature

🏠 Spend the weekend staying in a rustic cabin and eating chef prepared meals

🩷 Meet other amazing equestrians

✨ And so much more!

Please find all the info you need in the link below ⬇️
Or click in the link in the bio of Instagram!

https://1e842a82-9d35-4bb4-98d1-90b24c28d264.usrfiles.com/ugd/1e842a_71c12af9d27d49efb63a60e8b65047bb.pdf

09/01/2024

♥️

08/31/2024

“There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler” ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer