All About the Horse

18/06/2024

*Connect with nature to support your wellness this Saturday*

Women's Collective Ireland-Donegal are offering the "Wellness through horses' workshop for women, on Saturday 22nd June 10.30am-2.30pm in the Letterbarrow. During the session you will discover the benefits from interacting with horses including improved self-awareness, confidence, empathy, emotional regulation, trust, setting healthy boundaries, patience, becoming more present and more.

This is an empowering and unique experience of interacting with some fab horses, facilitated by Claire a professional Horse Trainer and Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator from All About the Horse.

The workshop fee of €40 with a light lunch provided. We have limited places, so if would like to sign up please fill in our online form here https://forms.gle/zf8AnmKCB8b1y5vd6 or text WCI-Donegal on 0858638419

23/05/2024

Another fabulous workshop with a beautiful group of women, such a pleasure to share my beautiful horses with you all and Thank you all for taking the time out of your day for you and for spending it with us 🫶

14/05/2024

*Discover the empowering and unique experience of interacting with horses to support your wellness*

Women's Collective Ireland-Donegal have a few places remaining for the "Wellness through horses' workshop for women. Through this workshop you will discover the benefits from interacting with horses including improved self awareness, confidence, empathy, emotional regulation, trust, setting healthy boundaries, patience, becoming more present and more.

This is the third time we will be working with Claire a professional Horse Trainer and Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator from All About the Horse. This is an empowering and unique experience of interacting with some fab horses.

The workshop will take place on Saturday 18th May 10.30am-2.30pm in Frosses. The workshop fee of €40 with a light lunch provided. If would like to sign up please fill in our online form here https://forms.gle/nCAtRgqworkWmfUm9 or text WCI-Donegal on 0858638419

01/05/2024

*Discover the wellness benefits of interacting with horses*

Life can be stressful, it’s therefore important that as women we take time to do something nice for ourselves not just for others. Women's Collective Ireland-Donegal are delighted to be offering again the "Wellness through horses' workshop for women, where you will discover the benefits from interacting with horses including improved self awareness, confidence, empathy, emotional regulation, trust, setting healthy boundaries, patience, becoming more present and more.

This is the third time we will be working with Claire a professional Horse Trainer and Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator from All About the Horse. This is an empowering and unique experience of interacting with some fab horses.

The workshop will take place on Saturday 18th May 10.30am-2.30pm in Frosses. The workshop fee of €40 with a light lunch provided. We have limited places, so if would like to sign up please fill in our online form here https://forms.gle/nCAtRgqworkWmfUm9 or text WCI-Donegal on 0858638419

17/02/2024

This is well worth a read for both our horse and human relationships

I heard a great quote the other day that I've been thinking a lot about lately. "The most honest person in the room is the problem child".

When it comes to horses, they are naturally designed to be good liars. From a prey perspective, they're supposed to lie to predators about their physical and mental weaknesses, because their very survival depends upon it.

"Good" horses are good liars. They're stoic about physical ailments, they tolerate mistakes, and they can perform their duties without needing to be heard by their human handler, or requiring a lot of skill from a rider. These are horses we value a lot in our equestrian society, and they're great for many reasons.

Problem horses are very bad liars. They cannot just go on with life when they are hurt, or upset, or feeling like their needs are not acknowledged or met.

They either find somebody who understands that, or they are sent to a trainer who's main job is to teach them to learn to SUPPRESS this urge to constantly communicate their emotions and needs, effectively becoming better liars. Some horses can learn this, but the ones that cannot are labelled permanent problems, and often find themselves shuffled around.

But what happens if we begin to value communication over compliance? What if we prioritize the relationship before our egos, and trust before our human goals?

We can all agree that we would prefer to be in a meaningful human relationship that ivalues empathy to a different perspective/reality. Why wouldn't we consciously cultivate the same relationships with our equine partners? Would that not be beneficial for everyone?

The next time you find yourself making a binary judgement about your horse's behavior, pause for a moment instead and consider the root cause of it. What are they trying to communicate? How can you help meet their needs and build trust instead of prioritizing your ego in that moment and demanding compliance because you've arbitrarily decided you deserve it?

29/05/2023

R E A C T D I F F E R E N T L Y ! ! !

Once upon a time a daughter complained to her father that her life was miserable and that she didn’t know how she was going to make it. She was tired of fighting and struggling all the time. It seemed just as one problem was solved, another one soon followed.

Her father, a chef, took her to the kitchen. He filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Once the three pots began to boil, he placed potatoes in one pot, eggs in the second pot, and ground coffee beans in the third pot.

He then let them sit and boil, without saying a word to his daughter. The daughter, moaned and impatiently waited, wondering what he was doing.

After twenty minutes he turned off the burners. He took the potatoes out of the pot and placed them in a bowl. He pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.

He then ladled the coffee out and placed it in a cup. Turning to her he asked. “Daughter, what do you see?”

“Potatoes, eggs, and coffee,” she hastily replied.

“Look closer,” he said, “and touch the potatoes.” She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Its rich aroma brought a smile to her face.

“Father, what does this mean?” she asked.

He then explained that the potatoes, the eggs and coffee beans had each faced the same adversity– the boiling water.

However, each one reacted differently.

The potato went in strong, hard, and unrelenting, but in boiling water, it became soft and weak.

The egg was fragile, with the thin outer shell protecting its liquid interior until it was put in the boiling water. Then the inside of the egg became hard.

However, the ground coffee beans were unique. After they were exposed to the boiling water, they changed the water and created something new.

“Which are you,” he asked his daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a potato, an egg, or a coffee bean? “

Moral: In life, things happen around us, things happen to us, but the only thing that truly matters is what happens within us.

25/05/2023

21/05/2023

Another amazing workshop with Women's Collective Ireland-Donegal
Thank you all for coming and sharing my wonderful animals with me 🙏💞🐎🐕🐈

18/05/2023

Meet Little Ed, our newest addition to the herd 🐎💞
Follow along to see his progress

Join Little Ed our new arrival on the yard! We will be restarting him under saddle as he was started 2 years ago but has done nothing since. This is day one of his training. Follow along to see his progress and for some training tips ...

11/05/2023

A couple of places have become available on this Fab Workshop -*Discover the benefits of interacting with horses*

Women's Collective Ireland-Donegal are delighted to be offering a second "Wellness through horses' workshop for women on Saturday 20th May 10am-2pm in Frosses.

The workshop will look at the benefits from interacting with horses including improved self awareness, confidence, empathy, emotional regulation, trust, setting healthy boundaries, patience, becoming more present and more. During the workshop you will also learn about essential oils and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) which has been proven to help lower stress, calm anxious feelings, alleviate pain, promote feelings of wellness and help with grounding.

There is a workshop fee of €25 with a light lunch provided. We have limited places for this so if would like to sign up please fill in our online form here https://forms.gle/KTNPmqykmoYGR9td8

This workshop is part funded by Donegal ETB Community Education Support Programme.

15/04/2023

29/03/2023

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠…

I’ve never seen a more misunderstood animal more than 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞…

I’ve been trying to tell you that I am in pain, but you don’t seem to listen.

I show you that I’m in pain by not being willing to work but you just call me 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐛𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 or 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐲. Instead of helping me, you just 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫.

I show you that I’m in pain by rearing when you try to ride me, but you enjoy showing people you can sit to a rear. Instead of getting off and listening, you just say “𝐇𝐞’𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭!”

I show you that I’m in pain by throwing my head in the air, but you just say it’s one of 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬. Instead of helping me, you just buy 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 so that I can no longer 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫.

I show you that I’m in pain by bolting, but you just get scared and decide I’m not the one for you. You sell me and I still remain as 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

It’s our responsibility as animal owners to do right by them, horses can’t speak, they communicate through their actions. So we need to listen!

9/10 times “negative behaviour” is caused my pain, the rest is learnt behaviour. Either way I always check for pain first.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈𝐬 𝐇𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠, deserves the world. The amount of tolerance, loyalty, patience and trust the hurting horse has, is something I can only dream of having.

Written by - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫

Artist - Ruby Campbell

28/03/2023

"A young couple moved into a new house.

The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the washing outside.

"That laundry is not very clean; she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better soap powder.

Her husband looked on, remaining silent.

Every time her neighbor hung her washing out to dry, the young woman made the same comments.

A month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, "Look, she’s finally learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?"

The husband replied, "I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows."

And so it is with life…

What we see when watching others depends on the clarity of the window through which we look.

So don’t be too quick to judge others, especially if your perspective of life is clouded by anger, jealousy, negativity or unfulfilled desires.

Judging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are."

🖋️~ Paolo Coelho, "Dirty Laundry" ~

Artist : Mellusine. H

16/03/2023

🌟🌟🌟Amazing News for all you horse lovers wanting to learn Monty’s concepts in horsemanship.
Previously we would of had to go to the US to study the advanced concepts but now we have the opportunity to learn from one of Monty’s best Instructors Inter Equus - Denise Heinlein - Interaktion zwischen Mensch & Pferd
Congratulations on this amazing achievement Denise and for bringing this wonderful opportunity to our students in Europe 👏👏👏💞

12/02/2023

21/03/2022

11/08/2021

Day one of this weeks Kids Camp
Thankfully the rain stayed away 🙌
The kids learned about grooming, learning how to lead the horses, washing their legs and tails, about the tack they wear and plaiting their manes and tails.
A great day was had by all, looking forward to the next few days 🥰🐎

02/08/2021

27/07/2021

Great first day of our Lead-Up workshop today with so grateful to be a part of this amazing organisation helping youths through these magnificent animals.
Thank you all for a wonderful day,, here’s to some more magic tomorrow 🙌💞 🐎

13/07/2021

Another great day of Kids Camp
The horses all got groomed up and shown with their manes and tails plaited 💞👌🐎
Looking forward to tomorrow, but sad it’s the last day with these two groups 🥰 such a please to work with..
I may have to do it more permanently

12/07/2021

Great first day at kids camp 💞🐎
So much fun working with children and horses,,, I just love their creativity... we now have a mini 🦄 family thanks to their new hairdo 🤣🥰🐎

11/07/2021

Can’t believe it’s been 4 years since we were working with little Diego for the GWH course!!! Where does the time go 🤷🏼‍♀️

07/07/2021

🌟🐎The Complete Horsemanship Day 🌟🐎
July 24th
👉Learn skills to deepen your connection with your horse
👉Help overcome behaviour issues, like standing still to mount, trailer loading, spooky horses, hard to catch, farrier problems, afraid of clippers and more.
👉Learn about Monty’s concepts
👉Both ridden and groundwork
👉 Overnight stabling available for your horse
👉A day not to be missed
👉Dm for more information and to book
Only €150 for the full day 9am to 4pm
Spectator Only €25 for the full day
www.allaboutthehorse.ie

28/05/2021

Sadie after our session yesterday.
Unfortunately I was too late with the phone to capture all the yawing she was doing just before this.
Yawning and licking and chewing are a sign of release of tension and processing going on.
For Sadie, when I first went to approach her, she pulled back and did not want to be touched on the face especially.
She is a rescue pony and her background is a little vague so we mostly just worked on trust with her.
She has been displaying this type of behaviour when it comes to any type of new stimulus or person approaching.
With gentle reassurance, I was able to show Sadie that I wasn’t going to hurt her and within a very short time she was allowing her owner to pick up feet, put her saddle and rug on and switch off. All, things that she would have had problems before. She was practically sleeping mid session and her owner said this is definitely not how she would be acting normally.
She was so relaxed she had me yawning too 😂💞🐎
Thank you to Sadie and her wonderful owner for asking me to help.
👉Available for call outs to help you and your Equine friends.
👉Dm or call +353871466935 to book

14/05/2021

The lovely Laura with Robyn and her newborn foal 💞
Laura came out to help with Robyn yesterday morning. The little darling had her foal the night before and was unable to nurse as her udder was too swollen for the foal to grasp the t***s and suck. It was a tough day for all, between milking and bottle feeding to help the foal survive and ease Robyn’s discomfort.
Robyn was not so uneasy when the vet came into her but accepted Laura straight away, as you can see from the photo Laura had her relaxed and feeling better in such a short time.
I would definitely recommend Laura for her wonderful way with the animals and people too, and her willingness to just drop all and come up to Robyn straight away shows just how much she care for these animals 💞 She goes above and beyond for the animals that she cares so deeply for and I am so grateful for her help with these two little ladies. They are both much better today as you can see 🙏💞🐎

17/02/2021

Teaching Maggie to go out around the roads with the Longlines and we had a few others decide to join in the fun 😂💞🐎🐕🐈
The plan was for Ruby to lead Maggie, but Dusty decided that she would take over that roll with Peaches. Ruby got pushed to the end of the line with Dora tagging along too.
This is a part of the mouthing process, to bring the horse to different areas on the longlines and introducing her to new stimuli while still on the ground. This will help when I decide to ride her to these places in the next steps of her starting journey. She wasn’t bothered at all by the little entourage running around her 💞🐎🐕🐈

13/02/2021

Desensitisation to plastic.
Why do we do this?
⭐️ It prepares our horses to have the visual of something above them that is not a threat, ie when the rider appears moving around up there for the first time.
⭐️ We can safely touch vulnerable areas and feet with the length of the stick while at a safe distance from being kicked or struck, should the horse react.
⭐️ It helps desensitise our horse to noises like noisy rain gear or flapping jackets when riding.
⭐️ It helps reduce the reaction to plastic bags or other objects flapping in the wind or blowing out on front of them when we are out riding, helping keep us all safe when out hacking.
Add your thoughts in the comments
Now taking bookings for training in March
Call or message for availability and prices

10/02/2021

Little bit of my sessions with Maggie the gorgeous Irish Draught mare.
Training and preparing her to start her life as a riding horse 💞🐎
It’s extremely important to get the starting process right, as this will stand to them for the rest of their life.
I use incremental steps, teaching her to accept a saddle and longlines, how to move forward, turn and stop using the lines. This is all done on the Dually rings. Only when I am happy with how she is giving to the pressure and following the lines, will I then put the bridle on and clip the lines to the bit for the first time. This helps make sure I don’t mess up her mouth in the process of learning.
Follow her progress for more tips
Enjoy 😉
Now taking bookings for March for starting your young horse.
Message me here or call +353871466935 to find out more details and availability.