Amy Skinner Horsemanship

  • Home
  • Amy Skinner Horsemanship

Amy Skinner Horsemanship Rider, writer and student of the horse Classical principles for sound movement and harmonious relationships
(4)

What next?Our great teachers are aging, and with them is slipping away centuries of knowledge.We are lucky enough to hav...
21/09/2025

What next?

Our great teachers are aging, and with them is slipping away centuries of knowledge.

We are lucky enough to have classical texts, cavalry manuals, books and thoughts laid out by their teachers before. But these manuals and texts don’t come with years of feel taught - it’s pretty hard to read the words and enact them without a masterful hand to shape you along with it.

Karl Mikolka wrote in a letter once that in the span of 44 years he had acquired and kept five serious students that he considered “torch bearers.”

Many of these people, these best students of masters, have quiet lives. No website, little presence. You hear about them from those who knew them and can confirm their presence in the SRS, or Neindorff’s school and so on - but a google search turns up practically nothing.

What happens in a few more decades?

In reading these texts, my lessons come full circle, and concepts come to life for me. But I really don’t know how one could navigate the texts without a hand saying softly here, sit over there, straighten here- release, release, release.

Who will give the next generation these lessons of centuries old information?

This is something that bothers me considerably as I consider my own opportunities : my teacher spent decades under a master, and years in a school hall. Where are our school halls? Who has horses capable of high collection for students to learn and feel on? And how can we produce these without examples not just to see but to feel and experience and absorb as part of our being? How can we teach two dimensional text without that third dimension of experience and feel?

I don’t have any answers-
Just concerns, and some curiosity for the future

20/09/2025

Clinic Spotlight: Amy Skinner Horsemanship

We’re thrilled to welcome Amy Skinner to Australia exclusively for the Moreton Bay Horse Expo!

Over three half-day sessions, Amy will guide riders through the classical training scale. Explaining rhythm, relaxation, contact, impulsion, straightness and collection, showing how these timeless principles support the needs of today’s horses.

Starting with a talk to lay the foundation, Amy then works with riders in small groups, giving participants the chance to put theory into practice. Each session builds on the last, so both riders and spectators can follow the steady progression.

With clinics running in the mornings, you’ll have the afternoons free to explore everything else the Expo has to offer.

Rider spots are strictly limited for this special opportunity, so don’t miss your chance to learn directly with Amy.

Book now: https://www.horse-expo.com/clinic-lessons

Some tips on comfort (for the trimmer) during a trim If you’ve got a horse that yanks legs away, wiggles around, or lean...
19/09/2025

Some tips on comfort (for the trimmer) during a trim

If you’ve got a horse that yanks legs away, wiggles around, or leans on you or the farrier during trims, here are some thoughts outside the normal teaching ground manners (which are extremely important, this is just in addition to those)

 for immediate support:

1- warm the horse up before the trim. For the green mentally wiggly horse, this really helps focus them and expend some energy before having to hold still for a trim. For the stiff horse who struggles to hold their feet up, this helps warm up the joints and body to make it less uncomfortable - ie less wear and tear on the trimmer

2- hold the limb in the most comfortable manner for the horse. Young horses can be noodley and struggle with balance, and older horses can struggle with joint pain and stiffness. Hold the limb in the way the horse can manage best, not the way you like best. This will be easier on your back than them yanking you around anyway, even if it’s harder on your quads - and it works best to keep this horse happy to be trimmed by you. I made a YouTube video about this I’ll link in the comments.

For long term support:

1- try joint mobilization exercises. This teaches the horse how to flex the joints correctly and safely, along with how to pick up their foot nicely for you. Again I made a YouTube video on this I will link

2- ride the horse correctly - this improves their balance and comfort and really does make them easier to trim

These are just a few tips - there are many ways to address teaching the life skill of standing and picking up feet, but these are to help you think of the balance aspect of picking up the feet . Hope this is helpful

Know your learning style, but take some initiative in your learning -It’s really helpful to know how you learn best. Und...
19/09/2025

Know your learning style, but take some initiative in your learning -

It’s really helpful to know how you learn best. Understanding how your mind processes information can be very valuable in accelerating learning, or for many of us, making it possible at all.

But quite often, we pigeon hole ourselves and limit our thinking with labels. Especially now, as pop psychology and self diagnosing becomes increasingly popular, we run the risk of limiting ourselves deeply by labeling how we learn, think and process the world. And quite often, we have our labels all wrong anyway!

So when you find great information and a great teacher, remember there are many elements to learning -

- the teacher has to have good information and knowledge . That’s just one part

Then,
-they have to be able to communicate this to you and break it down

And then lastly, if you’re very very lucky,
-they can communicate it to you in your specific learning style

And if you hit the jackpot,
-this will be at a price you can afford or line, with a frequency you can manage; or like

It’s pretty rare you get all of those points.

Many of my lessons of learning classical riding included very vague phrases such as “that’s not rhythm! Get rhythm!” Assuming I even knew what that was or how to get it -
My teacher was brilliant. But it was not my learning style.

It would be a sin and a waste to throw away such an opportunity because the teaching was not how I’d like it to be- and so I made a conscious decision to throw some personal elbow grease into the deal and study, watch her, read texts, watch her teachers ride or read their books, and so on. Some personal responsibility is required to learn no matter how you slice it

So know how your mind works, but don’t throw away or limit a good opportunity because it doesn’t come wrapped in a bow with a cherry on top -

Quite often what looks like “luck” to us from the outside is a whole lot of hustle we don’t see.

hello australian friends!If you're dying for details about my clinic at Belinda Bolsenbroek Academy, I will get those to...
18/09/2025

hello australian friends!
If you're dying for details about my clinic at Belinda Bolsenbroek Academy, I will get those to you asap! Please message me to be tentatively put down for a private lesson on Monday and/or Tuesday, November 17 and 18.
I will get signup and payment stuff worked out asap, but in the meantime I can give you details on cost and time!

This clinic is private lesson format
Nov 17 and 18
located at 95 Ferrels Road, Cooroy QLD
Photo by Jessie Cardew

Can we accurately judge our own progress? When I was younger, I was a cashier for a short time (read on to find out why ...
18/09/2025

Can we accurately judge our own progress?

When I was younger, I was a cashier for a short time (read on to find out why it was for a short time 😂). I am exceptionally bad at math - that file folder is empty in my brain. At the end of each work day, we’d have to count down our drawers, and show proof that we counted it down a second time to cross check ourselves.

I often produced the same amount twice, and satisfied with my results, would tootle on home. I had cross checked my own shoddy math from my own shoddy math brain.

So when we evaluate our riding, we have to consider we come from our own experiences, biases and education level. I can’t tell you how many horrible pictures of me riding looked great to me at the time, because I was judging myself from my level of education at the time.

We really need someone in our lives to check us. To remind us we do not in fact have the math right, and to show us a good example of what to aim for. Over time we can evaluate ourselves more correctly, but we have to borrow a teacher or mentors brain to judge ourselves with -

for accurate judgement, you need outside (educated and trustworthy) feedback.

Leadership is so much more than just telling the horse what to do and what not to do. True leadership comes from a perso...
17/09/2025

Leadership is so much more than just telling the horse what to do and what not to do. True leadership comes from a person who has a clear focus on where they and the horse are going. They think, move and behave the way they want to show the horse to be. They don’t get pulled into the chatter, mess, and noise of the folks at the barn, whatever new training fad is popular, what others think of them. They don’t fight or argue with horses - they show the horse a clear, calm and consistent path, and they walk it with the horse. Leadership is taking responsibility, accepting your weaknesses, developing your strengths. True leadership takes every ounce of brainpower and focus. It’s being flexible when needed, firm when needed, but always with the well-being of the horse in mind.

Leaders don’t just boss others around. They take control of their own mind and body, and lead by example.

Photo by Jasmine Cope

Whatever our horse is accustomed to doing when things are fine, when things are slow and we’re just going about our day ...
16/09/2025

Whatever our horse is accustomed to doing when things are fine, when things are slow and we’re just going about our day to day activities- is exactly what they will do when we add speed or things get a little hairy. Their normal habits become amplified when we add extra stressors. Also, the postural habits they develop in their normal day to day habits will show up under saddle.

If they’re pushy in the quiet moments on the ground, they could certainly knock you over when they get anxious or excited. If they’re pushy when they lead, they are likely to be very heavy on the forehand under saddle. If they’re straight and relaxed on the ground, and connected to you in a dynamic conversation, they’re likely to be looking to you for support when they get nervous, safer to handle, and feel good under saddle too.

One thing I try to be particular about is how my horses stand next to me and how they lead. I ask them to stand straight and parallel to me. It isn’t because I don’t love them or want them to be near me - on the contrary, I find horses who are straight and in their own space comfortably are significantly happier and more relaxed. They tend to fidget less, and tend to move more fluidly in their bodies too. It helps them advance on from basic in hand work to more advanced work far more easily and logically, and helps to improve our relationship - they know I will always be there to help them feel good body and mind.

A straight, relaxed horse on the ground makes a straight, relaxed horse under saddle.

We need guidance, but we also have to learn to trust ourselves -I think one of the greatest risks as a young professiona...
15/09/2025

We need guidance, but we also have to learn to trust ourselves -

I think one of the greatest risks as a young professional, which obviously can carry on into older age, is to go unchecked in your career by a wiser, more experienced teacher. Without a mentor to support us we can get lost - without a mentor to remind us through example we are not “there yet,” we can easily fall into the trap of believing our own press. We begin riding far above our skill set and begin producing shaky work - the biggest risk here is the higher we climb, the farther we have to fall and we know it, so we begin defensiveness and strong protection of our work and ego - we lose humility, lose the desire to work on foundational skills we may be missing and perceive all critique as a threat to our developed persona.

Developing a career without a mentor can be extremely dangerous - we run the risk of leading the public off a cliff like lemmings who trust us- it is our duty to provide good information to the public and so we must be frequently checked and cross checked.

However -

We also have to be careful to not fall into the trap of dependence. We have to learn to think and try for ourselves, even at the risk of failure. We have to learn to see outside our teachers eyes and develop our own compass. We have to practice straying a little to developing a unique voice, instead of being a copy of our teachers.

A well schooled teacher who practices independent thinking can promote this in their students - creating a love for theory and dedication to basics without faltering from the path, but also independent thinking and ability -
To become an educated person who can manage and think for themselves.

One complaint I hear frequently from riders is “he’s not paying attention to me!” This is often coming from someone who’...
14/09/2025

One complaint I hear frequently from riders is “he’s not paying attention to me!”
This is often coming from someone who’s mind is wandering, overthinking, worrying, daydreaming, and the like. If we are not here, and more importantly, if we don’t have a nice feel for the horse to find when their attention is with us, why should they do it?
I often ask riders when they say their horse should pay attention to them - why? Not only does he not “have to,” because he’s bigger and stronger than you are, but paying attention to you over his herd makes him more vulnerable, more at risk, and less safe.

The horse’s main job is to eat and be with a herd for security. When we deprive him of those two things he obviously is going to have some worries and needs to be met. Can you provide security? Can you provide relaxation? Can you provide balance? Can you be in the moment with him?
If not, why should he give you his attention? His security lies somewhere else, and without security, he can’t even begin to care about riding circles.

Address


Opening Hours

Monday 09:00 - 17:00
Tuesday 09:00 - 17:00
Wednesday 09:00 - 17:00
Thursday 09:00 - 17:00
Friday 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday 09:00 - 17:00

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Amy Skinner Horsemanship posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Amy Skinner Horsemanship:

Shortcuts

  • Want your business to be the top-listed Pet Store/pet Service?

Share

Our Story

"Amy Skinner embraces a training philosophy based in Classical Dressage and sound horsemanship practices. Amy keeps the best interest of horse and rider in mind, choosing to avoid fads and quick fixes, but to seek continual learning from the best teacher: the horse.

Amy offers a training program for all breeds and disciplines that focuses on promoting softness, balance, and relaxation. She believes that any horse can improve given enough time and understanding, and that force and dominance play no part in building a strong relationship. Working with the horse’s mind develops confidence, and an understanding of biomechanics develops correct and sound movement.

Amy also offers lessons and clinics, with a focus on providing information in a way that best suits each student. Amy believes that good teaching mirrors good training: offering information in a way the student can understand, and without judgement or force. Amy’s philosophy of training through relaxation carries over to students working to gain better balance and feel with their horses. She believes that learning should be fun and not intimidating, and she provides a safe, enjoyable atmosphere for riders to improve their abilities. With years of training experience under the tutelage of fine horsemen and women like Theresa Doherty, Maryal Barnett, Brent Graef, and others, Amy offers riders of all ages and disciplines the ability to gain confidence, improve their riding, and strengthen their relationships with their horses."