Working on the ground has multiple benefits. It helps you to notice and respond to what your horse is communicating; it helps to build your bond and it establishes boundaries which improve leadership and communication.

Groundwork also helps with building flexibility and suppleness in your horse, strengthens core and helps with lowering heart rate and anxiety levels.

Groundwork provides perfect conditions for learning to communicate using body language and noticing /understanding how horses learn and process.

Exercises include: leading, longlining, pole work and back up.

Problems that I most commonly come across include leading issues and horses that are “bargy” or spooky on the ground. Other problems include: loading, leg handling issues, anxieties around clipping, problems with worming, difficulties with catching, biting/grumpiness and behaviour around tacking up. I support owners resolve these issues using a problem solving approach which breaks down behaviour into smaller manageable chunks in order to find the “yes” from your horse.

I use consistent understandable and adoptable techniques and explain them in a way that both horse and owner understand (and remember!) in order to ensure progress outside of sessions. I work at the pace appropriate to the horse and all training is empathetic and focused around how horses learn.

I support the training of young horses age 1-3 ahead of backing . This period is critical to introduce young horses to the ridden horse world and all that comes with it. Using their natural curiosity as our friend we work through a structured programme of learning tailored to the age of the horse, which includes:

-Basic handling, leading and confidence growing

-Acceptance of basic horse care practices eg. grooming, tying, loading, farrier/leg handling, clipper, fly spray etc

-Foundational groundwork eg longlining, pole and mounting block familiarisation, de-spooking, etc.

I can support you in your journey of training your young horse to set him/her up for the future.

Loading horses is a common request for support. My approach breaks down loading into incremental steps which address different aspects of loading that can be stressful to horses. Horses are herd animals that have evolved to live and move across vast landscapes (up to 15k in a day for feral herds) and a first step in loading training is to understand that traveling in a small metal box at high speeds is one of the biggest questions we ask of our horses.

Breaking down the multi-layered questions that loading can present to our highly-sensitised horses that can result in explosive (or shut down) behaviour and rewarding even the smallest step, removes the stress for horse and owner.

My approach is slow and NOT a overnight fix but can have long lasting and transformative effects.

Following on from IH’s Handling the Untouched Horse course I was lucky enough to work with Pumpkin, a seven month miniature Shetand filly who had suffered trauma from her first and only human contact which rough handled her from field to trailer to new home. And resulted in an extreme fear of humans (and particularly human hands). Working incrementally over three months, I gradually won her confidence to be touched and finally haltered and led. Working with pressure and release techniques and body language allowed for a two way communication which reassured her that her worries were seen and her progression rewarded before moving on to the next question.