Horse Skills
Andrew and I both grew up passionately loving horses. Neither of us is from a particularly ‘horsey’ family, our parents have nothing to do with horses. He watched as racehorses came to ‘spell’ on his grandfather’s farm outside Wellington, saw some being broken in using traditional harsh methods and swore he’d find a way to do it differently. I grew up grabbing any moment I could with horses until at 12, my parent finally gave in and got me a pony! I did pony club for 6 years, representing my area for Tetrathlon (riding, running, swimming and shooting) and Eventing. I had a godmother who bred thoroughbreds in Northern Ireland and whose daughter was a member of the Irish Eventing team. Through them I spent time working for another rider on the Irish Event team after I left school and learned a whole lot about the professional side of horses.
Andrew made horses a career choice as soon as he left school and has worked with thousands over the last 25 years or so here in NZ, in Australia and in Hong Kong. I have always had them as a passionate hobby until I met Andrew 8 years ago and we started working together.
Our philosophy with horses is “the horse comes first”. In everything we do, we try to work from what is best for the horse in front of us. Our training methods are in the style of natural horsemanship; working with the horse, giving them options to work with us, always putting the partnership first. We are open minded and non-judgmental and in an often critical and opinionated industry we love working with anyone who loves and wants the best for their horse/s. We work with combinations from all disciplines: Western, English, dressage, jumping, showing, happy hackers, hunters, farm hacks and kids.
We love helping people to improve the relationship with their horse for the benefit of both. Particularly working with very difficult problem horses, Andrew as a mental coach and I riding and schooling, helping to solve their problems and change their attitudes to become keen, willing partners. We work with you and your horse together, as we believe in improving your relationship with your horse to achieve whatever your goals are.
If you would like us to help you work through some problems or want to gain some new skills, there are a several options:
Private Lessons:
You can either come to us with your horse or we are happy to travel to you. If you are a long way away, perhaps see if you can get a couple of people together who would like lessons to make the travel worthwhile.
$120 /an hour
Private Lessons
$120 /hour
Horse Skills Clinic – Stage 1
This is our starting clinic – in it we take things right back to the beginning to check your basics and give them a good tune up. Problems with the basics usually show up as you try to progress and revisiting the basics can sort most issues. It is great for building confidence and learning some techniques that can keep you safe when your horse is feeling under pressure. Great for everyone with a problem, green horse, lack of confidence or just wanting to tune up their skills and improve the relationship with their horse / pony.
Horse Skills Clinic – Stage 2:
In this clinic we take things a stage further, teach you new skills to extend you and your horse and generally test your relationship a bit more. This builds on the great basics we established in the Stage 1 clinic. This is fun but challenging and many people enjoy getting stuck in and seeing what they and their horse can achieve!
Start your horse yourself lessons.
Got a young horse you want to start but haven’t done it before or wanting some guidance to keep things on track and safe? We are happy to help you through the starting process in a series of lessons, going at the pace you and your horse / pony need. Totally tailored to you, a fun and safe way to be involved in your horse’s introduction to riding.
Start your Horse
$120 /hour