07/12/2025
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐓𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐔𝐬 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭
We have a lot to thank our early horses for. Of course, I mean that in how we have defined our love for our horses and the sport, but also so much deeper than that. Whether we realise it or not, they have likely become our textbooks to training, friendship and life. Every horse has contributed to the development of our ‘textbook’.
Our early horses can be those who took our hand and showed us the way as children, or those who carried us as we began to specialise and start our careers. As we develop and grow together, we begin to approach partnerships differently, refine our feeling, and acquire our own way of responding to complications, feelings and fears.
All our horses vary in personality and physical needs, so they all contribute differently. Our firecrackers teach us the art of timing, and patience without taking mistakes personally. Those we come across who arrive quiet and shut down teach us the value of softness, and the careful process of opening up personality in our dance partners. The ones who are a little battered and bruised teach us compassion as we learn to navigate the complexities of the equine body, and perhaps show us a way other than to blame bad behaviour. They showed forgiveness as we learned what was right and wrong, and allowed us many chances as we found better ways of doing things.
Our early horses have shaped our bodies, our balance, our instincts and our empathy. They have imprinted lessons on us that we will carry forever in our lives, both on a horse and in our lives away from the horses. I would say these horses are often the reason we train and communicate the way we do today. The way we search for connection, softness and understanding. The feeling we strive for as a sense of normalcy and security.
Who are my beautiful early teachers? There are so many, but I have to give thanks to my horses I had in my teenage years as I learned to navigate not just my riding career, but the grand rollercoaster that is finding identity and setting off into life.
To Will, my Mum’s gentle giant who so carefully carried me around at 10 years old in the show ring, instilling in me what trust and communication equate to generosity and confidence, and showing what the world could be if you dreamed big enough. At the same time, my hand was held by Sian, our beautiful riding pony who offered me the opportunity to not just advance as a show rider, but in all disciplines I felt like. Which included having no mouth, so thank you to Sian for teaching me how brakes come from the core and not from the reins!
Then came along my Slide, who shared a rehabilitation journey with us first that delved into a lot of problem solving, creative thinking and patience. Slide was a marvellous teacher, and showed me the ropes of pretty much everything, but demanded respect – so I was once deposited in the sticky beaks as I (quickly) learnt how to be respectful when using aids and not using too much spur with too much hands! He also taught me much humility, and determination to beat odds – thanks to a judge at our first State Championships telling me he looked like a trail riding horse! So off we went to the drawing board at the young age of 13, hit the training hard, and returned to win the open class at Nationals 2 months later 💪🏼 after Slide retired, I was fortunate to share the ride on Jack, who, along with teaching me to have a velcro seat, opened my eyes to the reality horses don’t misbehave for no reason.
Our journey with Jack welcomed me to the world of dressage, as we tried to navigate his complex body, but ultimately taught me the grace of retirement when pushing forward was in human interest and not in the horse's. However, the silver lining was, that despite almost being deterred from unconventional breeds, this led me to the purchase of my heart horse and career maker, Hustler, at just 19 years old. Hustler is without a doubt the “horse that put you on the map”, my fairytale horse for the first 3 years of our journey together, and always my greatest teacher. In a sense, 5 years ago, Hustler's ultimate accident ended the fairytale ending to my malleable young rider years but launched me into exactly where I was meant to be - a coach, a compassionate horse person, and an advocate for advancing our knowledge and ability in rehabilitation and understanding the equine body at every availability. I continue to learn with my horses every single day, but I am so thankful to these horses who helped me navigate the difficult path of finding who you are, and what you want to do in life.
❤ tell me below, who are the horses that got you started, that perhaps were your greatest teachers all along?
