MH Horsemanship

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MH Horsemanship Currently in Ireland 🇮🇪
Years of Experience
Natural horsemanship trainer
Riding instructor
Schooling and training

18/10/2026

Eddie is a very sweet 4 year old Connemara gelding that I have been training for the past 4 months, he has come such a long way and was a little super star in his first jumping show today.

Groundwork — The FoundationGroundwork isn’t something we do before the real work begins. It is the real work that prepar...
28/09/2026

Groundwork — The Foundation
Groundwork isn’t something we do before the real work begins. It is the real work that prepares us for everything else.
We often expect our horses to understand things under saddle that we haven't first made clear from the ground.
How can we expect to move and influence a horse’s body while riding if we cannot move their feet, shoulders, hindquarters or direction from the ground?
How can we expect them to understand our aids in the saddle if we haven't first established a language they understand?
And groundwork goes far beyond circles and exercises. It shows up in everyday life with our horses.
A horse that cannot stand quietly to be mounted may have a hole in their groundwork.
A horse that cannot confidently load into a horsebox may have a hole in their groundwork.
A horse that cannot stand patiently, lead respectfully, navigate an obstacle or cope with something unfamiliar may need more foundation.
A horse that struggles to leave the yard or becomes overwhelmed on a trail may need more confidence, communication and leadership established before we simply expect them to cope from the saddle.
Groundwork develops so much more than obedience. It teaches our horses to follow a feel, understand pressure and release, respond to body language, move individual parts of their body, regulate their emotions, problem-solve and look to us for guidance when they don't know the answer.
But it educates us, too. We learn to read the horse in front of us. We learn timing, feel, intention and release. We learn when to ask, when to wait, when to support and when we need to change our approach.
So before asking, “Why won't my horse do this when I'm riding?” sometimes the better question is:
“Have I given my horse the understanding and confidence to do it from the ground first?”
Everything we eventually want to refine in the saddle needs somewhere to begin.
That is why groundwork is the foundation.

21/09/2026

Bridling shouldn't have to become a game of “catch the horse’s head.” 🤍

Beau is a big 17.3hh, and one of his habits when being bridled is to simply lift his head out of reach.

Instead of making myself taller, pulling his head down or following him around with the bridle, I decided to do the opposite, I sat down.

Why?

Because I don't just want to get the bridle on. I want to teach him how to be bridled.

By sitting down, I can take away the temptation to chase his head when he lifts it and give him the opportunity to search for the answer himself.

The goal is for him to learn to lower his head, stay with me and eventually actively participate in the process reaching towards the bridle, accepting the bit and putting his own head into it.

It's a small difference in approach, but a big difference in mindset.

Instead of:
How do I get the bridle onto my horse?

Ask:
How can I teach my horse to put his head into the bridle?

23/08/2026

Sometimes the goal isn’t to get the horse over the obstacle, it’s to help them become confident enough that the obstacle is no longer a big deal.

During this lesson, Anjo was worried about the tarp on the ground. Instead of immediately asking him to walk over it, we broke the exercise down.

First, we simply wanted him to be able to look at the tarp without feeling the need to run away. From there, we used approach and retreat, giving him the opportunity to investigate, process and build confidence at his own pace.

We then played a quick Friendly Game, kicking some sand onto the tarp so he could experience the unexpected sound without feeling like he needed to escape from it.

Only once we had more relaxation, curiosity and confidence did we turn it into a Squeeze Game, folding the tarp in half and having him walk past it (not over it yet!) and once he was confident i unfolded the trap until it was completely open and finally got him to walk across confidently.
The goal was never just to get his feet over the tarp.
It was to help his mind become confident enough that his feet could follow.
When we stop making the obstacle the goal and start making confidence the goal, we give the horse an opportunity to actually learn rather than simply survive the experience.
Confidence first. The task comes afterwards.



11/07/2026

The whole point of these two videos is to show that, when a horse truly understands, we don't need to do very much. Communication is key.

In the first video, I asked Zena to back up and move sideways all while remaining seated. In this video, we played the Circling Game.

The circling game is not lunging. The Circling game is where we teach horses to maintain their responsibilities and ours (as we tend to want to micromanage and interfere too often)

The circling game teaches your horse connection and this is about mental fitness.
It's not my job to keep chasing the horse around, it's my horse's job to maintain gait, direction and to look where they are going.

This is about creating partnership





09/07/2026

Since hurting my back this week and not being able to ride, my whole week has just consisted of ground work
And today I thought it would be a fun experience to try play with this lovely mare Zena who I have been working with for 3 weeks now.
She barely has 15 hours of groundwork done but I was so amazed with her trying to figure out what I was asking without standing. Horsemanship isn't about doing more. It's about teaching so well that one day, you hardly have to do anything at all.



06/07/2026

One of the questions I get asked most often is:
"Why do you use a working rope instead of a traditional lunge line?"
For me, the answer has very little to do with the rope itself and everything to do with communication.
The equipment we choose influences how clearly we can communicate with our horses, but it never replaces good horsemanship.
A traditional lunge line was designed primarily for exercising or lunging a horse on a circle. It's lightweight, often made from flat webbing, and can have a small amount of stretch. That works well for its intended purpose.
A quality working rope, on the other hand, was designed with groundwork and communication in mind. Because it's round, heavier, and has very little stretch, it allows feel, energy, and the release of pressure to travel more consistently between horse and handler.
That matters because horses don't learn from pressure...
They learn from the release of pressure.
The clearer the release, the clearer the lesson.
When a rope absorbs movement or stretches, some of that communication can be softened or delayed. A rope with minimal stretch helps me deliver my cue with clarity and, more importantly, reward the horse with an immediate release when they search for the correct answer.
As a horseman, one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that the rope is not there to control the horse.
It is an extension of your body language, your intention, and your communication.
The goal isn't to keep a horse connected to the rope.
The goal is to develop a horse that is mentally and emotionally connected to you.
The rope simply carries the message.
Whether you're working On Line, preparing for Liberty, solving a problem, or simply leading your horse, the principles remain the same.
At the end of the day, the rope doesn't make someone a better horseman.
Your feel does.
Your timing does.
Your consistency does.
Your understanding of horse psychology does.
Choose equipment that supports the type of communication you want to have with your horse

06/07/2026

Why I don't like to use lunging lines
Horses are opposition-pressure animals. That means when they feel steady pressure, their instinct is often to brace or lean against it, instead of softening into pressure. That's why, when I'm my training and working with horses, I don't use lunge lines.

For me working with a horse on lunge line doesn't teach the horse to connect to you, it's teaching the horse to be connected to the lunge and it teaches them to lean and brace against the lunge line. It also doesn't teach them to engage mentally.

A traditional lunge line can easily stretch and break, making it easy to teach horses to lean and brace on the rope rather than following the feel. My goal is to develop horses that are thinking, listening, and taking responsibility for the connection and not simply staying on the end of a line.

That's why prefer a quality working rope because it has very little stretch, and it's heavier giving a clearer feel and more precise communication.

This isn't about saying one tool is right and another is wrong. It's about choosing the equipment that best supports the kind of relationship we want to build with our horses.

Less tension. More feel. More conversation. More connection.

Cork Summer ShowBruce's first ever show, he did us so proud coming home with a 5th place❤️
22/06/2026

Cork Summer Show
Bruce's first ever show, he did us so proud coming home with a 5th place❤️

Horsemanship Level 4 Level 4 is where horsemanship becomes quiet, subtle, and deeply intentional.At this stage, the rela...
14/06/2026

Horsemanship Level 4
Level 4 is where horsemanship becomes quiet, subtle, and deeply intentional.
At this stage, the relationship is solid enough that communication no longer relies on visible aids or obvious cues. The Games are fully integrated not practised, but expressed through movement, patterns, riding, and liberty. What once required clear phases now happens through feel, timing, and intention.

Level 4 is about refinement rather than expansion.
Refining energy.
Refining balance.
Refining emotional and physical collection.
The horse responds to the finest cues because trust, responsibility, and understanding are already established. The you become softer, more neutral, and more aware guiding rather than directing or micromanaging.
This stage where all the groundwork, riding skills, and communication tools you’ve built in earlier Levels are integrated, refined, and taken to a high degree of connection and finesse. It’s considered the level that prepares you and your horse for confident riding in any situation and sets you up for performance across disciplines.

This level prepares both horse and rider for any discipline, not by specialising early, but by developing a horse that is confident, responsive, and emotionally available. Riding becomes elegant, liberty becomes expressive, and the partnership feels effortless from the outside though it is built on years of thoughtful work.
Level 4 is not about perfection.
It is about harmony.
Level 4 is where all four come together your groundwork supports your riding and your riding reflects your deep groundwork connection.

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Bandon

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