The PONY Collab

The PONY Collab We work in Collaboration with many amazing people to bring knowledge and experience to help others. Our highs and our lows in equestrian life ❤️
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Follow our journey as we evlove and develop to help people understand horses better. Originally called Oakshott equestrian because we were on Oakshott road we have decided to rename the page The PONY Collab. this us because we are a collaboration of talents, ideas and inspirations. it's not one person it's many and we are always learning and developing our skills. We started off doing lessons but

quickly found we had a unique service to offer people with ponies. There are no children that ride and train like Giselle does . She has ridden close to 200 horses and ponies broken in, started, restarted or retrained dozens of ponies for people and the results speak for themselves. Check out some our latest projects. They are trained by children because ultimately they are going to be ridden by children and what better way to get them started than by the very size of rider that they will end up with. Ponies quickly work out who is on their backs and what's expected and there is nothing better than to get your new pony child proof. Giselle will start on them and then we have Quaid and Arya to help check their progress and see who they are suitable for. We also sell on behalf, we can get you pony fit Feel free to contact us any time either on 021474739 or send us an email

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06/09/2026

We need to pay attention to all the subtitles horses give in communication before they lash out because we didn't listen when they whispered.

Today I rode Zadel and I can tell you the saddle was ok, he moved freely, it wasn't pinching, lifting, squeezing or shifting.

He had his head low the entire ride which is totally new to me, usually his head is up and he isn't relaxed. Today he was chill.

I did notice though when I got on he was uncomfortable with the mounting, even though I used a block.

So in my conclusion, there is something else going on. Some discomfort caused by the girth being done up and with the mounting. Further investigation is required but for now I am pretty confident this saddle is a better fit than the previous few he has had.

05/09/2026

Got out and about today and enjoyed the afternoon 😊.

Will take Zadel out tomorrow. Got to keep them fit when Giselle is at her dad's. Tough job but someone has to do it 🤣

02/09/2026

#1 Thoughts on a Thursday.

While not too controversial this gets emotional and I am very passionate about this. I won't apologize for how I feel.

Please don't graze your horses completely on their own. They are herd animals and while they can appear to be fine, they are also masters at hiding things. They have to, their survival depends on it.

Remember that.

If you have any subjects you want me to talk about drop it in the comments or pm me.

01/09/2026

Terrific Tuesday is off to a great start..

So much to be thankful for.

Love to hear from anyone else who has something they are happy or proud about.

Way too much negativity around these days so let's shine a little light ✨️ 💛 in the dark.

31/08/2026

Tomorrow it begins.

Terrific Tuesday where I am going to start posting every Tuesday with things to be thankful for or proud of or happy with, no matter how small.

Often when there is darkness we need a little illumination 🌟💡

On Thursday I'm going share thoughts and experiences on horse behaviour and what it can mean for the horse.

It might make people a little uncomfortable because they have held on to ideas or beliefs for such a long time, to think something different challenges everything.

No one wants to be wrong, no one wants to cause horses harm and yet our lack of understanding them is doing exactly that.

It's not time for shame its time for growth. Let's evolve because that's where the future lies.

So come along, share your good fortune or your experience, remember to be kind, to have a balanced view and to be open to learning 😊

Sugar is now 22. It's already pretty impressive that she was at HOY 2018 and 19 then went down hill not even placing at ...
30/08/2026

Sugar is now 22. It's already pretty impressive that she was at HOY 2018 and 19 then went down hill not even placing at 60cm in 2021 and being sold as a farm hack, to Giselle being given her and they just competed at 1m picking up 2nd place.

But what is even better is that it's all done in a snaffle no nose band.

The first 2 pics are of her back in the day. The last 2 of her today.

We tried a bevel and she hated it, head tossing excessively. I've watched videos of her in the past, she head tossed then as well.

I don't know if anyone ever just tried a snaffle but the martingale and gear tells me, she was trying to avoid the contact.

It has taken awhile to get Sugar to go long and low and drop the head toss but we have it now. Remember behaviour is communication because its all they have to explain to us what's going on.

Are we listening or are we controlling?

Giselle is self taught with no formal training except a couple of seasons at PC. Sugar was retired from jumping for 5 years, she crashed through jumps and dropped rails 5 months ago when we got her.

She was fast, flat and hard to turn.

And yet here they are making a come back.

Not sure what the future holds for them but right now let's take a moment and appreciate this achievement.

She's in a crappy saddle, saddle blanket has holes in it, crappy bridle, no formal training, no noseband, D-ring snaffle coming second against the pony that won the speed round at Equifest last year and won at HOY. Again she's 22 and the difference between the 1st photo and the 3rd photo says it all.

30/08/2026

Kevin might have put on a little weight being in the big pony herd so he's been demoted to the little pony herd 😂.

Much excitement for the boys to all be in together again.

29/08/2026

Everyone was full of spring fever today 🥰.

27/08/2026

Bullying update.

To sum up quickly, things have calmed right down thank heavens 🙏

Nothing more heartbreaking than watching your child suffer and feeling helpless.

How you might ask?

Well the girls took the high road.

It's not about avoiding the situation, its about ignoring it, like it doesn't exist. Not deliberately (passive aggressive style) ignoring but more like putting a shield up.

Confidence and a good group of friends behind you supporting you.

If we all paid less attention to this behaviour, saw it for what it is, a projection and a 🚩 for what that child is dealing with, then maybe we can help navigate our kids through it better.

Society loves people getting their comeuppance but maybe they should love people's gratitude or success a little more.

At any rate I'm going to start next week off and every week after that with a bit of good news. Might be small, might be amazing but whatever it is, it will be better than giving credence to negativity.

゚viralシ

24/08/2026

So easy to blame the horse when they stop, duck out or buck or whatever undesirable behaviour they show you.

He's choosing to be difficult

It's just the way he is

He doesn't like fillers

He's just being naughty because he did this yesterday no trouble

People gaslight the rider as well.

You need more leg on

You let him run out

You weren't looking up

You were too far forward

You need to be more confident

Hey in some cases these comments are true but why are they the first things to assume?

There is Zadel jumping a 1.1m easy as and then he stops at the end on the smallest jump he has done many many times.

Why?

Well we did not assume any of the above.

Saddle. His saddle slipped over his shoulder. Just that nothing more.

If we stop having to point fingers at the horse or the rider and put that focus on being more aware of what the horses is trying to communicate, we will make less mistakes and we will be in less danger of hurting ourselves.

Zadel knocks the odd rail. We have tried a few techniques to over come it but nothing has stuck. Dawn from Equiport nz came out last week to treat Zadel and Sugar and we have saddle issues.

This video is Giselle trying a different saddle. No knocking rails but still not right.

I'm tempted to let her ride in the ba****ck pad. Zadel is difficult to fit because he has no shoulder to keep the saddle in place. Wides saddles slip over (yes we have tried techniques to stop it and no I'm not going to use a crupper) and medium saddles wedge into his shoulder causing discomfort.

At any rate. If we think of the entire situation rather than that singular moment of behaviour maybe we would get a better Picture of what's going on.

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