Redemption Ride - Fall River Chapter

04/05/2024

Now that’s talent!

Her high jump record was held for 98 years! It wasn’t broken until 2013! Wow!

Her 'frail' physique belied the amazing ability Esther Stace had when in control over a large horse. She was known as an outstanding equestrian and even broke a record or two.

Born in Port Macquarie, Esther Martha Stace made her debut horse-riding at the Walcha Show in 1891 at 20 years old. At the Walcha show that year, there were three women who entered the ladies jumping contest. While one contestant failed at 5 feet 2 inches, Esther and her last competitor made it to 5 feet 6 inches before the contest was stopped. There were around 1500 people watching the event.

Esther went on to spend a good 20 years on the Royal Agricultural Show circuit showing off her skills with the horses. She was one of the best known figures in NSW when it came to steeplechases and hunting contests.

Esther always rode side-saddle and wore a scarlet plush outfit when she was competing. Her regular horse was the great jumper Desmond, owned by Mr H. D. Morton, and who she guided to many victories in numerous contests. Her ability to calm even the most difficult horse was legendary,

Her record of a side-saddle high jump of 6 feet 6 inches on Emu Plains wouldn't be broken for another 98 years, until Irish jumper Susan Oakes on Atlas would clear a 6 feet 8 inches wall in Dublin in 2013.

Source: Walcha Historical Society

Photo: Esther Stace completing her record-breaking side-saddle jump on Emu Plains at 6 feet 6 inches at the Sydney Show in 1915.

03/24/2024

“Let’s see you do it without the treats.”

Ah, yes, a common way people try to shoot down R+ training as if this is some type of gotcha.

What about this?

Let’s see you do it without the ear plugs.

Or shadow roll. Or blinkers.

Let’s see you do it without the gag bit.

Or bit with abrasive mouth piece.

Or any bit at all.

Or any bridle at all, for that matter.

Let’s see you do it without the spurs.

Or the whip. Or the stud chain.

Let’s see you do it without any tack and equipment at all.

Entirely at liberty.

Let’s see you do it without pressure and release.

That’s your primary reinforcer, stop using that and let’s see you train.

Because that’s the equivalent of what is being asked to R+ trainers when you ask them to stop using any type of reinforcer.

Oh, is that unfair to ask you to throw out your “necessary” equipment and still maintain the same results?

Funny how that works.

And interesting how people don’t like their own attempts to derail the efficacy of rewards based training thrown back at their own training methods.

If you can’t do it without — don’t ask other people to.

Duration can be built with food and reinforcement becomes less frequent.

But, it still needs to occur intermittently to retain behaviours.

Just like with R- / pressure and release (but fortunately you can usually build more duration with food rewards).

Using reinforcers that your horse enjoys and finds valuable isn’t a weakness.

Being able to compel horses to do things you ask, without needing to coerce their response using harsh equipment, is a strength.

Let’s stop pretending it’s inherently flawed.

02/26/2024

I’d say this lady is goals!

02/01/2024

Hehe well that means we are almost there!

01/31/2024

When I was competing, if someone pointed out that my horse was displaying very clear signs of stress, I would have been triggered.

I would have taken it as a personal attack.
I would have agreed that my horse was not 100% comfortable, but they were still learning.
I would have dismissed their viewpoint if they were not a competitor “because they dont know what they are talking about.”
And I would have easily been able to find a group of people to validate my opinions.

I would have expressed that my horse gets the best care and that they’ll be “fine” enduring moments of stress given everything else they receive.

Back then, I wouldn’t have been able to receive the information that my horse wasn’t happy because, in my mind (and subconscious), I had told myself that they were happy.

I thought it was ‘normal’ and part of the process for your horse to sometimes express adverse behaviour, be quite hot, be anxious in new places, be “a bit ulcery”, noise sensitive, hard to catch sometimes, difficult to load sometimes, need working down, need more miles, suck back at times, go behind the verticle, not stand at the mounting block… and the list goes on.

And I thought I was giving my horses the best life by keeping them paddocked on their own (so they dont get hurt, of course), stabled overnight (even if they were super fresh in the morning, weaved and windsucked), rugged up to stay warm and worked consistently (even if they found it hard sometimes).

I thought I was giving them a great life, and we were happy.

That is until I realised that they weren't happy.

That they were displaying signs of resistance because they didn't like what I was doing with them and to them.

And when that really sunk in for me, it was a hard fu***ng pill to swallow.

It felt like I was opening my eyes to the truth, and my intuition was saying, YES, THIS IS THE TRUTH!!

But it cut me like a knife.

And then, I tried to ignore the truth, shove it down and keep competing and training like normal because that was my life.

I didn’t know who I was without that routine.
Without those goals.
Without the belief that my horses were happy with how I was treating them (and had for years).

But once my eyes opened to the truth, I couldn't unsee it anymore.
And it got to the point where my body was screaming at me to find another way.

A way that actually honoured how my horses felt and set them up for success without needing to force them through it just for the sake of a felt ribbon and an ego boost for me.

It’s been about 7 years since the moment I opened my eyes to the truth.

It took me about a year of learning more about horsemanship and pretending that everything was “fine” until I decided to stop competing, and my guilt took over.

I spent 2018-mid 2019 heavily immersed in horsemanship and learning everything I could. This allowed me to transform my relationship with my horses and develop a harmonious connection (I couldn’t believe how different they were).

I started my own horsemanship coaching business in mid-2019 and even prepared a young mare for her first competitions in early 2020 (with a very different approach).

In 2019 I also started my own personal healing journey, which helped me release so much guilt and shame from how I treated my horses in the past (it was a lot to move through).

And in early 2020 I transitioned my business online and have been mentoring equestrians from around the world of all ages, with a wide range of horses and in a huge range of disciplines to teach them how to help their horses (and themselves) feel more confident in any environment. And most importantly, honour how their horse truly feels and how they feel.

And now I have no desire to compete (not that it can’t be done in a harmonious way - this is just my current personal desire).

I struggle to watch competitions as most of the horses look really unhappy and express clear and frequent stress signals.

I get so much more joy out of spending time with my horses, having two-way conversations, doing things that they like, listening to them and honouring their emotions, taking time to train them new behaviours with no attachment to the end goal and just in deep gratitude over the opportunity to connect with them in this way.

This is now my reality because my subconscious beliefs and values shifted over time, so now I quite literally see things differently.

And holy moly it has been a journey.

My awakening didn’t happen overnight. It was a slow, difficult process and one that I know many have embarked on and are embarking on right now.

I have compassion for people at all stages of their journey because it’s likely that I can resonate with you in some way, shape or form…

However, if you are in the spot where you are forcing your horses through discomfort, please know that there IS another way and that even though it might feel hard to know that your horse isn’t happy, you can get through this.

You are not a bad person.
You are just doing what you have been taught.

However, when you know better, you can do better, and you don't have to do it alone.

If you would like support on your journey, just reach out. I'm here for you x

For more on this, check out my latest Equestrian Perspective podcast, episode 133 here - https://www.felicitydavies.com.au/podcast-guide

01/29/2024

The harsh reality of being wild. It is not all rainbow and freedoms as some would lead you to believe (for their own gain).