Ever since I can remember, which as I get older is not as far back as it used to be, I have had a complete obsession with horses. My grandad was a stable boy and jockey and as a child he used to tell me tales of the racehorses he used to look after and ride. I loved to hear the stories of the bravery and courage these horses had and was fascinated to learn about how they were looked after and trained.

When I was lucky enough to get my very own pony at the age of 11 my grandad would come and trim her feet for me and showed me a little bit about how to be handy around her. Neither of my parents were ever ‘horsey’ so apart from the advice I got from books and magazines there was only my grandad’s advice and that of a few of my friends that were of a similar age to me. Somehow me and my pony muddled through, without any real instruction or training we just managed to get along in our own way. I mainly rode her bareback and in a head collar with the lead rope tied around for reins. We would go out exploring for hours on end, often not returning home until dark. I may not have had much knowledge of horses, the way they think, move etc at that time but somehow, between us, we had an understanding. Perhaps it was just because we never asked too much of one another? What ever it was it worked out pretty well for us.

It wasn’t until I was around 22 years old, and I took on a young horse from the stud farm I was working on at the time, that my horsemanship journey really took a change of direction. One of the foals born in May 2008, a little cob, was unwanted by my boss as he wasn’t ‘coloured’ enough for the show ring. I had cared for his mother through pregnancy and been his only human contact in the first few days, so the thought of him being sold on broke my heart. With perhaps not quite enough thought, I decided to take him on myself. So there I was, with a 5 month old colt and no real idea of what I was going to do with him for the next couple of years, which lead me to searching for something. Surely there was something I could do to prepare him for our future together?

Without going into too much detail (or else a simple blog could turn into a book) my search led me to an old fashioned style of horsemanship born out of America. Horsemanship through feel.

I quickly realised how little I knew about horses. I had been around them for my whole life but I had no real clue about how they think, how they move and how to communicate through feel.

Sure I could ride a horse, and handle them okay from the ground, but it wasn’t until I started to learn these methods that I realised the communication between us had gone. I was telling them what to do and not giving them a chance to make mistakes and learn. My feel was bad, my timing was bad, I wondered at this point, if I had been that way as a child, if me and my pony would have gotten on so smoothly?

Looking back I think I was doing some of it, naturally, back then with my first pony. Feel and empathy came naturally to me at that time, but without me knowing it. But over the years I had tried so hard to be good with horses, that I had lost that natural feel. And now to get some feel back, and develop it with the knowledge I have now gotten from accomplished horsemen and women (which is still minimal in the scheme of things by the way) is ten times as hard. It now has become a learnt ability, and something I am going to keep working hard at forever!

There is one blessing to my experience, which I am thankful for. I often watch my 8 year old niece Chloe, she has that natural feel right now, and a wonderful connection with her pony and I am trying my best to help her recognise that feel and not to loose it. And I hope she can, as she will be 20 years ahead of me in her horsemanship journey!

Jess | Founder

Please note, I am not a horse trainer or instructor, these are simply some of my own thoughts from my own experiences around horses.