Sound Start

Sound Start Starting/breaking horses with a strong focus on building a solid foundation to support a successful future under saddle.

25/06/2026

This week I brought Tally S A Sudden Kiss (Loki) back into work. Loki is a 7yo Paint Stallion who had 3 months Western Pleasure training as a long 2yo just as the Covid debacle hit, sadly he due to the time frame of Covid, he went home and never went back under saddle.
I bought Loki 6 months ago as a future stud horse to go over my other stallions progeny. This week I returned him back under saddle, he’s so very willing, but of course he hasn’t the strength or stamina he had when he finished all those years ago, and try as he might to do a beautiful, held together jog and lope … he just hasn’t got the drive, flexibility, softness and strength at the moment to get him there!
So back to basics for Loki! Today was day 4 for him, so he is still figuring me out and I’m still getting accustomed to his movement, the footage below is an exercise that is great for horses who are struggling with their shoulders! Put them on a circle, inside leg to create bend and push them out … wind them out slowly … then inside leg off, outside leg on and wind them in on the circle, try maintain that energy and finish with a hind end pivot! … as you can see Loki gets a bit stuck a few times on his left hand pivot, he has a few niggly body issues going on that side that we are helping him through … but the exercise really helped him to free those shoulders up!

On the weekend I took Murphy for her first under saddle outing. She made a lot of new friends and admirers and I'm looki...
22/06/2026

On the weekend I took Murphy for her first under saddle outing. She made a lot of new friends and admirers and I'm looking forward to more opportunities to get her out soon.
Murphy - Sacred Love
MPH Radical Love x Sacred Heart (Sacred Assets USA)

19/06/2026

Saffy’s heading off on new life adventures, we wish her new mum all the success and happiness in the world! Thank you to Beck from Manebid for helping us secure the sale, she’s been fantastic and very professional… highly recommended!

19/06/2026

Achieving softness and control over all 5 body parts

A little bit of appreciation goes a long way
18/06/2026

A little bit of appreciation goes a long way

12/06/2026

Today was Roo’s last day of boot camp! He is now officially a Sound Start Graduate!
I am extremely proud of this little horse. From the wee yearling I found for his mum, the initial fundamentals I put on him not long after he arrived in his new home, to now guiding him through his starting process, he has just been a delight!
And Sarah, you called a couple of years ago as a worried wreck. Over-mounted on a horse who had lots of holes in his training, I guided you first on the ground and then under saddle.
You have come so far as a horsewoman; you have done the hard yards and it has paid off so many times over! Keep kicking goals, girl!
I look forward to continuing our journey with lessons and adventures in the future ###

11/06/2026

Does your horse draw to other horses or maybe the gate … or even the last place you rested them?

Here’s a good way to solve that problem.
Allow your horse to cruise over to where they want to be, it will be the place they naturally draw to or leak to when your working them. It’s important the choice to be there is there’s! Once you are there start working them in that place with energy in their feet, lots of small hard circles with lots of changes of direction…
Then hustle them to the other side of your work space and rest them there.
After they have aired up, let them wander back where they want to be again, once again hustle their feet and ride them back to the “rest spot” right away from where they want to be and rest them again.
Rinse and repeat until when you let them chose they decide not to head back to where they initially wanted to be.

Tip, do not end your sessions in the same place every time, this will create draw to that spot.

Some horses will get this quicker than others, the key is to stay consistent and look for the moment where they decide they don’t actually want to be in that spot anymore!

The video below shows Murphy drawing to the float and the other horse. So instead of fighting her, I employed the above method for a pretty quick result.

11/06/2026

Ride 15 for Murphy … her body control is coming along well… how’s your horse’s body control?

08/06/2026

Nothing like pushing boundaries! Today we introduced another horse to Roo’s session to see if he would stay focused on his rider … and he was more than obliging! Just another little test we can give him a big tick for! … second horse is home bred Murphy who has been out spelling the last three months after having just 10 rides and never having been ridden off my property. She came back into work without any drama, so hopefully I can now get serious and get her finished off!

07/06/2026

I don’t often work over the weekends, but we are in the last week of Roo’s breaking and I’m really focusing on getting his mum and him working as a well versed team.
So today I stepped back and let Sarah crack on straight from the get go. I just supported her from the ground, but really she didn’t need much help!
I really can’t be more happy with Roo and also with how well Sarah is handling him!
He’s such a great minded little horse I’m excited to see where they go from here!

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Mount Waverley, VIC

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Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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