06/02/2025
With physical balance comes mental and emotional balance ✌🏼
Yesterday was Carmel and lovely Sahara’s handover day ❤️ It’s been an absolute privilege to help this wonderful horse restart her ridden career. Carmel like many caring owners, came to us worried that her horse was unhappy about being a ridden horse. After years in limbo, various behavioural & physical issues she had got to the point where she felt it may be time to give up…
As a pair they first came for clinics, then stayed in the barn where we began our restart process. Sahara has seen our wonderful vet, Sam , our farrier, , our physios , saddle fit by Laura Dempsey and had countless hours of ground, ridden work & support with Matt & I.
Our focus as always is first on regulating the horses nervous system, the first stage in our program, helping them move from a state of freeze, flight or fight into a frame of mind where they feel safe & therefore able to trust us & learn new things. Stages 2 is then building self-confidence and self-management so the horse can cope with & not be overwhelmed by change, complexity become able to self regulate. This is followed by rediscovering freedom & forwards in movement; stage 3. All of this before we start up focus more on physical strength building & the reeducation of movement patterns that have caused negative loops both physical & psychologically.
The generosity and willingness of this lovely horse to trust and try has both humbled me and once again reinforced how rewarding it is to help a horse who had reached the point of saying "no" dramatically 🚀🧨
She would rear, plant, swish her tail, pin her ears, and refuse to move—all because she didn't feel able to. 😢
For us, when a horse cannot regulate their nervous system—the core of stage one of our program—there is always a reason. Even if other trainers, vets, or 'industry experts' claim they are fine and 'need' to be pushed through it, we see things differently. All behavior is feedback. A 'no' needs to be valued as much as, if not more than, a 'yes.' When a horse says no, we listen and ask why, then start to unpick the reason—whether it's communication, motivation, or, as is so often the case, physical discomfort.
Now; Sahara giving us ‘Yes’ after ‘yes’ her discomfort treated through a whole horse approach, she understands she can say no if she can't do something, knows where & how to find release & reward for both her mental engagement and physical effort ✨
She's becoming a willing and happy dance partner💃
Thank you, Sahara, for trusting me and allowing me to help you, and Carmel for trusting us and the process!🥰
Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Confident & Connected : Hanna Walton and Matt Feerick, Horse Trainer, Kelberg House, Akeman Street, Bicester.
