Tori Peter Dressage Coach

05/06/2026

What a couple of weeks we have had.

Let’s start with Jodie and Nobby. Nobby came to us late last year, he’s a purebred Lusitano gelding with the sharp breeding I seem to like. He was causing problems for his lovely owner who had owned him for 4 years and they had basically hit that point where it was time to get part ways before someone got hurt. I bought Nobby for myself, as I said he’s my type but with EPA on rehab Jodie needed something to ride.

As you all know I love na under dog and I get a massive boost out of retrain problem Lusitano’s. Usually there isn’t actually a problem if I’m honest, they are just misunderstood here in the UK.

I did all the initial training with him, until I felt I understood him and he started to adapt, understand and enjoy working.
Slowly I introduced Jodie to riding him by being there every ride for weeks. Jodie and Nobby’s partnership has blossomed and proved a brilliant match and we are beginning their competition journey together.

We have been out twice now and I’m delighted with how they have coped. I was schooling Nobby at Medium level when I was riding him so it made sense to go out at Elementary level. Elementary level is quite new to Jodie and as I always say, it’s the first proper level of dressage, it’s busy with technical movements and less of a showing class.
Jodie rode Nobby amazingly and although the scores weren’t huge, they were only lowered by little things like circle size,accuracy and basically building competition togetherness.
I’m excited for their future as Nobby is already showing he has the talent to learn the Grand Prix movements…… lucky Jodie.

I’m really proud of Jodie. She’s nearly been with me two years and has learnt so much by riding my horses and competing 3 different horses. I would expect Nobby and Jodie to be competing at medium level in 5 months which is a great achievement for Jodie as she gets ready to begin her journey as a coach.

05/06/2026

What a couple of weeks we have had here at Team TP.

Let’s start with Jodie and Nobby. Nobby came to us late last year, he’s a purebred Lusitano gelding with the sharp breeding I seem to like. He was causing problems for his lovely owner who had owned persisted for 4 years and they had basically hit that point where it was time to part ways before someone got hurt. I bought Nobby for myself, as I said he’s my type but with EPA on rehab Jodie needed something to ride, so I sacrificed the ride for a young lady who deserves it.

As you all know I love the under dog and I get a massive boost out of retraining problem Lusitano’s. Usually there isn’t actually a problem if I’m honest, they are just misunderstood here in the UK and Nobby was definitely in that category.

I did all the initial training with him, until I felt I understood him and he started to adapt, understand and enjoy working.
Cautiously,  I introduced Jodie to riding him by being there every ride for weeks. Jodie and Nobby’s partnership has blossomed and proved a brilliant match and now we are beginning their competition journey together.

We have been out twice now and I’m delighted with how they have coped. I was schooling Nobby at Medium level when I was riding him so it made sense to go out at Elementary level. Elementary level is quite new to Jodie and as I always say, it’s the first proper level of dressage, it’s busy with technical movements and less of a showing class.
Jodie rode Nobby amazingly and although the scores weren’t huge, they were only lowered by little things like circle size,accuracy and basically building competition togetherness.
I’m excited for their future as Nobby is already showing he has the talent to learn the Grand Prix movements…… lucky Jodie.

I’m really proud of Jodie. She’s nearly been with me two years and has learnt so much by riding my horses and competing 3 different horses thus building herself a great career. I would expect Nobby and Jodie to be competing at medium level in 5 months which is a great achievement for Jodie as she gets ready to begin her journey as a coach.

15/04/2026

Not hard to guess where we are today.

12/04/2026

We are looking for someone to do a full day Saturday 8am-5pm looking after our 8 horses.

Applicant needs to be over 18 years old and needs to understand what working with horses is about as I need to trust you with my prize possessions. It’s hard work but rewarding and a lovely place to be.

Full training will be given but experience with big horses is needed even though our horses are very well behaved.

The day will consist of mucking out, putting horses on walker and turning out, Poo picking fields, making feeds, filling haynets and weighing them plus keeping the yard looking professional at all times

You will be rubbing shoulders with Olympic dressage trainers and some top equine professionals in their field so it’s a great place to expand your knowledge.

This is a professional competition yard so we have a strict routine for the horses welfare and happiness which needs to be adhered to.

Please drop me a message if you would like to know more.

We are based in Helmshore, Rossendale.

24/03/2026

Let’s talk about Saddles fitters!

It’s a tough subject isn’t it?

I have settled at last with Helen from North Yorkshire saddles. She’s doing a super job for my horses and I have checked this out by following her saddle fitting days with a back specialist to check her work.
Just being a nice person isn’t enough for me to trust the professionals I use. I am a hard customer to please with trust that is hard to get.
After 8 months, Helen has finally gained my trust and past all my scrupulous checks. I’m therefore happy and proud of her work to offer a saddle fitting clinic at my yard.

This will happen on Sunday April 26th.

Helen can check any make of saddle and will reflock it on site so no waiting without a saddle for weeks. She’s also carries with her a full range of Aviar saddles if you wanted to experience the feel of the saddle chosen by many professionals.

The problem I see as a travelling coach is the rider always goes back to the same saddle fitter when they suspect the saddle doesn’t fit after a saddle fit. I go to a different saddle fitter to get a second opinion….well I did but now I don’t have to.

If to would like to come along to my yard and use my facilities free of charge, have a cuppa and let Helen look at your saddle, please get in touch and let’s make this a pain free day for both you and your horse.

02/03/2026

Got a bitting issue?

📣We have Ema Baxter visiting us on Thursdays 12th March

📍Venue - My home 590 Free Lane, Helmshore, Rossendale, Lancashire. BB4 4LT

Ema is unique as a specialist, she will look at all the issues you are having with the the way of going of your horse. Assessing his willingness to accept the bit as a friend and communication tool.

Ema is not a bit fitter, there’s a massive difference. She doesn’t just fit the bit to the anatomy of your horse’s mouth as most bitting problems aren’t that simple. Just because the bit matches the shape of your horse’s mouth doesn’t mean he works perfectly in it, there’s vastly more to it than that and Ema has years of experience for helping so many problems go away.

You might have seen the story about JC my horse. He was very defensive in his mouth and was never still. Ema asked me to take an x-ray of his jaw which revealed on old injury, this then gave us a better understanding and a plan was made to rehab JC’s mindset to accepting the bit and becoming more settled. We started with a Mylee combination bit to take the pressure away from his mouth and have slowly progressed to a hanging cheek snaffle. Ema is her on the 24th to reassess JC and investigate if there is an extra step to take next to further improve his trust for the bit.

Ema has travelled internationally at the request of professional riders to help them resolve problems when they have run out of ideas. Here she is in Lancashire to help us.

We only have a few places left so send me a message if you want to join in.

07/02/2026

Help needed.

I want to buy some pole raisers for pole work but which are the best.

Let’s be truthful, who gets off every time a pole moves to straighten it?

What are the best good secure pole raisers that take a knock and don’t move? I do poles but once the horse has clouted them I don’t get off to straighten them. I leave a sequence of poles set up in my arena to use as a warm up as part of my warm up but once they are out of line, I abandon them until the next horse.

What works best at keeping poles rises but in place? I have cheap potties but I find the poles dole out of these easily.

(Photo for effect, this is not me)

15/01/2026

Today Vinny did a thing!

Vinny is fast becoming a very exciting ride for me. Every day I ride him, I fall a little more under his spell. He’s clever, happy, beautiful and deserves some wheels so we can enter some pony dancing parties.

The problem is he’s always traveled in a trailer so it’s time to train him to load in to my happily into my horsebox. This is how it went.

It’s a result! He didn’t get upset, there was no stress and he continued to load 9 times. Tomorrow I will shut him in the partition and give him a haynet full of treats. Saturday we will go on a journey.

He was so grown up today that he deserves his full name Vincent.

11/01/2026

Happy new year all.

Can I tell you about my last visit from Angela Holland (see photo to understand who she is) before Christmas. Angela treated 3 of my horses and I wish we had filmed the whole session to compare the before and after. Each horse made a dramatic change easy to see as I ride or lunge them before and after Angela treatment.

When a new horse joins me, I like to ride him for 3 to 4 weeks and see what I have, then make a plan. Angela was my plan. Nobby is such a happy horse in his stable and to handle but his temperament dramatically changes when you sit on him. He goes into alert mode with his focus on everything other than you sat on top. He spooks, has refused to go forward, bucked and even tried to run through the bridle. He’s totally oblivious to my requests and isn’t open to help from me. But if I patiently work with him doing lots forward easy stuff mixed with lateral work, he slowly starts to give me his mind and his body. I always finish with a soft forward horse with sideways ears showing relaxation. Ears for me tell me a huge amount. At the beginning Nobby’s ears are pinned forward and never on his work. His trot strides are short and choppy as he is bracing the whole of his body but after a canter to each rein, he starts to loosen up and I get a glimpse of what’s to come. The feel down the reins is awful at the beginning, he is absolutely ridged and has developed a concrete mouth, again this totally changes by the end of my ride.

I relayed all this information to Angela along with the information that came with him from his previous owner. The equine physio that cared for Nobby in his previous home could never find anything wrong with him which would explain his blocked behaviour. Angela watched him move and agreed that he’s just not moving his back at all. When treating him, Angela found a very very sore horse whose rigidity had clearly built up over time. Angela freed up Nobbys back which at first Nobby didn’t like. He had been suppressing a lot of pain which means it isn’t going to be a quick fix to get the same happy horse in the stable, happy under saddle too.

Angela gave us stretching exercises to do and before I ride him we have to use a massage gun on his back directly behind the saddle. I decided to do more, so I’m equissaging his back whilst we use the massage gun before riding and then 3 times per week I am using my PEMF Pulse machine on his full body. As I’m in no rush, I decided to lunge him one day, ride him the next. Slowly but surly Nobby is improving. He’s not happily moving forward yet at the beginning but his spooking has dramatically reduced and no antics at all. I’m getting a lovely swinging horse after about 20 minutes instead of after 40 minutes.

So all in all things are looking up for Nobby. I’m excited and determined to show Nobby he can be that happy little horse when he’s ridden too. This is going to take so much time but that’s ok as this is what I love doing. It’s a lovely thing to feel, Turning horses into the best versions of themselves. Plus there’s no better feeling than a successful competition on a horse you have nurtured back from a very dark place.

Angela visits my yard every 6 weeks and I invite anyone wanting to see Angela to use my facilities (book directly with Angela). After hosting these clinics for a while now, I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “my physio says there’s nothing wrong with his back,” only to discover the opposite.
What I like about Angela is she will explain to you what she has found and show you. You can then see it for yourself as there no voodoo going on.

11/01/2026