28/02/2025
Perhaps seeking the impossible 🦄🦄🦄HORSE SHARE🦄🦄🦄 but here goes...
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Freelance groom/rider looking for - a sane and sensible horse share for weekly dressage lessons with GP rider and coach Daisy Coakley. Bonus would be for an occasional weekend leisurely hack, but not a deal breaker.
As a minimum needs to be straight and have the basics covered, and could benefit from development and fitness. The dream would be for something more advanced that loves their work and could one day help me progress up to medium and perhaps beyond. For the right horse i.e one that gives me opportunity to get some competition experience, there could be the potential for me to pay Daisy to school your horse occasionally to help us both develop further and/or to take on more share rides.
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Location - Ideally within the Rickmansworth / Hemel / St Albans / Berkhamstead area, but elsewhere might be considered. Use of an arena/school needed or for there to be one local to you.
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What you get - a reliable sharer who will do what they say they will, when they say they will 👌 and will ALWAYS put the welfare of the horse first 🫶 (references available). Someone who will exercise/school your horse on a regular day, under the expert eye/guidance of her empathetic coach who has produced and competed on horses up to Grand Prix and who regularly trains with Gareth Hughes.
Financial contribution and/or some stable duties possible, including clipping/trimming or a monthly stable/yard/tack deep clean. Weekly stable duties would only be possible around my regular freelance commitments, but there could be the potential to provide occasional yard holiday cover.
You would also get a rider who is 100% dedicated to improving; as well as training with Daisy I will be resuming regular mechanical horse lessons back in Sussex with my previous coach to asses rider-biomechanics and get personal training exercises for better suppleness/tone. I also partake in weekly pilates lessons at Equitopia. Recently I had a lesson on GP schoolmaster at Aster Horses in Kent - until I have found a more local steed to ride, I plan to treat myself 💸 to the odd lesson and long drive there.
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About me - I'm 6ft, 72kg, 40 something who has had horses in my life since 14. I am a self-confessed happy hacker with some basic schooling skills. I'd started regular dressage lessons back in Sussex on my sensitive 17.2hh rescued Hannovarian (the handsome horse in photo) and had ambitions to get some arena experience at novice/prelim then progress. Sadly we never got our chance to get out between white boards together 😢 as arthritis in my boy’s hocks developed to the stage where I had to stop chasing those dreams before eventually saying goodbye.
I started working a few days a week as a freelance groom/rider after moving to North London and missing horses too much. Last year I met Daisy, found myself a share and had planned on having regular lessons with her. These days said share is enjoying a more leisurely semi-retirement full of pampering, carrots 🥕🥕🥕 and gentle hacks.
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Ambitions - I have plans to buy something special in Spring 2026 ( aiming to move to Hertfordshire this year first), but until then I'm looking to resume regular lessons on a schoolmaster sort, so that Daisy can continue to reprogramme my too low “hacker hands” and turn them into sensitive grand prix hands. I also want to become lighter and more effective/precise with all my aids. I have been told I have a stable seat/leg position. Basically, I have all the drive and desire to improve as a rider, but zero confidence and no steed to help me currently on my dressage training journey!
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Your horse - I have ridden as small as a 15.3hh horse at work but these long legs prefer them taller, so ideally 17hh plus, but anything over 16hh could work if stocky. I’ve ridden my fair share of spicy horses (my previous horse before my boy was a hot-headed 16.3 TB x Hannovarian retired BS/Foxhunter ) but now in my 40’s and noticeably less bouncy, I would prefer less drama and more sanity.
A wise-headed, confidence-giving, athletic sort that still has a 🌟 sparkle in their eye and spring in their step (as would need to be a competition type) would be ideal.
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Next steps??? If I have sparked your interest (even in the slightest), please PM me to explore a quick chat and discuss what could work for us both - with zero pressure for either party. I only have a handful of videos of me riding that I can share and appreciate that a trial ride would eventually be required (everyone has to click, you, me and the horse 🤞)
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As said previously, I appreciate that I'm probably seeking a total 🦄 but "if you don't ask you certainly won't get", so worth a long shot 🙏.
Please feel free to share with thanks.
*Photo of me with my previous horse Rocky for attention*
