McNickle Horsemanship

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McNickle Horsemanship

Freelance horse training & coaching
Based in the North East | UK & Ireland

01/06/2026

Guess it's a ground work day....

28/05/2026

Everyday's a school day. Got to work through a few issues with this little fella today

23/05/2026

Great first day of The Foundation Series. Thanks so much to everyone who has committed to the course. Everyone did great today. Really looking forward to seeing the progress over the next 6 months!

24/04/2026

Off on holiday until 5th May so responses will be slow. Hope you all have a lovely week with your horses. See you when I'm back!

13/04/2026

The Foundation Series is starting in 6 weeks!

This is a structured 6 month programme designed to improve how you and your horse work together, through clear progression and consistent training between sessions.

Sessions run once a month (3 hours), with a strong focus on what happens in between.
Participants submit short weekly video clips, which I review and respond to with clear, practical feedback so progress continues week to week.

The series covers:
– Building clear communication through pressure and release
– Improving balance, coordination and relaxation
– Developing consistent, predictable responses
– Helping horses stay mentally present as pressure increases
– Giving riders a clear system to follow

There are two ways to join:

Full Foundation Series – £795 (option to pay in 3)
6 months, covering groundwork and ridden work as a complete progression
Includes weekly feedback throughout

Groundwork Phase – £295
3 months, focusing purely on groundwork
Same sessions, same structure, focused on building solid foundations before progressing further
Option to upgrade to full ridden progression

Full details can be found in the link in the comments:

06/04/2026

In-Hand Series!

Delighted to announce the next intake is now open.

Did you know that all the key lateral movements; leg yield, shoulder-in, travers, renvers, half-pass and even pirouette, can be taught from just two groundwork patterns with only slight variations?
Over the course of three clinics, I’ll show you how.

Clinic Dates;
• Saturday 18th July
• Saturday 15th August
• Sunday 20th September
Venue: Thornton House Farm, Sutton Ln, Barmby Moor, York

These clinics are suitable for almost any horse over three years old. Ideally they'll have had the basics under saddle. Perhaps you have an older horse you want to keep supple and strong, a ridden horse who struggles to understand the movements, or you simply want more variety and clarity in your training.

Why in-hand work?
It develops strength, flexibility and balance, builds a clearer understanding of the aids, and is achievable even without perfect footing.

Across these small-group clinics, you’ll learn each step progressively, with each session building on the last. Between clinics, you’ll only need around 15–20 minutes of practice three times per week. You’ll also receive weekly support: send me a video once a week and we’ll discuss progress, refinements and troubleshooting to keep you moving forward.

Places are limited and this is a brilliant opportunity to deepen your skills and significantly improve your horse’s way of going.

£250 per person.

Let me know if you'd like a space

01/04/2026

How much training should you give your foal/weanling/yearling?

Here Zoe is doing a great job with her yearling. Basic body control, personal space and following where the lead rope takes him. He can tie up, be groomed, have his feet handled and load onto the horse box.

That's all he needs to know until he's two. Then he can learn a bit more groundwork in preparation for being backed as a three year old. Until then, Zoe just needs to stay consistent in her handling and boundaries and everything should be pretty straightforward 🙂

30/03/2026

Expressions of Interest

After the success of the recent In-Hand series, I am looking for expressions of interest into running it again.

It's a 3 part clinic series each around 4 weeks apart, bringing horse and handler through the patterns and techniques required to teach all the lateral movements In-Hand.

We had really great results with the last intake and will be running a more advanced follow on series for those that have completed the first, looking at transferring the lateral movements into the ridden work.

I would need 8 people and an indoor arena to run the course.

Get in touch if you are interested and we can try to find a suitable venue based on where most people would be travelling from.

27/03/2026

Thank you to everyone for braving the cold to come out to the Working Together Demonstration with myself and Kate Stringer Equine Physiotherapist yesterday evening. It takes a village to keep our horses healthy and happy and if all your professionals are talking and sharing information and ideas it can only be a good thing. Let us know what you thought and if any questions have popped up since!

25/03/2026

Confidence....

I get a lot of messages from people saying they want to build confidence with their horse and my internal reaction is 'I can't give you confidence'.

It got me thinking about what is it that makes confident people confident because it isn't something you can just go and get, and it really isn't something you should try to trick yourself into being. That's when people really do get hurt.

Confidence shows up when you've done and proven the work.

Most of the problems I see aren’t actually confidence problems, they’re moments where the person either feels overwhelmed or gets frustrated. The horse does something they don’t expect and they don’t know what to do.

That’s when emotion takes over.

You either back off because it feels unsafe, or you push harder because you’re frustrated. Neither of those help the horse and often leave both you and the horse in a worse place than when you started.

But if you know what to do… it’s different.
You don’t need to get angry.
You don’t need to panic.
You just respond.

Same as an actor stepping on stage, they might feel nervous beforehand, but once it starts, their preparation takes over.

Being confident with your horse is no different. If you’ve done the groundwork properly, your horse understands pressure, they can regulate themselves.
If you’ve tested things, increased pressure, brought it back down, and repeated it. You know what triggers them and you also know how to help them through it.

Then when something happens when you're riding, you’re not guessing.

You’ve got tools.

That’s where confidence comes from.

Not from trying to feel brave, but from knowing you’re prepared.

You might still feel a bit of nerves getting on, but once you’re there, you know what to do and over time, that’s what builds real confidence.

Photo of a cute donkey I met the other day just because....

Address

Hunters Lodge
Linton-on-Ouse
YO302AH

Telephone

+447367964730

Website

http://mcnicklehorsemanship.co.uk/, https://form.jotform.com/260414177616052

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