HerdLeader Riding Coach + Simulator

05/05/2025

Learning opportunities…

Today, with the help of a friend, I took my very nearly 2yo Trooper out in the lorry for the second time. He was accompanied by his palomino buddy, Teller.

We took them for a walk of less than 4 km and it took nearly an hour… there was lots to see 🤷‍♀️

We were passing a shooting range… I hadn’t realised just how close it was to the bridleway and in fact that it was there at all! As we got a few metres away the shotguns started firing, about a dozen in all. It would have been very tempting to turn back but knowing that Telly would be OK I decided to continue. It was a really good situation to introduce a young horse;

🐴 the gun points in the same direction and away from us
🐴 the gun stays in the same place
🐴 there are no beaters, dogs, hangers-on unlike with a real shoot

I truly believe that horses need to get used to these things and being able to ride out on shoot days is a great life skill ✅

With Jo Szegota and Dawn Crawford

Ps. Didn’t take any photos but here are the little angels back home

02/05/2025

This post says it better than I ever could ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

I also think some people suit one method and others, like me, are magpies!

THE AUDACITY OF TRUSTING OURSELVES…

Occasionally, I’ll hear someone say that it’s better to pick one method and learn it really well, rather than gather from a variety of sources.

I don’t agree with that at all.

That’s a really good way to get stuck doing something that may not be right for a horse.

The problem isn’t that we learn too many methods and confuse ourselves or our horses, the problem is, when we apply them indiscriminately, convinced to trust a method rather than our gut.

The truth is, nobody has it all figured out.

And even the ones who’ve figured out a particular horse, or a couple horses, or a couple hundred horses, or a couple thousand horses, those people are often successful precisely because they’re willing to adapt to each horse.

I run into horses once every hundred or once every thousand, who completely throw me for a loop.

Which is why I’ve learned to be so reluctant to say, “I always,” or, “I never.” It’s why I don’t critique or give advice out of context online.

I’ve been encouraged to package how I do things, and I’ve always pushed back against that. In part, because I have no ‘system.’ I’m constantly evolving, as well as adapting to each horse.

Also, because I’ve seen horseman after horseman lock themselves into a ‘system’ and stop evolving, or not allow themselves or their students to adapt to individual horses.

I’ve been thinking for awhile about what my role might be, however small, in the horse community.

I think it’s to encourage others to have the audacity to teach themselves, and trust themselves.

I’d like to invite those of us who pride ourselves on being perpetual learners, to trust ourselves when we start getting the feeling that something isn’t right.

Somewhere along the way, the ethos of, “It’s always the humans fault,” while giving us a wake up call that we are part of the problem, has devolved into not trusting ourselves to make decisions around what’s best for our horses at all.

Maybe the solution for this is to stop trying to start from scratch.

To stop doubting ourselves so much.

New ideas are great.
Taking responsibility is great.

But we can layer new ideas on top of what we’ve learned and experienced so far.

We’ve come so far. We’ve made so many good decisions.

Let’s have the audacity to trust ourselves again.

This doesn’t mean we don’t challenge ourselves.

After all, the definition of consilience is not sourcing only that which validates our opinions, but a convergence from vastly different and independent sources.

01/05/2025

For those of you who don’t know my herd, I thought I should do some new introductions. Starting with Teller who is 19 years old today 🎂

He is a New Forest pony that I bought 11 years ago as a summer project - who was I kidding 🤷‍♀️, I can’t sell a 🐴 and could never part with this little 😇

He is a trustworthy little worker, mostly in charge of dog walking, entertaining children and nannying younger horses - Trooper is his current pedagogy!

Last weekend he stood in for another of my horses on a clinic where he did lance work (a long heavy pole used as a weapon/see jousting) and was an alround 🌟

They don’t make many ponies as good as this… or as cute 🧡

With Jo Szegota

20/04/2025

I have heard really good things about this course and quite agree with Kate.

So many people struggle with hacking and I believe it is one of the trickiest things we can set out to do with our horses. Even on a familiar route you can come across all sorts of ‘obstacles’!

Join this 2023 Art of Hacking course now https://softandsound.org/online-horse-training/premium-coaching-1/Only 20 spaces available 10 weeks of video, and we...

10/04/2025

Trooper is my nearly 2yo and we have been practising lorry loading.

We have also started playing with liberty.

Today we combined the two and he loaded himself… unfortunately he bumped his head 🤕 Hopefully it won’t put him off 🚛

With Jo Szegota

06/04/2025

Today’s play for Trooper was ☂️

Face. Bothered. No of course not, even though he has probably never seen one before. He’s proving to have a true Rocky temperament 🧡

With Jo Szegota

02/04/2025

Just a reminder for anyone wanted to spectate at Arne’s clinic at the end of April… please purchase your tickets ASAP. Spaces are limited and tickets won’t be available the week before…. Just to give me enough time to organise everything!

Link for tickets -

Buying a single Simulator ticket should be straightforward. To book a discounted block on the Simulator please buy a ‘Pass’ and then allocate your three session to the available dates (you don’t have to do them all at the same time, just log back in when you are ready). For lessons and other c...

28/03/2025

A fabulous ☀️ day for Lydia E R Rillie to come over for an Intensive Tune-up consisting of;

🌟 ridden session
🌟 simulator session
🌟 Masterson Method & SURE FOOT Equine Pad session

Lovely to be working with someone who has such detailed Ride With Your Mind vocabulary - great changes made.

And all this on a borrowed horse (own horse lame) and just 12 weeks after having a gorgeous little 👶

With Jo Szegota & Racewood Limited

13/03/2025

🐴 politics… far more interesting than human politics!

I made a new hay feeder at the weekend. The horses have had access to other hay piles but this is a good ‘overflow’ which stays unaffected by ☔️

What is fascinating is how quickly they have learnt to arrange themselves so that they can all feed at the same time. The bay mare has a very large personal space bubble. She 😍 the grey gelding and the c**t with the blonde hairdo. She doesn’t like the bay and palomino ponies… they don’t like her much either.

The grey is a good herd leader and is used to standing guard, particularly over the 31yo bay pony.

So, as predicated bay mare has half the feeder and the four boys stand quietly on the other side. Everybody is happy!

Oh, and the feeder is working really well and is easily moved around with a small 🚜

With Jo Szegota

10/03/2025

Arne Koets Clinic 25-27 April

Auditing tickets are now available to buy -

Buying a single Simulator ticket should be straightforward. To book a discounted block on the Simulator please buy a ‘Pass’ and then allocate your three session to the available dates (you don’t have to do them all at the same time, just log back in when you are ready). For lessons and other c...

10/03/2025

Trooper is 21 months old and learning some important life skills.

He is also teaching me… showing just how little brace a horse can have in its body. He also has almost no ‘no’… sometimes he says hmm and thinks but then the answer is always yes.

Here is he doing first turnaround like a pro. He has probably worn a headcollar less than 20 times since he arrived last summer. Just look at how little pressure it takes to suggest what I want 🌟

With Jo Szegota