True Connection Horse Training - Lucie Klaassen

31/08/2026

My horse Jajão has settled in a herd of 8. He seems to be really comfortable with his new friends.

When I want to get him from the field, usually all the horses come and say hi. They sometimes crowd me, and then I have to set my boundaries...

How do you feel when horses come too close?
Do you step backwards because you don’t feel safe?
Or do you send them out of your space?
And afterward, you wonder if you were too strong, and you feel guilty.

My horses can come very close because I know they respect my personal space. I tell them ‘You are 600 kilos and I’m less than 60 kilos, so don’t run me over’!

Watch this 1-minute video showing how I got Jajão from the field😂

I’ll be doing a workshop next week September 7th about this topic: How to create your space to feel safe and confident.

Can you let me know what is your number 1 challenge?

When does your horse come into your space? Getting your horse from the field? When leading your horse? In groundwork? Work in hand? Liberty? On a circle? Changing directions? Lungeing? Leaning into you? Making the circle smaller?

Let me know in the comments and I’ll include it in next weeks workshop!

If you already know you want to join the workshop, comment ‘clarity’😊

01/08/2026

19/07/2026

From the bottom of my heart: thank you💛!

More than 5,000 copies of Wired 4 Connection have now been sold in over 20 countries.

Five thousand people who were curious about creating a deeper connection with their horse.

Five thousand opportunities to bring more softness, safety and understanding into the horse world.

I had never written a book before. I only knew that I wanted to share what my own nervous-system journey—and my journey with my horse—had taught me.

That connection begins with feeling safe.

And that when we learn to regulate ourselves, we can become the safe place our horse wants to return to.

Your messages have made me smile, cry and feel deeply grateful. Hearing how the book has helped you experience more peace, joy and connection with your horse is the greatest gift I could receive.

Thank you for trusting me.
Thank you for supporting this work.
And thank you for helping me create a ripple effect of compassion for horses around the world.

Have you read Wired 4 Connection and would you like to share something about your experience? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear what the book has meant to you, what you have discovered, or what has changed in the connection with your horse. 🤍

Your story might be exactly what another horse person needs to read today.

04/07/2026

I believe in the combination of training and gentle bodywork. It both brings the qualities of softness and freedom of movement into the horse's body, just in another form.

When we feel sore or tense, we can go to a yoga class or a therapist. But what about your horse?

Of course you can call a physiotherapist or another bodyworker, but what if you can do a bit of 'maintenance' whenever your horse needs it?

For instance, when your horse shows some tension, or is distracted. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you could help your horse release tension and reconnect with you?

That's why I'm doing a workshop about The Power of Soft Touch.

I'll share the science behind it and we'll explore how your touch can become softer and more connected. You'll learn how to release your own tension first so that you can show up in full presence for your horse.

And you will learn four simple, powerful techniques that you can use with your own horse straight away.

This workshop is for you if you not only want to train your horse, but also want to support them to feel safer and more free in their body.

🌿 Workshop Details
Date: Monday, July 6
Time: 8pm CEST
Join here: https://trueconnection.lucieklaassen.com/OpenGate_Workshop_July6
(recording included)

The workshop is included for Open Gate members.

29/06/2026

Link in bio!

I believe that every good horse training has two parts:

1. Trust, connection and communication.
You need to feel calm and confident enough to guide your horse.
Your horse needs to feel safe enough to connect and learn.

When both of you feel safe and connected, it naturally ‘opens the gate’ for learning, confidence and new possibilities.

All this is covered in the Open Gate Community

2. Physical training.
Once that foundation is there, we can start to educate the horse’s body.
Your horse needs to develop balance, strength and flexibility, so they can carry themselves, and eventually carry you, in a healthy way.

Most training programs focus on only one of these aspects.

They either focus on connection and relaxation, but don’t go deep enough into the physical education of the horse.

Or they focus on movements and techniques, but forget that the nervous system, trust and communication are the foundation underneath.

I wanted my work to hold both. A holistic training path. In a clear order.

That is exactly why I created Movement Mastery.

Are you ready to help your horse become stronger, more balanced and more supple through lateral movements from the ground?

Inside Movement Mastery, you get access to:

* Lateral Movements Simplified: the roadmap from connection to collection
* Monthly live Train Your Eye sessions
* Personal video feedback
* Lateral Movements Community for questions and support

Today is the last day to join the founding group of Movement Mastery.

This is for max 30 people, so I can actually watch your videos.

If you join today, you get a super bonus: FREE access to everything in Open Gate!

Would love to see you inside.

Link in bio.

22/06/2026

✨ Sign up: https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/shoulder-in

Shoulder-in is known as “the aspirin of dressage”, because of the many benefits for building strength and balance. However, it’s also where most people get stuck when they start doing gymnastic exercises in groundwork.

I did a masterclass last week called ‘Balanced Horse in Mind & Body’, and more than 1600 people signed up.

Afterward, I read through more than 200 comments and questions. One pattern kept coming back, over and over: shoulder-in and haunches-in, and all the challenges they had with these foundation exercises.

So I decided to do a follow-up masterclass specifically focussed on shoulder-in and haunches-in to answer all these questions!

Do you recognize this as well:
- Is your horse overbending the neck?
- Drifting over the outside shoulder?
- Going sideways without bend?
- Coming off the track?
- Not engaging the hind legs?

I’ll answer all of this, and more, on June 25th.

This session is live only, so I can actually answer your questions as they come up.

✨ Sign up: https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/shoulder-in

16/06/2026

👉👉 I have sent more than 100 personal messages with the link (because the automation did not work 😎)

You can sign up for the replay for free:
https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/movement_mastery
It will bring you straight to the replay!
Much love,
Lucie

Can you see the difference?

Sometimes you have to observe your horse from an unusual angle to see the difference from one side to the other.

When you start to train your eye, you begin to see things you may have missed before.

In this video of Jajão from above, you can clearly see the difference between his right shoulder and his left shoulder.

Every horse has natural imbalances.

And if we want to help our horse become stronger, straighter and more balanced, the first step is to notice.

Where does my horse carry more weight?
Is the angle of both shoulders the same?
Can my horse bend equally to the left and right?

Once you can see the imbalance, your training becomes more clear.

In my free masterclass on June 18th, I’ll share more about:

horizontal imbalance
vertical imbalance
lateral imbalance

And how you can recognize these patterns in your own horse.

I will also share how you can support your horse with gymnastic groundwork exercises. Join me if you want to help your horse become more balanced from the ground.

Free masterclass — June 18th
A Balanced Horse in Mind & Body

Comment ‘Free’

13/06/2026

👉👉 You can now get the replay for free:
https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/movement_mastery
It will bring you straight to the replay!
Much love,
Lucie

Your horse can’t go to the gym. But you can bring the gym to your horse. In fact you can use your horse’s bodyweight😇.

That’s exactly why shoulder-in is one of the most powerful exercises in lateral work.

When you place the shoulders in front of the inside hind leg, that leg has to step under the body weight. Every single step becomes a weightlifting rep. That’s how simple I like to explain it...

I have been running the 6-month Lateral Movements Simplified course 8 times in a row, and the 9th cohort is finishing up the end of this month. But here’s what I noticed after running this course for more than four years: Modules 1 and 2 went well. And then came shoulder-in.

This is where quite a few people got stuck. Not because they aren’t capable. Not because their horse can’t do it. But because most people needed more support. They wanted eyes on their timing, their positioning and their horse’s body. And when they couldn’t do shoulder in, they did not move to the next modules about haunches in, half pass, renvers etc.

That’s why I’m super excited to be opening something new: Movement Mastery, a membership with only 30 spots where you can submit videos for feedback every single month. Not a fixed 6-month program, but a monthly support system where you can follow your horse’s rhythm.

No need to get stuck at shoulder in anymore because you you feel you are not ready for the next step haunches in. You can submit your video for shoulder in 3 months in a row if that’s where you and your horse need more time.

I’m hosting a free masterclass on June 18th where I’ll share the three main challenges with shoulder-in and how to solve them.

And at the end, I will open my brand new Movement Mastery program for 30 people. Because this is the first time, there will be a special offer.

Register here to get the replay: https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/movement_mastery

11/06/2026

Shoulder-in with just a neckrope.

The first try?

Not so smooth 😅

Our communication wasn’t clear yet.
My timing was not quite right.
And Jajão wasn’t fully sure what I was asking.

So I took a breath.
We tried again.

And the second time… there it was.

Soft. Clear. Easy.

This is what I love so much about lateral movements.

They are not about force.
They are not about pulling on the reins.
They are not about making the horse “perform.”

They start much earlier.

First, we need connection, trust and clear communication.

Then we educate the horse from the ground, so they understand how to move their shoulders, haunches and body in balance.

And then, when we ride, the lateral movements can become a conversation.

No struggle.
No pulling.
No tension.

Just two bodies listening to each other.

In my free masterclass A Balanced Horse in Mind & Body, I’ll show you how this all starts from the ground — and why lateral movements are such a beautiful way to help your horse become stronger, more balanced and more confident.

Join me for the free masterclass on June 18th.
https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/movement_mastery

08/06/2026

👉 The Masterclass is over. Sign up to get the replay for free! https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/movement_mastery

Lateral movements don’t have to be complicated.

Many people think shoulder-in, haunches-in and other lateral movements are only for high-level dressage riders…

But at the heart of it, it’s actually very simple:

Can you invite the shoulders towards you and away from you?
Can you invite the haunches towards you and away from you?

When your horse starts to understand these simple building blocks, you can use them to help your horse become straighter, more balanced and easier to guide.

If the shoulders fall out, you can invite them back.
If the haunches drift away, you can invite them back.

This is why I love teaching lateral movements from the ground.
Not as “fancy dressage exercises,” but as clear communication that helps your horse understand their own body.

I’ll be teaching more about this in my free masterclass:

A Balanced Horse in Mind & Body
June 18th

Join me if you want to learn how groundwork and lateral movements can help your horse build strength, confidence and healthy movement from the ground.

👉 https://event.webinarjam.com/channel/movement_mastery