Solid Foundation Equestrian

Solid Foundation Equestrian Horse training with a balance of Natural Horsemanship and English Riding with an emphasis on building trust and connection leading to a strong partnership.

I’m an experienced horsewoman having over 25 years in the equestrian field, with the majority of this time spent starting, training and competing horses for all English disciplines. I have a wealth of knowledge and experience gained from a variety of equestrian professionals as well as a background in vet nursing, farming and animal husbandry enabling me to develop a holistic approach to producing

horses. I am qualified in equine studies/sport horse, coaching and agriculture, as well as being a National Show Hunter judge. I believe building trust and connection are the foundation blocks to a successful partnership. I offer the following services:

• Handling foals, halter and lead training and preparing them for farriers and vets.

• Float training

• Pre starting

• Starting (putting under saddle)

• Bringing horses back into work

• Schooling

• Giving life experience (farm experience can be included)

• Providing competition experience (showing, show hunter, show jumping, dressage)

• Coaching/lessons

✨Just one of THOSE days at the yard!✨With my lovely feed-out queen and mucker-outer down with the 🤮🤮 bug, it's a solo mi...
14/09/2025

✨Just one of THOSE days at the yard!✨

With my lovely feed-out queen and mucker-outer down with the 🤮🤮 bug, it's a solo mission today!
That's 10 horses to work and 14 to muck out and feed... 💪🐴

As if that wasn't enough, Loki the cat decided to “gift” me something truly special—left neatly on top of the hay where I’d be sure to put my hand.
Thanks for the support, Loki... 🤢🙄🤦🏼‍♀️

Running on caffeine, muck, and sheer determination today! 💥
(mostly 😅)

12/09/2025

🐴 Meet Inka 🦄

Inka has joined me for some confidence-building out hacking and to install a few important “buttons” to help her very busy owner with getting going more easily!

I was told Inka can be a bit pushy on the ground and quite spooky — and she certainly made her feelings known from the start. She wasn’t too fussed about where I was, and was much more interested in everything happening around her than in connecting with me.

At first, I had to be very clear and intentional in my energy to stop her from walking through me — I needed to be assertive, but fair, to help her understand where my space began. Eventually, she started to listen, and we ended that session with her respecting my boundaries.

The next day, I brought her into the round pen to see if we could soften things and begin to build a more trusting connection. But her mind kept "leaving the classroom" — so we went back to the foundations.

We started with basic groundwork patterns to help her come back to herself and begin learning how to self-regulate. As expected, she kept trying to mentally — and sometimes physically — check out. But bit by bit, trust began to grow.

Through careful guidance, she learned to find relaxation with different tools: starting with the flag, then the mat, plastic bag, umbrella, and shaker. But it’s never about the tools themselves — it’s about helping her manage her emotions and find calm in real-life, potentially scary scenarios.

There’s still progress to be made, but the very last bit of the video shows something really special — the beginning of her healing journey. You can actually see the moment she drops into a state of calm, just before I stopped filming. That’s where the true transformation begins 💜

08/09/2025

✨Happy Rehoming Update!✨

One of the absolute best parts of what I do is getting updates on the horses I’ve rehomed — and this one truly warms my heart. 💛

Tui has settled beautifully into her new home and has taken on a very important role: helping teach the next generation! She’s already proving to be a patient, kind, and reliable partner for her young rider, who has come such a long way already. 🌟

It's so clear Tui is loving her new family — and honestly, what kid wouldn’t want to ride their pony home from school?! 🐴🎒

These are the moments that make it all worthwhile. 🥰

03/09/2025

We did it!! 🥳🐴

I hopped on Stella for the very first time today — and WOW, what a moment! 💫

She was SO much more settled compared to the last video. It’s incredible how far she’s come in such a short time. This big step wasn’t a worry for her at all — she trusted me completely and even took me for a little walk around the yard to explore. 🥰

I chose to hop on ba****ck and with just a rope halter — no saddle, no bridle — to help keep things as simple and comfortable as possible for her. Starting this way allows her to stay relaxed and focused, without the distraction of unfamiliar gear. It’s all about building trust and confidence together, step by step. 💛

Mounting will continue to improve too. Soon she’ll be standing still at the mounting block as long as I need her to. But today, curiosity got the better of her… she just HAD to check out my boots first! 🤣

What a cool wee horse she is. So proud of her progress! 💪

01/09/2025

🚨 Meet Stella! 🚨

This lovely lady has just started her journey of getting started under saddle with me, and I’m already so impressed! 😍👏🏻 Stella is incredibly smart and a quick learner — she’s come such a long way in such a short time since arriving.

She has mastered the art of the resting bitch face 😆 and definitely likes to have her say, but underneath that sass is a genuine desire to please. 💁‍♀️❤️

She had some bodywork done with the talented Karolina at KAD Concept Bodywork at the end of last week to iron out some sore spots, so now it's time for the next big step… hopping on board! 🐎✨

I’m excited to see how this clever girl continues to progress — watch this space! 🌟

Yes Freya, you CAN still be a fancy, toe-flicking dressage horse AND walk through a bit of mud in the gateway! 😅Yesterda...
28/08/2025

Yes Freya, you CAN still be a fancy, toe-flicking dressage horse AND walk through a bit of mud in the gateway! 😅

Yesterday, Freya was faced with a great challenge... mud. And not just ANY mud—GATEWAY mud! She pulled out every excuse in the book to avoid it and was absolutely convinced that such terrain was beneath her elegant hooves 😂

But with a bit of gentle encouragement and giving her the time she needed to think it through, she bravely inched her way through. 🥰

On the way home, though? She decided to take a shortcut and jumped it instead—perhaps she's got a future in showjumping too! 🤭

Freya is here to learn some life skills beyond the arena, and she’s already come such a long way. It’s amazing to see her start to gain confidence in new environments 🌿

20/08/2025

Meet Lu – Our Little Superstar in the Making! 🌟🦄

Karolina Anna Dyszy and I are absolutely loving working with this stunning wee project pony, Lu, as we produce her with the goal of eventually finding her the perfect forever home 🏡💛.

This week marked a big milestone — Lu had her very first outing, and would you believe it was only the third time she’s ever been jumped AND her first time seeing cross country fences?! 😱🙌

We had no expectations, just wanted to give her a good experience… but wow, did she step up to the challenge! Brave, honest, and giving it everything — Lu absolutely blew us away 😍👏🏻

We both just adore this little pocket rocket and are so excited for her future. She’s got heart, talent, and the sweetest attitude — what more could you want?

Watch this space — we think Lu is going to be something really special! 💫

🌷🌞Whispers of Spring🌞🌷Though snow ❄️ still rests on the hilltops and frost clings to the ground,there are quiet signs th...
16/08/2025

🌷🌞Whispers of Spring🌞🌷

Though snow ❄️ still rests on the hilltops and frost clings to the ground,
there are quiet signs that the seasons are shifting.

Lambs 🐑 and calves 🐄 play across the paddocks,
nursing from their mothers, full of energy and promise.

A soft shimmer of green is beginning to spread through the grass,
hinting at warmer days to come. 🌞

The weight of winter 🥶 still lingers —mud-caked gumboots, layered Merino,
and the last of the wet-weather gear 🥾

But by midday, there’s a hint of warmth 🔥 , and the horses 🐎 have started to shed their coats —often leaving me wearing more hair than they do.

Blossom 🌸 trees 🌳 are beginning to bloom,
soft bursts of pink 🩷and white 🤍standing out against grey🩶 skies,
gentle reminders that spring 🌷 is on its way.

Show schedules 📆 are filling the calendar again,
and the brushes are back in full swing
as we begin to bring coats back to a shine.

It’s not quite spring — not yet —but it’s near enough to feel it in the air 🩵

And after a long, cold season,
that small shift is something to celebrate! 🥳

13/08/2025

The stunning Darcy is here for some pre-start handling and a little refresher on manners.

This was only his second session learning how to present himself to be mounted — and I have to say, I was seriously impressed with how naturally trainable he is. 🦄

He picked it up so well that I thought… why not hop on? 🤭

One of his goals while he’s here is to learn to wait patiently at the mounting block — and by the looks of this, I think we’re well on our way. ✔️😍

09/08/2025

Do you remember Levi??!! 🐴✨

Levi came to me last year to be started under saddle, but early on he told us something wasn’t quite right. After a bit of a bronc session, it became clear we needed to take a step back and listen. With his owner’s full support, we teamed up with the incredible Karolina from KAD Concept Bodywork, and together we focused on helping Levi feel his best—body and mind.

Thanks to Karolina’s magic hands and a whole lot of patience, Levi made a huge turnaround. He finished his initial start on such a positive note, offering more and more each day, and clearly proud of what he was achieving. Since then, Karolina has continued working with him and his owner to ensure he was feeling 100% and ready for the next stage in his education.

And this week—Levi came back to “big kids camp” (aka me 😉).

After 8 months off, I was blown away by how much he remembered. We kicked things off with a hack around the farm, where he was exposed to all sorts of new experiences, all made possible by the ever-patient and supportive Tui 🦄—what a legend she is for giving Levi the confidence he needed.

By Day 3, I hopped back on, and I’ll be honest—I didn’t know whether I was about to meet the firecracker 🧨 version of Levi again, or the soft, confident horse I left off with earlier this year. But to my joy (and relief!), I got the absolute best version of Levi.

And I thought to myself: “Wow. I must’ve done something right.”

This week has been a huge reminder that they always default to how they were started.

By taking the time to listen when he told us he was in pain, by riding through the rough moments with compassion and the right support, and by giving him the space to heal—we avoided trauma and built trust.

Seeing it all come together this week has left us all over the moon! 🌙💛

So proud of you, Levi!

A massive thank you to Sally, Levi’s incredible owner, for her trust and unwavering support as we worked through Levi’s challenges. And of course, I wouldn’t be here without Karolina’s magic hands, wisdom, and constant encouragement.It truly takes a team to make the dream work. 🫶🐴

07/08/2025

✨What a week it has been! Every single horse in training is truly making strides, and it's incredibly rewarding to witness their progress.

The spotlight this week shines on Quinn (by Herbie) and Cloe (by Cornets Air)! Both had their first rides yesterday, and I couldn't be more thrilled with how they performed—foot perfect! These two horses are quite different in their own right, yet both embraced this significant step in their training with enthusiasm.

Here’s the key takeaway:
✅ No bucking
✅ No broncos
✅ No rearing
✅ No taking off

While some might see this as uneventful, to me, it’s a true picture of success! My goal is to cultivate kind, willing partners who genuinely enjoy their work, and this journey begins with trust and connection.

I couldn’t be happier with the results! To top it off, both Quinn and Cloe were foot perfect again today (Day 2) in walk, trot, and canter, with just me on their backs in the round pen. Cloe also went on her first hack and was happy out and about!

Here’s to more progress ahead! 🐴💖

The darling Tui has found a loving, forever 🏡 . Just like that! I knew she would be snapped up quickly as horse’s like T...
04/08/2025

The darling Tui has found a loving, forever 🏡 . Just like that! I knew she would be snapped up quickly as horse’s like Tui are a rare find 🦄✨. It is very rewarding seeing that moment when the horse chooses their person. I am looking forward to seeing Tui out in the near future 😍.

Address

306 Mound Road, Broomfield
Amberley
7482

Opening Hours

Monday 8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm
Thursday 8:30am - 5pm
Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+64273634442

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Solid Foundation Equestrian posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Solid Foundation Equestrian:

Shortcuts

Share

Category