When you replace pressure with presence, boundaries become language, not force.
Learn how clear, calm leadership helps your horse feel safe, focused, and willing – the EquiKinder way. 💜
Tag Archives: ethicalhorsetraining
The Power of the Try: How Small Wins Build Big Trust
Recognising your horse’s try builds trust and confidence. When you reward curiosity instead of perfection, trust grows naturally. Learn how EquiKinder’s gentle, feel-based approach helps horses build confidence through softness, timing, and understanding. 💜
Sally & Freya – Session 5.2
Helping a Shutdown Horse https://youtu.be/wnSLeDvajEA This session is rider coaching in real time. I’m guiding Freya to read the horse and to notice her own body in space. We treat pressure and release as a shared language: a dance of ask, answer, and pause. Feel is how we listen; timing and clarity are how weContinueContinue reading “Sally & Freya – Session 5.2”
Sally & Freya – Session 5.1
Helping a Shutdown Horse https://youtu.be/x3W9y00D6Qg This session captures a quiet but powerful shift in Sally’s emotional state. In earlier work, she tended to freeze or dissociate under pressure – giving the “right” answer without truly feeling it. Today, we see the beginning of something new: subtle engagement, thoughtful tries, and real-time communication through movement. It’sContinueContinue reading “Sally & Freya – Session 5.1”
Sally & Freya – Session 4
Helping a Shutdown Horse https://youtu.be/Y09u9Up8qPs This session marks a real turning point in Sally’s training journey. While earlier sessions focused on building trust, connection, and giving Sally choice, we’re now laying down real foundations: consistency, communication, clarity, and essential groundwork skills. It’s still slow and thoughtful, but now we’re laying bricks instead of just clearingContinueContinue reading “Sally & Freya – Session 4”
Sally & Freya – Session 3
Helping a Shutdown Horse https://youtu.be/43XRMdWBlgo In this solo EquiTrain session without Freya, I spent time deeply observing and exploring where Sally is truly at. This session became a rich opportunity to gather data, reflect, and meet her honestly in the moment. What unfolded confirmed something I’ve been sensing: while confidence-building is still on the horizon,ContinueContinue reading “Sally & Freya – Session 3”
Sally & Freya – Session 2
Helping a Shutdown Horse https://youtu.be/gttsDIp02tA In Session 2 of Sally’s 8-week EquiKinder journey, I dive deeper into her subtle responses to pressure, emotional shutdown, and signs of a possible fawn response. As Freya and I work through groundwork basics like steady pressure, rhythmic motion, and confidence-building exercises, I begin to question whether Sally’s initial shutdownContinueContinue reading “Sally & Freya – Session 2”
Sally & Freya – Session 1
Helping a Shutdown Horse https://youtu.be/KeIS8NKx0Dg Welcome to the first session of our EquiKinder journey with Sally, a sensitive, shutdown Brumby mare who often retreats inward when life gets overwhelming. In this episode, we begin building trust through simple, repeatable exercises designed to gently spark her curiosity and awareness without pushing her into shut down. TogetherContinueContinue reading “Sally & Freya – Session 1”
