About Me
I
started riding at the age of 4 and was totally
hooked. I read every
book
with a horse in and helped at the stables and
finally got my
first pony when I was 10. Calypso stayed with
me 6 years and
went from a riding school maniac to a pony club
pony - dressage
and
eventing - and then he became my fun ride
bareback and
bridle-less in the field. He was my best friend
and teacher. During
my
pony club time I attended camp for 5 years and
passed my
tests up to and including ‘B’ test.
In
2003 I started a new chapter with the purchase
of Dotty, a 4 year
old
TBx mare and also the Parelli natural
horse.man.shipTM home
study program. Well, 5 years later Dotty and I
have had quite a
journey. This has included a trip to Europe
where I was a working
student for a Parelli instructor in Germany and
another in France.
On
this trip Dotty and I graduated level two of the
Parelli program.
In
April this year we graduated level three of the
program so are now playing with finesse
(dressage) to aim for level four together.
Dotty is also my Le TREC horse and we are
competing at level three and four this year,
have already qualified for the 2009 British
Championships and I have secured a place on the
British TREC young riders team and will be
competing in Italy at the European young riders
championships in August 09.
I am
a Parelli student and have no professional
Parelli qualification or
endorsements. However the knowledge and skills
I have learnt I
can
apply to helping others and their horses. I also
have read,
watched and applied the work of Monty Roberts,
Kelly Marks and
other natural horsemen.
I
spent two summers working on a BHS livery yard,
where they also
started young horses and had a stallion who ran
with a small herd
of
broodmares. During my time there I had the
privilege of having
the
first rides on some of the babies and helping
them progress in
their education. I also exercised the livery
and event horses.
I am
currently furthering my skill as a rider with
classical dressage
lessons from Jenny Rolfe, whose book ‘Ride from
the Heart’ has a
wonderful perspective on the art that riding
should be. Jenny
focuses on core posture and breathing as the
key to connection
with the horse.
I
have always had a love for the difficult or
‘naughty’ horses. At my
riding school I fell in in love with a welsh
mountain pony whose
name meant ‘the devil’ and he had a reputation
to match! Over the
years I have ridden and schooled several horses
for other people.
I
have done restarts for problem horses, and
rehabilitation for
horses others have given up on or that need TLC
to bring out the best in them.
Finally I am an Equine Touch level 4 student and
I am currently
working for my Practitioners Diploma.
rebecca@balancehorsemanship.co.uk
