I have been obsessed with horses for as long as I can remember. The first time I sat on a horse I was only 1, even though my parents aren't especially horsey. Growing up I went on every pony ride I could find and had regular lessons at the nearest riding school. When we moved to the countryside I ended up sharing a little chestnut pony called Amber for a couple of years, and we had a really brilliant time. I was massively into showjumping and was beginning to fall into the trap of 'faster, higher! kick her harder', until she got colic and had to be on box rest for 6 months. During this time I started watching videos on YouTube by 'Native Horse', which got me into a more 'natural' approach. I didn't really know what I was doing, but I knew that I loved riding bareback and the videos of lying down with your horse and galloping tackless across a beach looked great fun.
In the summer of 2019, me and my mum met up with a man called Dan Corbin, founder of Equine Gentling, which is a brilliant charity that rescues 'impossible' horses and gives them a wonderful life. They are exclusively left barefoot and bitless, and live out 24/7 in a large herd. The first time we went, he showed me a picture of a horse being ridden with its head pulled into its chest with the usual tack - martingale, grackle noseband, all of that. At the time, I didn't see anything wrong with it. Then he showed me a picture of a dog with all of that photoshopped onto it and I realised how cruel a lot of traditional riding can be. If you did lots of the things, which are commonly done to horses, to literally any other animal, you would immediately be reported for abuse. So... I decided to scrap everything I'd learned, along with my hopes to be an olympic show jumper, and start afresh.
Unfortunately, I tried do this with barely any experience and whilst still being at a very traditional livery yard. At the time I had just got a pony on full loan and it was so exciting because I felt like I finally had my own horse! I was 11 years old and didn't have a clue, and in hindsight, I realise how I really needed some proper guidance, even though there were plenty of people telling me all I needed was a stronger bit. It was very confusing and muddled for both of us. So, we ended up giving him back to his owners, where he would live a relatively happy life in the field with his friends. I knew I needed to find a person and a place with the same outlook as me, which I will write about in my next blog.
Thank you to everyone who has read this far, I really apreciate it!
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