Freedom Equine Education

07/09/2026

Are you just waiting to be able to say…

“See! I told you my horse would get hurt doing that.”

Because sometimes I wonder whether we become so convinced that something bad is going to happen that we spend all our time waiting for the evidence that proves us right.

You turn your horse out with another horse and spend the next week looking for injuries.

You let them walk through mud and watch every step waiting for them to slip.

You let them navigate uneven ground and wait for them to trip.

You allow them to play in the paddock and immediately think, “Someone is going to get hurt.”

You ride past something scary and think, “They’re going to spook.”

You try something new and think, “This is going to end badly.”

Then eventually something happens.

Maybe they get a scratch.

Maybe they slip.

Maybe they trip.

Maybe they spook.

Maybe they have a disagreement with their paddock mate.

And there it is:

“SEE! I KNEW IT!”

But did you actually prove yourself right?

Or were you simply waiting long enough for a completely normal horse thing to happen?

If I tell you that your horse is eventually going to get another scratch, I will probably be right.

Not because I predicted the future.

Because you own a HORSE.

At some point they will probably get another scratch.

They will probably stumble again.

They will probably spook again.

They will probably have another silly paddock moment.

They will probably misjudge something.

They will probably make another decision that makes you wonder how an animal with four legs can possibly be so uncoordinated.

That doesn’t mean the activity was inherently dangerous.

It means horses are living, moving animals.

And this is where we have to be really careful about confirmation bias.

When we are convinced something is dangerous, we notice every little thing that supports that belief.

But we often completely ignore the hundreds of times nothing happened.

Your horse walked through that muddy gateway 100 times without a problem.

Then they slipped once.

“SEE! I knew that was dangerous!”

What about the other 100 times?

Your horses lived together peacefully for six months and one day somebody came in with a little bite mark.

“SEE! I knew they would hurt each other!”

What about the six months of companionship, movement, play and social interaction?

Your horse navigated uneven paddocks every day and eventually came in with a scratch.

“SEE! That paddock is dangerous!”

Or…

Your horse is a horse.

There is another part of this that I think we need to talk about too.

When you are absolutely convinced something is going to go wrong, you can start contributing to the situation you are afraid of.

Not because your thoughts magically create injuries.

But because your expectations change your behaviour.

You tense your body.

You hold your breath.

You grab the reins.

You interfere.

You micromanage every step.

You hesitate.

You stop allowing your horse to think.

You communicate to your horse that there is something here they should be worried about.

And then your horse becomes worried.

They become tense.

They stop thinking clearly.

They react.

And suddenly you’re saying:

“I KNEW they were going to do that!”

But sometimes we need to ask ourselves a harder question:

Did I give my horse the opportunity to succeed, or was I riding/handling them waiting for them to fail?

Because horses need experience.

They need to learn where their feet are.

They need to learn how to navigate different surfaces.

They need appropriate social experiences.

They need to encounter new things.

They need to make little mistakes.

They need opportunities to problem-solve.

They need us to guide them without constantly communicating:

“CAREFUL. CAREFUL. CAREFUL. SOMETHING BAD IS GOING TO HAPPEN.”

Of course there are genuine risks we should avoid.

There are unsafe situations.

There are injuries that need veterinary attention.

There are horses that shouldn't be put into certain situations.

Good horsemanship is never about ignoring genuine danger.

But there is a massive difference between assessing a real risk and spending your entire life with your horse waiting for something to go wrong.

And if you spend enough time waiting to say, “See, I told you so,” eventually something WILL happen that allows you to say it.

The question is whether it actually proves what you think it proves.

Maybe instead of counting every scratch, trip, spook and mistake as evidence that your horse needs to be protected from life…

Start noticing all the times they handled life perfectly well.

Notice the hundreds of successful steps before the stumble.

Notice the months of peaceful turnout before the scratch.

Notice the scary objects they walked past without reacting.

Notice the situations they worked out for themselves.

Notice how capable your horse actually is when you give them the opportunity to be.

Because if you're always waiting for your horse to fail…

you might completely miss just how often they're succeeding. 🐴

06/09/2026

A little scratch is a little scratch.

That’s it.

It doesn’t have to become a story about everything that could happen next.

One of the things I see horse owners do — and something most of us have probably been guilty of at some point — is catastrophising.

Your horse gets a little scratch and suddenly your brain is ten steps ahead.

“What if it gets infected?”
“What if it swells?”
“What if they go lame?”
“What if there’s something else going on?”
“What if they’ve seriously hurt themselves?”
“What if this keeps happening?”

Before you know it, a tiny scratch has become a major problem in your head.

Of course we need to take injuries seriously. We need to check our horses, provide appropriate first aid, monitor things that need monitoring and call a vet when something genuinely needs veterinary attention.

But there is a difference between being observant and responsible… and living in a constant state of expecting something to go wrong.

Sometimes a scratch really is just a scratch.

Sometimes your horse trips because horses trip.

Sometimes they have an off day.

Sometimes they knock themselves.

Sometimes they lose a little bit of hair.

Sometimes they come in from the paddock with a mysterious mark and you will never find out where it came from.

They are horses.

They live in paddocks. They roll. They run. They play. They kick up their heels. They rub on things. They stand on things. They bump into things.

We cannot protect them from every tiny injury without also taking away a huge part of what it means for them to actually be a horse.

And this is where catastrophising can start causing problems of its own.

Because when we constantly expect something bad to happen, we start making decisions based on fear rather than what is actually happening in front of us.

A horse slips once, so we become afraid to ride on anything except perfect footing.

A horse gets a scratch in the paddock, so suddenly we’re questioning whether they should be turned out with other horses.

A horse has one silly moment, so we start avoiding situations where they might get excited.

A horse trips, and suddenly we’re riding every stride waiting for them to trip again.

And our world with our horse slowly gets smaller.

The horse’s world can get smaller too.

This is also where I think we need to be careful with the idea of “manifesting” problems.

I don’t mean that thinking about an injury magically makes an injury appear.

I mean that what we focus on influences our behaviour.

If you constantly expect your horse to hurt themselves, you start looking for danger everywhere.

You become more tense.

More hesitant.

More protective.

You might interfere more.

You might avoid situations that would actually help your horse become more capable.

You might stop allowing them to work things out.

And sometimes, in trying desperately to prevent every possible thing that might happen, we prevent our horses from developing the confidence, coordination and life experience that helps keep them safer.

Our horses need us to assess what is actually happening — not everything our anxious brain tells us could happen.

Look at the facts.

Is there a scratch?

Okay.

Clean it if it needs cleaning.

Check it.

Treat it appropriately.

Keep an eye on it.

Then carry on.

If something changes, deal with the new information when you have it.

You don’t need to mentally experience ten imaginary disasters before any of them have actually happened.

The same applies to training.

Don’t turn one bad ride into:

“We’re going backwards.”

Don’t turn one spook into:

“My horse is becoming dangerous.”

Don’t turn one refusal into:

“They’re never going to do this.”

Don’t turn one difficult day into:

“Everything we have worked on has fallen apart.”

Deal with the horse that is standing in front of you TODAY.

Deal with the situation that is ACTUALLY happening.

Not the one you are frightened might happen tomorrow.

Good horsemanship isn’t about pretending nothing can go wrong.

Things absolutely can go wrong with horses.

It is about developing the ability to calmly assess a situation, respond appropriately, learn from it if necessary and then move forward.

There is a huge difference between awareness and fear.

You can be cautious without catastrophising.

You can care deeply without panicking.

You can monitor something without obsessing over it.

And you can acknowledge that something happened without allowing it to define everything that happens afterwards.

Sometimes a scratch is just a scratch.

Sometimes a bad day is just a bad day.

Sometimes a trip is just a trip.

Sometimes a spook is just a spook.

Deal with what is in front of you.

Don’t create ten more problems in your head that haven’t happened yet. 🐴

05/09/2026

How comfortable are you when you're not in control?

Because horses are very good at reminding us that we can't control everything.

You can communicate.

You can ask.

You can create boundaries.

You can change your approach.

But you're still interacting with another living being who has thoughts, feelings and choices of their own.

For someone who needs everything to go according to plan, that can be uncomfortable.

And that's where things get interesting.

What happens when the horse doesn't follow your plan?

Can you adjust?

Can you wait?

Can you listen?

Can you try something different?

Can you accept an imperfect result?

Or does something inside you desperately need to MAKE it work?

These sessions aren't about judging those reactions.

They're about noticing them.

Because once we notice our patterns, we can start getting curious about them. 🐴

03/09/2026

Are you comfortable setting boundaries?

It's an interesting question.

And sometimes it's easier to explore with a horse than sitting down trying to answer it.

Imagine a horse continually moving into your personal space.

You don't really want them that close.

But they're cute.

You don't want to upset them.

You don't want to be “mean”.

So you tolerate something you're actually uncomfortable with.

Sound familiar?

Working with horses can give us opportunities to explore boundaries in a very real way.

Can I clearly communicate what I need?

Can I say “that's close enough” without feeling guilty?

Can I be kind AND have a boundary?

And can I respect the horse when they communicate a boundary to me?

Sometimes it's not really about teaching the horse anything.

Sometimes we're the ones learning. 🐴

02/09/2026

Let’s get the positive vibes happening!
Finish the sentence about yourself!
Comment below

01/09/2026

🐴 What can a horse teach you about yourself?

More than you might think.

I’m introducing something a little different at Freedom Equine Education — ground-based sessions focused on self-discovery through horses.

No riding.
No need to know anything about horses.
And no expectation that you need to be “good” at anything.

Instead, we use your interactions with the horse as an opportunity to notice more about yourself.

How do you respond when the horse says no?

What happens when things don't go to plan?

Do you become frustrated? Try harder? Give up? Question yourself?

Are you comfortable setting boundaries?

Do you need to be in control?

How do you respond when connection isn't immediate?

Can you make a decision and trust it?

Are you patient with yourself and with another being?

Horses have their own personalities, emotions, boundaries and experiences. They don't always respond the way we expect — and sometimes those moments give us an opportunity to notice our own habits and behaviours.

In your first session, you'll meet the different horses and choose the horse you feel drawn to working with.

From there, there isn't a rigid program to follow.

We see what unfolds.

We notice.

We explore.

And maybe you discover something about yourself along the way. ❤️

31/08/2026

Your horse doesn’t need perfect conditions to be ridden. 🐴

It is completely okay to ride your horse at a walk through wet, muddy or slippery-looking areas when the footing is safe to do so.

Trust your horse to find their footing. Give them the time, freedom and confidence to work out where to put their feet instead of immediately assuming they can’t handle it.

If you’re not confident doing it under saddle yet, practise it from the ground first. Walk through the mud with them. Let them learn to navigate different surfaces without rushing or panicking.

And yes… that means sometimes you need to be willing to get wet and muddy too! 😂

It is also completely okay to ride close to sheds, fences, trees and other obstacles.

This is where your leg aids matter.

Your horse should understand when your leg is asking them to move over, straighten up or keep a safe distance from something. You shouldn’t have to avoid riding near everything because you’re worried about getting too close or having your leg squashed against it.

If your leg aids aren’t effective enough to confidently manoeuvre your horse around obstacles, that’s something to work on.

These are practical skills.

We spend so much time worrying about having perfect arenas, perfect footing and plenty of space that sometimes we forget our horses need to learn how to confidently navigate the real world.

Mud happens.
Puddles happen.
Narrow spaces happen.
Sheds, gates, trees and fences happen.

Teach your horse how to handle them — and teach yourself how to confidently guide them through them.

That’s part of creating a capable, confident horse AND rider. 🐴

29/08/2026

27/08/2026

Companion horse
Toffee
9yr old Arabian Stock horse mare 15hh
Easy to catch, lead, tie and brush
$500