It doesn’t matter how small it is, or even if it’s just a short break to take a breath, make sure you stop and know it’s for you. We do things for friends, family, animals and kids and it can be tiring. When we do it for ourselves it revitalises us. You are worth a little time for you

We are always waaaay harder on ourselves than we should be. And it isn’t good for us at all. Take a day (Make it a choice and action it) and choose only positive recognition for the things you do. Consciously change the negative self talk to the opposite of what your head said - just for today. Make a note of how hard you are on yourself, and start to find things to be nice about!! It’s a good start to just say ‘good job’. But really look for the best in a situation and focus on that for a bit. We could all use more support - let’s start with ourselves.

With the growth of natural horsemanship in the last 20 years has the horse benefited at all. Are we doing better or are things still tough for horses in our world. I see an enormous increase in great trainers, that is for sure. But the horses seem to be doing it just as tough and we even seem to have more issues with our horses. Is it simply a matter of predators and prey thinking too differently? Or are we becoming too soft and as a result our horses are more emotional? Something to ponder today

So many people look to build their confidence with bravery when they come to a clinic or lessons. But the truth is you don’t need to be brave to be confident. In fact trying to be brave can often knock confidence. Confidence comes when you have answers. When you know what to do next. When you have done something enough that it becomes easy. Horses are predictable - when you know them well - so time builds confidence. Practice builds confidence. Find the people that help you with the answers. Just pushing thru won’t always cut it. You need to know what, why, when.

Having light hands is actually less about your hands than you think. The phrase ‘light hands’ is actually not accurate and can be confusing for those trying to learn it. Light hands is about timing. Timing the release of pressure. We actually need to be fairly firm with our hold when teaching a horse to lighten up. We need to hold, not pull and allow the horse to find the comfort in the release itself. If we have spaghetti hands - too light - the horse will just learn to take them from you. And equally, if we have pulling hands the horse will learn to brace. 6 things that will help: Practice the release more than anything else. Understand the difference between pull and hold Slow down in the pickup of the rein Have great mental preparation for each movement Breathe - the release should involve a breath out Pay the try - before it happens Join me in the light hands course this week! See the education tab