No Dust Flying

Bronzz - Equagility (ridden agility)

Lockie Phillips, a trainer I admire, describes his clinics this way….
"There will be no dust flying today, or horses sweating…"
"You will not see any miraculous transformations, and neither do I feel the need to prove to you my skills by forcing the horses to impress you today."
"We work in low energy, and de-escalation, to iron out a problem while it still appears small, so it never becomes a big problem."
- facebook post (4/19/23).
Good horsemanship involves little drama because there is little conflict. When horses feel safe and understand what we want, their default is cooperation. It’s easy to create drama. Escalate a horse’s anxiety until he runs. Make him feel trapped until he fights back. Drama is good for marketing and egos. But a good trainer isn’t in the business of creating drama so he can win battles and followers. His goal is helping people understand how to avoid battles in the first place. The result is horses who are confident and reliable in whatever jobs we teach them to do. Following are examples of horses who are confident and reliable in their jobs because of patient, methodical training and positive relationships with people.

Dartmoor ponies Moor and Shadow - Carriage Driving

Bronzz - Trail

Bronzz - dressage

Dartmoor pony Opie - child's first solo ride