Horsemanship Showcase 2023

[LEC]

I also posted this in the general chat area for registered forum users but thought I would shove it here as well.

I went along. I have never done anything like it before but was in the right area, at the right time so headed along. It was slickly organised. I appreciate I am a fish out of water compared to the majority of people there. I am very much into competition horses and competing. Yet, I have a fundamental desire in being a better horse person and improving my horses in sport so hence this area of horses intrigues me. I joked it was the Equidry crew in attendance. I went to Piggy March demo the week before and it was the Holland Cooper crew.

Things that amused me: all the men look like they have stepped out of Yellowstone and then promptly have a deep Yorkshire accent etc. The whole thing/area seems to be very male trainer dominated. I am note sure why either?

Its also very tribal - LOVE Warwick, LOVE Steve, and then they have the hoodies and the merch. Its also very commercial. Every trainer has a programme and subscription service. I was talking about this with friends and just saying sport horses are seriously commercial but in a very different way. I actually find it quite hard for someone like me to navigate. I want to be able to take something from a lot of trainers as essentially they all say the same things but the accessibility is very hard. Horses are after all horses and have acted the same over hundreds of years.

I also feel there is a BIG lesson that could be learnt from this day and taken into sport horses. We do not talk about the relationship, the building blocks that get them to Badminton etc. Its all a bit of a process. I also suspect the big guys do use a lot of horsemanship and actually Peder Fredericson has been doing some very good reels lately that demonstrate his.

Ben Atkinson was very good - I have really taken away some thoughts about lunging, things I do not think about in me as I am probably far too busy looking at the horse. Do I move my feet too much or stay in one place? On the whole I think I am pretty good but there is probably elements I could improve. I thought he was a really clear communicator and probably for me the best demo of the day.

Steve Youngs demo was a magnet for the Equidry crew as he did a last ride thing on his mare who is pregnant and played some awful sappy music. I was mortified but am sure the crowd loved it. I love Steve on YouTube where he seems to have cornered the market in people 'rescuing' or 'falling in love' with horses and then end up with a very unhappy horse as do not have the skills for the horse. In between all the 'managing menopausal women' soft skills Steve is very good at what he does but i get more from his YT videos and I am very grateful they are a free resource.

Warwick - well he was Warwick. I actually liked that he castigated the girl whose horse it was at the end (Welsh Section D) because he had been told it had a problem with its back legs but it barely let him put a halter on it at the end and he was rightfully cross as fundamental basics being missed. If you watch his YouTube for free then that was pretty much the demo except the set up of the arena was very unhelpful and you could see him getting frustrated about it. He isn't very good in an hour as his new found enlightened thing is time consuming and rightfully takes time to get a 'result' that a lot of people want to see. I like watching his YT but I would not make an effort to go to his 2 day clinics if back in the UK, though I have learn't absolutely tonnes from him over the years and he has probably given me more skills than anyone and started me in the process of looking at other training tools.

Joe was interesting but had his own horse and it made it all look a bit easy. I would loved to have seen him with a young sport horse but I guess the audience was fine about it. Tbh he does a lot of what I do anyway and even in the ridden work my focus is always on a soft neck. He is just a lot better about his results!

Lee Rutter - I took some good points about energy from him. Again something I think about but have not done for a while. There are lots of parallels with western and dressage I think. Just slightly different outcomes. Things like they must stay in the same gait. Actually I think we are all guilty of nagging to keep a gait and actually need to be more disciplined in this. Another I would like to see on a sport horse rather than a quarter horse. I appreciate this is my bias though as want to see the way its managed and aided.

Sean - Useful things about body posture and energy in lunge work. I think I am pretty good in this area as conscious of it but a useful reminder. Some of it went a bit above my head and I say this as an experienced horse person but probably lacking in the whole groundwork thing and I feel a few steps were missed to help my understanding of this as only had 45 mins.

I watched a behaviourist on separation anxiety and it was a little disappointing as was hoping to get more from it but I guess validation that you do the right things is ok.

I started to watch the demo on lateral work for soundness but was very disappointed. The horse was 18 and put together badly, had only competed to elementary level and was stiff behind. I couldn't watch it as it was pretty terrible.

The formation riding was poor. I can see how its fun for women of a certain age (sorry, but it is) its appealing as social, you can be pretty poor at riding as long as you stay in the correct place. Problem is, I have watched some of the amazing German and French versions of this and they are amazing. TBH even the Household Cavalry does a better version. One of the horses did not look happy at all and got its tongue over the bit. For a supposed horsemanship showcase it wasn't great. Its actually what annoys me about this kind of demo day. There is a real sliding scale between the sublime and the poor. Nobody seems to have picked up the poor stuff and on a normal demo day in sport horses you just would not see such a gap in all the demos I have been to. In fact I often moan that they are all too good and don't make mistakes so you can learn on how its corrected.

Not sure I would go again but gave me some new trainers to look at and things to think about. I think for me I would love to see a demo day which used a lot of the above but on sport horses. How we can make the experience better for horses who compete, problem solving issues like tension etc Jason Webb is very good at this I think but I would like to see more of the above. I do appreciate this is my focus though - sport horses and the Olympic disciplines and its more niche than people enjoying their horses and wanting to have a positive time with them.

Hopefully it will all be on the YT channel next week but somehow need to edit it all!! In the meantime the Piggy march demo is on there.

 

[Landcruiser]

I agree with much of what OP said. I was there for the whole weekend (suspect I may have sat next to OP at one point -or at least next to someone taking many notes). There was a lot going on, and it was hard to know where to be as events ran alongside each other. It was a matter of checking the programme and prioritizing. The shopping was decent but not very extensive - mostly horsemanship eqpt, saddles, western saddles, and odds and sods. I got away with a pony size rope halter and some freebies from Simple Systems, although I did fall in love with a 4 grand western/Australian hybrid stock saddle...

I too thought Ben Atkinson was probably the best demo, and his horses were lovely and relaxed. His explanations were clear. I loved what he did when he threw his schooling whips away and tried to work his 8 horses with just his body and voice. I loved that what he was trying to do didn't work, so he took it back a step, broke it down for the horses, then added it all back together - it was a potted object lesson in sympathetic training.

Warwick Schiller was very disappointing. He'd chosen the wrong aspect of his training philosophy for the format. He'd chosen something which by his own admission would be done over hours or days normally, and yet here he was with 45 minutes. The arena set up wasn't suitable either and the horse was distracted by trying to get back to its mates, and could disappear behind the curtain over the door for minutes at a time. It was clearly not working as he'd hoped, and he'd lost the crowd (the biggest of the day) by about half way through. Instead of changing things, he persisted and to be honest, it was a frustrating and tedious watch. Shame. I don't know how he got on on day 2, as it was a late demo I decided not to stay on for as I was pretty swamped by then and had a long drive ahead.

I really enjoyed Oliver Phillips demo on the Sunday, and his performance in the "Competition" the same day. Much more fun and entertainment than education, but the stallions were a joy to see, and he seems like a very nice bloke.

OP, I confess I was one of those women shedding a tear when Steve was riding Nita for the last time...in my defence, every time I ride my semi retired, heroic, gentle, brave, stoic, most beloved 22 yr old I wonder if it's the last time, and I really felt for him. When you've shared so much and come so far with a horse, it IS very sad - and it WAS a show, so add in the music (I dispute "mawkish") and yup, we loved it. Steve is so very ordinary and down to earth - he's just a normal bloke - and yet he can spot an issue with a horse/human in a second, and he knows to help and communicate "how to improve" with normal people; normal, muddy, often aging, not very fit, (mainly) women who love their horses and spend all their money on them and often let their hearts rule their heads when acquiring them. As you say OP, he's cornered the market there, but it's a big market and not well served before he stepped up.

Anyway, it was a good event which I enjoyed a lot. I took away some inspiration of things to do with my youngster, and lots of food for thought about the subtlety of body language, and how sloppy I am! I shall definitely go again next year if I can.

 

[Spottyappy]

I agree very much with you both. I am not “into” NH at all, but there was a lot of things I did take out of the demos.
Ben was very good, as you say.
Warwick With the Welsh cob ( whom it allegedly took 5 people to get a rug on…) left me feeling the owner probably was not au fait with welshies more than anything, too. (We have welshies so I do fee” justified in saying that, albeit they arent all opinionated dragons)
The main arena was rammed most of the time, I felt very sorry for the car park attendants and cafe staff too as it was so busy.
A group of us went on the Saturday only, but regretfully couldn’t stay for the evening as I think that would have also been interesting.

 

[LEC]

I think where Steve is good is he actually has a lot of empathy and he never judges. I think some of the big names before Steve came along are difficult to get hold of and seem a bit aloof and out of reach. Whereas it feels easy to drop Steve a line and he seems to do his best. Plus I guess he deals with very ordinary horses which I think Max and Micheal Pearce don’t necessarily appear to and he shares it all for free so helps other horse owners. He also isn’t shy of sharing his stuff on YT and the nitty gritty. He is very good at the communication and coming across well. I have learnt loads from him and Warwick in particular because they are assessable and help my quest for knowledge without feeling I have to sign up to a ‘way’ and then find actually it’s not what I want in my quest for knowledge.

I would love a sport horse version of the showcase. But have it themed more through the day. Starting the horse well, building strength mentally and physically, how to get them to find relaxation under pressure, how to get the horse seeking the answers and then sorting common faults like spooking, rushing, busy collecting rings etc

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I went on the Sunday and had a great day, I have an interest in NH and Western, more the outcomes they achieve than wanting to actually ride western or neck rein, I think the principles are brilliantly transposable to training English horses to be more receptive and have more buy in.

I agree with the other posters that Ben was the highlight of the day, his was the first demo we watched and it was brilliant, he can work a crowd, he explains well, broke it down well and was engaging and interesting. His Sunday demo was with buckskin horse Spirit, improving his Spanish Walk and then looking at the starts of pirouettes. I also think I enjoyed it as I do a lot of liberty work with Dex as he's not ridden away yet, so I took him lots of things and felt a bit inspired for things to try. Lee Rutter was also really good on his horse Trigger, he was showing the general priciples of responsiveness and a good stop which again was just really useful and it gave me good ideas for how I would like to train Dex in his early riding away days.

The fun competition was great, Oliver really is a showman isn't he! And the garrocha horses. So disappointed that I didn't see Oliver's demo, but like another poster has said, you have to prioritise and I hadn't heard of him before then. I will be looking him up now though for sure. The garracho horses were also good, Joe Midgley I didn't seem to connect with which is a shame as I know AE works with him and I wanted to like him, although I did pick up a couple of useful things from his demo.

The non-highlight of the day was Bert Sheffield and her riding to music, she didn't actually seem to teach anyone anything, she just played different 20 second excerpts of music and then riding round to it not doing much that was impressive or interesting; plus she kept saying 'does this feel like circly music'... what am I supposed to get out of that?! I was also disappointed by Georgina Atkinson, she had good things to say but had someone riding her horse who she had clearly trained with very specific signals, and thus despite being a good rider, couldn't display anything Georgina wanted her to. (Also just realised writing this that she is Ben's wife - lucky thing). I think her display would have been very good if she was riding herself. Skipped Warwick Shiller as I think he's a tosser.

Shopping was alright, needed a bit more of it and a bit more variety, the roundpen ring could also have done with being further away from the middle ring as the commentating was competing at times, but other than I had a really good day and for £29 a ticket and access to so many top demos you can't really complain! I would definitely go back.

 

[daydreamer]

I went for the first time this year and went to both days and had a great time. I probably already have a bit of a foot in this camp as I have followed the Jason Webb programme with my youngster and sent him there to be started/ridden away after I had done the groundwork. I have also listened to a lot of the Warwick Schiller podcasts although I haven't watched a lot of his stuff with horses and have watched the odd Ben Atkinson thing. I didn't know most of the presenters though.

For me the standouts were Rebecca Harris and Ben Atkinson.

I watched a few things Ben Atkinson did and he is a great communicator. The thing he said about lunge circles (stay still, become the Sun) resonated with me and remembering to be consistent. What he does is amazing but he really makes me feel like I go have a go and make a start even if it is just working on the tools from his toolkit.

I watched both demo's Rebecca Harris did and she worked her own TB (who was obviously a bit quirky) from the ground. She was talking about balance and alignment and using it to help with engagement and collection. She explained what she was doing really well and talked through and showed 4 to 5 progressive exercises. I really felt I could go away and make a start on the work and help my horse (I might actually buy the online videos of the weekend so I can watch back even though I made notes). I also had a chat with her on Sunday and she was very nice.

I also enjoyed watching the working equitation demo with Freddy Steele and Holly Barber. She had borrowed a horse to try and show how you would introduce obstacles to a new horse but (sadly?!) the horse she borrowed was very well trained (and very well ridden) and made it all look easy. It still left me feeling that it was something I could have a go at though. There was another demo I watched with Freddy Steele and one of the other working equitation riders showing the use of the garrocha which I enjoyed too - to my eyes amazingly skilled riding.

I enjoyed watching Joe Midgley who I didn't really know anything about. He was clearly all about the finesse and the details and I picked up some interesting ideas to try. It also reminded me that I need to do some backwards and sideways with my youngster as I did all that in groundwork but now I have started ridden work I've mainly been doing 'traditional' stuff as my instructor comes from a dressage background and actually I miss trying different things.

I watched Sean Coleman a few times and didn't get on with it much - too philosophical for me and I felt I would have to learn a whole new system. I did hear him give some very good answers to some questions though and he is clearly a great rider and trainer.

Oliver Philips in the showcase and finale was great, obviously another excellent rider and trainer and a real showman. I saw a bit of one of his demos working on piaffe with a couple of riders but it just felt a bit irrelevant to me personally.

I agree that the demo on lateral work to develop soundness was pretty rubbish, if I was being generous I would say pushed for time and should have had two horses in to demo?

I only saw a bit of the drill riding and it just reminded me of when we did it at the riding school when I was young because we had 12 in the lesson so I was sat reminiscing rather than trying to learn or be impressed.

I took part in a horse free session where we tried walking through various lateral movements putting our bodies in the right positions. That was actually really interesting, very different going left and right and something everyone can practise for free and without a horse. I did discover that I am unlikely to ever be able to right half pass as my body just said *no* to that on foot!!

Warwick Schiller I actually found interesting all the way through on day 1 even though he didn't seem to achieve a lot. I sort of felt that the whole point is that he isn't trying to *make* the horse do anything. On day 2 the horse came over to him after about 10 minutes and then pretty much stayed with him so it was very interesting to see the connection and how to work on it.

I did go to the Destiny's theatre show on Saturday and watched the showcase on Sunday and stayed for most of the finale (I don't get away much and wanted to make the most of it!). I really enjoyed each of those and it was great to be reminded of a) what can be achieved with great riding and training and that b) horses should be fun.

I didn't see Steve Young and still don't know who he is!

I didn't really pick up on any tribalism. I guess maybe I just interpreted it as a bit of fandom but if I went to an eventing demo or dressage demo I would expect certain riders to have fans there too and if other people want to do that so what? I really enjoyed that most people were waddling about looking like the Michelin man and it was definitely functionality over fashion. I also enjoyed arriving at 8.50 and driving straight up the drive and parking without queuing. I found the number of stalls about right, enough to have a wander but not enough to leave me feeling overwhelmed or like I had to miss demos to get around them all.

I definitely feel inspired and will probably go again next year.

 

[TPO]

Skipped Warwick Shiller as I think he's a tosser.

100%

I went to a clinic before he had his "epiphany" and he was a horrible bully of horses (& woman). Ticked every box for stereotypical misogynistic Australian with short man syndrome.

He set about the quietest horse in the group; ran at it and kneed it in the soft underside if its belly [then sound the rest of the day trying to justify it].

His free stuff on YT is slickly packaged so it's an easy resource to direct people who are struggling to, sadly

I'm surprised at the good reviews of Steve Young. I think there was a negative thread about him on here (that he/his wife/someone replied to). I hadn't looked at any of his stuff before that. It seemed very talkie and random camera shots but I'll give it another go based on the positive reviews from the weekend.

I saw a Lee Rutter/Oakridge QH demo 11/12 years ago at YHL. I thought it was brilliant and is what made me want to get back to QHs. Every demo had seemed so "heavy" in the other demos. Like heavy hands holding horses, heavy legs constantly nagging with spurs and all a bit meh. Then Lee and another rider came out and it all seemed so light. It looked really harmonious and a partnership.

It's good to hear that actual trainers came across well on the day too.

The dress up aspect bugs me too. Jeans designed for riding, chaps, boots etc all have their place and are best for the job at hand. I do struggle with the cutting about with big jangly spurs, cowboy hats, rhinestone & fringe shirts that happens at clinics and shows up here. We ain't keeping the sun off us up here and felt gets soggy

 

[LEC]

100%

I went to a clinic before he had his "epiphany" and he was a horrible bully of horses (& woman). Ticked every box for stereotypical misogynistic Australian with short man syndrome.

He set about the quietest horse in the group; ran at it and kneed it in the soft underside if its belly [then sound the rest of the day trying to justify it].

His free stuff on YT is slickly packaged so it's an easy resource to direct people who are struggling to, sadly

I'm surprised at the good reviews of Steve Young. I think there was a negative thread about him on here (that he/his wife/someone replied to). I hadn't looked at any of his stuff before that. It seemed very talkie and random camera shots but I'll give it another go based on the positive reviews from the weekend.

I saw a Lee Rutter/Oakridge QH demo 11/12 years ago at YHL. I thought it was brilliant and is what made me want to get back to QHs. Every demo had seemed so "heavy" in the other demos. Like heavy hands holding horses, heavy legs constantly nagging with spurs and all a bit meh. Then Lee and another rider came out and it all seemed so light. It looked really harmonious and a partnership.

It's good to hear that actual trainers came across well on the day too.

The dress up aspect bugs me too. Jeans designed for riding, chaps, boots etc all have their place and are best for the job at hand. I do struggle with the cutting about with big jangly spurs, cowboy hats, rhinestone & fringe shirts that happens at clinics and shows up here. We ain't keeping the sun off us up here and felt gets soggy

Steve does talk a lot on YT but also shows everything. The only things he cuts are when he gives the horse a break or when he is still finessing and we have already seen the process. He is probably old Warwick style on YT. Without the ego.

I want to see Lee Rutter and Christophe Hess together. I think it could work so well!

 

[ester]

The not great SY thread was about him and a spaniel rather than a horse.

 

[Sandstone1]

100%

I went to a clinic before he had his "epiphany" and he was a horrible bully of horses (& woman). Ticked every box for stereotypical misogynistic Australian with short man syndrome.

He set about the quietest horse in the group; ran at it and kneed it in the soft underside if its belly [then sound the rest of the day trying to justify it].

His free stuff on YT is slickly packaged so it's an easy resource to direct people who are struggling to, sadly

I'm surprised at the good reviews of Steve Young. I think there was a negative thread about him on here (that he/his wife/someone replied to). I hadn't looked at any of his stuff before that. It seemed very talkie and random camera shots but I'll give it another go based on the positive reviews from the weekend.

I saw a Lee Rutter/Oakridge QH demo 11/12 years ago at YHL. I thought it was brilliant and is what made me want to get back to QHs. Every demo had seemed so "heavy" in the other demos. Like heavy hands holding horses, heavy legs constantly nagging with spurs and all a bit meh. Then Lee and another rider came out and it all seemed so light. It looked really harmonious and a partnership.

It's good to hear that actual trainers came across well on the day too.

The dress up aspect bugs me too. Jeans designed for riding, chaps, boots etc all have their place and are best for the job at hand. I do struggle with the cutting about with big jangly spurs, cowboy hats, rhinestone & fringe shirts that happens at clinics and shows up here. We ain't keeping the sun off us up here and felt gets soggy

I had a lot of time for Steve Young until I saw a video of him trying to train a dog. It was awful. He does talk a lot of sense with horses but the attitude of him trying to train that little dog and his complete lack of understanding for it and its body language really really put me off him.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I had a lot of time for Steve Young until I saw a video of him trying to train a dog. It was awful. He does talk a lot of sense with horses but the attitude of him trying to train that little dog and his complete lack of understanding for it and its body language really really put me off him.

I haven't seen or heard about this, from the way he deals with horses I am surprised he has come across badly in another video. He always seems very straightforward, effective and sensical in his equestrian training videos.

 

[Sandstone1]

I haven't seen or heard about this, from the way he deals with horses I am surprised he has come across badly in another video. He always seems very straightforward, effective and sensical in his equestrian training videos.

I think the video is on here somewhere but its honestly not good. its probably on youtube too.

.
I found it. You probably need to watch it all.
I did like him before this with horses and I still think he does talk some sense but this put me off

 

[LEC]

I can’t name a trainer who hasn’t made mistakes - I have seen lots and lots and lots over the years. One thing doesn’t tend to put me off if they improve from it and the animal isn’t damaged.

 

[ester]

It was a good better to stay in your lane demonstration

 

[Sandstone1]

I think he is good with horses but it was more the big headed attitude to his attempt at dog training that annoyed me. Each to their own.

 

[Alibear]

I went on Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Watched Freddy Steele, Lee Rutter, Sean Colman, Warwick Schiller demos in the main arena. Sad I didn't make Joes but timings were a challenge. Amber and I have trained with Sean, Joe and Freddy so far, but I've seen a lot of Lee demos and clinics. I would be more than happy to train with him if I get the chance. Lee has done the western/dressage demos with various dressage riders over the years but I don't know of any recordings of those. I find the western trainers do work on a similar underlying theme so I can pick up useful tips from all of them. Currently, Sean is the clearest for me and has definitely helped Amber and I the most this year so we're off for more training at his place next year. To be honest I was slightly wary of parreli but that's just a small part of what Sean teaches and overall it works well for us.
It was nice to catch up and say hello to lots of people I knew there and on the stands and the shopping was better for me there than it was at say YHL. I spent way too much, nice new hi-viz waistcoat which I've been after for years as it has proper sides not tabs and a double zip on the front to fasten and zip up pockets which was put to good use early this morning.
ETA, As others have mentioned I think Warwick needs more time to work out a good demo for his new approach, but I believe there was a big difference in the horse on Sunday, so it works.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

ETA, As others have mentioned I think Warwick needs more time to work out a good demo for his new approach, but I believe there was a big difference in the horse on Sunday, so it works.

I didn't realise he has a new approach, how does it differ from the old one?

 

[Alibear]

I didn't realise he has a new approach, how does it differ from the old one?

Hard for me to describe he admits to being more wo wo. I'd say he now builds a relationship with the horse before attempting any training, perhaps joining up but without putting pressure on the horse or chasing it around.? Others might do a better job of explaining it.

 

[TPO]

I didn't realise he has a new approach, how does it differ from the old one?

Before he'd set about them, now he takes ice baths and syncs breathing and steps...

 

[Hackback]

Joe has just done a lovely write up about it on his Horsemanship FB page.

@LEC I have lessons with Joe and my 3 year old and I can confirm he is exceedingly good at dealing with stroppy youngsters. In fact he's been a lifesaver for me. His own horse is only 4 and anxious and he's trained him himself, so 'making it look easy' is an accolade really.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Before he'd set about them, now he takes ice baths and syncs breathing and steps...

The sceptic in me says that he realised he'd make more money this way rather than having had some sort of genuine change of heart.

 

[LEC]

It’s not the first time I have seen horse people do full 180s.

I think he had a mid life crisis.

 

[dottylottie]

i wasn’t there, but i have been to one of steve young’s demos and i must admit, i would’ve definitely been one to shed a tear watching him with nita! i “like” NH, but i wouldn’t say i’m a diehard devotee, and for me steve young offers a lot of independent tools to incorporate into daily work with horses, without having to follow a whole program/subscription service! i will openly admit i don’t have the patience for daily dedicated sessions, so as much as i did utilise some of miri hackett’s patreon videos it was a bit of a waste of money for me, to be paying for something like that.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

i wasn’t there, but i have been to one of steve young’s demos and i must admit, i would’ve definitely been one to shed a tear watching him with nita! i “like” NH, but i wouldn’t say i’m a diehard devotee, and for me steve young offers a lot of independent tools to incorporate into daily work with horses, without having to follow a whole program/subscription service! i will openly admit i don’t have the patience for daily dedicated sessions, so as much as i did utilise some of miri hackett’s patreon videos it was a bit of a waste of money for me, to be paying for something like that.

Now I used to casually follow Miri somewhat, but she is another who seems to have gone OTT recently and I just can't get behind what she's doing any more.
She's no harm to anything of course, but she's gone to the extreme a little I find.

 

[dottylottie]

Now I used to casually follow Miri somewhat, but she is another who seems to have gone OTT recently and I just can't get behind what she's doing any more.
She's no harm to anything of course, but she's gone to the extreme a little I find.

unfortunately i have to agree with you there, i used to really support what she does but it seems to be a bit “obsessive” now for want of a better word - we absolutely should be advocating for our horses, but i almost get the impression she wants them all to have something wrong with them. and yet, some of hers are so overweight it’s a wonder they don’t have anything wrong!

 

[LEC]

Now I used to casually follow Miri somewhat, but she is another who seems to have gone OTT recently and I just can't get behind what she's doing any more.
She's no harm to anything of course, but she's gone to the extreme a little I find.

And spouts some absolute crap. Combine that with the obese horses and I have switched off

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Joe has just done a lovely write up about it on his Horsemanship FB page.

@LEC I have lessons with Joe and my 3 year old and I can confirm he is exceedingly good at dealing with stroppy youngsters. In fact he's been a lifesaver for me. His own horse is only 4 and anxious and he's trained him himself, so 'making it look easy' is an accolade really.

Here is the write up:

Joe Midgley Horsemanship | Scunthorpe

Joe Midgley Horsemanship, Scunthorpe. Gefällt 8.288 Mal · 571 Personen sprechen darüber · 15 waren hier. Foundation through to advanced horsemanship for you and your horse. Specialising in equine...

www.facebook.com

Having got to know him quite well, and having worked with him, I can tell you his humility is real. He is so inspired by others and genuinely surprised to hear peple are inspired by him. He explains how nervous Remy was at the showcase and I love how proud he is of Remy for trying so hard despite his anxiety. Having experienced a few owners of 4/5 year olds who are struggling to cope having zero emptahy for the horse, and just berating for them for struggling, it is lovely to know someone who is the anti-thesis of that.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Here is the write up:

Joe Midgley Horsemanship | Scunthorpe

Joe Midgley Horsemanship, Scunthorpe. Gefällt 8.288 Mal · 571 Personen sprechen darüber · 15 waren hier. Foundation through to advanced horsemanship for you and your horse. Specialising in equine...

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Having got to know him quite well, and having worked with him, I can tell you his humility is real. He is so inspired by others and genuinely surprised to hear peple are inspired by him. He explains how nervous Remy was at the showcase and I love how proud he is of Remy for trying so hard despite his anxiety. Having experienced a few owners of 4/5 year olds who are struggling to cope having zero emptahy for the horse, and just berating for them for struggling, it is lovely to know someone who is the anti-thesis of that.

When he was in the fun part of the show, which was a race, it involved getting off and getting back on. Remy was just circling and circling as he was way overstimulated I think - the audience laughed a little at first and after a short period Joe just quietly stopped trying while everything else went on around him, gave him a stroke on the bum, deescalated him and then tried again successfully, and it stuck with me what a lovely moment that was to watch.

ETA, just read the write up and what a beautiful way to write about your horse:

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Doesn’t surprise me at all. He will never put his own ego above what Remy needs in that moment x

 

[LEC]

I put the YouTube up and all I get is comments from Steve Young evangelists . It’s performed very badly as a video so will only do part 2 with Joe and Warwick when lacking content.
This side of horses I have to say really interests me and then really puts me off as it’s exactly like religion. One is not better than the other, they are just different and we should be receptive to everything and can learn from it.

What have I learnt? So called Natural Horsemanship (I hate this name as everything is just horsemanship) is more niche than I thought. I appreciate algorithms will have some impact but the Piggy video was big for us vs Steve/Ben which is very poor. Just interesting.