Training

With over three decades in the saddle, Sarah has evolved a sage approach to training.  Having raised generations of horses from foals, to producing FEI level mounts, and with years of coaching and working behind the scenes at competitions, Sarah has a broad view of all aspects that contribute to a horse's success.  She has learned to work with animals from a variety of backgrounds and breed types, take their natural talents, and nurture them towards the career path most compatible with their individual attributes.  While the majority of her work is with warmblood sport horses going on to perform in dressage, hunter, showjumping or eventing, horses of all kinds have benefitted from her program including ponies, driving horses, endurance, pleasure and trail mounts, racehorses and field hunters.  

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Youngsters being started follow a simple, progressive system of education that begins with groundwork, the 'learning how to learn' phase where trust, respect, attention and patience must be instilled for the rest of the training to proceed fluently.  They are then introduced to tack, lunging, long-lining, and backing.  The under saddle training from that point forward depends very much on the horses age and current stage of growth, and the owners goals.  Young animals (2-3) or those continuing with professionals may require only a light start, backing and basic forward movement and obedience.  More mature (3-5) year olds, horses for amateur riders, or prospects being marketed for sale will be developed over time through degrees of suppleness and contact at all gaits, more refined aids, hacking in open spaces and trails, and may begin over fences.  We can also introduce horses to the freejumping chute in preparation for sales or performance testing.  

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From the earliest foundations of handling as foal, to their debut in the competition ring, Sarah is willing to share her expertise and skills with you and your horse, to formulate a plan, and to follow a pathway to reach your goals!