This page is to share stories about natural horsemanship and your experiences, good or bad! If you would like to share your story just write an account about you and your horse, a problem you have overcome or maybe about how much fun you are having and then email to me by clicking here.

Taddy is my first horse. I've had him for 5 years now and feel that we have both come a long way. I couldn't imagine owning another horse, the bond we have is very special to me...

Before I bought Taddy I'd only been out for a few hacks so I had 5 lessons at a riding school - just enough for me to be able to walk trot, canter and get over small jumps!!

Taddy was a lovely 7 year old show cob, he was hogged, clean and clipped. Oh and didn’t have a grass belly!!! He'd spent a lot of his time stabled up and at shows - but he was also bargy, unconfident, he would be dead to the leg in the arena, and would bolt outside of there, luckily he wasn't scarey or nasty in any way - I thought I’d bought myself a lovely safe cob but he turned out to be hard work.

After a few months of random traditional lessons I felt I was getting nowhere fast. I was working really hard to get the smallest amount of effort from Taddy, something had to change. At this time I started to discover the natural world. I went to see a Parelli demo and from there I was hooked. I started on the Parelli Program, Taddy was changing into the chubby, hairy, unshod horse he is today and I felt that there would be answers to all the problems I had.

As my confidence grew so did Taddy's and before long I realised that he was a really sweet horse who was quick to learn and luckily for me, very forgiving. He has been a great partner to learn with and once we got over the issues on the ground with his barging and the "but I don't want to" attitude, we made great progress.

I have spent the past 12 months just enjoying myself. Now I'm on a yard with loads of huge fields to ride in I've not really spent much time in an arena (this gave me time to tackle the bolting issue too!). When the weather got bad and the arena was the only place to ride I realised that I was just going over the same things with Taddy - we weren't making any more progress. It was at this point I asked Nicola to come over and help me out.

Nic soon realised that I was scared to use the bit. Over the past few years I’d spent so much time riding either without a bit or on a loose rein that I was frightened that I would use it wrong, or hurt him - and I'm sure I'm not on my own.

Nic has taught me to ask for softness and flexion, both vertically and laterally. Taddy is finally using his whole body, and is looking just gorgeous - I am amazed at just how responsive and light he can be.

Nic has a great way of teaching. She really makes sure you understand what she is telling you and is not afraid to show you. Her knowledge and experience really shows as she has answers for most of the questions me and Taddy ask of her. We're finally starting to look like normal people doing normal riding. The path we've got there on has been different to most and I know that I have a happier, calmer and more confident horse than most, which just makes me GEEEE!!! (that’s a huge cheesy grin to anyone who doesn't know!!)

The lessons I have learnt through my time following this path is not to take just one persons teachings and views as gospel. There are so many knowledgeable people out there to learn from and once you have a solid foundation you can just go out there and do what's right for you and your horse. Took a long time for me to really open my eyes but it made all the difference when I did.

I've had my pony April for 3-years and I'd always had problems with her and I was starting to get bored of riding just to exercise her. I was doing the same thing every time I rode her. I had sold my trailer because April had stopped going in the trailer and I thought there was nothing I could do. Then I stopped riding April and she started getting really naughty especially leading in from the field and I was getting really fed up.

Nic has just helped me pass my Parelli Level 1 and my relationship with April has improved dramatically. I have become so much more interested in April and my riding, I've been to a few shows and April goes in the trailer with no problems now. I have so much more confidence in April's behaviour, she seems a lot more chilled out and we are both much happier.

I am Janice, my horse partner is Rafeek a pure bred Arab age 12.

I have always LOVED horses and owned my own since age 23 but only started to have lessons age 40. I began competing at riding club level shows and was almost obsessed with schooling and getting it right. Poor Rafeek used to get so upset when he (!) got it wrong. I'd try harder which made him fail easier and oh what a mess I'd get us in to. Many times I lay awake at night knowing I'd been too demanding but not knowing how to change.

Then there was light!! in the form of a Parelli demo by Charlotte Dennis, Ingela Larson and Dave Stuart about February 2004. I knew that was how it should be and ordered my Level 1 pack. Unfortunately my Dad got pneumonia, was very poorly until he passed away later that year so my pack got dusty as I became a regular at Warrington General Hospital.

I started a bit of Parelli early 2005 but couldn't give my showing up. The more I did and saw Parelli the more I realised it was definitely the right path. After a 4th placing at the Festival of Champions October 2005 I packed my show stuff away and got stuck into my Level 1, (as best as I could with a full time shift work job). I have gone all the way through my level 1 and have started on my level 2 BUT I need to put the icing on the cake by finishing my filming of level 1 and sending it for assessment.

The main thing is Rafeek has almost forgiven me for the pressure I put him under. We have some wonderful moments in our quiet down time. I have learned so much and have so much to learn. I know I am becoming the human Rafeek wants me to be.

I have several people to thank, of course the Parellis for bringing the program to us, the instructors at the demo I watched, Nicola Bryers for being a fab and welcoming Cheshire community coordinator, all the Cheshire members for friendship and support, Lancs members for encouragement and help on-line, Lorna, Dani and fellow students at my course at the NEEC, Wrexham, Lynn Henry and Nicola Bryers for their superb and encouraging instruction, Sam and Clare for arranging Lynn and Sam's Mum Anita for feeding us!!!

Morrigan and Me.

I'd never been to a dealer’s yard before, though to anyone who knows me it would be no surprise that I set out with an intention to buy a middle-aged, middleweight cob gelding, preferably coloured, and came home with the sorriest looking horse there. I didn't let the fact that she was a 5 year old, lightweight TB-type mare bother me all I saw were the bones jutting out, the filthy coat, the long cuts along her back, her pretty face and her kind eyes. No-one had cared enough to even name her. Sold.

And so began about 2 years of crisis after crisis! My farrier removed racing plates on his first visit, which was the first knock to my confidence (Ex-racehorse?! Disaster!), then he refused to come back after she'd given him two good belts a couple of visits later. She wouldn't be stabled, simply climbing out. She hated every bit I tried, and wouldn't tolerate any contact on her mouth at all, although she would hack nicely with reins like washing lines. I tried her in English and German hackamores, but she would only go backwards in both. Getting on was a literal battle of wits; every time I stood on something she would turn and face me or barge me off it I had to scramble up and take a flying leap before she'd had time to disappear or push me over. It usually took about 20 minutes, by which time I'd either be cackling with triumph or snivelling with frustration. All the time I spent with her paid off in that she became a real angel to handle on the ground, but her opinions on being ridden were getting more extreme, rather than less it was taking me longer to get on, and I was starting to make excuses not to.

A new yard with a sand school was supposed to be a new start, but she began to get a bad reputation, which ate at my confidence without me realising it. During a particularly heated debate in the school, when I was asking for a contact and she was refusing it, she pitched onto her knees and I flipped over her head. Although I was barely even bruised, my confidence dropped rapidly I'd never had a horse fall with me and the potential consequences really frightened me. A new instructor compounded the experience when she told me Morrigan was dangerous and then legged me up, and in the middle of my fourth lesson my lack of confidence suddenly turned into full-blown fear. Morrigan was giving me a lovely medium walk, on the bit, but every fibre of her was tense and I realised I was sitting waiting for her to explode. Like any sensible person, I burst into tears and got off.

I didn't get on again for about 12 months. I was learning Natural Horsemanship with my old pony and making lovely, supportive friends including Nicola - all the time, and through the Natural Horsemanship I kept getting glimpses of the gorgeous horse inside Morrigan, which actually sometimes made it worse as I felt inadequate that I couldn't reach her. Then Nicola contacted me to say she was available for lessons and really, we never looked back.

Nicola initially came to me regularly to teach us, and from the first lesson my confidence began to grow. Nicola has a unique teaching style that develops horse and rider simultaneously. Because she takes a holistic approach, she is able to capture the real issues in a situation and therefore doesn't paper over problems. Because she’s also so friendly and kind, I never felt silly or inadequate asking questions or intimidated by her capability. We progressed to actually RIDING!! Carefully, timidly and un-ambitiously, but I was riding without fear!!

Therefore, when Morrigan began to buck violently when working on-line, Nicola was the first person I went to and I am so glad I did. After a couple of lessons without

riding, including one where Morrigan bucked herself almost clean over, I felt my resolve weakening I knew that my confidence was too fragile to cope with an ongoing issue and so it was decided that Nicola would take Morrigan for 2 weeks of intensive schooling and then give me an honest opinion on if Morrigan and I had a future together. I was able to do this with complete confidence because of the trust I have in Nicola and because she is GENUINELY committed to helping people and their horses it’s so obvious that it isn't just a job to her.

Nicola kept me updated on Morrigan’s progress and I visited with a friend after the first week. My friend simply couldn't believe the changes in Morrigan, and I returned the next day for a lesson, when I was able to mount, walk and trot without any tense reactions from Morrigan (or me)!! Her progress continued over the next week and it was beyond my wildest dreams when my final lesson at Nicola’s was a hack out, with just the briefest of groundwork before calmly mounting and setting off with Nicola and Jazz. As we chatted and rode I felt amazingly grateful to Nicola, but there was one moment where I realised that she'd done so much more than help Morrigan truly accept a rider. As we headed for home we crossed a bridge, and Morrigan shied slightly. As I felt my heart

begin to thud, my palms begin to sweat and my body starting to contract into that undignified circus monkey crouch typical of scared riders, I looked up and saw Nicola grinning at me. Something just clicked, and I started to laugh. I trusted that nothing bad was going to happen, found my confidence, sat up and laughed most of the way back.

Morrigan came home the next day, and we've been riding and hacking out happily ever since. My confidence is growing daily and I truly look forward to each ride. Nicola has given Morrigan the proper start that she never really had as a youngster and she’s given me my confidence back, something for which I can never thank her enough.