"My 20 year old cob and I have been transformed by Emma's lessons! Riding Del Boy used to be an extremely frustrating experience as he was unresponsive and extremely heavy on the forehand and in my hands. I had no idea how to improve my riding to help him.
Luckily we were introduced to Emma! Del responds so well to Emma's methods and is a much faster learner than I am! He is starting to engage his hindquarters and become light in my hands. For a horse that was dead to the leg, he now responds to a light touch!
We thoroughly enjoy our lessons and can't recommend Emma highly enough!
As we have proved: you are never too old to learn!"
Caroline, North Devon
Luckily we were introduced to Emma! Del responds so well to Emma's methods and is a much faster learner than I am! He is starting to engage his hindquarters and become light in my hands. For a horse that was dead to the leg, he now responds to a light touch!
We thoroughly enjoy our lessons and can't recommend Emma highly enough!
As we have proved: you are never too old to learn!"
Caroline, North Devon
'I had Emma down for half a day to help me with my youngster that I bought at the sales. Emma was brilliant when she came, she had no fear with him and got a rope on him even though he was very scared and moving around the stable a lot. As soon as the rope was on him he relaxed enough and allowed Emma to touch him and put the head collar on him. She took the head collar on and off several times and then I had a go. Emma then took him outside and led him for the first time, that was the best moment! Emma left me feeling much more confident and in control of him and I went on the next day to putting the head collar on and leading him outside. Emma was brilliant I would recommend her to anyone, she really has a way with horses and I will be using her again in the future.''
Tabitha T - Somerset
Tabitha T - Somerset
''I first met Emma when one of my horses developed a problem loading into the lorry. I was at my wits end when my farrier recommended I call Emma. Within 30 mins of her first visit Emma had my horse loading in the lorry freely and in a quiet and relaxed manner. It was nothing short of a miracle. Emma explained that if we can learn to read how the horse is feeling about any given situation we can work with it to expand its confidence in the handler and its willingness to follow the handler anywhere. I realised that I needed to learn the building blocks of developing a proper relationship with my horses starting with learning how to lead a horse.
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Surprising, most horsey people start going wrong at this point and I was no exception. A few lessons with Emma and it was as though a door had opened before me - my horses and I had a common language which allows us to enjoy working together. I unreservedly recommend Emma to anyone who has any type of behavioural/training problem with their horse. It really is a rewarding way of interacting with horses and the best thing is the horse enjoys it because they are part of the process and not just having things done to them. Good luck and enjoy!''
Flick A, South Devon |
 Seda follows Flick into the lorry in a relaxed manner with a loose lead rope |
 Down the ramp with a loose rope and without rushing past or pushing on Flick |
"I met Emma when I was having problems with my competition horse.
She had suddenly decided she no longer liked competing to the point where I couldn't even get her into an arena, she would rear, spin and run backwards and it was getting progressively worse. I had been to every traditional trainer I knew with no success and I was losing all hope when a friend suggested I give Emma a call. Emma really helped me to understand where my horse was coming from and why she was behaving in this way and she helped us to rebuild our relationship and confidence in each other. With a few changes to our routine and a different approach to training we are back out competing again and achieved a personal best at our first show!"
Katy T, Dorset
She had suddenly decided she no longer liked competing to the point where I couldn't even get her into an arena, she would rear, spin and run backwards and it was getting progressively worse. I had been to every traditional trainer I knew with no success and I was losing all hope when a friend suggested I give Emma a call. Emma really helped me to understand where my horse was coming from and why she was behaving in this way and she helped us to rebuild our relationship and confidence in each other. With a few changes to our routine and a different approach to training we are back out competing again and achieved a personal best at our first show!"
Katy T, Dorset
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"Emma has worked with us on many occasions helping with the handling of our wild Dartmoor foals. Its always great to have Emma along as she has such great understanding of wild ponies, where they have come from and the emotional stress they suffer initially when we begin to train them. Emma's wonderfully quiet, confident manner and her ability to see things from the ponies point of view, means that she soon builds up effective communication and gains the desired cooperation and trust needed to train them. She has demonstrated these qualities when handling our older ponies too, essential when dealing with ponies born in the wild rather than in domestication. Emma is one of the few people I would never hesitate to ask to help with our wild pony work."
Kerry Smith, Dartmoor. www.mitchelcombefarm.co.uk |
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"I have a 2yr old thoroughbred called Max who had become really unmanageable, whenever I was leading him he would strike and bite at me to the point I was scared to even go into the field to catch him. I had called a couple of different trainers out to see him and both advised me to get rid of him. I came across Emma by chance whilst desperately scanning the internet for help with my situation. Emma came out to see Max and explained to me that my horse wasn't aggressive he just didn't know how to behave around people, he had no rules or boundaries & he didn't know what was appropriate behaviour around human beings. We worked on establishing personal space, taking charge of his feet and teaching him to yield to pressure, Emma gave me the tools to stay safe and taught me what it meant to be a good leader for my horse (which is what he needed all along). He now leads beautifully, stands for the farrier and is a relaxed and happy horse. Without Emma's help I am sure Max's story would have had a very different ending."
Ellen T, Devon
Ellen T, Devon
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"I sent my home-bred mare away to be started as I had just had a baby, was living in rented accommodation with no facilities and didn't feel I could do her justice at the time. My sweet, calm and easy going mare came back an aggressive, defensive monster! After 3 & 1/2 years of trying to sort her out (with 'qualified' help) I was almost defeated but thank goodness I rang Emma and we started working together. Going back to root basics I now have my confidence back and my little horse is now getting hers back with me and other people. Maybe I will even get to ride her someday, thank you so much Emma."
C.E Devon |
"Emma came out to help me with a loading problem. I was having major issues getting Billy my 17hh tbx gelding into my trailer and was getting more & more frustrated every day. He would get to the bottom of the ramp and start running backwards and rearing, I tried all the tips from knowledgeable friends - blindfold, lunge lines, even the lunge whip! But all these things did were escalate the problem to the point he wouldn't go within 10ft of the trailer ramp! It was a friend from my local riding club who recommended I call Emma. So Emma arrived and we had a chat about the problems I was having and then she asked me to lead Billy over to the trailer which I did and he performed his usual routine of slamming on the brakes, running backwards and rearing. Emma then took the rope and lead Billy away from the trailer and proceeded to move him around quietly, after about 3 minutes of this she led him back to the trailer and asked him to walk in. I could see him hesitate and she just waited and after about 3 seconds he stepped forward and walked right in! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, no running backwards, no rearing, he just walked in like he did it everyday of his life! Emma explained that there was a moment when Billy hesitated at the bottom of the ramp through lack of confidence and at this moment I needed to just give him a second to access the situation, what I had been doing was applying more pressure by pulling on the lead rope which was effectively putting on the handbrake! Emma then handed Billy back and coached me through the loading process, teaching me how to read my horses eyes, ears & body language and when to apply or release the pressure on the rope appropriately.
That short session with Emma has completely changed the way I now approach any 'problems' I am having with my horse. Rather than getting frustrated and 'forcing' him into doing what I want I try to listen to him and figure out a peaceful solution, Emma said to me that day 'Our horses are trying to communicate with us all of the time, we just need to learn to listen to them.' - How true!"
Sally H, Somerset
That short session with Emma has completely changed the way I now approach any 'problems' I am having with my horse. Rather than getting frustrated and 'forcing' him into doing what I want I try to listen to him and figure out a peaceful solution, Emma said to me that day 'Our horses are trying to communicate with us all of the time, we just need to learn to listen to them.' - How true!"
Sally H, Somerset
"Emma re-started my youngster for me after he started bucking me off, being quite experienced with young stock I thought I could start him myself but he was quite nervous and sharp and after he had bucked me off for the fourth time I thought I should get some more qualified help! Emma was recommended to me by a riding club friend, she had him for four weeks, she rebuilt the confidence I had destroyed by scaring him and he is now a wonderful, relaxed horse, nothing phases him, I am about to start doing endurance with him and I am very excited for our future together. Thanks Emma"
M.W, Devon
M.W, Devon