It has now been 1 week since my family and I returned home from a month-long road trip to and through Portugal. The trip was fantastic, and we made a lot of great memories. However, there's 1 memory I don't like to think back on ...
Big Deal was a horse at the stable in Portugal where I worked 20 years ago when I was 23-24 years old. I moved to Portugal in 2001 to work for a riding stable to teach riding classes, and train horses in dressage and trail riding. The day I arrived at the stables ...
When I advise people to spend time on Bonding Time with their horse, the answer is sometimes: "I already spend undemanding time with my horse in the field, so I know how it works, and I know how to do it". However, ...
A Connection Circle is a live online workshop that has a specific subject, with a duration of 2 to 4 hours . At the start, we come together online, I get you all set up, and give you the instructions for the first exercise.
In the riding school where I rode as a teenager, there was a mare, Muguette. She wouldn’t let anybody touch or halter her without pinning her ears and giving you a (very!) nasty look.
Joey was about 4 months old when he was taken from his mother in a brutal and aggressive way. Three strong men cornered him to grab him, then they forced him to go on a trailer without his mother while screaming at him and hitting him with a whip.
Today is International Women's Day. And that is necessary. Because worldwide women still receive less or worse education, violence against women is higher than against men, women are still paid less for their job, etc.
My first own horse was Niki. She was 12 when she was given to me by an acquaintance. She was sweet and willing, but very energetic and quickly stressed. She also couldn’t stand still easily.
I was 15 when one day I arrived at the riding school and a young black horse named Farao was standing in one of the boxes. He was beautiful, but there were quite some problems: Farao didn’t like to be touched and he didn’t let himself be haltered without trying to kick you first.
Fella was a 12-year old mare, that was tensed and angry during lunging. No bend, short strides, ears flat, swishing tail, nasty looks. The previous weeks her owner focussed mainly on liberty training, to build a..
I’m standing next to a small mare, named Bet, and her owner Myriam in a muddy arena. Myriam has tears in her eyes while she’s explaining: “Karine, I’m struggling so much with my mare Bet. ..
You live in your body. Your body is your home. It’s your instrument. With your body – your senses – you observe the world. Thanks to your body, you can express yourself and move around in this life. ..
Too tense muscles in the rider. You would think that mainly novice riders have it, but you also see it quite often with very experienced riders. And you also see it when people do groundwork, or liberty. It often..
“Bonding Time” is the first connection exercise of Horsefulness Liberty Training. While you are doing it, it’s important to practice yourself in being fully present. This means: no distractions like reading or..
Do you sometimes have difficulties with a certain character trait of your horse? A trait that arouses irritation, incomprehension, or frustration in you? And have you been looking for a “solution” for this character..
A fit horse that has good endurance, is supple, strong, and moves in balance. That’s what every trainer/rider wants. But what about the rider himself? The truth is that many trainers/riders are far from fit …..
Pure presence with horses Whenever I leave my house because I need to travel, I always say goodbye to my horses, no matter how short my travel will be. So the evening before
Last week I was interviewed for “The Whole Horse Podcast” by Alexa Linton from Canada. Alexa was especially curious about the breath work I do with my students. These are some of the things we talked about ..
Increase your knowledge about horses, learn how horses communicate, take your training skills to a higher level. If that is your goal then you should first of all know what type of learning style suits you best. ..
Wico, a young black Shetland stallion, didn’t hold back to kick out firmly with his hind legs when he was being fed. It was also very difficult to touch or stroke him, he usually ran off quickly if someone..
Because of the Corona crisis which is influencing the whole world, many people are in a state of heightened anxiety. That’s why, in this 5th episode of the Horsefulness Training Podcast, I want to teach you the..
These are uncertain times at the moment, the corona crisis is causing a lot of fear and stress. It’s better, however, that we remain calm, healthy and positive. I made a video about how horses can help us with that 🙂
When we think about playing horses, we often see the image of young frolicking horses running behind each other in the meadow, bucking and playing dominance games. That’s right, of course, young horses play..
Some horses have difficulties opening themselves up to their owner. They don’t feel safe enough. Or they feel uncertain. Sometimes they have fear, fear of humans or fear of what is to come. Some horses even..