Events & CPD

How to prepare yourself and your horse for liberty (refined free schooling) with Sue Gardner

July 20, 2024

Outline

After last years successful 2hr workshops on training towards liberty I’m delighted to be hosting further workshops on ‘How to prepare yourself and your horse for liberty (refined free schooling).

These full day workshops will run monthly over 3 months. They are designed to be consecutive as all the learning listed below cannot be taught in one workshop.

Each workshop starts with theory, then simulation and grounding/mindfulness exercises to help us be calm and present. The rest of the workshop will be practical.

Location & Duration

The dates are all Saturdays and times are arrivals at 9.30 with a start at 10.00 to 4.30pm:

• 15th June
• 20th July
• 24th August

They will be run at Jewels Stables, Arundel, West Sussex and taught by Sue Gardner  who has been teaching liberty training for over 25 years.

Contents

Over these 3 one day workshops you will learn the key components for working at liberty and these are:

• Knowing the fundamentals around innate horse and human behaviour
• Learning how to focus with lightness
• How to create clear and positive intentions
• The study of subtle body language cues (yours and your horses)
• The importance of breathing from your diaphragm.
• Breathing your horse up and down transitions ( how to use the right amount of energy)
• Knowing what works best for your individual horse

Each workshop starts with theory, then simulation and grounding/mindfulness exercises to help us be calm and present. The rest of the workshop will be practical.

We first work on our in-hand leading in walk, halt, turning left and right, in all these movements the horses head stays level with us.

The continuing sessions build on all the components mentioned above, each session we add in more exercises including back up, drawing your horse to you as well as asking him to stop whilst you move away. With each workshop we build on our abilities to work in more subtle ways until we are barely using the halter and line. This is the foundation training for liberty.

We are aiming to have our horses and ourselves relaxed, calm and trusting so that the start of mirroring can take place with our new found knowledge of horse and human behaviour, our focus, our breath ( energy) and what our body language is telling each other.

Other details

A maximum of 6 horses on the workshop. Please note there will be a maximum of 3 horses in the 20×50 metre surfaced arena in the morning sessions and 3 groups of 2 horses in the afternoon sessions for safety and maximum teaching benefit.

Bringing your horse is £125.00 per workshop

10% discount if all 3 workshops are booked!

Spectators welcome £20.00 per day

Refreshments included. Please bring your own lunch.

Parking info will be sent to you nearer the time.