Freedom Equine...

Welcome to Freedom Equine, on the frontline of the international battle against cruelty to horses within training methodology.

In a world where fear and control are increasingly our go to defence mechanisms, horses can help us to understand the ways of kindness and it's far superior effectiveness.

I (Phoebe Norling) have had the honour of working with these beautiful animals from the age of 8 and was providing professional riding lessons by the time I was 15. I found myself drawn to and working with horses which were put in the too hard basket by other trainers, i.e, major behavioural issues which could not be corrected and found that controlling and fearful methodology were actually causing these behavioural issues and this methodology is what is being taught worldwide.

So I spent many years successfully re-educating traumatized horses and re-educating riders and trainers in Aotearoa (New Zealand) Australia, Japan and virtually, worldwide. Horses when redirected to this kind training switched out of their 'bad' behavior within literal minutes with riders and handlers often in tears of relief and happiness that they now had a positive way forward with their beloved beautiful horses.

This kind of training does not use whips, lungeing, restriction of energy in feeds, mental & physical fatiguing, spurs, sticks, drugs, mind games or repeating the same exercise for months on end while the horse is in a state of exhaustion, etc (which are what make up the methodology being used and taught as standard globally) but rather builds and acts within a relationship of kindness and so the horses go from being flighty, spooky and distressed to calm, happy and relaxed within literal minutes.

In response to the need for re-education and help within our international equine framework, Freedom Equine provides an international 'Horse Help' service which provides the everyday horse enthusiast direct and personal interactive advice and guidance into their unique daily equine journies.

I, (Phoebe) also provide local riding lessons around New Plymouth (my hometown) wider Aotearoa and overseas, educate horses/ponies to saddle (break In) and help people to rehome horses.

There is still a great need for resource manuals to be available to the public on this kind of training and so we are currently also working on a series of training manuals which people will be able to attain when they are completed.

You can also check out Freedom Equine TV to see over 800 videos of some of the beautiful horses I have had the privilege of re-educating the kind way.

These videos were all taken on my very first time ever riding these horses and in most cases my first time ever meeting them, all were ridden with zero gear (no saddle, bridle, halter nothing) on my first ride and all were fed with high energy feeds and fresh.

(Note: There are other riders using other methodology also displayed in a few of these videos)

RELATIONSHIP BASED HORSE MASTERY

Despite the term Horse Mastery, the mastery involved and required in the pursuit of any horse related endeavour is the mastery of oneself rather than of the actual horse/s involved.

Much like when relating to children the results we have are a reflection of ourselves rather than of a subjective counterpart.

Horses are very much like dogs in the way they naturally love to be around humans, interact, play etc. they will naturally call and come running up to you as a dog will.

Now imagine if I took that dog and grabbed a stick, put it on a lead and chased it away from me, yet not allowing it to run far, the only thing it could do was keep running in circles while I chased it with a stick, holding the lead until it was exhausted. Imagine I did this for weeks, months, every day, every time I interacted with that dog.

Do you think this dog would come running happily up to me anymore?

Horses are large, powerful animals and our fear gets in the way of our relationships with them. Lungeing is exactly the procedure I just described. It is done as a standard practice by horse riders, owners, trainers etc. It is abuse. It is also one of the many reasons horses run away from owners when they come to collect them from their paddocks.

Most riders are scared to ride a horse in a non exhausted / dumbed down state even at Olympian level.

Also commonplace is the restriction of energy in foods, horses are worked daily to maintain them in physical & mental states of exhaustion and a raft of other counterproductive and ineffective methodolgy is commonplace.

But remove the fear for a moment. Why is it that children can go and befriend a horse in a paddock and ride them with no gear pretty much easily, but that same horse when confronted with an experienced rider will run away and play up nervously while ridden.

Why is it acceptable to wear sharp pain inflicting metal objects on our heels to dig into a horses belly...just to so called communicate with them. How can we even consider this.

Communication that causes pain is no communication at all, it is bullying and a person who chooses to bully a horse is a person who will never experience the beautiful relationship of trust and harmony between horse and rider which comes from an authentically respectful and kind way of communicating with them.

The same people using this methodology are the same who tell us that horses are flighty and nervy animals. Not in my experience. They are bold, calm, relaxed, friendly, placid and will call and come running up to you much like a dog does, happy to see you and if you're holding a saddle they get excited that they're going out for some fun and try to help you put it on them. THAT is what horses are truly like.

If you would like support dropping cruelty and abuse out of your horse endeavours