About Anna

I enjoy a working week traveling to yards, teaching people with their own horses and I take in horses for training at Higher Langdon Barn, North Bovey and Dartmoor.

At the age of 4yrs old I started riding and I was fortunate to have ponies and horses of my own, which I attended pony club events on. When I was 16yrs old for one year I lived and worked at Jenny Loriston-Clarkes International Dressage yard as a working student. Here I qualified as a BHS PT riding instructor. My main interest though was how to successfully work with all horses in a way that the horse was a willing participant. I thought a lot about how some horses could feel quietly internally troubled or externally expressively troubled about what I was asking them to do.

I went on to work in a hunting yard for Tom Barnes who as a youngster show jumped in the Olympic team and had a way about him which caused horses to understand their work with him. After this I worked as a groom for a brief amount of time in an international eventing yard and international show jumping yard. My interest of how to successfully work with all horses, then drew me to find out about Tom and Bill Dorrance. These two horsemen had a reputation for successfully working with horses in a way that felt good to the horse. Here is a quote from Tom to give you a taste of this remarkable horseman. "The best thing I try to do for myself is to try to listen to the horse. I don't mean let him take over. I listen to how he's operating: what he's understanding or what he's not understanding: what's bothering him and what isn't bothering him. I try to feel what the horse is feeling and operate from where the horse is". Tom. Dorrance.

In 2002 I started work at a Western yard in Devon where I was fortunate to be able to practice all that I was learning with the horses at the yard, plus I was teaching occasionally. I also went to work for Tom and Sarah Widdicombe for 6 months. At the time they where taking in horses for training, as they were qualified Intelligent Horsemanship trainers and having much experience and learning from their contact with Mark Rashid. Alongside this I decided to visit Harry Whitney's Ranch in Arizona to find out more about this way of working with horses. Harry knew Tom Dorrance and in his own right Harry is a remarkable horseman. Since 2003 I have been to Harry's Ranch seven times for two to six weeks at a time, working there as a student of his. Also in March 2009 and 2010 I spent 2 weeks riding with Joe Wolter, another fine horseman who for many years worked horses with Bill Dorrence and Ray Hunt.

I continue to be fascinated in finding different ways to presentate what I am asking of a horse. This is in order to fit each horse's needs and so help them to gain an understanding and to feel good about what I am asking of them. I also enjoy adapting my teaching style to help each individual to find the answers to being able to effectively and safely handle and ride their horse. On a daily basis I am reminded that the learning process never ends. I enjoy that my work keeps me thinking, learning and adapting.

Fully Insured  First aid certifiedInitially BHS QualifiedTrained in England and America