A warm welcome to @Charlotte Wright who joins us looking for shared experiences in a trusting environment. A warm welcome, please share with us a little bit about you and your horse 🐎

There is a new course in the classroom - details and link in first comment. However, lets consider what judgment is first... The Quiet Judgements We Make in the Horse World and How to Let Them Go The horse world is full of opinions. Strong ones. Often delivered with the confidence of someone who once read half a Facebook comment thread. We judge how people ride. How they train. How often they ride. What they feed, rug, jump, hack, rest, compete, or choose not to do. And here is the uncomfortable bit. We are not just judged. We judge too. Often without meaning to. Often without noticing. Judgement usually shows up when we feel unsafe in our own choices. When someone does it differently, our brain starts running old programmes. It quickly searches for meaning, and if it cannot find safety, it creates certainty instead. That is where judgement sneaks in. It is not cruelty. It is your nervous system trying to protect you. But judgement has a cost it tightens communities. It limits learning. And it keeps riders stuck in patterns of doubt, comparison, and overthinking. From an NLP perspective, every rider is operating from their own model of the world. Their experiences, beliefs, past falls, past wins, horses they have loved, horses they have lost, all shape how they see what is “right”. Same arena, completely different internal map. So how do we work towards being less judgemental? First, we pause. That pause interrupts the old pattern. It gives your brain time to choose a different response instead of running on autopilot. Second, we swap judgement for curiosity. “What might this look like from their perspective?” “What do they know about their horse that I do not?” Curiosity softens the nervous system. It opens learning instead of closing ranks. Third, we notice our triggers. If someone else’s choices light you up emotionally, that is valuable information. Judgement often points us back to a part of ourselves that wants reassurance, safety, or permission.

Looking to buy a horse? One of the other groups I am in has just published a resource that might prove useful. The group is run by @Stacey Youlios who is based in Eagle Mountain Utah, so there will be some different experiences and learning in there from what the UK riders here are use to. It's worth a look and a join, like this group it's free to join and has some interesting reading. Here is the link to find & join it https://www.skool.com/the-balanced-rider-9963/about?ref=0e924fac20bb4f479d76d262eeee9a01

How are you spending your Sunday? Drop a comment below 👇

Is it just me, or is January the longest month known to horsey humans? We’re only halfway through and yet it feels like we’ve lived several emotional lifetimes already. It’s still dark, the mud has strong opinions, and spring feels like a rumour someone started to be kind. If you’re feeling a bit flat or unmotivated, you’re not doing anything wrong. This is just January being January. Lower your expectations a touch this week. Small wins matter. Getting to the yard counts. Grooming your horse and calling it a win definitely counts. Lighter evenings are coming. Confidence isn’t gone, it’s just waiting for better weather. Keep going. You’re doing brilliantly, even if January disagrees.