Hannah pictured above –
This is an excerpt from a lovely “student spotlight” from Hannah on the blog.
“A year ago, I couldn’t even catch my horse.
It wasn’t for any lack of effort on my part—I had studied nearly every trainer I could find, tried dozens of methods, for days, weeks, months, years, and yet still my goal of bridleless dressage and transcendent connection with my horse was so far off that I almost felt like giving up. If I couldn’t even catch my horse, what business did I have searching for heaven on earth with my mare, Maia?
And then I met Jenny Pearce—embarked on her program through the generosity of the Gold Star Scholarship—and began glimpsing the beauty of pure connection with horses that I’d only dreamed of.
How did this happen? Jenny’s program gave me two incredible gifts. First, the lesson that pursuing joy, happiness, lightness, and comfort with horses at all times is good and is beautiful. So often we’re told to push through, to fight it out, that frustration and fear are normal with horses, and I didn’t want to live like that—that was not the horsemanship I longed for.
– Hannah, USA
A double world champion reining rider wanted something different from Hannah.
Kristine Nesbitt said “I found a confidence I never had before. It was bigger than my world championships.” Yes, she actually said that. The audio interview is here on the website, feel free to ask me for it but I won’t distract you right now. She said that what she got from one session here with me (her in Texas and me in Australia) was bigger than those world championships. She cleaned up a stuck spot in her riding seat that had been causing problems for months and did it in such a way that a difficult and dangerous horse was no longer difficult. But bigger than that, she resolved a life long confidence issue.
Her interview after our session was an eye opener about how even reaching the pinnacles of world championship competition is not as satisfying to the soul as the joyful connection that’s possible between a horse and rider – the joyful connection that she discovered with that dangerous horse after our session. Yeah – straight from a double world champion’s mouth.
“There’s no fairies down the bottom of Jenny’s garden!”
There’s a whole blog here from Sue too, where she talks about how she went looking for more relaxation and understanding to help her sick horse with heaves.
“BEST THING I EVER DID. Let me tell you folks that there are no fairies at the bottom of Jenny Pearce’s garden, or at least if there are she keeps them well hidden. This lady is all about basic common sense, she has the means to find the ability in you and your horse and to help you to utilize it in the best possible way. Providing clear practical lessons which give you everything you need to succeed. She helps you to develop what I call your horse feel, that elusive something that all the best riders and horse people in the world have, that thing we all long for but though only the chosen few were given.
Best of all this comes without BLAME,CRITICISM or JUDGEMENT, all of which abound in the world of horses.
If this is your goal……TO BE THE VERY BEST YOU CAN BE FOR YOU AND YOUR HORSE ….. then look no further, you need what Jenny has in bucketful’s. Join in and begin the journey to excellence, I promise you will never look back.”
Sue from the bush.
This testimonial from K is hilarious – she’s competed at very high levels in her discipline.
K said to tell you that she hit a place in her Fast Track program that was like “Christmas and Easter and your birthday happening all at once to a child. Or an org… asm in happiness” “Sorry for my bluntness” she said with laughter, “that is for adults only”.
I had asked her to describe what she had just experienced with her horse to someone who had never experienced anything like it. She was talking about what it felt like when she and her horse were exploring a new way of communication for a simple back-up.
And that joy? That org… asm in happiness? HER HORSE was experiencing that too.
Think about what a big deal that was – they were experiencing that depth of happiness TOGETHER. It’s not about us teaching them or us doing it to them – the mutuality of it is just freaking awesome.
See… People look at fancy things being done with horses – where the horse and person are doing whatever it is that’s your idea of a perfect picture together and they think THAT is what they want. I hate to break it to you – it’s not that picture at the end of the journey that you really want – it’s the expansive joy of real communication with your horse happening EVERY STEP OF THE WAY that K has just discovered with such happiness that she used the “orga$m’ word. (I’m using all kinds of euphemisms to avoid my website getting picked up by people looking for something else!)
Corey is a warmblood breeder and dressage afficionado from New Zealand
If you want to LEARN “feel” and LEARN how to open your heart to reveal all the skills you have inside you to eventually be on a par with all the great horsemen and so-called horse whisperers, there is no other way that I am aware of to do that, to LEARN that, than by taking one of Jenny’s meticulously, brilliantly constructed online courses.
– Corey, New Zealand
Sandra is a campdrafter from the outback of Australia
Without practising or even thinking about it, the riding position has become automatic – kind of cool, as most things I have to repeat and work hard at, before it becomes a habit. That’s her on Milly over there on the right hand side. Put a top hat and tails on her and you would think she was a Grand Prix dressage rider!
Thank goodness I was led to Jenny Pearce’s way of teaching… Absolutely nothing compares… No fear, mutual respect, a bond I only ever dreamed of having.
– Marie from New Zealand, her horse pictured.
“I do not mind whether I am on the FastTrack or the SlowTrack, as long as I am on JENNY’S Track, that’s all I can say…”
– Jan, Australia
Pete had been significantly abused by a trainer and labelled a dangerous horse.
Since joining your fast track course I have learnt so much about Pete my horse and myself. Our connection together is getting stronger everyday. Two days ago we had an amazing breakthrough I was sitting in the paddock doing a quiet mind and Pete came over he loves meditation. He stood next to me then he layed down next to me it was so beautiful. He layed right out and let all this stuff out and I was letting go as well it was very emotional for both of us.
Then he got up and walked away and seemed very happy with himself. Then a couple of hours later I had this feeling to go back out again and again he layed down next to me. He seemed not as relaxed so I thought lay right down and let it go mate. And before I had finished that thought he was out to it.
This time though it was all about the trainer that done all of his abuse. He was groaning ,his neck was twitching and moving he was releasing all that stress from being tied up for hours on end. It was so very clear, I had to keep my mind quiet so I could support him.when he finished he sat up and looked right in my eyes I’m sure he was thanking me for being there with him. I was so grateful for him allowing me to be there.
This course is just mind blowing our friendship is getting stronger everyday and it’s helping both of us heal together. As I have had some terrible guilt issues over what has happened to Pete and I feel his helping me move on from that as well.
– Sue in Australia
A beginner rider – first ride outside on the trail.
“My seat was still glued in and my body naturally flowed with her and we stayed together. This was my very first shy on any horse.”
– Valezka, Australia
“I feel Jenny is teaching me to be the horsewoman I want to be, and am able to be being the person I am, rather than teaching me to train a horse her way which I think is why I haven’t done too well with other teachers. … seeing my horse slowly unveil himself and to feel the growing compassion we have for each other’s stuck spots is worth everything. And the support from Jenny and the on-line community is phenomenal.”
– Amanda, Australia
Julia solved a long standing PTSD and depression.
There’s a whole blog here from Julia, where she openly and bravely talks about solving her PTSD and depression with a combination of the horse work on Fast Track and four private sessions with me.
She said “Physical problems and events, which for 20 years had brought me to tears just thinking about them, have just evaporated like steam from a kettle after my sessions with Jenny. Sometimes there is understanding which is very validating.
The courses have given me the tools and skills to be able to help myself and my horses through any difficult times and build a totally new relationship with them.”
Julia from Western Australia
Dee’s nerve won’t be gone once she gets further into Fast Track
Also interesting is that after doing the fright imprint release (Lesson 7 on Fast Track), my whole pelvic area feels more free- with a VERY strange sensation kind of like pins and needles in the ‘lady garden area’??. Not unpleasant and maybe related to energy flowing in an area that was fixed and rigid?
My feeling is to stay on the fright imprint releasing for a while- and I’m glad to hear about Steve doing that too.
Thanks a million for the support, Jenny. I loved the webinar by the way and rushed out today to actively appreciate my small, square Cob. We had an extremely positive hour in the sun together at the end of which I stood on the block that I’d been sitting meditating with him on and he lined himself up beside it as if to allow me to mount!!!!!
Now, I had no intention of doing that as he was tackless and I was hatless and my nerve is gone BUT it was a massive offer from him as he used to step back one or two steps from the block in the ‘old days’ i.e. last year, when I wasn’t listening to either him or myself ?. So, onwards and thanks again Regards Dee
– Dee from Ireland
My connection with Jim (is) so unlike anything I had before I enrolled on Fast Track ~ The proof of the pudding being when a lady (who I didn’t know) rode past the school stopped on her horse to tell me that Jim looked lovely! I know for a fact Jim was able to express himself because my Fast Track position on the saddle pad gave him the freedom (emotionally & physically) he needed to move his body.
– Alison, Australia
Mary and Sascha
I just have to share something with you – I am up at Steve Halfpenny’s with Sasha doing a vacquero clinic with Jeff Sanders.
Yesterday Jeff was incredibly complimentary about my riding and the togetherness Sasha and I have to the point that I don’t move anymore as I ride just sit straight in the saddle and Sasha floats under neath me with us both working as a total unit together – yeeha all due to the stuff I have done with you – THANK YOU!!
– Mary from South Australia
Tammy and her horse Dana were featured in our old 9 Keys to Happiness, the photo taken straight after their first bridle-less ride.
I have been working with Jen off and on for a while now, but last year I was thrown from a horse I was trialing… it shattered my confidence completely and I was a nervous rider before that so I felt well and truly beaten. The fast track program has done wonders for my confidence and riding; after the fall I was afraid to do anything but a slow walk but now we are zooming around the arena doing figure eights and all sorts of lovely patterns, trotting around like a centaur. Nothing is coming between my butt and my horse 🙂 it is an awesome feeling. Thank you so much Jen. The magnetic butt is a wonderful thing for both of us.
– Tammy from Bruthen
After a lifetime of horsemanship – from traditional, to natural horsemanship, there was still something wrong… something missing, and a build up of fear and anxiety with me and my horses. Not having much fun anymore.
Jenny’s teachings were the breath of fresh air I needed to move forward – I was able to finally breathe out and relax with my horses and it was ok. It was ok to step back and not push through fear, in fact by slowing down with our horses to start with, we can speed up with other things further on down the track because our horses know we are listening to them and honouring them as a worthwhile, important being with valid feelings and opinions.
Jenny’s teachings help us and our horses create a better bond, release any bad history either you or your horse have, and create a wholistic environment for you and your horse’s lives.
And most importantly of all, Jenny teaches that WE are capable, and have all the answers inside, by using her methods we are encouraged to access our inner wisdom. No putting teachers up on pedestals as having “all the answers” here is allowed!
The support is fantastic, as is the community of like minded individuals on the forum. And the miracles, they just keep coming. By releasing the negative, relearning using Jenny’s methods and then reprogramming our experiences by really anchoring into all the good things going on with our horses the result equals a place of pure joy and calm.
Perfect.
– Narel, South Coast NSW, Australia
A life-long horse fanatic, from a 3 year old child through to middle age adulthood, I witnessed so much that left me feeling cold, and sick to the stomach, when it came to how humans interacted with horses. There was the “old school”, there was the “new school” of horsemanship, and yet I saw the horses still reacting in the same distressed and frightened ways.
No number of questions asked received answers that made any sense and so I studied Equine Behaviour. This unleashed horrific understanding of what the domesticated horse suffers at our hands, mostly unknowingly, which lead to fervent research into the “kinder” methods of training.
There is much said about the “partnership” of horse and rider, using equine psychology as its foundation, which in the most part, is hugely misleading, misunderstood and misinterpreted. However, I found with Jenny’s way of teaching, is that she teaches the tools of true partnership where both have an equal part to play. She teaches the skills to enable US to empower our horse to find his/her voice, to allow communication with us, from which comes peaceful trust and a happy willingness to enjoy being and doing things with us, and she teaches US to be empowered to know exactly what is right for us and this horse, and us and that horse.
Each is different and we learn all the skills to know what is right for each individual combination. With your new skills, you will always find the right way to release and enjoy your horse’s abilities, and your own. In addition, we are taught how to undo the damage caused from previous life experiences, be it our own or our horses.
As a behaviourist, this has given me a new dimension to helping overcome difficulties, or problem behaviours. Rather than just understanding why and being able to suggest changes to help horse and owner, I am now able (and so is everyone else), to UNDO, or RELEASE the memory both mentally and physically, of a past trauma. This “release” part, is incredibly healing for our horse, and allows us to learn new things together without the usual underlying problems, without the mystifying “what am I doing wrong”, or “why will my horse not do this thing”. I know of no other who teaches this amazingly empowering way to be with horses, for me it is The School of Horsemanship Life Skills.
-Caroline ~ Portugal