"I help people and horses to overcome anxiety and trauma to work and play better together "

If you've had a crisis in yourself or your horse is struggling, I can help you get safe and have fun again.

As a Life Coach and Horse Trainer I will help you both.

Online and at home.

Check me out here and on Facebook & Instagram.

Coaching Horses with Challenging Behaviours

Horses aren't "Good" or "Bad", or have "behaviours", they just have training... human-made training.

Like it or not, you're the trainer... every moment you're with your horse.

This is a both a huge opportunity for positive, or the opposite!

I love to share the non-violent & highly effective methods I've learned from across the world.

Coaching Horse People who are somehow "Stuck"

Getting your "inner game" right is a skill needing practice. You can't fake it with a horse; as prey animals they are hard-wired to sense nervousness.

Sports psychologists help mindset, and riding instructors focus on technique, but rarely training principles or mindset.

I offer help combining both worlds: building a strong horse relationship and staying calm under pressure.

We'll address negative talk, limiting beliefs, and anger. Taking responsibility for your mindset is key. Let's get you on track for success.

Learn online from the worlds best.

Horse training has changed. The internet is transforming our training options.

TRT Method. Warwick Schiller. Monty Roberts. Parelli. Richard Maxwell etc.

YOU DO NOT NEED ME TO TEACH YOU THIS STUFF! WATCH IT ONLINE!

Whether you're an eventer, dressage-r, or hacker, of all of these methods have something to teach about safety and effective training techniques. All can be learnt online, much of it is free.

The methods may differ but the principles rarely do...especially when problem-solving.

My coaching is different

People can get stuck taking online learning to their horse. The old British training is not like modern western/Aussie training at all. Sometimes it's the opposite, particularly at the start of problem-behaviour handling.

I can bridge that gap so you can breakthrough and get momentum again.

Learning from online trainers, and using me strategically,

will save you time, money, give you flexibility, give you more control.

Prices

Initial 15 min online and video horse assessment meeting - free.

Horse personality assessement - £15 (free for ongoing coaching clients)

Online coaching £50 per hour.

Calls outs from £75 per hour, max £200 per session.

Emergency loading callouts £100 per hour.

WhatsApp and homework support £20 per month.

Problem-Solving + Training for Horses

Following non-violent and 'natural' training methods, I'll teach you key horse training principles that show your horse he can trust and respect you. I'll show you how to increase or decrease certain behaviours. We'll understand why he does things and make a plan for action.

Effective + Cheaper Coaching in our Modern World!

By combining online coaching and in-person visits we can keeps costs to a minimum.

Expect to be learning and following Tristan Tuckers TRT method, Warwick Schiller, Monty Roberts, Jane Pike, Buck Branaman and other brilliant trainers and teachers when you're learning with me.

All you need is free online. Let's discuss if you need their subscription packages.

References

"I'm delighted that Rachel is offering her expertise to help horses and owners; far enough away not to affect my horse training business! With practical experience gleaned from many parts of the world, combined with her knowledge of NLP, Rachel can effectively problem solve by speaking the horses language, and translate this into a goal with logical training steps to follow. I always love having Rach to visit, to swap training tips and ideas, and I have no hesitation recommending her to anyone looking for help with their steed"

Joanna Lowes Certified Monty Roberts Instructor BHSAI

A bit more about me...

I grew up riding at Pony Club in the UK in a traditional British manner. It was all about control and very little harmony.

At 18, on a working trip to Yellowstone in the US, I met cowboys and women who really had to train horses effectively with harmony, because in a very short time because they had to go to work together. This wasn't old style "Breakin", this was modern day "horsemanship". Their methods were seriously better than our British ones! The horses were heaven to handle and ride.

I also met Linda Tellington-Jones who face profiles horses. This has saved me a huge amount of money from buying the wrong horses for my daughter! She has a personality, and a child has significant training capability limites. Basically some horses suit her, others don't. Being able to "read" a horses face, has saved me big mistakes.

I read, re-read and re-read again about autistic sauvant Temple Grandin. She utterly changed my understanding of animals.

Rehabilitating "meat horses"

I lived in the Australian High Country for 5 years in my early 20's.

I was lucky enough to work with some brilliant cattlemen, natural horsemanship trainers, stockmen and women, sports riders, and vets.

My best trainers were two 2 year old "green broke" colts; Bert and Ernie, flighty stock horses. They put my on the floor when I got it wrong - alot! (That's Bert and me on the front of the Jillaroo book).

The farm ran horse trips into the bush for 2-10 days. I bought 60+ horses from sales and slaughter-pens. All were there because they had some kind of “problem”. But the truth is that it was the humans that had the problem, and I came to know that it wasn’t ever the horses fault. We retrained them in the round-pen and slowly on the farm. It was hard work. I made alot of mistakes!

Everyday in that time I worked sheep or cattle from horses. We had 70,000 sheep before lambing, and 2,000 cattle that we used to drive into the bush for the summer. It took a week to get up, and two weeks to get them back. Amazing work.

I

Catching wild Brumbies - a whole new level of crazy...

During that time, a (quite possibly insane) group of us also had a license to catch and remove ‘Brumbies’ – Australia’s wild horses – from the remote high mountains. The National Parks Authority wanted numbers reduced. Their hooved feet cause erosion and there are overgrazing issues.

It was extremely dangerous, injuries were common, getting lost was normal, we had satelite phones and often rode in the snow.

The process involved chasing the Brumbies through thick trees and scrub forests, roping them with lasso’s, bringing them to a stop, changing to halter without getting off your horse, "leading" them to a storage yard of trailer, and keeping the whole thing as calm as possible. It was madness really!

I caught 5 and each one gave me a long term injury to be proud of.

Ineffective as it was, it was better than shooting them from helicopters, which is the current, awful, Government management programme.

I was, and quite possibly still am, the only British woman to have successfully contributed to the live-removal programme.

This experience taught me alot! Catching wild horses is a dangerous, humbling, and raw experience. Training them with NVC methods is quite possibly the most fulfilling, beautiful and gentle process. (But you do need a round pen…!)

In the UK in 2007 problem horses were getting shot...

Back in the UK, and with some experience under my belt with “dangerous” horses, I began to coach many people who were at their wits end with their ‘mad/bad/crazy’ horses. This was before Monty Roberts became (rurally, anyway!) a household name.

I worked a highly respected UK training coach, Joanna Day BHS Fellow, who bred Pippa Funnell's first Badminton horse. Together we trained Olympic riders, riders on the British World Cup teams, took in event horses that had been causing issues, fixed the horses and sent them back. Jo wrote a book, many of those idea are now mainstream in the TRT Method. Thank goodness! They are better!

But I gave it up. At the end of the day, much of the work we were doing was helping the horses, but the people and industry refused to be empathetic at top level eventing – returning to the main method of whip and spur. Or the horses were shot when people wouldn't change their own ways. I was overwhelmed with feelings of betrayal for the horses.

Instead I took on 1 or 2 horses a year for rehab and my own use and enjoyed them myself, and tried to ignore the cruelty around me.

Coaching People, A Business Life

My coaching journey has contined to evolve. I trained extensively in Neuro Linguistic Programming, learning how the human mind works. NLP is a method for understanding and changing how people think, behave, and communicate. It uses techniques to improve mindset, overcome fears, and boost personal skills by changing thought patterns and behavior.

I created a social innovation company around the idea of powerful+playful education, and worked for Prince Charles to raise awareness of rainforests globally.

I am trained in Climate Change Anxiety, a LEGO Serious Play Facilitator, a Cambridge University Institute of Sustainable Leadership Alumni. I have started and run a successful tourism business.

I now to do two jobs: I consult to companies on the value of play in strategy, fand BCorp, a sustainability certification.

And I specialise in life coaching and anxiety. For all people, but now also horse people and horses too! I hope to meet you one day soon.

I

Rachel Parsons

COACHING

Wow. You read this far! You must be keen.

Let's chat. I'd love to hear your story.

Message me on 077 233 199 70

or email me at rachel@thewhatifdepartment.co.uk

You'll find me on Insta @rachel_parsons_coach

Facebook @Horse Sense Rachel Parsons Coaching