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Leo is our 3yo Kaimanawa gelding. Along with a few like minded ladies we saved his mum Koha from the Kaimananwa Wild Horse muster in April 2014 and just after Christmas 2014 Leo was born.

Every week I get a few messages asking for a price for full mouth dentistry. My reply is always the same.. Between 100 -200 for a first timer generally and sedation between 75 to 120...the higher sedation amount is often Tbs or really bad mouths and when the horse is in a painful state. Often there is no reply to that message and I assume it is beyond what they wanted to spend. This week however, I did get a reply and this was it. " The price you've given is ridiculous for dentistry, it's extortionate, how do you sleep at night ripping people off!"

Beautiful Jazz came to me 4 years ago. Jazz had huge internal anxiety. She worried about everything, which fired up her self preservation instinct making her reactive, very defensive especially around her personal space, and was full of tension and braces in her body.

Aurora is rising five. When she was three and a half I was in the process of starting her. I pony my horse's out a lot during this period, as I like introducing them to the world without the pressure of a rider, and they get to feed off the confidence of the more experienced horse I’m riding.

Zefir, 1 year ago today at her first outing, a wee gymkhana. I never imagined that day we would have gone to Equidays and performed at liberty, and Equitana inside the next 12 months! My job that day was to do whatever it took to help her feel confident, happy, and it be a positive experience we would both grow from. It was all of that.

After almost 4 years owning Jazz, we are finally at the start line and ready to begin training!! This a truly a celebratory moment for me :) The last 4 years I have been working on the inside of Jazz, to get her to the level where mentally and emotionally she can cope with the pressures of training. Jazz is ultra sensitive, doesn't handle pressure well, is easily worried and very easy to make anxious and tight.

Equidays Top Talent Competition...Epic experience!! Nothing I had tried to imagine it would be like was even close. We watch performers with their horses and don't think too much about the atmosphere because we aren't out there. But take a 5yo horse from Dunedin, who's had a bit of life experience but not so much exposure to a lot of people, who is very sensitive and responsive to my energy alone, put her into a packed arena with the energy of a lots of people and it hits home very quickly what a massive deal it is for them!!

Part of our Top Talent performance at Equidays required me to come up with a theme, costume and music.

When I was kid I had a great imagination, fancy dress with my pony were my forte. I came up with all sorts of themes with ease....how many walking fruit stalls have you seen in the fancy dress competition? lol :D I did that one year with Echo. I put my costumes together myself and it was really the only class I could potentially win a ribbon in.

 From the age of thirteen, I was into harness racing. I followed racehorses through the paper, cut out all the pictures and kept them in scrap books with race results recorded as well. In the late 70's and through the 80's it was a glamour time in racing. The cup races were televised with extended coverage and I was well and truly hooked into it. I pestered Mum to take me to Forbury Park which was hard work as she found it boring. Master Mood and Tussle were real favourates back then, real champions.

Zefir has graduated to Bridleless without a neck rein now <3

Today was one of those days when I think about how lucky I am to have embarked on my horsemanship journey 22 years ago. The real joy for me with horses, is the mental and emotional connection, and how by understanding this, the physical results you can achieve with your horse have 100 times more quality. I have goals which mean I will ride bitted or use a bitless bridle with my horses, but I love the fact I can do both! :)

When I started trimming around 14 years ago, I was trimming my own horses, and 3 rescued ponies in Portobello. Barefoot certainly wasn't as popular then as it is today!

 Maverick came to me 2 years ago as a 6yo. I'd come across him when giving horsemanship lessons to a friends daughter and her friends, and commented that he was a nice looking pony. Maverick had a number of "people problems". He was walking all over his owners, biting and bucking. They felt totally intimidated by him, and found it impossible to move him from their personal space.

 As Echo began to slow down, I started riding Willow, a young horse Mum had bought. It was a disaster... We were the green horse green rider situation, and we ended up scaring each other, and both losing our confidence. In the end I wouldn't ride Willow, so in an effort to get me back in the saddle my friend Sam lent me her pony Ebony whom she had outgrown. Ebony was a black mare, 14.1 hands and was known as a bit of a plodder.

Ebony and I had chemistry from the word go, it was amazing, we clicked and away we went. She was the confidence I needed. I never found her lazy, in fact I loved the fact she could go when needed and then just back to walk cool as a cucumber a minute later. Mum then bought her for me.

Echo was my first pony at 12. I had been harping on for a pony since I was around 7. We lived in Auckland at the time and I'd had no exposure to horses, I just knew I wanted one.

We moved to Waitati from Auckland when I was 8, and 4 years later Echo arrived in my life. He was about 20 years old, my dreams had come true! Mum knew nothing of horses so I taught myself. I had no saddle, so rode bareback. Saddles, even second hand were extremely expensive back then and when I finally did get one, it was a military saddle, and was almost as long as Echo.

This is a cute picture :) It would be nice if good quality dentistry could be achieved "Naturally" like this. All that can be taken from this picture is that I am a reasonable hand with horses, and can keep them calm and relaxed for some basic work. I am going to refer to a piece Dr Nick Moore a Vet and Equine Dentist in the US wrote which sums up what constitutes proper Equine Dentistry beautifully.