I am passionate about building a trusting human-equine relationship, avoiding unnecessary stress and fear in daily handling and training, and empowering animals to choose to participate in their own care.

I have loved equines (well, all animals) from a young age and started my journey into animal training and behaviour through dogs, 20 years ago.

Although I was unable to have a horse of my own, I was fortunate to be able to attend regular riding lessons and camps. I was taught by SANEF instructors for 10 years in South Africa, where I had the opportunity to experience and compete in a variety of equestrian disciplines including vaulting, gymkhana, dressage, show jumping and cross country.

I took a break from horses to attend University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree and spending the following years in the Fine Arts industry. Although I loved it, I realised it was not my passion, so… upon moving to Ireland I took the opportunity to change career paths to follow my dream of working with horses. I was interested in ‘natural horsemanship’ for some time and then began to explore the science behind equine training, emotions and behaviour. Ultimately I realised that the reward-based training I had been using with dogs and other species for many years was just as relevant and effective with equines, and provided a more ethical method of communication. I began working with a number of equine rescues in the rehabilitation and remedial training of equines from 2016, leading to me being awarded the Connection Training Coaching Scholarship to support me in this role.

I am now a certified Connection Training coach, trained by the team of Shawna Karrash, Hannah Weston and Rachel Bedingfield, and I provide bespoke training plans and coaching, tailored to you and your horse, to compliment the Connection Training video courses.

I now specialise in helping leisure horse owners and those with fearful or rescued equines. I take an approach that builds trust, aims for pleasant outcomes for the equine so they feel safe, teaches them what to do and goes at their pace. No chasing or moving their feet; a non-confrontational approach.

I have been fortunate to be able to further my education with some well-known names in the arena of equine behaviour, clicker training and behaviour modification including Dr Helen Spence, Dr Susan Friedman, Peggy Hogan, Dr Karolina Westlund, Ken Ramirez and Maxine Easey.

I continue to further my professional development in the areas of equine behaviour and training, through practical experience and study from internationally recognised equine/mixed species positive reinforcement trainers and behaviourists.