Hello everyone!
I am Suzanne Escobar, 18, and have two beautiful horses. I started riding horses when I was 7 and I began my journey to find an understanding with a horse when I was 13. I was loaning a horse named Rocky from the local riding school and he was worked long and hard. He was a piebald, now grey, 17 and around 15.1hh. I never had time to ride him because he was always so exhausted. It saddened me to see him being overworked simply for money and pathetic human amusement. Money came before health. I then stumbled upon NHE. I learnt about the horses anatomy and psychology, and I loved every minute of it. I was now against shoes, bits, spurs, all metal used for the horse. It broke my heart to see Rocky being treated so badly. We offered to buy him but the riding school was gaining lots of money from him. He was a popular choice. When I was 14 I bought my first horse. His name is Finlay, bay, now 6 years and around 15.2hh. We boarded him in the same riding school as Rocky. I used the NHE approach with him, it took a long time to get him to trust me - he was broken in as a yearling and was extremely malnourished. He was always a very dominant horse, even as a colt; so he regularly was misunderstood. We took him in when he was 3. Now he is just such a lovely character, so polite. By this time poor Rocky was being worked to death, quite literally. His legs were failing him and his confidence levels had dropped. The reason he was called Rocky in the first place was because he was just like the boxer - strong, confident, challenging. But now he was just a mess, terrified of everything, no trust in the people who took care of him. I don't blame him either, they're all horrible, horrible people. I'd still be there to care for him, I groomed him, took care of his legs, just generally gave him a lot of love. I was the only person on the yard who could lead him without his chifney. Time passed and 2 years ago I bought Rocky. I retired him straight away and took those bloody shoes off. Already, a massive difference. I vowed I'd never ride him again because of the nightmares he has experienced. No horse should have gone through what he has. He has always been my first love, he is my teacher and a very wise animal. Through the years I have never really been very active with the boys, I have spent time with them, all the time and taught them a few things here and there, but not much. I plan to change that soon. My main priority was to bring them back to health, physically and mentally. Now, I realised I could not achieve that where we were boarding. I refused to have my horses revolving around the equine industry any longer. They were really quite heartless. So in early September last year I moved to a farm, nothing fancy - just a few stables and some fields which they share every now and then with geese and turkeys. There is one other horse, well a pony, called Sadie. She's a little sweetheart. So I am in my peaceful paradise away from the yahoos of equestrian sport. Only recently, however, now that I am on a gap year and free to study what I wish, have I realised how arrogant and self absorbed NHE is. I admire the place, don't get me wrong, I have learnt so much from them, but I do not like the attitude of some people. There are many who follow blindly to whatever Alexander N. says, and do not offer their own mindset for fear of being kicked out of the school. A few times I have spoken up, just to be hushed and given a warning. There are some major faults within it. So finding myself where I was at 13, I once again searched for alternatives. I managed to find this place, and so far, so good. I hope you can accept me and my 2 big furry friends to join and learn with you all! Thank you for reading, all the best, -Suzanne
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