Meet Our Think Like a Pony Instructors
Sophia Strang Steel
Location - North East Scotland (Deeside)
I am incredibly lucky to be living in a beautiful part of Scotland where we have access to field, woods, rivers and hills. That is what life is about for me – getting out there, enjoying life, preferably with a horse.
In my childhood I never owned my own pony but have happy memories of gypsy or ex-circus ponies to ride, and later at university it was riding Icelandic ponies, bare back, over the Pentland Hills in the snow. I don’t remember how I was taught to ride, I just remember the riding!
Time passed, and when our children wanted to learn to ride I enrolled them into a traditional riding school. But gradually it became clear that something was wrong. The children weren’t getting the joyous memories I had had. The children became progressively either scared or disillusioned. Then as I talked to others, adult and child alike, I discovered that so many people love ponies but deep down are scared of riding – even scared of their instructor!
Then in 2008 we discovered Lynn’s books which came as a jolt of lightning really. The first Think Like a Pony demonstration we attended made far more sense in 2hrs than 3 whole years of riding school tuition. For me it was the holistic approach to the care of the horse that was the major omission in our lives previously. I cannot imagine life without that knowledge now.
There is no denying it, the knowledge that Think Like a Pony brings has changed the way we all view life in general well beyond the pony‘s paddock. For instance, with Think Like a Pony, a child’s involvement with ponies is fun, but also (as with any relationship) it has to come with responsibilities, and be a caring, considerate and fulfilling interaction. I am delighted to see children applying these principles with their friends and other pets too.
I am passionate about the Think Like a Pony approach because it offers a way of riding and handling horses that is empathetic to the core. It is therefore a backbone to any equine discipline that a child – or adult – may ultimately want to pursue. The joy of lightness of riding, that joy in the willingness of horse and human to work together as a team, is such a special experience. As a Think Like a Pony Instructor I very much look forward to helping others achieve that same joy in their lives.
Contact Sophia
Email: dalhaikie@aol.com - Tel: 07545 395 120
