Meet Our Think Like a Pony Instructors
Sophie Hildreth
Location - Yorkshire
My name is Sophie and, at 21, I am the youngest Think Like a Pony instructor! What I lack for in years, I make up for in my passion and dedication for the Think Like a Pony ethos.
I have been around horses all my life but have often felt disillusioned by the advice offered to me by the instructors and trainers around me. At 14, I was lucky enough to find my first horse Shammy. He was a 3-year-old Arab and I quickly found that both of us lacked experience and confidence.
I first looked for answers with traditional BHS instructors but this was not successful. The advice I was being offered did not improve the situation. Through a family member I was introduced to natural horsemanship, which seemed to have more answers than a traditional approach. Shammy quickly became easier to handle and I thought I had found the answers to my problems.
Inspired by what I was learning, I enrolled on a Foundation Degree in Equine Science, Complementary Therapy and Natural Horsemanship. My experiences on the course were very positive in the beginning but after the first year, I felt the course was not offering me the answers I was looking for. I began to see holes in my natural horsemanship training but did not feel empowered to understand why or how to offer the horse a better approach.
It wasn’t until I met Lynn Henry in the spring of 2009 that I started to understand what I was doing, how it could be improved and why there were holes in what I had learnt. Through Thinking Like a Pony, I felt empowered and began to ask the right questions, which of course, led me to the right answers!
After meeting Lynn, I asked if I could spend my summer observing her teach and learning more about the Think Like a Pony ethos. I quickly saw that Think Like a Pony was the path I had been looking for. When Lynn offered for me to start my instructor training with her, I was overjoyed and thrilled with the opportunity to be able to share the unique concept with others in the equestrian world.
The most special thing that Think Like a Pony has offered me is a different approach to my riding. As a child and teenager, I loved to be with horses but I had always ridden in fear. I bottled it up because I didn’t want it to get in the way of my being around horses but I never saw myself as or thought I ever would be a “rider”. Now that Think Like a Pony has helped me to understand how to ride in balance and harmony, Shammy and I have changed so much!
Training through the Think Like a Pony instructor programme has been the most amazing experience and has changed my perspective on training, empathy and communication forever. I am so excited to be a newly qualified instructor because now I have the opportunity to share my understanding with adults, children and young people who, like I once felt, want to better understand, improve communication and improve the welfare their horses.
Email: sophie@thinklikeapony.co.uk - Tel: 07825 338 490
