I spent many months looking for my perfect horse and travelled all around the country. How my hopes were shattered when I discovered that the horse of my dreams was not as I had wanted him to be; my beautiful show cob was terrified of clippers and could not be shod.

Sedation was all that I was offered to help with these problems but I just didn’t feel that that was the right thing to do. After having Penfold fully sedated to be clipped I decided that, even if he became the hairiest horse ever, I couldn’t put him through that again. The farrier at my livery yard couldn’t cope with his behaviour – even after he had been given sedation – and was unable to get shoes on. In fact, he couldn’t get anywhere near him.

I decided that things could not continue as they were and I enquired about Natural Horsemanship training. I was lucky enough to be introduced to Stefan who immediately took control of the situation and, to my relief, my horse responded very positively to him. Within twenty minutes Stefan had Penfold lifting all of his feet onto a farrier’s tripod and he was knocking on his hooves with a small hammer. I was absolutely amazed and couldn’t believe how straightforward and quick this process had been. Stefan had understood exactly what the problem was and unravelled it. We moved on to working with a pair of small clippers and within a few minutes Stefan was running them all over Penfold’s body. This was the horse that I had been told was far too dangerous to clip and there he was, not concerned at all.

Since then I have moved my horse from the livery yard, I have a new farrier and I clip Penfold when necessary. By using the techniques that Stefan has taught me, my relationship with my horse has improved enormously and if I have a problem I know how to solve it myself. If I can’t, I get in touch with Stefan! He is a very patient teacher whose calm and reassuring manner helped to build the trust and confidence needed between Penfold and I.

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