Annes Story
My real love and passion have always been animals, especially dogs, and horses.
I wasn’t allowed a dog so from the age of nine I took other people's dogs out I would let them all off the lead without a problem. while watching them play I would pretend they were all mine from German shepherds
to an array of terriers.
I always had a special connection with animals.
I didn't do well at school I hated it and later on in life found out I was dyslexic.
My father was in and out of prison, this was in the early sixties so you can imagine how people would look
down on us.
It was a hard time for my mum and I felt, sad and resentful that my dad kept being taken away,
I didn't understand in the earlier days.
When I was 14, to my parent's dismay one of my little
dogs had fallen pregnant her name was Ziggy, after three months of begging, and pleading, by me, and Ziggy's owner, finally, my parents caved, I was so overwhelmed after all these years, I named him Barney, a 1/3 Border Terrier, and ¼ Scottish terrier he lived for 18 years, he was a clever little character and my world.
As I grew up I would often go to riding schools, my dream of owning a horse had long gone, and I didn't even know where you would buy one!
One day while out on a hack I heard about two horses for sale I was so excited, my head was buzzing, I am now 22 years old and a professional hairdresser so along came Candy a 15.3hh pale Palomino 9-year-old little hunter, he was my very special man, he was my first real equine teacher.
My Equine World Had Finally Opened.
I Struggled on Livery Yards
Over the years I struggled on livery yards I never really fitted in,
I was always being told I was too soft or doing it all wrong, I didn't want to put straps and gadgets on my Candy and didn't want to do the things they were doing with their horses.
I wasn’t competitive (the closest I got to competing was a 10-mile sponsored ride around
Newmarket) I was made to feel stupid.
I was made to feel stupid and not good enough for my Candy.
I took my BHS stages 1 and 2 but that didn't work for me, I found it old-fashioned, pompous, and restricting for horse and rider, I felt there had to be a better way, there wasn’t any internet in those days, no one had mobile phones or google.
One day a friend told me about Monty's Roberts and natural horsemanship, what a beautiful
Man, Wow my natural world opened, I wanted to meet as many so-called problem horses as I could.
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Watching them change from petrified, some very aggressive animals into trusting loving horses was the best feeling. My horsemanship had come a long way.
I found a Stable yard with a menege to rent so I could start a small business, it was a mess but worth the work to get it up to scratch.
I was now a single mother to Jack my five-year-old son, I had 4 dogs, 2 horses, and 2 ponies, and I dreamt of owning my yard.
I set a goal to find my dream u shaped yard overlooking the menege with hedgerow fields, I couldn’t afford a house so I had to have a mobile home with full residential permission, that was getting much harder to find, but I kept my faith and kept searching.
Fognall livery & Strangles
6 years on I finally found it. Frognall livery.
I opened Frognall Holistic English and Western Training, Rescued, and Rehabilitation Center.
The yard was doing well I had a live-in groom and a full-time stable
manager, and 5 regular kiddie helpers who would have moved in if they could lol.
Into our third summer two weeks before the six-week school holidays, with pony club, and horses coming in for training, Strangles hit the yard we had 22 horses at that time I owned 17 of them. I also split up with my narcissistic boyfriend of 6 years, the poor old mobile home was falling apart, and three years of hard work had gone overnight.
My world had collapsed around me, my helpers couldn’t understand why they couldn't come to the yard, and we had foot dips and car dips, all tools and everything had to be sterilized before moving to the next
stable, it was crazy.
I felt guilty for my girls, the helpers, the liveries, my part loaners, and especially the horses, I went to the doctor to find out I was very ill with a thyroid problem because of the worry and stress, plus had started my menopause.
I was in a deep depression, I couldn’t function properly it was all too much, and I had to go back to work freelance hairdressing for 2 years, leaving it all to the girls, I felt more guilt.
I felt I had let them down, I felt so angry, and betrayed, by my ex, plus he was still messing with my head,
he broke my heart and my trust, I couldn't get my head around the smallest task, and I felt like a failure, I was having bad anxiety attacks, I couldn’t sleep, I had no energy, I stopped going out with friends, and I was comfort eating so the pounds were piling on, and I felt fat, useless, drained, and broken.
I didn't have the mental energy to do much with the horses, one of my closest horses, my pretty Kitty used to come and knock on my door for me to play out, which made me feel even more guilty,
I went into hiding, only dragging myself out if I had to.
For me my savor was the horses, to get out of my head and find a coach/therapist whom I felt I could trust, and had a good connection with.
Eight Months In Quarantine
For 3 years after getting the all-clear I felt paranoid, I knew the bacteria could live in the land for years so I never re-opened the yard to new people for around 4 years,
within that time my ex-partner was still playing with my mind.
No one really understands when you're mentally ill, they can't see it so it's not there,
You're just classed as lazy.
Having that time out gave me the time to sit back and just watch and analyze what was going on around me, before I was too busy, I started to realize that the horses that had lived with me for years and so knew them and their characters very well on somedays would act out of character with their humans, I came to the understanding they were acting how their human was truly feeling at that time, that day.
I noticed it with the girls, when friends came to visit, my part loaners, the liveries, and horses coming back for problems we fixed the time before.
I would ask them how they were today, the horses were always right there was always something, and I started to realize horses help humans.
My natural horsemanship was going to an even deeper level.
Ok, I knew horses could help humans but I had a missing link.
The Hunt Was On
One day my mum recorded a program about horses for me they did a thing called Equine-assisted therapy, and I knew instantly that was my missing link.
Good old mum.
I found my coach and therapist and dragged myself kicking and screaming.
I had no energy to do anything, but I knew I needed help. I thought I was taking these 3 years of courses to find the missing link, what happened, the horses helped me with my problems, and I found out about limiting beliefs and how they were harming me, affecting my life, and stopping me from moving forward and achieving my goals, negative nasty beliefs I had about myself since childhood were affecting my thoughts feelings, emotions, and my life, I learned about my avoidant techniques that I didn't know I had, and how much pressure I was putting myself under, and I realized how fearful I had become.
no wonder I became so ill.
I learned that horses had a lot more to give than we give them credit for they were not put here just to be just for our pleasure, they are our teachers they are our therapists they talk to us continuously they are listen to everything we are thinking and saying through reading our body language, smelling our sent, knowing what mood we're in, hearing our heartbeat, feeling the energy that surrounds us,
they are showing us how we are truly feeling, mirroring, and copying how our true self is feeling deep down inside. They help us to get balanced and they put us in the right vibration.
This is true horse whispering.
I finally had it, I had completely changed my whole mindset, and the way I think, I learned so much about myself, other people, and so much more about horses.
I had been on a crazy, amazing journey of discovery.
Frognall Livery became Frognall Holistic Equine-Assisted Therapy and Rehabilitation.
A bit about Taffie, One of My Biggest Teachers
I will never forget him
Taffie was Very Confused, Frightened, Messed Up, Aggressive quite wild, unbacked, and handled when he came to me, he was a 5-year-old Welsh Section D Stallion, you couldn't get near his feet well you could just about get near him!
We had to put full bars on his stable to start then on to weaving bars,
but I had to be careful because he could still barge the door open
when any mares walked past,
I very quickly turned him around and he became happy and contented.
​ I think I will write a blog about Taffies's story and what he taught me
The Day I Left Frognall
I lived at Frognall for 18 years, over those years the area had changed, lots of development in the area, roads were getting busier, and the time had come for a change.
8 years ago I moved to Le Prosper with 6 horses, 2 dogs, and 2 cats and opened, Le Prosper Equine Assisted Holistic Retreat so other people can come, relax within nature, and experience the magic.
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The evening before moving to France was sad and exciting, with many mixed emotions.
Sam who had been with me from the beginning through thick and thin who was more like family
counted by name how many horses of mine we could remember over the years, and we got to 120.
It was a very bittersweet day leaving Frognall, my dream yard that had allowed me to meet so many horses who taught me so much.
I now help others identify their negative beliefs that are causing their life problems stopping them from doing what they truly desire and moving forward within themselves, their life, and with their horse.
The reason I can help is because I have been on this amazing
journey of transformation from an anxious depressive in a very dark place, and very ill with a thyroid problem, plus going through my menopause, living a life of limitations to a
Accredited Equine-Assisted therapist, an NLP Master Practitioner at
Le Prosper Equine-Assisted Holistic Retreat with a
Online Mindset Performance Coaching Program and a constant source of Inspiration and Motivation
My Goal
Is to educate my students throughout my different eBooks, Courses, and Blogs by combining mindset education with hands-on experiences in horsemanship, and creating a well-rounded simple flow educational program that not only will equip you with practical skills but also cultivate a positive and growth-oriented mindset that will benefit you in various aspects of your life.
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Never Lose Faith or Give Up on Your Dreams.
Thank you for reading.
Best wishes Anne x
