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Inca

Inca was born in Ireland and was used literally as a foal factory until the age of 7 years when she was brought over to a dealer’s yard in England.

She had a saddle put on her and was sold to a girl I knew as ‘a safe riding horse’. Inca was anything but safe: she was petrified of her own shadow.

The girl put Inca up for sale as she could not do anything at all with her and I was persuaded by the others on the yard where she was to buy her.

I found the same thing, I couldn’t ride her, and she bolted every time. Leading her was a nightmare as she just pushed me over and walked over me. Then I got into natural horsemanship, took a year off riding and just worked on the ground doing desensitising work with her.

It took a lot of time and courage but now she is my best friend. I have gone from using a gag bit, flash noseband and standing martingale to being able to ride her with no saddle and nothing on her head at all.

Inca was the horse who started my journey in a true understanding of horses and getting a true partnership with them.

We are now in our 19th year of being together. She loves her work and has become a wonderful “Teacher”