Prior to the winter of 2014, I packed my things and left everything I had to be where I wanted to be: amongst the horses in Australia. I immediately liked the country. Even after the long trip without sleep, it felt good right from the moment I got off the plane.
The adventure began in Tasmania. Here I met Cynthia Cooper, the developer of the LightRider Bridle. Her way of working with horses is based on serenity and regularity. I found myself amongst the horse every day, from morning till evening. Besides that, due to the rainy days in Tasmania, I was able to read a lot and watch a lot of DVDs about several methods to train horses. Cynthia has been working for years to create innovative products inspired by the horses and their wellbeing. She inspired me by the way she managed her business activity successfully on her own, including 15 horses, several other animals, 25 hectares of land, a webshop and creating room for innovation. While I was working here, the idea was born to develop an European selling point for her products, which would be called Equi-Focus. This idea has become reality.
After a few months I became eager to discover the mainland. Again, I found myself amongst horses and like-minded people who were looking for methods to work together with their horses in a friendly manner. A method which ideally allows us to actually listen to our horses, which is really hard in the busy, fully scheduled, everyday life the most of us are living. I found out that this is possible, that I was able to put aside the time pressure and expectancies that interfered with the trust I aimed to obtain between me and the horses.
I am grateful for all the experiences that I had and for all the things I have learned (besides missing the Dutch winter).
When I left home, I planned to ride horses for days in a row, to be in the saddle for hours. Although this didn’t happen, my experiences in Australia are of indescribable value to me.
