Suzanne believes that a successful training program is one that accounts for the best interest of the horse, strives to achieve the goals of the owners, and is based on core principles of sound horsemanship, but always in pursuit of knowledge to stay progressive in its approach.
“We’re never the same from year to year. Every year we grow in our approach, through what we’ve learned from the horses and through a constant evaluation of our own techniques. Every year we rebuild the program to make it better for the horse,” explains Suzanne. “We have a commitment to excellence that stems from our commitment to the horses we train and to their owners.”
Next Level Horsemanship is a sound, broad based, and proven training program that works for every horse. The NLH program is rooted in a deep understanding of equine behavior and horses’ natural means of communicating with each other.
“We build from what horses already know and incorporate the combined principles of classical and natural horsemanship to promote the concepts of forward motion, balance, cadence and rhythm, impulsion, collection, and lightness in training. Further, we believe in enhancing the horses learning experience by using and building on their natural curiosity and playfulness to achieve a more successful outcome in training, ” says Suzanne.
The BEST Strategies for Amazing Results Partnership, Performance, Possibilities Our program is comprised of the BEST strategies for achieving amazing results in your horses’ training.
At NLH we consider training to be development of the horse. We place a strong emphasis on treating horses as individuals. The ability to assess a horse’s response to training is key to the overall success of his development in keeping with the owner’s goals.
At NLH we are truly the horse’s coach, there to instruct, support, encourage, motivate, and drive them to achieve their true potential. In doing so, Partnership and Performance emerge.
True Partnership begins with good leadership. As herd animals, horses understand and know how to respond to leadership; and, when they do, they will give you their trust, respect and willingness to perform. The NLH Program readily establishes humans as a respected and trusted leader in the relationship between horse and human but always requires that we value the trust horses place in us. We guard that trust and develop it as we progress in the training process. As the relationship grows – so does the Partnership which ultimately leads to Performance.
The NLH Program is comprehensive and committed to building your horse’s foundation for learning. “We don’t skip steps, we believe in the importance of groundwork as a priority for success in-hand and under saddle – it is the key to problem solving and achieving excellence in Performance, ” says Suzanne. The NLH program starts with the Foundations first to give horses the tools they need to succeed in their relationship with humans and in any discipline.
“You can’t rush training, that’s not good for the horse; but, you can be thorough and effective in your techniques and approach to training. This will effectively achieve the same result in that you will quickly teach horses many things, but they won’t lose their minds or their spirit in the process,