Thomson Classical Jumping

08/06/2026

Marcus the master 👌

03/06/2026

Every horse I've worked with has taught me something I couldn't have learned anywhere else. Usually about patience, but sometimes about myself.

What's the biggest lesson your horse has taught you?

31/05/2026

This. 👌
Jumping isn't the opposite of dressage - it's built on it. The canter creates the jump, and the flatwork creates the canter. Worth a read, whatever sort of riding you do.

28/05/2026

A horse can be beautifully educated in an arena and still be underprepared for the world outside it.

That doesn’t make the arena wrong.

It just means the education isn’t finished. In fact, I don’t think education is ever finished - for horses or humans. We stop learning the day we die.

I don’t have the luxury of an indoor arena. Actually, I don’t have an arena at all! My horses are born, started, trained and campaigned from a working farm environment. They see cattle, sheep, tractors, motorbikes, a major road, a highway, and a railway line. All from their paddocks, where they live 24/7. Because I don’t have stables either.

There is rarely a completely still moment.

Would I like an indoor arena sometimes? Of course I would!

Do I need one? No.

In many ways, the lack of perfect facilities has helped produce horses that are adaptable, rideable, and able to cope in busy environments. My horses have gone from paddocks and open spaces to agricultural shows with sideshows, noise, movement, crowds and chaos - and competed in snaffle bits, cavesson nosebands, and without martingales.

But I don’t think the answer is as simple as “arenas are bad” or “outside is better.”

A good arena can be a wonderful training space. It gives safety, consistency, good footing, and clear boundaries.

The problem comes when the horse’s whole education happens in a bubble.

I often see horses with access to beautiful facilities struggle when they come here for lessons. Not because they are naughty. Not because the rider has done anything wrong.

But because suddenly there is too much to process at once.

The horse is distracted.

The rider feels unsafe.

The training gets tested harder than anyone intended.

Ideally, I think horses should be raised and trained with both safety and gradual exposure. Calm handling. Good footing. Clear education.

But also noise, movement, different spaces, different questions, and real-world experiences introduced in a way the horse can understand.

Because confidence does not come from avoiding the world.

It comes from being prepared for it.

What do you think?

Do horses need more exposure outside the arena - or do we sometimes underestimate the value of a calm, controlled training space?

27/05/2026

A champion’s legacy isn’t defined by trophies alone, it’s defined by impact.

Titles come and go, but the real mark of greatness is what they make possible for others. For me, giving back has always been a big part of who I am.

There are two ways to make a real difference. You can share your knowledge, experience, and guidance with others following a similar path or you can improve the structure and environment within your sport so the next generation faces fewer obstacles.

For 15 years, I poured my energy into helping others through my Aim For The Stars Foundation, where we provide guidance, training, and financial support to help people reach their full potential, whether in sport, business, their careers or personal growth. It’s about giving people the tools to succeed and the confidence to push beyond their limits.

I love supporting young athletes, helping them navigate challenges and giving them advice to reach their potential. Some of the people I’ve mentored have gone on to incredible achievements. Others have told me that sometimes the moral support and guidance mattered even more than anything else.

I hear this often. The people I work with describe me as tough but compassionate, driven but grounded and that’s exactly who I am.

Beyond mentorship, I’ve worked to advocate for women’s surfing, even when that means challenging an unsympathetic group of men, or going unappreciated by some peers.

That’s the point. A champion isn’t only measured by titles or medals. A champion is measured by the doors they open for others, by the lives they inspire, by the paths they clear so the next generation can go further, faster, and with more support because success is only truly meaningful when you use it to lift others along the way.

25/05/2026

Please hold your horse for the farrier.

Be present.
Be attentive.
Stay off your phone.
Do not assume “quiet” means “safe.”

Also me, currently sitting down, on my phone, not holding my horse…

The difference is not luck. It is training, repetition, trust, and a horse who understands that standing still is a skill in its own right.

Still not recommending it. Just quietly appreciating it.

14/05/2026

Horses are not perfect. Riders are not perfect. Trainers are not perfect. And that is exactly why good training is built on small, consistent improvements - not impossible demands. If you and your horse improve by just 1% each time you work together, even if it's only twice a week, you will make far more real progress than if every session becomes a test of perfection. When we demand too much, too soon, we confuse the horse, frustrate ourselves, and create expectations that the horse and/or rider can not meet. But when we notice the small tries, reward them, and build from there, horses learn with more confidence, more clarity, and far less tension.
Better is enough.
Better is progress.
Better is how good training happens.

09/05/2026

The best rider in the world is the one with the happiest horse.

Modern horse culture often celebrates the horse that performs the biggest movements, jumps the highest, wins the ribbons, or looks the most impressive online. But Nuno Oliveira measured good riding differently.
He looked at the horse itself.

Was the horse calm? Proud? Willing? Did he move with freedom and softness, or with tension hidden underneath obedience? Because a horse can perform beautifully and still be mentally exhausted inside.

Horses are incredibly adaptable animals. They will tolerate confusion, discomfort, and pressure for a very long time. They learn to keep going even when they are mentally overwhelmed. So people mistake endurance for happiness.

But happiness in work looks different.

The horse stays mentally present. He offers instead of avoiding. The body swings instead of braces. The eye stays soft. He doesn’t rush to escape pressure or shut down emotionally. He understands the work, participates in it, and finishes feeling better—not smaller.

This is why classical masters spoke so much about tact, lightness, patience, and timing. Not because they wanted riding to look elegant, but because the horse’s emotional state mattered. A truly educated horse is not just obedient. He is confident in the conversation.

And this quote forces us to ask a difficult question: Are we training horses to perform for us… or teaching them to feel safe, capable, and proud in the work they do with us?
Because those are not always the same thing.
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05/05/2026

I asked AI to write me an unhinged bio.
What came back was funny… but also uncomfortably on-brand.

If you’ve ever wondered what Thomson Classical Jumping would sound like with the dial turned all the way up, this is probably it:

Horse trainer. Coach. Breeder. Course designer. Stallion wrangler. Maker of capable horses and mildly uncomfortable truths. Tasmanian horse woman with a tape measure, a theory, and absolutely no interest in your shortcut. I teach classical jumping in a world addicted to gadgets, drama, and blaming the horse, helping people jump better with fewer poles, less nonsense, and a suspicious amount of measuring tape. Based in Deloraine, Tasmania: warmbloods, weather, limited equipment, strong opinions, and the audacity to believe horses deserve better. Occasionally emerging from the fog like a feral but French classical dressage goblin with good standards. Bring gumboots and a willingness to be corrected.

04/05/2026

𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗯𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸-𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁.
Just horses in the fog.
How many can you see?