Foundation First Horsemanship

30/08/2026

A difficult announcement from Foundation First Horsemanship.

After much consideration, several difficult conversations and a significant amount of reflection following today’s events… Thomas and I have made the difficult decision to go our separate ways.

We’ve built Foundation First Horsemanship together, shared countless horses, clinics, challenges and successes. But unfortunately, some things simply cannot be overcome.

Up until recently, Luna had been undefeated in Ranch Conformation.

Today, that changed.

Thomas and Boone beat Luna and I.

And honestly… I’m not sure there’s a way back from this.

There have been questions around the property, division of assets, horse ownership and, most importantly, who gets bragging rights for the next several weeks.

The future of FFH is currently uncertain. We are still working through what this means for the business and our relationship.

At this stage, Thomas will continue operating under the FFH banner, while I will be pursuing legal action to have today’s results reviewed. 😂

We ask that everyone respects our privacy during this difficult time.

Please direct all enquiries regarding the future of Foundation First Horsemanship to Thomas.

I will be accepting messages of support, sympathy and reminders that Luna was undefeated until recently.

Thank you for your understanding during this challenging time.

😂😂😂

P.s Thomas has been subjected to approximately 6 hours of relentless reminders that Luna and I beat them in Ranch Trail. Please keep him in your thoughts. 😂

25/08/2026

BIG NEWS FOR STOCKMAN FANS!

Team Thoroughbred NSW is thrilled to announce a brand-new addition to Equimillion 2026: introducing the Equimillion Stockman’s Challenge!

When: Friday 2nd & Saturday 3rd October 2026
Where: Sydney International Equestrian Centre

Want to get involved? We want to see your skills! 📸🎥

Send your best Stockman photos or videos to [email protected] to express your interest, and we’ll reply with all the entry details.

Don’t miss out—show us what you’ve got!

25/08/2026

A rare moment today.

Thomas and I are usually at opposite ends of the property, both working away with different horses and lesson students. So I don’t often get the chance to just stop and watch him work these days.

Today I had a moment to sit and watch him work with a couple of the horses here in training, along with our 2 year old stud c**t, Rebel.

Even after all these years of watching him quietly work, I still love it.

The rapport he builds with each horse. Watching them become more confident in themselves, more comfortable in their surroundings, and eventually start to seek him out and genuinely crave his presence. I could watch him do this all day.

**tstarting

23/08/2026

Baby Rebel! Now he’s a big stud m**f

22/08/2026

22/08/2026

Thank you to a wonderful bunch of horses and humans for coming along to our Ranch Practice Day! We had a lot of fun going through ranch riding patterns, the trail course and played some games to help our horses get more comfortable riding in a group in preparation for ranch on the rail classes.

Really looking forward to doing more of these days!

21/08/2026

👏🏽

We expect a lot of emotional maturity from an animal that thinks a Walmart bag might be a mountain lion.

But here’s the funnier part…

We expect horses to regulate their emotions while half the humans riding them can’t regulate theirs.

Horse gets nervous → rider gets nervous because the horse is nervous → horse gets more nervous because the rider is nervous → rider says “WHY WON’T YOU JUST RELAX?!”

Ma’am. Neither of you are relaxed.

Calm horses start by being understood first.

Not excused.
Not babied.
Not protected from every uncomfortable situation for the rest of their lives.

Understood.

Before I ask a horse to calm down, I want to know why they aren’t calm.

Are they afraid? Confused? Overstimulated? Uncomfortable? Or have they simply never been taught what to do with that pressure?

Understanding the reason doesn’t mean excusing the behavior. It tells you how to train through it.

Sometimes the biggest thing we can teach a horse is:

“I hear you. I’m still going to ask this of you, but I’ll help you figure out how to handle it.”

That’s training.

Good training isn’t removing every hard thing. It’s teaching a horse what to do when things get hard.

Pressure comes on.
They search for an answer.
They find it.
Pressure goes away.
Confidence grows.

Eventually, instead of immediately reacting, they learn how to regulate.

But here’s where we humans have to hold up our end of the deal too.

You cannot white knuckle the reins, clamp your legs on, stop breathing, mentally write your own obituary and then wonder why Trigger has also concluded that everyone is about to die.

Your horse is reading you too.

Calm isn’t something you install by demanding “RELAX!”

Understand them first.

Then teach them how to handle the world.