From her home Cathy runs a successful consultancy business where people may call on her help for any of their equine behaviour or health problems. Cathy visits owners and their horses all over the UK and abroad.

She has worked in the Netherlands, Spain and Ireland and enjoys travelling and expanding her business. Cathy is an Equine Behaviour Therapist, Equine Dentist and trims bare feet the natural way, she can also fit saddles and help with many health issues.

Some of the behavioural issues that she can help with are:

• Loading
• Barging
• Phobias like clipping
• Afraid to go through stable doors or gateways
• Not liking to be left on their own
• Not tying up
• Not standing still to be mounted

And the list goes on!

Basically Cathy will help with anything that the owner feels is an issue, as she firmly believes that one owner’s issue is another person’s challenge. Cathy’s methods are eclectic – having a vast knowledge of equine behaviour and will use whichever method will best suite the individual horse (and owner).

It does not matter what problem Cathy is asked to help with, she will give a two hour initial assessment looking at everything to do with the horse.

• The horse/owner relationship
• Grazing
• Feed
• Companions
• Stabling
• Teeth
• Feet
• Back sensitivity
• Saddle and bridle fit
• Demeanour
• Musculature make up
• Head collar fit – Cathy was able to cure a ‘head shaker’ in minutes!
  The nose band of his head collar was too low and as he had to wear it all day he had got used to tossing his head to get the nose band higher up his face!!!

Once all this information is gathered Cathy has a better idea of how she can best help the handler/horse relationship. It has been known for her to go to a yard to help a seemingly ‘stroppy’ mare be clipped, and within her initial assessment find that the teeth were in dire need of rasping. Once this was sorted, using the owner’s dentist, the horse was much easier to handle – obviously this helped when teaching her to stand for clipping.

However!
Cathy is not one for going to a yard, sorting the problem, taking the money and running. Number one, she is not money orientated, although she must earn a living. Secondly she feels that it is no good sorting out the problem and working well with the horse as it is the handler/owner that will be with the horse for most of the time and it is this relationship which must change. IN ORDER TO GET CHANGE SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE! So tightly inter-woven in her sessions is tuition for the client – and homework is set. It is not long before an improvement is seen in the horse and Cathy would suggest that by the third session (excluding the assessment) there will be some improvement. Obviously depending on the individual circumstances the length of time may be extended or shortened.

If you would like a visit from Cathy to help you sort out a problem or you would just like a lesson in how to handle your horse or do Tteam, Shiatsu or Clicker training get in contact .

Cathy’s whole ethos regarding her work is to pass on as much information regarding different ways to live and work with horses. So if you have any challenging moments with your horse why not give Cathy a ring and see if there is a way forward to make things more manageable.

Cathy will spend time talking to you on the phone in order to ascertain that she is the correct professional to call in and then with the gathered information she will not only book a time to visit (if this is what you want after talking to her) but also give you some hands on work to do with your horse before she sees you. She often finds that just a small change to the daily routine can have profound effects on both horse and handler.

Once Cathy is with you, and you need to put aside at least 2 hours for the first visit, you will be on the road to a change both in your horse and also in yourself. Homework is a must and you will be given various things to do before the next visit , so if you don’t want to do any work Cathy is not the person for you. She firmly believes that In order to beget change you need to create change!

However after the initial assessment if Cathy feels that other professionals need to be called in because she feels that there are underlying issues going on she will suggest you do so. She will give you some names of other professionals that she feels will meet your needs .

A short story to illustrate this:
Cathy was called out to look at a little arab pony who was not tracking up correctly. The owner could not see where this was coming from but thought that the hind legs were a little stiff. Through the thorough visual and hands on assessment Cathy felt that the issue was with the fore legs and the area around the shoulder blade. On feeling around the withers and along the back the pony became very agitate. Cathy watched the pony walk and felt that the placement of his feet on the ground was incorrect and looking at his hooves felt that this needed to be addressed.

After her assessment she recommended to have the farrier out, who in fact concurred with her observations and with the aid of a video type machine was able to see exactly where the issue was and amended it. She also recommended a McTimoney chiropractor to help with the back issue, which was duly done . The saddle was the next thing to check so again the correct professional was called in and the saddle, due to the increased work the pony was doing was now too small.

After all these professionals had done their work Cathy was left with nothing to do – as she says ‘excellent! Job done!’ one happy poney and happy owner.

But with other horses Cathy is required to do more of the work herself and she will book visits that are convenient with yourself . Some issues such as loading, biting, clipper shy all take a little time and input from yourself. Cathy enjoys teaching owners how to make a change in their horse’s life – a knowledge that will never go and can be used on other horses too.