Cynthia
Cooper - my path to instructor
From
the age of 6 I wished for a pony and finally got one when I turned 8
and proved it wasn't a passing whim! My mum loved horses and as well
as supporting my love for them, started my interest in breeding them.
She had an Arabian stallion who was bred to various mares to produce
some nice riding horses which went onto provide me with pony club and
show mounts.
Owning a property in the tourist and holiday area of Port Arthur, inspired
our family to put all the horses to work by offering escorted trail
rides which naturally led me to instructing people in the basics of
horse riding. Then local kids sought me out to help them and before
too long, I'd formed a riding club which is still going strong 20 years
later.
Having bred our own young horses and handled them from birth, it was
also natural that I'd start them under saddle with guidance from the
'Tom Roberts' books and 'The Jeffrey Method', both known for their horsemanship
skills in Australia. Once word got out that I could do this, people
were soon asking me to start their horses too.

Cynthia
and Manny (Examiner Photo)
I'd always admired Arabians so while working for a stud in Queensland,
I took the opportunity to get my first purebred - a colt, who I educated
and competed with to become the best performed Arabian stallion in Tasmania.
There wasn' t much we hadn't tried and been successful in - led and
ridden shows, endurance rides, dressage, picnic racing, jumping and
western events.
As I gathered a small group of mares to breed with him, I also played
polocrosse then started campaigning his youngstock in the show ring
and at endurance rides.
After such a varied equestrian career, I became very dissolusioned with
the methods people were resorting to for success, and with no desire
to compete and mix with them, I lost my enthusiasm for riding.
That was until I saw Pat Parelli in 1992 at his first clinic in Tasmania.
I knew I'd found the way I wanted to be with horses and jumped right
in, buying all the equipment, videos and registering as a student.
With enthusiasm coming in waves (mostly inspired by Linda Parelli's
newsletters and Philip Nye's acheivements and encouragement), it took
me two years to have Level 1 assessed, then I got serious about my horsemanship
and aims of being an instructor.
This led to organising many clinics in Tasmania and taking on the role
of Area Coordinator for the State. After reaching level 2 thanks to
inspiration from Ken Faulkner, I started my annual pilgrimage to Braidwood
in NSW to learn more from Pat. I then studied at his International Study
Centre for 6 weeks in 1996, the first year of ISC courses.
The following year, qualified as an instructor, my career was now with
horses, something I'd always dreamed of. But then a back injury forced
me to stop riding for almost a year so reaching Level 3 seemed to take
forever and was finally achieved mid 1999.
Now after many courses and many years of experience, I have the knowledge
that I've always wanted to be able to offer my horses. With 13 of them
(and a mule!) to play with, I'll have no shortage of projects to broaden
my horsemanship skills.
Having
earned my living from instructing now for over 10 years, I have and
will continue to learn from my students and their horses too. I believe
experience is the greatest teacher of all.
My interest in providing as close to a natural environment for my horses
as possible has led me to develop skills in hoof trimming for barefoot
performance, feeding and treating most health problems naturally.
Developing
more awareness for what horses prefer has led me to making my own design
of Bitless Bridle, Bareback Pad and saddle (coming soon).
As
my horsemanship awareness grows, I am exploring the various ways of
communicating with horses, truly understanding what they want and how
they can heal us as much as we can them.
I
am now in the process of recording all I've learned by writing a book
I plan to have published by the end of 2008.
About this
web site:
My
aim is to provide a site that may help and inspire horse owners to
take a more natural approach to all aspects of horse ownership by
developing a better understanding of the horse's inherant needs.
This
has come from my studies of horse psychology, natural horsemanship
methods, keeping, feeding, treating and hoof trimming my own horses,
naturally.
I
would love to see all horse owners become more interested and capable
in more aspects of the care and education of their horses,
for the benefit of this beautiful animal who is here to teach us so
much.
Having
fun with Manny and Tigga. (Examiner photo).

Manny
and I were regular performers in the Agfest central arena from 1996
to 2005.
WHAT I DO
-
Teach
people through private lessons, workshops, 2-5 day courses and seminars
in Tasmania and ocassionally overseas.
-
Train
foals, young horses and trailer loading
-
Teach
and consult on hoof trimming
-
Consult
on horse psychology and horse problems
-
Consult
on natural horse care
-
Give
Appraisals for horse purchases
-
Teach
and mentor TAFE Equine Hoof Care Students

The
view from our place on a winter morning.
See
more photos of my place here.
Read
about Live-in student experiences here.