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Kintsugi  Horsemanship and The Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold

In Japan, broken objects are repaired with gold. The flaw is both a part of its past and its beauty now. In life and horsemanship, not everything will be perfect. Sometimes things go backward and break but how we choose to act in those situations defines who we are. Do we give up? Do we become scared, angry, or resentful? Are we negative? 

What if we fill those events or experiences with something positive? All you need are the patience and skill to do so. Whether it’s applied to something is broken or simply chasing the pursuit of perfection in performance. You just have to be open to trying to fill the spaces with gold.

Meet The Team

Bianca Jones, Swaziland.

Bianca aka B has been riding since she was 4. She has competed in dressage, showing, equitation cowboy dressage, and cross country and is also graded for 1m30 showjumping. She is a qualified natural horsemanship trainer and instructor.

Although competing in the higher grades Bianca often was faced with frustration and the feeling of not being good enough. If she couldn’t understand or fix something she would simply shut down. She also got stuck at the same level for years on a horse that won but bucked her off almost every day.

She always loved rescues and when faced with a rescue she could ride but couldn’t catch. She realized she had more to learn. She started her natural horsemanship journey only being prepared to take on the groundwork thinking she was competent in her riding ability. She watched how the entire process from the ground into riding produced a safe calm and happy horses that excelled in performance. She was sold and since gaining her qualifications and she is retraining her horses and riders through natural horsemanship practices.

Lucy, Basotho Pony, Rescue. 

She arrived as a 3-year-old, unbacked and terrified of humans, as B’s own personal project. She couldn’t be caught, bucked, and reared from her past. 

She is now a 6-year-old and is a highly intelligent, loving affectionate sensitive pony used for beginners right through to advanced riders. She is now a school pony available for lease.

She has competed in 60 and 70-cm showjumping with great potential for dressage and Western performance. 

Sambuca, Warmblood

B backed and trained Sambuca traditionally for showjumping. He competed at 60 cm nervously and then had a saddle issue that caused him to be fearful of the saddle and buck. He since then has been retrained through natural horsemanship. He is now calm, safe, and confident with anything he faces and is our most advanced school and competition horse.

He is mostly B’s personal competition horse competing at 1m with goals to progress higher. He has an incredibly soft, laid-back, pleasing nature that gives any rider the utmost confidence.

Numbug, Boerpred X Warmblood

Numbug has just turned three and has started to be introduced under saddle. She has spent the last year working on groundwork and this will be the focus of her work until she is older and is ready for more.

She is a spunky little horse with a big personality. She is very playful and loves a good challenge. She was brought in for her jumping bloodlines to B’s second competition horse in the future.

Bolt and Lolli, Miniatures.

Our trouble two aren’t the typical problematic small ponies often seen in the industry. These two are talented little jumpers who have been trained to be ridden on their off-lead allowing a safe comfortable ride for younger children. They also do a great job at teaching more nervous people all about the basics and groundwork.

Lolli is the more confident and cheeky personality while Bolt is just happy to plod along. Both adore attention

About

I have been a horsewoman and an animal lover for as long as I remember and it has always been my mission to make a difference in the world

Over the years I’ve dealt with fears and frustrations in the horse industry. I have succeeded, been stuck, hurt, and set back through old training methods. Through my journey, I wanted to find a better, safer way to work with these incredible animals. Not only to help them overcome their pasts but to perform as well. I want to make sure horses and people don’t have to go through the hard lessons I had to learn to be better horsemen.

My training, through natural horsemanship, develops a better partnership and bond between horse and rider where both can develop safely and confidently on their journeys whether it’s for pleasure or performance there is always room for improvement in our relationship with these animals.

I have both been broken and have a great love for broken things and find myself attracted to them in all aspects of my life. I know the frustration and pain in fixing broken pieces of life.

I’ve watched people and horses being given up on because of it. This sparked my passion for those horses and wanting to help both the people and their horses.

Kintsugi. Kint-su-gi. This is an old Japanese art of repairing broken pottery using gold. The concept is that the broken part becomes a unique piece of history that makes the thing more beautiful.

My journey is trying to find the broken and fill in the gold in the world around us. It’s taking the bad things life throws at us and choosing to fill our broken cracks with something positive and not with frustration, fear, or negativity.

Through natural horsemanship, I have now gained the ability to do so as well as to help others

MISSION

We hope to help as many people and horses as possible as well as try to find the beautiful gold in the broken in our own lives. We want to give people the knowledge and skills to be able to build partnerships with their horses safely and improve performance.

“As gentle as possible, as firm as necessary.
Reward the slightest try.
Never release on a brace.
The horse sets the timeline."

— Heartfelt Horsemanship Core Principles

KINTSUGI – KINT-SU-GEE

Choosing to repair the broken with gold