Equestrian
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Nikki has ridden for almost all of her adult life. She started riding from the age of 9 and rode regularly with her father until her teenage years. She then took a break, like most teenagers and explored everything but horses! She returned to riding in her early 20’ and since then has loaned, owned and worked with horses within the UK and abroad.
Some of Nikki’s equestrian work has involved working as ‘head girl’ herding cattle on a small cattle ranch in Australia. Part of this role involved escorting tourists with her whilst on horseback. Nikki really enjoyed this role, which led her to work as a trail guide for horseback tours on bush and beach rides. It was during her time in Australia that Nikki was introduced to Natural Horsemanship. She began assisting a trainer who was retraining and ‘backing’ quarter horses. Nikki was impressed with the effectiveness and gentleness of the techniques used and was keen to learn more about this on her return to the UK. This holistic approach of working with horses led her to Monty Roberts training with Kelly Marks. It was around the same time that Nikki studied and gained her BHS qualifications in trail riding and gained further experience as a trail guide. Shortly after, Nikki had her first experience of 'backing’ her own horse. He had been kept as a stallion and was gelded prior to coming to Nikki. This very handsome welsh-thoroughbred cross horse had an extremely dominant character therefore, her new skills in natural horsemanship were put to the test. During this time Nikki was presented with new ridden challenges due to her historic serious injuries. Combined with her own rehabilitation programme she felt her own minor disabilities could be impacting her horses’ way of going and creating communication barriers in their partnership. She wanted to make sure her horse was not bearing the brunt so Nikki went onto to learn and understand more about the anatomy and physiology of the horse. Nikki enjoyed this so much she went on and successfully completed an ITEC Diploma in Equine Sports Massage. Nikki studied with world renowned chartered physiotherapist, Mary Bromiley. Nikki felt very privileged to have had the opportunity to study under an extremely knowledgeable and skilled professional body worker within the equestrian industry. Nikki rides regularly and continues to strive to improve her own fitness and mobility for her own benefit and her horses'. She has found her own experience with fitness and mobility challenges very useful when working with her clients. It's because of her personal experiences that led her to a career as a Pilates instructor and Sports & Remedial body worker, helping, healing and teaching. Equi-Flex has naturally evolved and brings together all of the equestrian services Nikki offers. The programme can be adapted for almost any equestrian situation, even if the horse is on 'box rest'. Its tailored approach makes it unique and individual to any horse and rider partnership.
In addition, Nikki’s equestrian work includes a fully accredited UK Rural Skills Pilates & Biomechanics fusion training workshop, and Massage & stretching workshops for horse owners and riders. |
"Creating symmetry in the saddle".
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