By Shelby Brooks
A Buln Buln East based equestrian trainer broke long held traditions in order to form a stronger relationship with her horses.
Watching Kim Dyer in her home horse arena, it’s easy to be entranced by her and Taja.
Taja, a beautiful white horse, soars effortlessly over jumps, guided without the traditional reigns, bridle or bit.
Instead, Kim uses a flexible liberty ring around Taja’s neck which helps direct the horse around the arena.
“It works on a pressure basis, so if I put a little bit of pressure on one side it will help her turn,” Kim said.
Kim owns and operates Heartland Equestrian Soul Connection, a business aimed at educating people about the importance of connection and harmony between horse and rider.
And the best way to achieve that, Kim said, is to ride without traditional gear.
Kim began her transition into brideless riding in 2012.
“I saw a lot of overseas riders going bridleless at that stage, there was a French lady that was doing Grand Prix dressage with her horse bridleless and that wowed me.
“I thought I would love to learn how to do this.”
She said riding without a bridle is gentler and kinder for the horse, therefore creating a better relationship between human and equine.
“That’s why I started teaching, because mainstream horse riding is riding with a bit in the mouth and I learnt how amazing it was without it, and how much happier the horses were,” Kim said.
“That’s the thing that blows people’s minds at my clinics, the horses love this like they’re so relaxed and happy and I say, ‘yeah because you don’t have junk on its face!’.”
“This is so much more rewarding than going to a competition- that’s why I’m really passionate about teaching.”
Kim also uses horse treats in her training.
“That’s another thing that’s not widely used in the horse community but I’ve found the treat base reward system makes a big difference on these guys,” she said.
“I don’t have to worry about having a bit in the horses mouth, I can treat as much as I want.”
Bridleless riding is slowly becoming more popular in horse cycles, with more and more people interested in learning from Kim.
“At the start it is really the mind of the human and that’s the biggest thing that I found teaching it- a lot of people are scared because of tradition,” Kim said.
“Everyone thinks they need to have that bit in for control but it really just training and when you have a really great relationship with the horses they want to work with you and that’s what I teach to most people in my clinics.
“I’ve been getting nearly every rider at my clinics riding without a bridle and it just blows their mind because they never thought they would be able to do that with their horse.”
Kim said the first step is working on your relationship and connection with the horse.
“You have to be able to trust your horse to do things. You can’t just expect your horse to not like you and perform how you want,” Kim said.
“You have to work as a team basically. For example, if you come into an arena and your horse just nicks off, your horse doesn’t want to be with you.
“It’s not just a one way relationship, it’s both ways and that’s how I train. I spend time on working on our relationship.”
A testament to Kim’s methods can be seen in her relationship with her rescue horses that have been surrendered due to “problem behaviour”.
“I have one that bucked someone off pretty badly,” Kim said.
Others have been abused as younger horses.
“It’s all about working with them on the ground in the beginning and wanting them to be able to work with you,” Kim said.
“I take my time getting to know the horse and then I started riding with a bridle before we have built that level of trust and I can now ride with without a bridle.”
Kim has taught bridleless riding clinics across the state and next month will have the opportunity to share her passion on Australia’s biggest stage, Equitana.
She will be one of the presenters, holding two demonstrations, one on liberty rings and one on bridleless riding.
“I feel thrilled to be able to have such a wonderful opportunity to engage with such a large audience at Equitana,“ Kim said.
“To bring my passion for training this way for everyone to see I hope they will be inspired to try it one day with their own horse.“
