Tui Teka Better Horsemanship

Описание: It all started for me in a small rural remote township called Tokomaru Bay 60km north of Gisborne growing up in household of 18 adults and children including extended family relatives from aunty’s, uncle’s, niece’s and nephew’s in a 3 bedroom house with extended living including caravan sleep outs in the back yard.

It was an upbringing that many would have dreamed of but never get to experience growing up in such a communal environment where hunting, fishing, diving, and gathering food from the gardens were all apart of it and mostly involved being on horseback.

My elders before me and those before them grew up in the township in a time where horses were a way of life from ridden and carriage transportation to and from work as well as pick up’s and drop off’s to the local school in the village. Also horses were extensively used on local stations to muster sheep and beef all day on steep rugged country providing for the local community and economy such as the freezing works in the early 1900’s.

I was fortunate enough to catch the back end of this dying culture and breed in late 1900’s and early 2000’s where I grew up riding my horse “Bruce” to school rather then catching the school bus or riding a push bike.

Horses were inherited into my genes from such a young age that I almost had no choice, I was just a young 8 year boy whom loved to be on horseback all day if I could, riding alongside my childhood friends, and the rules back then were be home before the street lights came on.

So I really got to explore and experience this emerged culture on horseback with minimal boundaries. Just the freedom to ride where ever and how ever. In those times there were generational rules and codes that were taught from a young age such as bareback riding to start with until you could: jump a full wire fence and wooden gate bareback, full gallop bareback along the beach at low and high tide, and muster a mob of wild horses up and down steep terrain bareback before even considering a saddle.

A saddle in those times were either gifted to you or handed down and only those who pass the bareback test could consider a saddle that was earned, this took me 24 months to develop a confident and balanced bareback seat before earning my first saddle at the age off 10. By the age of 13 I was regularly mustering wild horses solo or in company on the weekends to the point where I considered myself as good as “The man from snowy river” not that I had a dun horse like his but I definitely made sure footed horses like his that rode willingly where you pointed them to including steep bluffs.

I was then put to the test between the ages of 13-14 to start my first wild stallion solo as we had access back then to numbers of a 100 plus undomesticated horses roaming freely over the steep country terrain in our rural township. These horses were bred from our forefathers before us whom bred a highly versatile animal that could cover the country effortlessly and survive that particular lifestyle.

It would become an experience of a life time for me and the beginning of a journey down a pathway I chose to follow into the future ahead. Having gained a lot of that knowledge and experience through observation predominately, as well as being hands on, allowed myself to pick up on the timing and feel needed around wild horses from such a young age learning how to gain their trust through communication and understanding. This took a few years to develop and master my confidence with a numbers of horses in the hundreds if not thousands.

Later on in my early adulthood life this knowledge and experience would help develop a good solo reputation working at multiple equestrian studs nationwide ranging from racing, eventing and show jumping throughout New Zealand.

The reputation I gained nationwide offered the opportunity to take my skills to a whole new level, competing on a national stage in the prestigious colt starting challenge at Equitana “The way of the horse” in Auckland, 2017. It was the first time I’d ever been exposed in front of a live audience against some of the best horseman and horsewoman in New Zealand and Australia. The success I gained being crowned the champion of this prestigious event allowed an international opportunity for me to compete at “The way of the horse” Melbourne Equitana 2018, where I was up against 3 of the best horseman and educators in Australia: Ken Faulkner, Adam Sutton and Bruce O’Dell. I also had the opportunity to present several masterclasses during my time at both Auckland and Melbourne Equitana.

Also during 2018 I decided to become self-employed and start my own business as “Tui Teka Better Horsemanship”

I can truely say I have found my core passion educating humans and horses to develop deep meaningful understanding between each other through effective communication with clear and consistent intentions to create a harmonious connection for a life time partnership!