If you're stuggling with any of these far-too-common horse bad habits...

Your horse is hard to catch in the field or in the paddock.

Your horse doesn't come to you when you call him.

Your horse doesn't perceive you as his leader, sometimes it barely notices your presence.

Your horse is basically unmanageable while leading, it constantly pulls on the lead rope.

Your horse seems to pay a lot more attention to the environment than it does to you.

Your horse doesn't trust you enough to follow you into the trailer or into the water.

Your horse can't seem to be able to stand still and wait.

Your horse is very restless during trail riding.

Your horse is unconfident, very spooky and ignores your attempts of calming him down.

Your horse suddenly pulls when you're leading him (sometimes almost ripping your arm off).

Your horse rears or "stands up" to you, especially if you ask something of him.

Your horse often spooks to a point where he'd easily run you over in panic.

Your horse escapes through open paddock/stable doors, even if you are in his way.

Your horse is extremely frightened of new situations and noises (plastic bags, cars, tunnels).

Your horse gets too excited when you bring him food (kicks the door or gets "in your face").

Your horse is very nervous, protests with the front leg, rears and kicks.

Your horse is pinning the ears back during grooming or saddling.

Your horse "threatens" you with his ears back, especially during particular exercises.

Your horse sometimes bites or even behaves very aggressively towards you.

Your horse pulls and rears while tied up, to a point where he could hurt himself.

Your horse doesn't pick up the legs or pulls them away while you're cleaning the hooves.

...or if you have an untrained foal or adult horse and simply don't know where to start.

Then you're the perfect candidate for the...

Mind Body Horsemanship Academy

During the years I've spent working with some of my client's most "problematic" horses, one thing has become painfully obvious to me. By far the most common cause behind the typical bad habits of horses that owners are struggling with, is that the horses don't fully accept, respect and trust their owners as their leaders.

And to help owners get rid of these problems through developing a deep bond and connection of mutual trust and respect with their horses, I've poured over 15 years of knowledge and experience in the Mind Body Horsemanship Academy.

Now, if you are wondering if you too could benefit from the Mind Body Horsemanship Academy, then I have a simple question for you...

Can you imagine how it would feel, if you could train your horse to be so completely focused on you, that he followed you around like he is "glued" to you - constantly maintaining a safe distance from you, stopping when you're stopping, speeding up when you're speeding up, never bumping into you or rushing ahead or away from you - and you could achieve all that without any resistance or use of force?

In other words, your horse would become so eager to please you that he will gladly do whatever you want him to do.

On top of that, imagine developing such a strong bond with your horse that he would immediately run towards you when you call his name, he would patiently wait for you to get on his back, he would step into the trailer or puddle of water without hesitation, and overall become so calm and confident that you could ride him in any possible situation without stress or fear.

I am extremely excited to share this Academy with you, because I want you to experience the nearly magical feeling of not having to deal with any of the easily preventable problems that horse owners are struggling with on a daily basis, but instead to simply enjoy the benefits of a trustworthy and respectful relationship you will build with your horse.

If this sounds like a fantasy, then you should know that I just described the relationship I have with EACH of my horses, because I've trained them using the same step-by-step process that I have laid out for you in the Academy.

To get started right away, all you have to do is...

What will you learn in the Academy?

Module 1

How to establish leadership with a horse

The first module of the Academy represents the necessary framework of knowledge that will allow you to present yourself as a trustworthy and respected leader to your horse.

First, you will learn how to evaluate your horse's temperament and character and identify its strengths and weaknesses, so that you will be able to adjust your approach and training techniques for optimal effect.

You will receive detailed instructions on how to recognize characters of dominant and submissive horses (there are subtle differences between them, and overlooking those can lead to choosing the wrong approach to training).

You will also learn about the three different states of mind your horse can enter into and the state of mind you should always strive to keep your horse in - so you can enjoy your time with a safe and relaxed horse that 100% trusts you as his leader.

Understanding how herd hierarchy around horses works, represents the very foundation of establishing yourself as the "herd" leader of your horse, without representing any kind of a threat to them.

Most importantly, you will learn how your own state of mind affects your horse's state of mind and behavior around you.

You will learn how to guide and instruct your horse with your body language alone - by changing your posture, using the direct hand to set direction and the indirect hand to get your horse moving, through different types of pressure (optical, sound, physical pressure) and more - to "speak" to your horse in a language that your horse actually understands.

You will gain a deep insight into the importance of setting boundaries to gain (and give) respect and trust, just like horses do in a herd (I'll also show you how disrespectful behavior in a herd gets dealt with).

You'll learn about 5 different leading positions (focus, basic, parallel, behind, riding position), which will be the foundation for the exercises in the current and upcoming courses in the Academy.

Content

Live case study: Establishing leadership when first meeting a horse

Evaluate your horse's temperament and character

Identify your horses strengths and weaknesses (worksheet)

Horse's state of mind

Herd hierarchy

How do you recognize a dominant horse?

How do you recognize a submissive horse?

Human (your) state of mind

Human (your) body language

Respect, trust, love and affection

Setting boundaries for respect

How to set boundaries?

Tips for healthy boundaries

Name your boundaries (worksheet)

Environment and equipment

Module 2

Leadership skill #1: Gaining attention and focus

In the second module, you will start establishing yourself as a leader to your horse with practical exercises in the focus position. Through these exercises you will start gaining your horse's attention, teach him how to focus on you instead of the environment and teach him how to respect your personal space.

1st set of exercises

These exercises will improve your safety in everyday interactions with your horse - teaching your horse to be aware of your personal space at all times, may prevent your horse from running you over when spooked. You will learn how to increase/decrease pressure with perfect timing, and how to express your intentions with confident body language and hand gestures.

You'll also learn what to do if your horse ignores you, which will be of tremendous help if you've ever been in a situation where you felt like you're being "pushed around" by your horse. You will also start practicing how to shift your "energy levels" quickly to prove to your horse that you are a calm, confident and assertive leader.

2nd set of exercises

In the second set of exercises, you will teach your horse to respect and maintain a safe distance from you in movement (regardless of the speed or direction you're moving in) and learn what to do when your horse refuses to follow you. You will then take things up a notch, teaching your horse to respect your boundaries and stay completely focused on you even in highly chaotic environments, preventing the flight or fight response from taking over your horse's mind.

You will teach your horse to alternate between moving away and towards the pressure, which is an absolute must exercise before tying the horse down for the first time.

The practical exercises included will help you command respect and trust in your daily interactions with your horse (while approaching, putting on a halter, feeding, leading, etc.)

You'll purposely create chaotic conditions in a safe environment, to prevent potentially dangerous situations in real life. You will discover your horse's biggest fears and start working on eliminating them for good. After mastering all 5 levels of difficulty, your horse will know how to remain focused on you and follow you as his leader on "autopilot", even under extremely distracting conditions.

3rd set of exercises

In the 3rd set of exercises you'll start teaching your horse to move "around" your personal space. These exercises will make your horse even more mindful and careful about where you are and where you're moving, because you'll be combining all the techniques and tools you've learned in the first two sets of exercises. You will practice how to use your intention, body language and breathing to release pressure as soon as your horse starts responding correctly.

You will learn how to stand your ground and insist on what you want to accomplish, even when the horse is panicking and resisting. I'll also include full training sessions with 6 variations of the "move the horse around your personal space" exercise, plus advanced exercise variations with two of my horses.

Content

Introduction

Sending your horse away from your personal space

Tips for sending your horse away from your personal space

Levels of pressure

Inviting your horse towards your personal space

Practical exercises: “Send away and invite towards”

Practical exercises: "Remain calm during chaos"

Moving your horse around your personal space

How to keep calm, confident and assertive during an argument?

Practical exercises: Moving your horse around your personal space

5 BONUS LESSONS (see below)

Module 3

Leadership skill #2: Leading through feel

After mastering the 1st leadership skill, where you've gained your horse's focus and attention while keeping a close eye on him, you're ready to start practicing the same exercises with your back turned to the horse.

Through the exercises in this module, you will start teaching your horse how to follow your every move while you are turned away from him (without you even looking at him).

You will learn how to feel your horse through the lunge line to know exactly what your horse is doing behind your back.

After mastering these exercises, you will get a horse that follows you practically on autopilot, keeps paying attention to you, and follows you when you change the speed of your movement.

The end result of these exercises is that you will be able to relax and focus on the environment and where you want to go, while the horse pays attention to maintaining the distance from you, stopping when you stop (instead of "bumping" into you or surpassing you) and automatically adjust his speed to match your speed.

I'm sure you can imagine how great it will feel when both your horse and you will finally be able to relax as you lead him wherever you want to go, completely without stress, the use of force, or you having to constantly worry about how your horse behaves.

Last, but not least, mastering the second leadership skill will give you an awesome foundation of awareness and balance in your horse's body, both of which are a highly useful prerequisite for lunging and riding.

Content

From the focus position to the basic position

Practical exercises: Focus and basic position

Training plan - Where do you begin?

Weekly training plan

Because I really want to set you and your horse up for success (make sure to report your progress to me), I've prepared a detailed summary of all the exercises and a 9-week step-by-step training plan template you can easily follow when working with your horse!

I am using the same sequence of exercises whenever I work with my clients' horses, and because this training plan has worked successfully for some of the most problematic horses I've ever worked with, I'm 100% sure it's going to work for you as well.

And because I know that every horse owner wants to work at their own pace, you'll also be able to make a private copy of my suggested training plan and adjust it according to your own schedule and to the progress you're making with your horse.

Bonus lessons

If you're the kind of student that really wants to go the extra mile, then the bonus lessons where you can see me work in live training sessions with 5 completely different horses, will represent a goldmine of advanced knowledge and experiences for you.

Because these horses have completely different pasts that shaped their characters, you will also see them respond differently to my intention, energy and body language.

But more importantly, you will see how I adjust my approach to each horse based on their temperament and character, so they eventually all accept me and start respecting me as a trustworthy leader.

BONUS LESSON #1: Full training session with a young colt

BONUS LESSON #2: Working with a mistreated young horse

BONUS LESSON #3: Preparing a young colt for the farrier

BONUS LESSON #4: Building trust with a young mare for a safe first ride

BONUS LESSON #5: Working with a dominant young gelding

10+ hours of content

9-week training plan

5 full training sessions

private fb support group

About me

The path to "Mind Body Horsemanship" and what I can do with horses today, led me through many falls off the horses' back, a concussion, and some injuries that my body keeps reminding me of even today. About 20 years ago I started wondering why can't riding and working with your horse be a more pleasant experience, something to look forward to. Why does trying to gallop with my horse or even riding him in the open pastures have to be a traumatic experience almost every time? Back then, I would have given anything for someone to explain to me (ideally, before I mounted a horse and began riding for the first time) how horses think and why they act the way they do.

But the more I researched and the more I understood how a horse's mind works and what their body language is telling me, the more of the problems I had with my horse I was able to solve. Today, for example, I know that "problematic" horses don't rear because they have a bad character, and that they don't throw off the rider because they are mean. After more than a decade of studying both human and horse psychology, I learned how to direct and lead the horse with nothing but my intention, energy and body language and how to build a respectful and trustworthy relationship with a horse. The result is a calm, manageable and obedient horse in every imaginable situation, both during leading and working on the ground and by riding in the arena or on trails.

Testimonials

ALES STULAR

"Even though I've never met Nastja in person before, I've been following her work on Facebook for a couple of years now. I contacted her when I was looking for a trainer for my 3.5 year old Lipizzaner mare Trompeta XXIV. According to two trainers before Nastja, each of whom trained Trompeta for about 2 months, the mare was supposed to be a problematic horse. Nastja immediatelly took Trompeta into care and training, even though I was completely honest about the problems two other trainers faced. The first results were visible after no more than 10 days, when Nastja was able to lunge her without resistance and she began following her orders. In a month and a half, Trompeta was gently and properly broken in without a bit. After returning her to our stable, we worked with the mare in the riding arena for a while and soon began trail riding with her. We ride her in the classic manner, with a bridle and a bit. The mare has a kind character, isn't spooky and is easily manageable. Nastja has proven that a correct approach can lead to excellent and long term results."

ANA STARIHA

"I decided to ask Nastja for help when I ran into some problems with my young horses. They were extremely attached to their herd and they basically ignored humans, even when it came to the most basic handling. I had the most problems with my mare Zarja, which I bought for my riding school. The change of environment was very stressful for her and she developed numerous character flaws as a consequence - whenever she was tied or left alone in the paddock, she'd dig holes with her hoofs, during lunging she'd run into the fence, she was constantly focused on other horses, and would start shaking at the slightest unknown noise. After just a couple of training sessions with Nastja, the mare relaxed, she became more focused on the person leading her, started approaching people on her own and showed the willingness to cooperate. Later on, the problems with mounting were gone as well. My gelding Challenger, who also started cooperating better with humans, quickly started developing muscle mass, which was very important after his leg injury. I have nothing but positive experiences with Nastja's work, and I think what she does is awesome for preparing a horse for riding school, where it is especially important that horses are calm, tolerant, and respectful."

SABINA ADAMLJE

"I own two mares: Stella, a 5 year old Haflinger, and Lady, a 15 year old Quarter Horse. I couldn't ride the younger mare Stella, because she was kicking and being very stubborn. Everyone, who tried to break her in to become manageable, tried teaching her by using force, some people even hit her. She didn't like this and has always looked for ways to get back at me (by trying to bite or kick me...) The other mare, Lady, was very unconfident and spooky. So I began searching the Internet for someone who can teach horses in a non-violent manner. I found Nastja's ad and she came. Now, both of my mares are calm and have a completely different relationship with me. The changes were rapid. I can now ride both mares without a bit and a saddle and they still behave very nicely. I learned that you need to have a good relationship with horses and show them respect - instead of using force when working with them."

ZELJANA DROZDAN MATELJAN

"When my daughter wanted to sign up for riding school a little over a year ago, I decided to take her to Horse Resort Stariha. I saw on their website that two nice girls teamed up there - Ana and Nastja. We met Ana first, and she immediately became a riding instructor for my girl, but Nastja was still working with a Belgian horse trainer, perfecting her horse training skills. I saw Nastja's videos of her work with her horse Vizir, and I thought how I'd like to work like that with my own horse - should I ever get one. Naturally, I had in mind a calm gelding/mare that would be easy to ride, and Nastja would teach us about liberty, some dressage elements and similar stuff. As it turned out, instead of a horse like that, I became the owner of a 9 year old stallion, who spent most of his life neglected in a stable...not exactly the perfect horse for someone who's only dealt with horses for about a year. Even though my horse wasn't aggressive, I was afraid to take him out of the stable and tie him up, much less do anything else with him, because Chip didn't really know a lot things, so we contacted Nastja for help. Naturally, as a true rookie, I thought Nastja would bring the horse in order, and then I'll have a nice and calm horse for riding. But I quickly realized things weren't going to be as simple and that I too will have to go to school with Chip. Chip quickly mastered the basics with Nastja and I learned to control my fear and built a relationship with Chip that allowed me to start training with him. Chip can't be ridden yet, but I hope that it will happen in the near future - it will be a special day indeed. Nobody would ever recommend a horse like Chip to a beginner, but with proper leadership, such a horse can teach a beginner a lot more than some calm, obedient and completely broken in horse-because in this case, you simply don't have a choice but to learn. Just find yourself a good teacher like I did."

KLARA POLJSAK

"Blick is a 6 year old Oldenburg gelding, who keeps me company for a good year and a half now. He was started under the saddle, he was kind, but a fearful and distrustful horse. And I'm a stubborn and persistent 19 year old girl, who has lived for horses all her life. Take a minute and read our story. After two months of training with Blick, I mounted him one day, and he reared and bucked two times, so I literally flew off him. The ambulance took me to a hospital, where I stayed for two days. As luck would have it, I suffered nothing else but a concussion, which is why I don't even remember the fall. But ever since, I couldn't get rid of an unshakeable fear that settled inside me. After half a year, I did mount Blick again. He was calm and caused no problems at first, but every time I rode him, my heart was pounding so loud, that the neighbors could hear it. Blick felt that fear inside me and started to become tenser by the day. After another half a year, he no longer allowed me to mount him. The negative experiences caused by the fear I felt every time I rode him, made him so afraid of me, that he would run away as soon as I tried to put my foot into the stirrup. Everybody told me to give up, that Blick is a waste of time and money. I didn't listen to them, but kept searching for a solution, even though nobody agreed with me. I knew I needed professional help. I've been following Nastja on Facebook for a while now, plus I heard some positive rumors about her, which is why I decided to ask for her help. I could choose another trainer, but I didn't want Blick to be tied up and ridden forcefully. I like Nastja's approach much better, because she builds a relationship between a human and a horse in a correct way, depending on the character of a horse (Blick is an extremely sensitive horse). Nastja took in Blick for 14 days, she trained him every day. I joined a couple of sessions, so she could teach me how to keep working with Blick on my own. Blick was completely transformed, he became a different horse. Very calm and manageable. There was no desire to flee and fear in his eyes, instead he started showing love and compassion for humans. He realized that humans aren't beasts, and that they won't attack as they try to mount him. We're now working on the ground every day, and I actually mounted him! He stood calmly and didn't move a muscle. But the thing that means the most to me, is that I grew personally, that I became more determined around Blick and got rid of the fear. We're still working together with Nastja and she helps me to rebuild complete trust with Blick, so I could eventually take him into dressage competitions again. Overall, I think we can be too narrow minded. Why force your horse into anything, when things can be so simple and fun for us and our horse? Every rider should work with his horse on the ground first, and get into the saddle only after they've build a relationship based on trust and love, instead of anger and use of force. Every person and every horse could benefit from the techniques Nastja taught me. Thank you, Nastja!"