Testimonials

Sally Mainland

Owner of Joli. Lou teaches Sally and trains Joli

"I have owned my some what typical TB mare for coming up to four years, and in the summer of 2012 felt that we had become stuck in a rut. I had reached the end of my knowledge base, but still wanted to learn more and potentially do more as a pair. Whilst looking on Facebook I saw a horse that Lou had advertised on her her "Thoroughbred Dressage" page, I had a look online and found Lou's website. I contacted Lou to see if she offered training and asked if she would be willing to come over, have a look and see if she could do anything to help us. Following this first session, we have never looked back. Lou has totally revolutionised my style of riding, my horses way of going, and is making dressage seem so accessible to us.

In such a short space of time my mare has come on tremendously in both her attitude to her work and her physical development. As opinionated mare, we used to have sessions that left us both feeling frustrated and going no where; Lou has given us a large bag of "tools" to manage these situations, and now its increasingly rare that we have a "Joli moment" and these stem from not understanding the question rather than an out and out "no". We are now working at a level that I never thought possible for us as a combination, and with the "black and white" basis of the training we have being given by Lou we are able to continue and develop our skills in a way that is both accessible to horse and rider.

Importantly, for me, Lou is happy to school my horse and explain new things to her so that when I ask she understands the question, and with Lou riding I normally have my jaw on the floor as she just doesn't look like my horse. Lou's level of empathy and understanding of the TB brain along side her ability in the saddle ensures that she pushed the horse in a way that it is not aware its being pushed as hard as it is which ensures the end result is achieved with a minimal fuss.

I can honestly say that with out Lou's help, advisement and encouragement we would not be were we are today, and most definitely would not be thinking that my goal of us competing a medium together seem realistic. Every ride is a pleasure and I owe this to Lou ... Thank you."

Mary Miles

Owner of Honourable Dreamer

I am a racehorse owner with racehorses at Jonjo O’Neil’s yard and Jeremy Scott’s. It was at Jonjo’s yard that I purchased Honourable Dreamer. He raced on a couple of occasions, but unfortunately he eventually had to have a very serious operation, which ultimately meant he would have to retire from racing.

Consequently, I was given Louise’s name as a potential to teach him a different discipline i.e. dressage. It would be much less grueling for the horse. HD took to Louise immediately, which I made a mental note of! That was in April and he has been Louise ever since. I cannot begin to tell you the miracle she has performed with him. He had a nasty cough with mucus emanating from his nose at the beginning. He is now cured of that because of Louise’s care and attention. He is now a much happier horse, and competed in his first dressage competition last Saturday. He was absolutely brilliant for a first attempt, and this is purely down to Louise’s dedication and professionalism. She has taught him a brand new discipline in a very short period of time.

She has proved that ex racehorses can survive in another aspect of equine sport, and do well. It is extremely satisfying to know that HD is now happy and ‘learning a different trade’. He looks a completely different horse; all due to Louise

Claire Wilby

Owner of Meredian, who now resides in Vienna

Louise Robson has been looking after my 17.1 selle francais, Meridien, for me, whilst I have been unable to do so due to surgery.

Meridien is an 11 year old grade B show jumper and I brought him back to the UK from Abu Dhabi in the UAE earlier this year. In the UAE I competed Meridien as a show jumper and also introduced him to dressage. She identified his potential as a dressage horse as soon as she rode him and set out clearly to me what he needed to do to work up to advanced level. In the relatively short period that Louise has been riding him for me (since mid June 2011) she has done a fantastic job of developing his flatwork. As well as improving his general fitness, she has worked him so that he is much stronger behind and much lighter in the hand. His lateral work is also much improved and his changes are coming on extremely well.

I try to watch Louise ride Meridien most days and am very happy with the training program she has for him and the progress she is making. Louise took Meridien to the first dressage competition he has been to since December 2010 in the UAE, and his first competition in the UK. They were placed 4th in the Novice, qualifying for the Addington Summer Championships and also rode in the Elementary securing a very satisfactory 60%.

Louise is a very competent rider and I would recommend her to others looking for a training home for their horse.