Christine Beattie is an accomplished horsewoman and trainer specializing in carriage driving, groundwork, and liberty training. With over 25 years of experience, she has developed a unique approach that emphasizes communication, connection, and confidence between horse and human. Through her training and lesson programs, clinics, and online courses, Christine helps equestrians of all levels achieve a deeper bond with their equine partners and unlock their full potential.
Show season hit and my computer crashed... but I'm back!
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Hey there, Reader, It’s been a minute since I’ve been in your inbox! I do apologize for the radio silence — it was not my intention… To tell you the truth, show season hit, my computer crashed, and here we are now halfway through August! 😮 Our outdoor season is quite short here in Alberta. The ground isn’t dry enough to do much until at least mid-June, and it’s not unusual to see a few snowflakes before the end of September. So that means that we pack a LOT of driving into three short months! In the past month, I spent a week at our big annual driving clinic, where I thoroughly enjoyed daily lessons with Janelle Marshall. That led straight into our first driving trial (HDT) of the season. Two weeks later we returned for our second HDT, and two weeks after that — this coming weekend — we’ll round it out with one more. In between shows has been a mix of R&R, schooling for the next show, meal prepping for the next round of horse trailer camping, and also starting a young training horse on the carriage. I have lots I can’t wait to talk to you about in the coming weeks, including 🤠 Finally working through a lifetime of show-induced anxiety (mine, but also my horse’s) As always, if you have other specific topic requests for this newsletter, feel free to hit reply and let me know! In other news, I’m thrilled to have finally launched my newest online driving program, Drive On | The Horse, Heart, & Harness Collective. Drive On is an online membership focused on all things driving equines. From first starting your horse on the carriage to tearing up the marathon course; from taking your grandkids for a quiet picnic with your minis to running a fully horse-powered vegetable farm, Drive On encompasses all breeds and all disciplines of driving. Every one of us has our own goals, our own priorities, and our own reasons for choosing to drive horses in the first place. Drive On is a place for all drivers to connect, learn, and grow together. I am currently working with a lovely group of Driving 101 alumni to bring this vision to life, and I’m looking forward to opening the doors publicly this fall. Click here to join the waitlist, and stay tuned for more to come… For now, I’ll leave you with two photos from our first driving trial, courtesy of Rick Kroll. Happy driving, |
Christine Beattie Equine
Christine Beattie is an accomplished horsewoman and trainer specializing in carriage driving, groundwork, and liberty training. With over 25 years of experience, she has developed a unique approach that emphasizes communication, connection, and confidence between horse and human. Through her training and lesson programs, clinics, and online courses, Christine helps equestrians of all levels achieve a deeper bond with their equine partners and unlock their full potential.
Hey Reader, As I begin to reflect on our summer season that's now winding down, I daresay that Tony Pony and I have made more progress in the last twelve months than any other period in our fourteen years together. We’ve overcome some BIG hurdles this year, and I’m so dang proud of how our hard work has paid off. Tony has long struggled when we’re away from home. For all that he excels at, he’s a horse who can quickly tip into severe anxiety when all is not right in his world — and Tony’s...
Hey Reader, Sometimes, I'll notice someone say, “that's not safe,” or, “that’s so dangerous,” when what they really mean is, “that's not how I prefer to do it,” or “I didn’t know you could do it that way,” or sometimes, “my horse and I don't have the skills necessary for that to work for us.” In driving horses, there are very few “alwayses and nevers”. Things are rarely black and white. There are almost always many different paths to the same outcome, and many different possible “right” ways....
Hey Reader, Throughout the years that I was training carriage horses to drive in the city, and ever since, I've remained deeply committed to this one core principle: I don’t care if my horse spooks… but I care a whole bunch about how he recovers. Horses are prey animals, with instincts that have evolved over millions of years to flee at the first sign of possible danger. Over the four-thousand-some years that horses have been domesticated, that flight instinct remains as one of the things...