Sue is a full-time, freelance equestrian coach specialising in equine behaviour and biomechanics.
To be an effective and considered rider you must understand how the horse thinks during the training process, this must not involve violence or force. At the same time an understanding of biomechanics when training helps to focus and progress your training successfully. Shortcuts simply cannot be taken. All of this culminates in a happy horse and a pleasurable experience with your horse every time you train.
Sue’s passion for coaching sees her coach a wide variety of riders from beginners to the advanced, children to retirees, and many disciplines. Because she works with riders on their goals and needs Sue ensures lessons are tailored to the individual rider. Sue readily adapts her training to the style of training the rider seeks, whether that be traditional dressage, ground work with positive reinforcement, trail riding, competitive showjumping or equine behavioural problems.
Please enjoy a selection of photos from lessons, camps and clinics over the years.
Hannah and Tildi working on their dressage
Andrea - Showjumping
Kiera and Gideon practicing cross country
Sue demonstrating flexion
Andrea and Pog - Cross country
Ellen and Elvis - Showjumping
Clare and Digger - Showjumping
Happy campers
Sue and Lulu
Rebecca and Tush - Dressage
Mary and Maggie - Agility
Group pony camp photo
Carla and Ginny - Pony soccer
Clare and CJ - Dressage
Emily and Mickey - Dressage
Pony soccer game
Lyn and Billy - Agility
Kate and Stormy - Dressage
Little kids doing agility. The platforms were home-base or park platforms where the ponies got to rest. The next photo is taken a few minutes after.
Proof that calm and consistent training can produce amazing results. The young handlers are just of screen, you can see the pony on the right intensely watching his mum.
Imogen and Asher - Showing nice stretching work
Ruby and Kynance - Showjumping
Elena and Beanie - Showjumping
Amy and Mystery - Showjumping
Clicker training is a form of positive reinforcement training commonly used with dogs and dolphins but also very effective with horses.
Horses love clicker training, they become very motivated and will even work very hard for that click. Whilst it is fun to do novel things like teaching horses to smile, pick things up and stand on things, clicker is fantastic for motivating the sluggish horse to go forward, teaching a nervous horse to jump without fear, shaping a fast wild canter into a slow and collected canter without having to pull on the mouth. It’s benefits are endless.
Sue teaches clicker training to a number of clients who are using it to:
start a horse.
train a young horse.
rehabilitate horses with tension.
train dressage and/or showjumping.
train tricks and other novel behaviours like smiling.
correct bad habits like standing still at the mounting block.
and how to use obstacles like platforms and bridges.
Alicia and Patch - Showing off their bowing
Nic started clicker training in his 20s after a paddock accident damaged his tendon ending his dressage career. His favourite trick is smiling, he really puts a lot of effort into it.
Mary and Maggie learning to stand on a tyre. This is a huge horse so she had to really learn to balance in a small space.
Honour was started under saddle with clicker. She learnt some novel tricks as a youngster learning about the clicker.
Katarina and Raffy have a huge repertoire of tricks. Here they are working on stay.
Mary and Maggie training through the maze
Ariella and Bonny standing on a platform. Ariella predominantly use clicker for training dressage, showjumping and cross country but they enjoy just having some fun sometimes.
Tilly and Romeo showing off their platform work.
Honour learning about the float as a 2 year old. Float training is very easy with clicker.
Honour showing calmness and patience at a clicker training demonstration.
Patch showing off his waving trick. If you wave to him he waves back.
Sue explores the spherical shape using different mediums. A sphere is a beautiful shape and creates a lovely space in the environment. Old horseshoes are a favourite and create lovely lacey designs in endless configurations. Other scrap steel are also used to create these lovely sculptures.
“New Beginnings” Sue’s first orb will always be special. After years of planning it finally came together in a perfect sphere. New beginnings not only represents the beginning of a new art form for Sue but the beginning of taking her art to a professional level. This photo at sunrise is perfectly apt for this sculpture and all that it stands for.
New Beginnings is permanently exhibited in the incredible garden of Alison Archbold.
Photo courtesy of Alison Archbold
“Lucky 13” Is a one metre orb made entirely of shoes that measure 13cm wide. Every shoe is joined at the heel to another shoe so that there are no openings for the luck to fall out. Horseshoes are shrouded in superstition and Lucky 13 is very respectful of this.
Lucky 13 being professionally modelled by Honour the horse. If you look carefully her friend Nic appears to be inside the Orb.
“Bit Rough” Is a one metre orb made entirely of old farrier’s rasps. Sue could not resist taking something as flat and uninteresting as a rasp and fashioning it into round shape and creating something of beauty.
Two small orbs measure 50cm diameter each. These are the beginning of a series. The pipe sections form a beautiful design and particularly suit this size orb.
“Clover Leaf” This orb is made up of horseshoes in a three clover leaf pattern. It makes for a particularly neat and lacey appearance. Perfectly modelled by Ariella the hen.
“Boquete” features florets of five horse shoes. Only hind shoes go into this beautiful orb as the petals call for oval shaped shoes rather than circular shoes. Boquete is a particularly light and delicate looking orb. Definitely a peoples favourite.
"Rona" was inspired by the pandemic and created in 2021. It's form is the recognisable Corona Virus that consumed our lives in 2020. But if you look closely you can see the orb is made up of leaf springs that form star shapes representing communities that held together amongst the chaos of the pandemic. Old hand-made nails perfectly form the protein spikes.
Rona was exhibited at the QPRC Art Awards 2021 and sold during the exhibition.
“Orb Triptych”
“bubbles” a 50cm diameter orb made entirely of sections of pipe.
Sue works in various mediums creating her sculptures including; scrap steel, bronze and ceramics. Her works range from a small bronze of a new born foal to a 3 metre tall wineglass made from horseshoes.
“First Born” is a life size baby giraffe made from horseshoes and scrap steel. This little fellow is Sue’s first steel animal sculpture, hence the name first born.
“Kazhir” is a bronze sculpture of a new born foal. It aims to capture those awkward, gangly moments straight after birth with legs everywhere. It measures 20cm long.
“I’ll drink to that” is a wineglass made of horseshoes and is the first in a planned series of wineglasses. Sue loves the beautiful and varied shapes wineglasses come in and plans to pay homage to as many as possible.
Sue’s letterbox. She needed a new letterbox so it had to be a horse of course.
“The Pear” It’s a bit cliche but Sue had to try her hand at the ever popular pear out of horseshoes and it’s a bit of a crowd favourite. Sue has only made 4 of these so if you have one you are very exclusive.
"Rona" was inspired by the pandemic and created in 2021. It's form is the recognisable Corona Virus that consumed our lives in 2020. But if you look closely you can see the orb is made up of leaf springs that form star shapes representing communities that held together amongst the chaos of the pandemic. Old hand-made nails perfectly form the protein spikes.
Rona was exhibited at the QPRC Art Awards 2021 and sold during the exhibition.
“Hidden Hex” is an icosahedron, 20 sided shape, made from farrier’s rasps. It was part of an exhibition at the Hive, Queanbeyan, which required all work be in a hex shape. Have a close look and see if you can see the hidden hex.
It stands 150cm tall and rotates on it’s base.
“Harrow flowers” you will see many harrow flowers here. Sue creates them from old farm harrow tips. They make the most beautiful flowers.
“Recyculum steelmeshia” is a large flower sculpture made for the QPRC Bloom Festival 2022. It was exhibited on the river banks as part of the Arts Trial in October.
“Recyculum Steelmeshia” detail photo
“Recyculum Steeldrumia” is a giant sunflower style flower made from a 44 gallon drum and other scrap steel. It was made for the QPRC Bloom Festival 2022 and exhibited on the river banks as part of the Arts Trial in October.
It now takes pride of place in it’s new home at The Hive Queanbeyan.
“Recyculum shovelnspadia” is a large flower sculpture made for the QPRC Bloom Festival 2022 and exhibited on the river banks as part of the Arts Trial in October.
It is now exhibited in it’s new home in a private garden in Queanbeyan.
“Recyculum handralius” is a large flower sculpture made for the QPRC Bloom Festival 2022 and exhibited on the river banks as part of the Arts Trial in October. It is made from and old steel handrailing and stands over 3 metres tall.
“Christmas Wreath”
Sue draws and paints in a number of mediums with pastels and pencils being her main drawing medium but she also uses inks, oils, acrylics and ceramics.
“Henry” Oil on canvas
“Nicholas” Oil on canvas
“CJ” Oil on canvas
“Toby” Pastels on paper
Rosella parrot - Pencil on paper
Pencil on paper
Gouache on paper
Grey Fantail - Gouache on paper
Tardis saddle cupboard - Steel cupboard acrylic paint
“Alicia” - Coloured pencil on paper
“Rooster” Pencil on paper
“Wolf” - Oils and palette knife on canvas
“Dressage” Pencil on paper
“Dog” - Pastels on paper
“Dressage rider” Pastels on paper
“Winston” Pencil on paper
“Teddy” - Ink on paper
“Cornet” - Ink on paper
“Manuka Pool” - Hand-painted ceramic tile to replace broken tile at the Manuka pool
Sue is a multi-media artist exploring many varied mediums, scales and styles.
Sue has lived in the community for 30 years plus so community projects are very special to her. This community project was funded by QPRC to allow community members to paint a wooden post which would be displayed in a common area in Karabah for the enjoyment of the local residents. Sue took the community aspect one step further by asking local horse people to send photos of their horses to her. She then painted over 30 small horse portraits on the wooden post. Each horse has it’s name displayed and many locals will recognise these wonderful equines who have taught so many locals to ride.
