Evie O'Keeffe Trec Trainer

Evie O'Keeffe TREC Trainer is visiting Woodlea on 18 May 2019 with her obstacles. She will work to build your confidence, trust and skill as you navigate a range of challenges that simulate things you might come across on an adventurous hack - low branches, narrow bridleways, hairpin bends, streams, bridges & a bit of one-handed riding while you read the map.
Pre-bookings only via https://trectraining.wordpress.com/bookin g-form/ places are limited so please get your name down... early!
These sessions are a great introduction to the obstacle phase of TREC, cross training for all disciplines and good old fashioned fun for horse and rider in a relaxed, supportive atmosphere.
Each horse will have a couple of goes at each obstacle, Evie will outline the TREC scoring system & give tips for horse and rider to complete them effectively, whether in hand or ridden. Everything is optional, and you can do it at your own speed - you'll also learn by watching what the others in your session do.
Suitable for all horses and riders/handlers - any age/experience, in-hand welcome. Have a look at Evie’s website www.trec-training.uk or www.facebook.com/trectraining for more photos, reviews and information.
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And finally, lessons 7 & 8 from today in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!
If you want to get in on the fun, check out my calendar for a date near you https://trectraining.wordpress.com

Here’s lesson 6 from today in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!
If you want to get in on the fun, check out my calendar for a date near you https://trectraining.wordpress.com

Here’s lessons four & five from today in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!
If you want to get in on the fun, check out my calendar for a date near you https://trectraining.wordpress.com

Here’s groups two & three from today in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!
If you want to get in on the fun, check out my calendar for a date near you https://trectraining.wordpress.com

Brace yourselves! 8.5h teaching produces a lot of photos... here’s group one from today in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!

And the last lesson from today 😁 stay tuned for more tomorrow!

Lesson four today in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!

Second set of photos from today in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!

First set of photos from today’s clinic in Wakefield 😁 feel free to tag & share!

Q: What's the best kind of horse for TREC? A: Your horse!
TREC develops the confidence you have in each other, and there's such a variety of challenges requiring speed, trust, flexibility, obedience, balance, control and calmness in turn, that you can't buy a ready-made TREC horse. The rider's brain comes in to play for the navigation section and planning the best way to approach each obstacle to score well, so it's all about teamwork and partnership, as well as training.
... National champions have come in all shapes and sizes, and I train equines & riders of all ages, heights and breeds. My cover photo features cobs, a donkey, eventers, dressage horses, a young sporthorse and natives - I also train ex-racehorses (ROR subsidy available).
My spring newsletter has gone out today - if you want training opportunities delivered to your inbox once a quarter please sign up here: https://form.jotformeu.com/90001613311335
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Upcoming Midlands TREC training opportunities (please also see the Yorkshire post if you're willing to travel up the M1/A1!) - more details and bookings via https://trectraining.wordpress.com/
Retraining of Racehorses subsidy of £10 per clinic available to all ROR-registered horses.
Arena clincs (mobile obstacles only):... Ivanhoe Equestrian Ashby de la Zouche 27 April (indoors) 60 mins group of 3 £30
Full-day clinics: Ingleby Hall Livery Lincoln LN1 2PQ on 5 May 2 hours of obstacle training on the introductory level TREC course on grass in a group of 4, half an hour control of paces training in pairs in the large outdoor arena, 2hr treasure hunt ride entirely off road around the farm. £70pp
Outdoor obstacle clinics on varied terrain: Bulcote Notts (small XC course) NG14 5HA 4 May - 90 mins in a group of 4 £30pp Ingleby Lincoln (level 1 TREC course) LN1 2PQ 9 June - 90 mins in a group of 4 £30pp CHAPS Newark (agility playground) 21 July - 2 hours in group of 6 £TBC NFRC Ticknall (show field) 27 & 28 July - 90 mins in group of 4 £27pp Derby College (XC field) 3 Aug - 90 mins in group of 4 £35pp Weston Lawns CV12 9JA (show field) 1 Sep - 90 mins in a group of 4 £30pp CHAPS Newark (agility playground) 22 Sep - 2 hours in group of 6 £TBC
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Upcoming Yorkshire TREC training opportunities (please also see the Midlands post if you're willing to travel to Notts!) - more details and bookings via https://trectraining.wordpress.com/
Retraining of Racehorses subsidy of £10 per clinic available to all ROR-registered horses.
Outdoor obstacle clinics on varied terrain:... Carr Farm Wykeham (XC course) YO13 9QR 15 June - 90 mins in a group of 4 £35pp Guisborough (undulating field) TS14 7BU 22 June - 90 mins in a group of 4 £30pp Hopton Horse Centre (XC field) WF14 8EH 18 Aug - 90 mins in a group of 4 £30pp
Full-day clinics on varied terrain: Escrick Park nr York YO19 6EA on 18 & 19 May Farnley Estate, Huddersfield HD4 6UQ on 4 August The morning is spent working on obstacles and having a go at control of paces (slow canter/fast walk), then after lunch you'll copy a route down in the 'map room', talk around what you will expect to see while you ride from looking at the route on the map, plus some basic map reading & compass practice on foot. Once you’re happy you’ll go for a short POR orienteering ride in pairs/threes on a set route round the off road tracks. £70pp (£55 for Escrick for rideways members).
Arena clincs (mobile obstacles only): Helen Barrett Equestrian Northowram 20 July (morning, outdoors) 60 mins group of 3 £25 Long Lover Livery Halifax 20 July (afternoon, outdoors) 60 mins group of 3 £25 Cloughfields Equestrian Sheffield (indoors) 28 Sep £TBC Helen Barrett Equestrian Northowram 29 Sep (morning, outdoors) 60 mins group of 3 £25 Long Lover Livery Halifax 29 Sep (afternoon, outdoors) 60 mins group of 3 £25
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Cor, a smidge over 1500 likes. This time 2 years ago I was at 355, then I left the civil service and the rest (as they say) is history. Until I can find a midweek TREC job/win the lottery I'm still working part time alongside this, but I'm incredibly lucky to have a business I love!
Thank you to everyone who has pushed their comfort zone to try something new, brought a baby horse for a dollop of life experience, given their established horse some new cross-training challenge...s or just popped over for a pre-season tune-up! I'm having a blast training you all, long may it continue :D
To celebrate I'm going to run a competition for a 2019 clinic place (up to £35 value) - all you have to do to enter is reply directly to this post with your favourite photo of your horse out hacking - through the ears ones count.
I hope it'll be a great thread to inspire us all for the season - I'll put all the names into a hat and draw one out on 1 May!
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I've had some last minute cancellations for both days at the outdoor PTV/paces clinic in Wakefield this weekend in the level one TREC training field - please fill in the booking form if you want to attend and I'll fit you in! £35pp inc venue hire for semi private 1hr, group of 3 90 min or group of 4 two hour sessions.
NB horses must be in date with their flu vaccinations.
... https://trectraining.wordpress.com/bookin g-form/
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This is local to lots of my trainees - perfect first step up from L1 😁

And despite Jane’s best efforts to get some time alone in the woods with all those packs of sweeties, we didn’t lose anyone at orienteering practice this afternoon! I love the TREC family 😁 and hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did. Kudos to Judith who had done 86km on her bike already this weekend before joining us for a walk.
Looking forward to seeing some of you putting your counting skills into practice (or coming to help) at the next White Horse TREC Group competition at Bulcote in May.

We attended our 1st training session today - loved it! Evie explains things really well and is so patient with us newbies, can't wait to go again. Thanks Evie.

This was my first equestrian activity I've taken part in and I loved every minute. A fantastic afternoon. Evie is a great instructor and I would highly recommend to anyone. A really great experience for both horse and rider! Thank you �

Thank you so much Evie for a fab Trec introduction at Low Hunsley this evening. For anyone wanting to have a go Evie is lovely, so patient and encouraging even for the most nervous of horses & riders. Thanks again we had a great time ��� xxx

Such a relaxing hour completing new challenges. Evie made me feel so confident in not only myself but more so in my horse. I felt such trust and belief in what she is capable of if I let her be. Can’t wait for another session.

Loved this, we had a fab day and learned lots too!! I would recommend this for anyone with a horse as there is something for everyone, you may be poor at one thing and then excellent at the next!!

Just wanted to say a big thank you to Evie today. My son and I had a great session at Trundle Lane Riding School. Evie really gave me confidence and tools to help with each challenge. Her approach is calm, measured and encouraging, perfectly pitched for our small group.

I've done a few training events with Evie with our dales pony society area group and enjoyed each one and taken a lot away that I use each day, even though I've never done a trec comp! Evie can cater for everyone, between my sister and I we've taken 4 different dales ponies for training ranging from ones that have shown at county level to a newly backed 5year old for his first event to the 11 year old unbacked rescue mare who has only ever seen her field (these can be done in hand!) . Each one managed to happily complete the full course by the end of the session- all the training was done with patience and kindness. These events are brilliant way to build confidence, relationships between horse and handler and have a great day especially if you book with like minded friends and take cake!

I've been to several training sessions with Evie and have thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Evie explains everything very well and if you're struggling with something she will break it down into smaller steps and you really feel like you've accomplished something. Can't wait till my next training session!

I have trained regularly with Evie with both an experienced horse and now my young cob. We always come away having learnt something new and with big smiles. Would recommend Evie to anyone, she’s super patient and super encouraging

I had my first lesson with Evie and experience of trec in April this year. I was blown away by how much fun it was and how great it was to test and feel the partnership with my horse. Evie is a fantastic instructor with an extremely calm and encouraging demeanour that gets the best out of horse and rider. I've since organised a yard trec clinic where Evie's testing mobile obstacles were enjoyed by everyone from young lead rein and in hand horses to serious dressage combinations and all in between. I look forward to more fun and exciting lessons with Evie and would recommend Evie and trec to anyone.

I first discovered TREC at an indoor competition Evie was running on a yard I was on at the time. Since then I have attended various training events run by her including group clinincs, day camps, one on one lessons and on foot map reading training. Evie has taken me from someone whose only map reading experience was a few vague lessons in high school being able to get around a Level 1 POR course on my own (We've also done some Level 2 as a pair and I hope to do a couple on my own next year) and has taken my pony from being scared of life to confidently tackling most obstacles. (We still have some minor hangups due to him being Welsh and opinionated but we're getting there!) In 2016 me & Prince came 2nd in the Level 1 Championships Novice class and this year we were 2017 Level 1 Intermediate Champions. Attended Evies training has helped us both massively and I find we always make progress on the things we're finding difficult and come away with things we can continue to work on at home. I've never felt overfaced at any session I've attended and even when Prince is being a total and utter pratt I've never felt that I'm unwelcome / inconveniencing anyone by disrupting things! I plan on attending many more of her training days so that me & my horse can keep an improving!

Fabulous morning with Evie , very well run and I now feel ready to go out there and have a go at competition Le Trec ��

Evie’s is very patient especially with nervous and novice people and �horses, both my horses did the trec yesterday and I was amazed how quickly my pansy of a cob got over this and did them with out a issues � also my baby Clydesdale did very well too as he is a big limp bless him and doesn’t quite no where to pop his legs sometimes! Really pleased and thank you � xx

Evie was really knowledgable and explained how the obstacles related to those that you are likely to experience on a hack . I cannot believe the difference it made to my technique by just listening to the instructions from Evie . I did most of the course in hand but finished up in the saddle and doing the course . Great morning . Thank you Evie !!

Evie is a fantastic trainer, who is able to adjust her ideas and techniques to suit each individual horse and rider, enabling us to get the best out of our horses. She has taught me on a more experienced older mare and my young horse Dulcie, and has taken us from a green four year old, to having completed (and placed!) at the level one national championships 2017, and completed our first level two. Evie's mounted, and unmounted clinics are both extremely beneficial, and I always find myself reciting titbits Evie has told me, to get me through the competitions, or even just hacking out from home! Evie has many more clinics planned over the winter period, it's the perfect time to maintain and improve your trec skills further in anticipation for the 2018 season. I am truly excited to see what else Evie pulls out of her lorry (aka the tardis as it holds so many different obstacles!) and as to how we can continually improve. Thank you Evie!

Evie ensures the training is ability appropriate. It is always fun and relaxed with a healthy dollop of confidence giving included. This was Connie and my first trip out in 10 months. By the time we'd finished our 2 hour training we were either trotting and/or cantering all suitable obstacles. It was an amazing session and we'll be back next month �

Absolutely loved having a try at this today! My new favourite activity. My horse loved it too. Evie is a great teacher and it comes across as though she really loves it and enjoys teaching people. All together a very enjoyable experience. Will definitely be doing it again.

A very enjoyable and informative clinic with Evie O'Keeffe. I think my little horse also enjoyed it as she was so intent on the exercises that she stopped doing the head shaking that restricts us from other activities like showing and dressage. I would definitely like to take this experience further and try a competition or two. Thanks, Evie.

A lovely opportunity to help rider and pony relationship while having fun with Evie who is very experienced and good a guiding you on how to tackle each obstacle. Thanks very much�