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Alycia Burton Story

Photo Credit: Otago

Free Riding sensation Alycia Burton has taken the equestrian online world by storm. She doesn't just jump huge cross-country and showjumping fences but she does it with little to no tack! ProHorse were lucky enough to meet Alycia and watch her ride her gorgeous horse Classic Gold Rush. Her story and background is far from perfect, nothing has been given to her and she has had to work hard to be where she is today.

Early Years

Alycia was born 1988 in Australia but grew up in New Zealand. She started riding as a kid but never had the money to buy any finished horses or schoolmasters, she always got the 'problem horses' that no one wanted. Because of this she had to learn how to fix problems in horses and has shaped her to become a professional horse trainer that is now teaching riders all over the world.

 Classic Goldrush aka Banjo

Her most famous horse Goldrush was given to her for free as he was known to be very anxious and a 'difficult' horse. Alycia took on the task of training him and has now grown a strong bond to this little colourful jump machine. He's got a heart of gold and Alycia says that she has turned down crazy sums of money that have been offered to buy him, as 'he owes her nothing'. Alycia makes it very clear that none of her horses are forced into becoming anything they aren't, she says that every horse is unique and you should be thankful for everything they give you. Riders sometimes expects too much of their horses and get frustrated with the horse when they don't do what 'they're told'. Alycia's ability to understand and communicate with horses is unique and she doesn't follow any training methods, as she is self taught.

 Alycia's Mission

Alycia is currently educating equestrians on her tour through New Zealand and Australia where she's not only putting on a breathtaking performance with jumping bareback. She is also holding anti-bullying seminars in an effort to help young riders our there that might suffer from lack of confidence, bullying, or might even be the one bullying due to insecurity. Alycia keeps on referring to removing the invisible bandage by speaking about your feelings, insecurities and emotional incidents. Her next step is to tour throughout America with her Goldrush, while holding lessons, anti-bullying campaigns and free riding events. If you want to take the opportunty to watch her next event, they can all be viewed and booked here.

 Alycia's advise on problem horses

One of our sponsored riders had a lesson with her on the 'problem' horse Lillie. Lillie is a 14 year thoroughbred mare that has recently started bolting over jumps and stopping when it gets a bit bigger. 

alycia-burton

Alycia teaching ProHorse rider Nadine with the 14 year old TB Lillie. (Wearing the Evalano eventing bridle).

Alycia's feedback was that horses that bolt/rush/stop over jumps and gets anxious always origin from a bad experience with their mouth being pulled over the jump. Unbalanced riders that might hold the balance in the reins can easily accidentally pull the horse's mouth over a jump. She pushed the importance of riders holding onto the horse's manes over jumps to avoid pulling, unless you are a very balanced and experienced rider.

Alycia says that you need to take it back to the basics when working through issues. To be able to jump huge jumps you need to be able to do basic poles on the ground perfect before you even think about jumping. She says that when anxious horses starts rushing and running, their mind goes out the window. An anxious horse should never get sweaty or rushed when working on issues.

The sky is the limit when riding a calm and responsive horse ❤️️

PS, ALL ALYCIA BURTON FANS GET 10% OFF IN OUR STORE WITH DISCOUNT CODE BLOG10