About Kelly
NICE TO MEET YOU
Meet Kelly de Geus
A dedicated horse trainer and coach from the Netherlands, who has been captivated by horses for as long as she can remember. For over a decade, Kelly's main focus has been on training horses herself, developing a specialty in teaching horses to piaffe and passage in hand. This is always a result of optimal communication and body use, and never a quick fix or trick. Having trained over 1.000 horses in hand, Kelly now primarily focuses on sharing the knowledge she gained by doing so, thereby helping more people (and, in turn, more horses) feel better, improve posture and optimise performance.
Kelly's mission is to improve horse welfare through knowledge transfer and helping horses by helping humans—teaching her training principles of dressage and horsemanship to enhance well-being, improve posture, and optimize performance, from ground to saddle. Central to Kelly's approach is the importance of a strong foundation, as a solid base ultimately makes it possible to progress to more advanced exercises, like the piaffe, as a logical consequence.
Her Philosophy
- HORSE WELFARE: Paramount to Kelly is the welfare of the horse. She is a fervent advocate for keeping sport horses as natural as possible – friends, forage, freedom. Basic needs must be met to optimize performance and create a happy athlete.
- PARTNERSHIP: Kelly endeavors to cultivate a partnership between rider and horse, forming the foundation for a successful and fulfilling journey.
- NEVER-ENDING SELF-IMPROVEMENT: A proponent of perpetual self-improvement, Kelly believes it is important to continually develop, not only for herself but also for her students. One is never done learning, and the more you know, the more you realize how little you know.
- BIOMECHANICS: Understanding the biomechanics of both the horse and the rider is fundamental to Kelly's training approach.
- COMMUNICATION: Effective communication between horse and rider is key to achieving harmony and success.
- CONNECTION: Establishing a deep connection between rider and horse is essential for building trust and confidence.
- MANAGEMENT: It's crucial that all roles surrounding the horse are properly fulfilled. This includes the saddle maker, farrier, nutritionist, dentist, veterinarian, physiotherapist, and more.
Guided by this philosophy, Kelly takes pride in assisting riders in navigating the challenges they face on their journey, for instance towards collection, and in fostering a deeper connection with their equine partners.
Kelly's Approach
Kelly's passion lies in leveraging dressage and horsemanship training principles for the benefit of the horse. She firmly believes that the ultimate goal of any training should be to enhance the horse's well-being. Central to her approach is the welfare of the horse, and by employing a blend of dressage and horsemanship training principles, she aims to foster a harmonious relationship between rider and horse, grounded in mutual understanding and respect. As a result performance will enhance.