With over 30 years of experience in the equestrian world, Leanne Williams has dedicated her life to understanding and nurturing the bond between horse and rider.
Since 1993, she has trained a diverse range of horses, learning from each unique partnership along the way.
Leanne holds Equestrian Australia Level 3 Dressage coaching qualifications and is a Licensed Teacher in Philippe Karl's School of Légèreté, showcasing her commitment to both classical techniques and innovative training methods.
Having competed at the Grand Prix level, Leanne has proudly represented both Australia and Victoria, bringing her expertise and passion to every event.
Her talent extends beyond competition; she has successfully trained many homebred horses, as well as various breeds, to the FEI level.
At Avoca Park with Leanne and her team you will find a wealth of knowledge, personalized training programs, and a dedication to helping both horses and riders reach their full potential.
Join us on this journey of growth, learning, and success in the world of dressage and the joy of helping ALL horses be the best version of themselves.
Leanne has dedicated her life’s work to the best and kindest training procedures for the most successful results.
It all starts with 5 simple steps...
Cavesson work aids horses in developing their strength, improving balance, and improving suppleness, all of which teaches them to use their bodies more sustainably and comfortably (for us and them) for riding.
By working on these points, we create horses with an increased performance life.
During lunging, we introduce movement whilst maintaining a relaxed posture while we assess the muscular development of the horse.
It is the first time we get to look at the natural balance of the horse while moving.
Including Cavalletti:
Cavelletti training on the lunge is a wonderful way of building confidence, co-ordination, bascule (lowering of one end while raising the other), strength and symmetry in your horse.
Part 1: Contact
Our method involves no backward actions on the mouth, instead, all actions are in an upward direction – as a rule, up the line of the cheek piece.
Part 2: Balance
For the horse to have a truly relaxed mouth we need to be able to maintain as much balance as possible laterally (right/left) and longitudinally (forwards/backwards) and diagonally in all positions.
Part 3: Bend
During halt, develop neck bend of 45 to 90 degrees to the body, without poll flexion. There should be no loss of balance during this process.
Part 4: Extension
Extending the neck forwards and downwards, so that the poll is lower than the withers, without losing balance over the shoulders.
Once the horse is confident with all initial exercises, both from the front and from the side (left and right) we can add movement (walk & trot) while working on the contact, balance, bend and neck extension.
We start with the basics but with work, you can begin all the lateral movements such as shoulder in, travers, renvers, half pass and walk pirouettes.
This ultimately leads to the development of the piaffe and passage exercises.
The ultimate outcome for the mounting process that we have designed, is for the horses to stand so quietly that any person of any age, or ability, can mount.
Once we reach the ridden stage, we revisit previous steps while riding to ensure the horse understands that we are asking for the same things under saddle as we did on the ground.
The first four stages of training should not be forgotten and always be re-visited when necessary.