About The Horse Place

Alison Zuend 5-star - the UK's longest standing Parelli professional. Alison has studied directly with Pat and Linda many, many times. Alison is also training to be British dressage judge, and competes very successfully in Affiliated Dressage and Eventing. Alison is available for video coaching, and when the world returns to normal, for teaching all over the UK. You can of course come and study with Alison here at the Horse Place. Here's Alison in her own words...

I like many people, started as a horse mad child doing anything to be at the local riding school, anything to earn that one ride. Once I left school I worked for an event rider, then studied horses at college and gained my BHS stages I II and III. I also gained a BSc in Equine Studies. Through this time I became nervous of jumping but also of riding. I could not always see why the horse bucked, stopped or over jumped. Because of this I could not predict when the horse would do this again. I was nervous because I could not read a horse.

I went to work for a lady who introduced me to ground work, apart from lunging and long reining, a completely new concept for me. To begin with I did feel as though I had taken a step back, asking my horse to back up and go sideways on the ground instead of working on my half pass. After a while I realized that I was working on half pass.

I have spent many weeks training in the USA (including classes with both Pat and Linda Parelli as well as other Parelli professionals) and am constantly undertaking further training. I lived and worked closely with 2 top Parelli professionals, on and off for 10 years. I am the longest standing Parelli Professional in the country.

From being able to read the horse I now confidently compete in affiliated horse trials, dressage and start young horses.

Performance is one of my passions – how to have a great foundation for the competition horse. Two of my horses are currently affiliated, regularly competing and winning points at novice, elementary and medium with aspirations of advanced medium dressage.

Everyone had a dream when they first got into horses. Often they take the shape of the films we saw as a child- The Black Stallion or National Velvet, or books like Black Beauty or the Jill series, provoke us to wanting an infallible relationship with our horse. These vary from high level competition to safely owning or riding down the road. Through a variety of reasons rarely are we living this dream. Parelli has enabled me to achieve my goals- some which I did not even know I had!

My passion is to help people and horses have a solid foundation, a must for a great partnership as well as for performance. I look forwards to helping horse lovers who want to live their dream.

The Parelli Professionals Promise

Relationship First

I promise to put my relationship with you, my student first. And I promise to help you put the relationship with your horse first. Rather than perfecting the task, we will care more about confidence, trust, motivation and willingness as true horsemen do.

Foundation Before Specialization

I promise to help you become well-rounded in savvy both on the ground and riding, within my skill set and licensing, to prepare you for success at every level – to read your horse, understand his Horsenality and develop your savvy skills On Line, at Liberty, Freestyle and Finesse.

Never Ending Self- Improvement

I promise to inspire and support your quest for never ending self-improvement. The Parelli Pathway and Parelli Membership will guide you to success and help you measure your progress every step of the way.

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Testimonials

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"I really love the way Alison teaches, she knows exactly when to push me a bit harder and when to leave me to lick and chew and her insight is always spot on, she's really helped me to develop my relationship and my horsemanship.

The beach course course last October was the highlight of my horsey year, I've booked to do both of them this year, so double the fun!"

Jackie Evans

"Alison has a fantastic knack of making learning a really positive experience, whatever horsenality I'm playing with. Her lessons are creative, fun and always accelerate my knowledge more than I could imagine."

Nell Cruse

"Ali you have the much envied ability of knowing just when to push to get me to work that little bit harder, and yes sometimes a lot harder but in doing so I achieve so so much more. I just love coming up for lessons and the more tired I am at the end the happier I seem to be, I love the work even when things take time but the end result is one happy horse and one very happy me. Thank you, to you and all the team."

Carol Webb

"May I take this opportunity to thank you Alison for your infinite patience & expertise throughout my level 1 & 2 courses. Your ability to re-introduce the FUN aspect of having an equine partner was profoundly impressive."

Mary Gardiner (Dorset)

"I really enjoyed the course, Alison is a great instructor and I have a much better relationship with my horse now. I am hoping to attend other courses in the future."

Rhona Sinclair

David Zuend 5-star instructor, and the second longest standing Parelli instructor in the UK (after Alison). David has started over 800 young horses, and is also an accredited Parelli Young Horse Development Specialist. Like Alison, David has studied directly with Pat and Linda Parelli (and other notable horseman) many times. To enquire about having your horse started by David, speak with Bev on info@thehorseplace.net David does have some teaching availability here in Devon and in the UK and Switzerland but this is limited due to horse starting committments but do talk to us if you would like David to visit with you. David also has a passion for, and vast experience with driving. Here he is in his own words...

I grew up in a village in the east of Switzerland, with a twin brother and a younger sister.

In 1997 I finished an apprenticeship as tool and die maker with the best result in the Country. I really enjoyed the trade. My hobbies were mountaineering, making tools, leatherwork, woodwork and anything else we needed, in our family workshop and riding once or twice a week.

In 2000 I discovered the Parelli Program, with my loan horse. All of a sudden I had a plan with my horse and the horse understood it too! So I decided to (and had the luck to be accepted) be working student at Pats ranch in Colorado. I stayed for a year; I was amazed how much I learned in these 12 months.

My trade was important to me in this time, only because I always had work at home, was I able to go through Pats program. Later I went to Montana for 6 month to ride with Ronnie Willis, which was the best time ever! Lots of young horses, some restarts and one of the best Horsemen as a teacher. I rode up to 10 horses a day six days a week.

After I became certified as a Parelli instructor and colt starter, I decided to quit tool making. I teach the Parelli program from private lessons up to 3 day clinics.

In 2011 I moved to England to be with Alison.

Every year I go back to the Parelli source, for at least a month, to be up to date and improve in the different areas of expertise; teaching the program, colt starting, training of the foundation for performance and driving.

My biggest passion is colt starting (backing of youngsters); I start colts all year in England and twice a year in Switzerland. Mountaineering and colt starting are very similar, it’s critical to respect the laws of nature and important the whole team (guide and guest) makes it to the top and back to the cabin before dark.

My goal is to help everyone get closer and achieve their dreams with horses. The Parelli programme has enabled me to live my dream, I look forwards to being able to help passionate horse lovers achieve theirs too.

The Parelli Professionals Promise

Relationship First

I promise to put my relationship with you, my student first. And I promise to help you put the relationship with your horse first. Rather than perfecting the task, we will care more about confidence, trust, motivation and willingness as true horsemen do.

Foundation Before Specialization

I promise to help you become well-rounded in savvy both on the ground and riding, within my skill set and licensing, to prepare you for success at every level – to read your horse, understand his Horsenality and develop your savvy skills On Line, at Liberty, Freestyle and Finesse.

Never Ending Self- Improvement

I promise to inspire and support your quest for never ending self-improvement. The Parelli Pathway and Parelli Membership will guide you to success and help you measure your progress every step of the way.

Testimonials

"I was really impressed to see how quickly David spotted the areas of weakness in my progress with my RBI horse Taz, giving me lots of useful games to play to help with his specific issues. He was very encouraging and made it lots of fun!"

Nell Cruse

"I sent my 3 year old filly Temi to David for starting and couldn’t be more pleased with the results. David kept me up to date throughout her training and then provided a comprehensive handover, which has left me confident and knowledgeable as to how to continue with Temi’s education and what to expect along the way.

I managed to visit Temi and David a couple of times at the start of her training and I was blown away by how much they had achieved in such a short space of time, Temi was happy, confident and willing.

David exceeded my expectations in every respect; the start Temi has received has laid down the foundations for whatever the future holds for us in whatever discipline we choose and I will definitely be sending any future youngsters to David for their formative education."

Darna Dunne