Andrea Balsa

I fell in love with horses at a very young age, my passion unquenchable, and I knew that my purpose in life laid among them as soon as I began taking riding lessons – I just didn’t know what shape that would take. As a 9-year-old.  I trained and competed successfully in Dressage before finding that Show Jumping was much more enjoyable to me. My first horse, Joey, took met to competitions all around Mexico State, and together we built quite a large collection of rosettes and trophies. For a while, I also dabbled in Racing and seriously wanted to become a jockey, but after getting my apprentice licence at the Hipódromo de las Américas, I realised how poorly horses are treated inside this industry and ran for the hills.

After an incident that put both Joey and I in danger, I began to question ‘traditional’ training and management practices, breaking away from the norm and gaining an entirely new understanding of the equine species. I have been on a journey to learn as much as possible about equine behaviour and training ever since, with the intention of creating a training programme that honours the horse’s integrity and choice, using positive reinforcement as a main tool and steering clear of bits, spurs, whips, and other potentially harmful equipment.

Currently, I co-run a small riding school in Querétaro, México where students are taught not only to ride but to use positive reinforcement effectively, read behaviour, interact with horses in a kind and loving way, groom, tack up, and liberty work.

My wish is to break the cycle of abuse that is so prevalent in the equestrian world, especially in my country, by providing an alternative route for people who wish to have a relationship with horses and teach beginners ethicaL practices from the start. I’m proud to say that my students have successfully competed bitless!  I’m also beginning to build my training programme by taking client horses.

I’m very active on social media, where I share information on equine behaviour, training, species-appropriate management, etc., through fun illustrations that I make myself!