Meet the Team

In a former life Milly was very much part of the mainstream equestrian world. She was a registered British Horse Society coach, British Dressage Trainer, list 4 judge and group 2 rider. She has trained riders from novice to advanced medium and international horse trials, and had a successful competitive career that included three day eventing to two star level, long-listed for GB junior team, show-jumping to B&C level and dressage to Grand Prix level – riding at the British National Championships for many years including Prix St George and Intermediare I and II. This foundation gave her an important insight into a world that she was often at odds with. From a horse-centred child who heated her pony’s bit and put honey on it, to realise that sometimes she had put a rosette before the best interests of her horse, to a horse called Rubi who challenged everything that she had learnt. Rubi took Milly on a life-changing journey, that in 2015 led to the creation of Concordia Equestrians. These days, Milly lives a mainly vegan lifestyle with her very supportive husband Graham and their animal family. She retired from teaching in 2018 to concentrate on the development of Concordia, writing and learning.

The founder of Applied Equine Behaviour, Sue is a qualified healer and has 25 years of teaching experience. She has a diploma in anatomy & physiology and completed an equine Bowen Technique course. Sue uses these skills along with her extensive knowledge of natural horsemanship to teach people how to connect with themselves and their horses using energy, breathing and subtle body language cues. Over the past 20 years, Sue has written a home study course and numerous articles on horse welfare and enrichment.>

Having worked for various animal welfare and wildlife conservation charities, Emma has plenty of charity experience and she has been largely responsible for setting Concordia up as a registered charity. Emma is now working on spreading the word far and wide on all the exciting projects that Concordia is working on and is thrilled to be using her knowledge and experience for a cause that she is incredibly passionate about... equine welfare.  With a degree in animal behaviour and a lifetime spent with horses, Emma wants to help make the horse world a better, more compassionate place where humans and their equine friends enjoy their shared time together. She has two rescued mares, Frosty and Tawny.

Nicky begun her equestrian journey in her mid-twenties.  Much of her riding has been in the Middle East, where she was taught most of her skills by a palomino (Hidalgo) and a retired TB race horse (Tayar). She now lives on the South Coast of England and has joined Concordia as General Manager to better the understanding of the behaviour of all animals, the human-kind included, and in particular to help create improvements in the future of horsemanship.

Jo is an animal behaviour and welfare research scientist at Bristol Veterinary School. She has participated in welfare research on a range of species, from leisure horses and livestock to cetaceans, but her passion has always been horses. Jo’s PhD thesis investigated the prevalence of behaviour problems in UK leisure horses and their associated risk factors. She has ridden since the age of 10 and has had Irish Cob Oscar on part loan for 7 years since he arrived on her yard as a 4-year-old.

Stephanie is an Equine Behaviourist, business consultant and director of Equine Kind. Besides being the Concordia Welfare in Action team co-ordinator, she chairs the Riding for the Disabled group (RDA) of the Cliffhollins Riding School. She is passionate about equine welfare, behaviour and the therapeutic benefits of horses. Stephanie has had 15 years of experience working in the National Health Service specialising in care quality, patient safety and governance. She has expertise in using improvement science, clinical audit, human behaviour change and communities of practice to improve services. During this time, Stephanie presented nationally and internationally on improvement work and was involved in local, regional and national project work and steering groups relating to clinical audit, quality improvement and patient safety.

Amelia became interested in horses aged 3 and had been working at horse barns from the age of 9.  Her first pony was a barely backed Exmoor called Ziggy, her second a weanling Arab mare.  She worked solo with both, learning from endless hours of observations until they were competing in various ridden disciplines and pleasure driving.  Ziggy taught her bravery, partnership and how a horse can be your best friend, and the Arab tight Amelia about connection and relationship. Since then, Amelia has studied with the British Horse Society and The Open College of Equine Studies, working on livery, show jumping and race horse rehabilitation yards and backing horses professionally.  She did, however, frequently argue with her employers about poor horse management practises as she never cared about winning human friends at the expense of equine welfare! Amelia move to Bulgaria in 2007 in order to have a property big enough to keep horses on.  She runs a track/equi-central hybrid system and has two local geldings for trail rides as well as two wild born Exmoor ponies.  Her home is host to volunteer equestrian workers.  She enjoys liberty handling/work and still does extended period observations.  Amelia says that horses are her life and world, and even if she never rode again, it would make no difference to her as she gets her peace from being in the company of horses outside among the trees.

Kate Fletcher currently works for the RSPCA alongside studying for a Masters degree in Equine Behaviour and being an equine portrait artist. She is passionate about equine welfare and kind, ethical training. Her particular interests include positive reinforcement training, the welfare of racehorses, and the impact of early weaning on anxiety levels. Kate lost her beloved ex-racehorse Nebu last year and is eager to devote her life to helping traumatised and troubled horses like him.

Harriet Szwed was born in North Yorkshire and grew up in the south of Spain. She has always had a passion for horses and she was introduced to them at a very young age. With her mother's help, they rescued and re-trained horses at their home in Spain. Witnessing a lot of neglected and mistreated horses led them to further their knowledge about nutrition, horse care and rehabilitation. They provided a healthy lifestyle for equines, explored holistic care and learned kinder methods to train horses. They also ran a small trekking business and riding school. Harriet then returned to the UK to study, joined a pony club and took her BHS stages. She completed a college course on equine psychology whilst continuing to learn from professionals. She worked in different equine fields including eventing, showjumping, hunting, and racing whilst also training her own horses. She then started a freelance training business in Cheshire called H&H freelance training. She works with a wide variety of horses and people focussing on putting the horses true needs first, improving the horse and human relationship to achieve trust and harmony and building towards true engagement and softness in her training. Harriet is constantly doing research and seeking advice to further her knowledge, so she can give horses and people the best chance of a healthy and happy lifestyle and relationship

Amanda is an equestrian coach with an interest in biomechanics and healthy posture in equines. She is the liaison for Concordia's Associate Organisations and is involved in developing and training at Concordia. Amanda is passionate about education and the importance of sharing knowledge to improve the lives of horses through better understanding.

Charlotte is an Equine Sports Massage Therapist from Higham in Kent. Charlotte’s journey with horses started at a young age, riding at a local centre until she bought her first horse at 16 years old. Some 14 years later, her partnership with Leo is still going strong, and he remains her biggest teacher and motivator. Much of their work together now is on the ground, using wellness and biomechanics-based training, in hand mobilisations and more recently liberty training - having a horse work with you when given the choice is a huge passion of Charlotte’s. Academically, Charlotte holds a BSc (Hons) in Equine Sports Science and went on to study holistic and sports massage therapy in humans before specialising in equine sports massage therapy with Animal Therapy Solutions Ltd, the former school of massage ran by Mary Bromiley. Armed with her 3 diplomas Charlotte started her massage therapy business in 2018 and now treats horses and humans across Kent and Surrey. Alongside her manual therapy work in horses, Charlotte has a passion for holistic rehabilitation, and training for wellness. Her aim is to make a difference in the equine community and contribute to a positive progression in the way horses are treated and trained.

Louise Reynolds has a degree in Animal Behavioural Science and Welfare and is a welfare volunteer with the Blue Cross, making regular visits to the horses in their adoptive homes. She is passionate about ethics in horse training and enjoys spending time with her own horses experimenting with alternatives to the traditional pressure-release training using shaping and targeting, together with rewards based training. Professionally her skills lie with event management and she is looking forward to getting involved with arranging clinics and demos for the education team.

Amelia has been riding since she was 3 and progressed up through the Pony Club achieving her B test.  She went to college and completed a National Certificate in Horse Care and then worked for a local dressage judge and trainer to further her knowledge and experience.  Her passion for teaching was inspired at Waterstock House Training Centre where she became one of their instructors and riders. Lars and Diana Sederholm instilled the importance of rider position and balance to enable the horse move and jump freely. Amelia moved back to Sussex and continued to freelance before working at Hadlow College teaching a wide variety of students, managing courses and tutoring. She then worked at Plumpton College managing the Apprenticehip Programmes and part time courses. During this time Amelia still had a passion for horse and rider biomechanics and started training with Mary Wanless in 2000 and soon became one of her Accredited RWYM Coaches. Mary's work has given enriched Amelia's knowledge and her ability to apply her teaching to a wide variety of horse and rider combinations. In 2017 Amelia set up her Mechanical Horses workshop where she is able to help rider of all levels develop their position and body awareness and is now training as a Pilates Intructor. Now fully self employed Amelia aim’s to improve riders knowledge and understanding of horse and rider biomechanics enabling correct and progressive training and is able to work with all levels of horse and rider in developing their partnership, confidence and enjoyment.  Her qualifications include RWYM Accredited Coach, BHS Stage 4 Coach in Complete Horsemanship,  D32, D33 Assessor Awards, Cert.ED, NLP Master Practitioner.

Amy has been riding since she was 5, had ponies since she finally nagged her non-horsey parents into submission at 13, and worked with them on and off most of her life. She happily admits in her youth she was another ‘limpet’ who would get on anything and give it a smack and a kick if it didn’t comply. When she got her own horse and tried to use these tactics with a being she was also trying to build a relationship with, she started to question things. She moved on to working for a couple of dealers/show producers and that experience solidified her unease: the use of force and gadgets, and over riding of permanently stabled youngsters put her right off the horse industry. She knew she wasn’t happy with the way things were done, but didn’t have the confidence or the knowledge to challenge it. Amy found Kelly Marks’ Intelligent Horsemanship which showed her that alternative methods were out there, and training with Mary Wanless’ Ride With Your Mind has also helped enormously in developing her teaching skills (she now works at a local riding school a few days a week and teaches freelance). But to be honest, she happily steals tactics and ideas from anyone who has ethics and welfare as their top priority! Having educated herself about horse psychology and ethology, learning theory, and the natural habitats equines are adapted for, she is amazed how little of this is covered by the traditional equine educational organisations. Amy is looking forward to helping the next generation to form fulfilling partnerships with their equines, and learn the best ways to enable them to have happy healthy lives.

Nicky begun her equestrian journey in her mid-twenties.  Much of her riding has been in the Middle East, where she was taught most of her skills by a palomino (Hidalgo) and a retired TB race horse (Tayar). She now lives on the South Coast of England and has joined Concordia as General Manager to better the understanding of the behaviour of all animals, the human-kind included, and in particular to help create improvements in the future of horsemanship.

Stacey is an equine photographer, mother of two horse mad children and has ridden and been around horses all of her life. She has worked on and ridden at a variety of yards, and studied for an equine BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) diploma at college. She is currently enrolled in an equine management course, with equine first aid and yard management. Stacey also has qualifications in equine nutrition, psychology, anti-doping and bedding management. Stacey regularly volunteers for British Eventing (BE) when she is not photographing their events, and she also attends BE training sessions. Stacey is a firm believer in people having a good, and correct, base knowledge when working with horses and to always be mindful of animal welfare. She can often be seen giving out helping hands and comments whilst out on photo shoots and in the show ring.

Liz has been riding since she was 11 years old, but her career was not horse based until recently. She found herself with a difficult/dangerous horse and fortunately discovered Parelli Natural Horsemanship which turned them around. She trained to become an instructor and opened her own riding school, Witney Pony Partners, in 2014. She has since studied with lots of other 'natural' horsemen and women to help with her teaching. She mostly teaches children and is very excited to be involved with the creation of the new pony club.

Emma grew up on a farm and there was never a lack of furry friends including horses. The love of horses came from her mum who has always been horse crazy. Emma has a chestnut mare called Kizzie who she couldn't be without.   She has recently started exploring positive reinforcement using clicker training. However, she feels there are good and bad aspects within all training techniques and one just has to find out what best suits you and the horse, as everyone and every horse is different.   With a background in equine behaviour, her heart lies in creating a better future for our equine friends and feels the best way to do this is through education. Emma is truly excited about where the Concordia Pony Club will lead and how it can impact the equine industry in a positive way.

Elizabeth lives in the UK and is a full time mum to one tiny human, several furry beings and part time veterinary receptionist and writer. When she is not exploring nature, taking photographs and educating her child she loves learning and sharing knowledge. She recently wrote and illustrated a children's book aimed at encouraging compassionate horse keeping and training. Taking on rescue ponies was a real turning point for Elizabeth and triggered the dissatisfaction with how much of the equestrian industry worked. Elizabeth wanted to set a good example for her child by volunteering for Concordia and hopes her background in design will benefit her contributions. She is excited to be part of this progressive movement towards respectful and considerate treatment of the equines and other non human species.  

Ria has been involved with horses since she was small and has worked at a variety of yards over the years. An interest in finding the best method to start horses sparked an investigation into other methods of training including Natural Horsemanship, Parelli, and classical in-hand training. Each method produced something of interest but the Classical subject really caught her interest and she has been reading about it ever since. More recently, she has been investigating positive reinforcement and the effect it has on horse behaviour and training and she is enjoying linking this in with the Classical methodologies.

Lorretta started riding at age 8, studied Equine Science at Hartpury College and has worked in many different disciplines including riding schools, western reining, Arab stud and showing, Thoroughbred rehabilitation and natural therapy, classical dressage and even equine theatre in city centre of Chicago!   She always gravitated to the young and misunderstood horses - and they gravitated towards her. But one special horse has become her greatest teacher and made her look deeper, challenging everything she thought she knew about horses. She has now found her own way of being with horses based on play, friendship and adventure and is committed to sharing her ideas, and connecting people and horses in compassion and harmony.

The founder of Applied Equine Behaviour, Sue is a qualified healer and has 25 years of teaching experience. She has a diploma in anatomy & physiology and completed an equine Bowen Technique course. Sue uses these skills along with her extensive knowledge of natural horsemanship to teach people how to connect with themselves and their horses using energy, breathing and subtle body language cues. Over the past 20 years, Sue has written a home study course and numerous articles on horse welfare and enrichment.>

Rio received conventional equestrian training in the UK through the Pony Club and British Horse Society system and competed extensively in dressage and eventing. She worked for several years with Mary Wanless but her focus changed when she witnessed a demonstration of Parelli Natural Horsemanship. She studied intensively for several years, passing their exams to become one of the first Parelli instructors in the UK. She is the published author of 101 Horsemanship Exercises, has been a regular contributor to a national magazine and holds City and Guilds Certificate in Further Education Teaching. Her main motivation is to understand horse behaviour and use management and training methods that best meet the innate needs of these wonderful creatures.

During childhood, Gabriele was so fortunate to gain the friendship of a very special Icelandic Horse, and this relationship became the starting point for a lifelong fascination with horses and ponies. She reads any horse book she can lay hands on, and due to her background in life sciences, she is always interested in horse-related research and how to use that new knowledge to improve traditional methods of horse training. Convinced that education is key to a thriving and harmonious partnership with the horse, she is a lifelong learner and organizes clinics and seminars for her local horse communities. She also writes articles for the Icelandic Horse Quarterly, the magazine for Icelandic Horse owners in the US. Over several decades, Gabriele has boarded her horses at diverse types of facilities in Germany and the US, and she became painfully aware of the problems most of them have with regards to husbandry conditions and/or trainers that use coercive and highly repetitive training approaches. A native of Germany, Gabriele currently lives in California and was initially brought to Concordia by Caroline Hegarty of Equitopia in order to help with web editing. Later she joined the Concordia team as international liaison for German-speaking countries.

Born in Ireland, Caroline's passion for horses began when she was six years old and continued when she moved to California in 1993. In search of the best ways to care for and train her own horses, Caroline repeatedly received contradicting information and advice, and she began to wonder how to separate truth from fiction. As she learned more about the workings of the industry, she also became acutely aware of the huge number of horses being abused, discarded and even sent to slaughter – young and old, healthy or crippled. She was so moved by this that she felt she needed to expand her vision to beyond her own personal needs. With the goal of providing fact-based information to fellow horse owners, Caroline founded Equitopia in 2015. Together with her close friend Kathryn Lauritzen of Padma Video, she started to create a range of videos that are based on research and evidence. In 2018, Caroline expanded Equitopia to become an online learning platform with free contents and additional information for subscribing members. In order to generate the videos and online courses, Caroline is working globally with leading experts in all areas of education, care, training, and welfare. Besides Equitopia’s virtual presence, Caroline is developing a network of physical horse training and education facilities, starting with the European headquarters of Equitopia at the Equi Smart facility in the Netherlands and the US headquarters and Equitopia Training Center in Thornton, California. Caroline has been an integral part and a driving force of The Concordia Equestrians team from the very beginning.

Susan is 58 years old and lives on Salt Spring Island, B.C., Canada. She turned professional as a rider in 1983, upon the invitation of the Maclay champion of 1973, the late Michael Patrick. Susan trained eventing, hunter, jumper, and dressage horses, apprenticing with other top trainers in her chosen disciplines. She created “Athletic Rider Training; The ART of Horsemanship”, teaching freelance since 2002. Her program brings elements of meditation practice, music, dance, art, and an interest in non-invasive, holistic therapies—in particular Low Level Laser Therapy and Shiatsu tapping— to her work with students and their horses. She has since completed courses in Sustainability (University of British Columbia and University of Guelph) and documentary filmmaking (Pull Focus Film School, Vancouver). She is a Trained National Canadian Coaching Program Endurance Coach, an internationally ranked competitive masters and age-group runner with Athletics Canada in the 400m track to ½ Marathon Road Race distances. The Compassionate Equestrian is her first book. Her second book, also released in June 2015, is Iridescent Silence of the Pacific Shores (Gordon/D. Whalsten 2015), a book of abstract water photography with a strong environmental statement, and DVD featuring original Orca calls and music composed by Ron Gordon, PhD.

Dr. Karin Leibbrandt is a licensed veterinary surgeon from the Netherlands specializing in horse training and rehabilitation. Working as a mainstream vet some 15 years ago, she discovered that the existing treatments and therapies were not capable of fully remedying many of the lameness issues and neck, back and pelvic problems she encountered in her equine practice. In search of the root causes of these problems, she found that correct training is an important part of the solution and she concluded that the horse’s health and well-being are being compromised if anything goes wrong in the process of training balance, posture, and movement patterns. Karin teaches how to rehabilitate horses and keep them healthy by training for balance, straightness, and core-stability. She started the 4Dimension Fundamental Training courses in collaboration with our Associate Organisations Equitopia and Equi-Smart. Her courses give students all over the world the chance to learn more about the biomechanics of correct training and many other factors that are important to keep horses mentally and physically healthy. Karin is the author of the book Compassionate Training for Today’s Sport Horse where she describes in detail how to teach the horse to balance his body perfectly in four dimensions and why this helps him to maintain optimum locomotion with the least possible amount of physical exertion, resulting in a horse that moves effortlessly and in harmony.

Esther is the founder of Equi Smart. In that capacity, she influences the lives of a multitude of horses by facilitating training courses and workshops that aim at improving their physical and mental balance.  Recognizing that a number of people make a living with horses, she also believes that the equestrian world needs to realize that riding nowadays is merely a hobby or a sport (even if some people get paid for it) and that there is no justification for harming horses when practicing either. She likes to compete with her horses in order to demonstrate that being successful and using horse-friendly training methods are not mutually exclusive. A lot can go wrong during the upbringing and training of a young horse. Esther observed that there are only few horses that seem to have had such a good start in life that they do not develop one or the other kind of mental or physiological issues, and she uses her knowledge of the needs of horses to create an optimal environment for them, so that such problems can be avoided in the first place. On her farm, Esther explores how horse-oriented husbandry can be combined with everyday practicality. She is developing products and techniques that help to keep horses the best possible way and, at the same time, are manageable in terms of labor and cost. Esther has a background in marketing, communications and change management, and besides overseeing Equi Smart, she offers consultancy services for people wishing to improve their facility with regards to horse-oriented standards and operational performance.

Amanda is an equestrian coach with an interest in biomechanics and healthy posture in equines. She is the liaison for Concordia's Associate Organisations and is involved in developing and training at Concordia. Amanda is passionate about education and the importance of sharing knowledge to improve the lives of horses through better understanding.