Jemma started her lifelong love of horses when she was three years old. There was something about horses that captured her heart from the beginning, and it was soon very apparent to Jemma’s parents that this was not just a hobby, but an obsession.
She has owned 4 beautiful horses in her lifetime, who have been her biggest teachers and who she believes have moulded her into the person she is today. Jemma believes that horses are for life, not for Christmas as she says and has dedicated her life to caring for her horses from the beginning till they leave this world. She owes everything to her horses Rosey (departed), Wilma (departed), Woody (departed) and Cal, 27 years young and living his best life.
Over her earlier years, Jemma found her love for dressage but quickly discovered that certain ways of training a horse was not sitting well with her. After her beloved mare Wilma broke down physically and mentally, Jemma set out to find an alternative way. At the age of 17 years old, Jemma landed a place under a dressage trainer (Pferd Wirtschaftsmeister) in Germany and spent three amazing years working with horses of all ages and ability from grass roots to grand prix.
Jemma believes this gave her the foundations in her journey to finding an alternative way of working with and connecting to horses. Her reason for setting out on this mission was all for the benefit of her dear Wilma, who she had the guts to admit that she naively broke her horse by incorrect training.
Wearing the scars of Wilma's bad training, fuels Jemma's passion to help as many horses as she can. Jemma has gone on to train with some world-renowned trainers in Classical dressage, natural horsemanship, and biomechanics to deepen her knowledge, skills, and tool kit. She has also gone on to be a human and equine reiki practitioner and qualified as a meditation teacher trainer, to teach people how to meditate and connect deeper with their horses.
Jemma discovered Bowen therapy after returning from Germany and sustaining and personal injury. At the amazement of this wonderful therapy, Jemma's thoughts turned to how this could help horses and three years later qualified (2008/2010) in both Humans and Equine Bowen therapy. Jemma believes this was where her journey into the holistic world truly began. Around the same time as discovering Bowen, Jemma met Lavinia Mitchell, founder, and owner of LM Saddles. Having Lavinia fit her own horses’ saddles, she knew a very alternative way of saddling rather than the conventional saddling we see today. As a trainer and then a therapist, it was becoming disheartening for Jemma not to be able to professionally help a horse that clearly had a saddle related physical issue and was delighted when Lavinia asked if she could train Jemma up to be an LM Holistic saddle fitter.
After consulting for Lavinia for many years, Lavinia approached Jemma to take over LM Saddles as she was wishing to retire. With such honour, Jemma and her husband Mario bought LM Saddles from Lavinia, they have been the proud owners since 2018, and they continue to develop the company and fly the flag for holistic Saddling with the same passion as Lavinia.
Jemma, now in her 22nd year in the horse industry as a professional, believes in the whole horse approach to their wellbeing and offers a unique service and can offer part and all her skills professionally tailor to the horse and riders needs.
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