Functional Horsemanship with Sarah Southwell

In the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere southern Alberta sits a small cinder block building surrounded by horses. When you walk in the first thing you’ll notice is the smell of horses, hay and shavings. You’ll be nickered at and nuzzled as you walk by, most likely coerced into a scratch behind the ears, and a snack. At the end of the barn sits a tiny arena that looks as though it was teleported straight from Portugal. The light comes in through south facing windows creating an ethereal feeling in the small space.

This is where Sarah develops horses and riders towards a higher consciousness. It didn’t start out on that trajectory though. Sarah grew up in southern Alberta riding in 4-H, studying natural horsemanship, competing working cow horse, and local shows, and riding colts for a thoroughbred trainer. She started taking training colts on in high school and always had a rehab case going.

Fast forward to her early 20s where she had a horse facility in Manitoba and began running a boarding, training and coaching business. In that time period she worked with mentors to develop her training, equine therapy, coaching and personal development. This is when she really started to work on rehabilitating horses. This is also when she met Dominique Barbier and started studying French Classical Dressage.

Sarah has since moved back to southern Alberta with her husband Trevor, where she operates a private coaching and training stable. Sarah has always been drawn to the horses that have stumped others. She usually has a few rehabilitation cases at a time, while also travelling western Canada for clinics, coaching and doing equine therapy. When she isn’t on the road, she continues to develop herself and her training with a group of her own horses, while studying the French masters, and equine biomechanics in depth. Her belief is that by supporting the horse in all aspects, a weak horse is given the potential to be good, and a strong horse can reach greatness. Her winters are spent applying methodologies and experimenting.

In 2021, Sarah and her friend Caylee Sparry (now business partner) imported Xihao AR an Alter Real (Lusitano) stallion to Canada for breeding. Thus, CS Lusitano was born. They began offering symposiums at the facility outside of Claresholm, Alberta teaching French riding and getting people on Lusitanos to feel new possibilities.

What exactly is it that Sarah does? She combines the French Classical methods with functional biomechanics and incorporates equine management and therapy practices. She then takes riders and develops their understanding and awareness of how they affect their horse. She teaches them the fundamentals of French equitation such as position with no action, hand without leg, and riding with clarity of intention; the result is equestrian art. She also teaches how to see and feel the movement, and looks at the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of developing horses and riders.

In essence, Sarah doesn’t teach horsemanship, she implements the idea of creating art with horses, not through force, but through a deep understanding of technique that allows the true art to come through.

Sarah teaches clinics across western Canada. You can also find her book “The Art of Mindful Riding” online at most major booksellers, or get a signed copy off her website. She offers private booking and clinics at her facility outside of Claresholm, Alberta.

If you would like more information you can find her on social media and Patreon under the Canadian Equestrian Arts Academy and CS Lusitano. Canadianequestrianartsacademy. com, Sarahsouthwell.com.

UPCOMING CLINIC: Black Creek Land and Cattle Corp. in Horsefly, BC will be hosting Sarah for a clinic August 28-30, 2023. See their ad for the clinic on Shop & Swap page 39 of this issue.

(See Sarah’s listing in our Business Services section under TRAINERS)

I love my horse Sparrow. We have become the best of friends! My favourite thing to do is barrel trots. Thanks for your magazine. It’s fun to look at.

- Love Kenzie, age 9, Edgewater BC