I really love what I do
Helping horses reconnect with themselves is an incredible privilege.
When you work with a horse deeply - beyond the presenting behaviour, physical tension or performance problem - something changes. They begin to feel seen. They soften. They let go of patterns they may have carried for years. And gradually, you begin to see more of the horse underneath.
That is the part of this work I love most.
I want horses to feel comfortable in their bodies, confident in themselves and able to fulfil their potential without losing who they are in the process.
Because when a horse feels better, regulates better and understands what is being asked of them, performance can become an expression of how good they feel - rather than something achieved in spite of how they feel.
Phoenix taught me what was possible
My own horse, Phoenix, has shaped so much of the practitioner I have become.
She came into my life unexpectedly after we rescued her mother, who gave birth to a beautiful chestnut filly eight months later. Phoenix was orphaned at only two months old, and our journey together has taken us through emotional trauma, injuries, performance problems, physical tension, posture, stress, attachment, loading difficulties, saddle fit and fear.
Rather than seeing each challenge as a separate problem, I learned to look at the whole horse.
Today, the trust between Phoenix and me is something I treasure deeply. She has continually challenged me to listen more closely, question what I thought I knew and search for better answers.
In many ways, the philosophy behind Equine NeuroAlchemy began with her.
My own healing changed the direction of my life
My path began through my own experience of illness and healing. Alternative and complementary approaches played a profound role in my life, and Phoenix gave me a reason to turn that experience into something that could help horses.
What began as a desire to give something back became my life’s work.
My equine consultancy began in 2013, and since then I have worked with hundreds of horses, from family horses to performance horses, across a wide range of physical, behavioural and emotional challenges.
I am a Masterson Method Certified Practitioner, Remedial Saddle Fitter, Reiki Master and Therapist, with a BSc in Human Psychology - a background that has given me a particular fascination with the relationship between the brain, nervous system, behaviour, learning and the body.
But my education has never stopped at qualifications.
Learning from the best
No single discipline holds every answer.
I have spent years travelling internationally, studying different schools of horsemanship, biomechanics, anatomy, nervous-system science, bodywork and rehabilitation.
Rather than following one system, I have deliberately sought out people who look at the horse through very different lenses.
My education and development have included learning from:
Jim Masterson - whose Masterson Method transformed the way I understand the horse’s subtle responses, nervous system and ability to release tension when we learn to listen rather than impose.
Dr. Steve Peters - whose work in equine neuroscience has deepened my understanding of the horse’s brain, nervous system, learning, fear, regulation and behaviour.
Sharon May-Davis - whose anatomical research and whole-horse dissections profoundly expanded my understanding of equine anatomy, biomechanics, structural variation and the physical realities beneath what we see externally.
Thirza Hendriks - whose work in equine rehabilitation and biomechanics has further influenced the way I consider movement, posture, compensation and the relationship between rehabilitation and the whole horse.
Jeff Sanders - whose California vaquero horsemanship and preservation of traditional methods have influenced my understanding of feel, timing, balance and developing the horse with patience rather than force.
Arne Koets - whose work in classical and historical horsemanship has expanded my understanding of biomechanics, balance, collection and the development of the horse as an athlete.
Each has contributed something different.
And that is important, because horses don’t exist within disciplines.
The nervous system doesn’t separate itself from the body.
The body doesn’t separate itself from movement.
Movement doesn’t separate itself from training.
Behaviour doesn’t exist independently of experience.
And performance cannot be separated from how the horse feels.
Bringing those pieces together eventually became Equine NeuroAlchemy.
My horsemanship has evolved too
My own riding began with local shows and cross-country before I moved into Western riding and natural horsemanship, and later classical and historical approaches.
That evolution taught me to appreciate different traditions rather than becoming confined by one.
Classical principles gave me a deeper appreciation of posture, balance and biomechanics. Traditional Californio horsemanship strengthened my understanding of feel, patience and the progressive development of the horse. Studying anatomy allowed me to see what was happening beneath the saddle. Bodywork taught me to feel what the horse was holding. Psychology and neuroscience gave me another way of understanding behaviour and learning.
And the horses taught me to connect all of it.
That integration is now at the heart of how I work.
Equine NeuroAlchemy is the methodology I developed to bring those pieces together.
I look beyond the symptom to understand what may sit beneath tension, resistance, shutdown, reactivity, compensation or changes in performance.
I take a different approach than most practitioners out there:
NO. 01
NO. 02
NO. 03
The nervous system comes first
A horse cannot perform at their best when their system is continually preparing to protect them.
When a horse feels safe enough to regulate, process information and recover from pressure, we create the foundation from which learning, rehabilitation and performance can occur.
The behaviour is information
Resistance. Reactivity. Tension. Shutdown. Anticipation.
I don’t simply ask how to stop the behaviour.
I ask why the horse needs it.
The body and behaviour are continually giving us information. When we understand what’s underneath the response, we have a much greater opportunity to create meaningful change.
Feeling better and performing better belong together
My goal isn’t simply to produce a horse that complies.
I want a horse who is comfortable enough, confident enough and regulated enough to become genuinely available for their rider and their job.
Exceptional performance and horse welfare should strengthen one another - not compete.
The heart behind Sabre Ranch
Sabre Ranch is named after my tabby cat, Sabre.
Sabre came to me during an important chapter of my own journey and became deeply connected to the work I was beginning to create. His name became the identity behind my business years before Sabre Ranch existed as a vision.
Although Sabre is no longer physically with me, his legacy remains at the heart of everything I do.
For me, Sabre represents intuition, trust, healing and the willingness to follow a path even before you can see exactly where it will lead.
What began years ago as Sabre Saddlery & Holistic Therapies, and later became Sabre Holistics, has now evolved into Sabre Ranch - Home of Equine NeuroAlchemy.
The name has grown with me.
But its heart has never changed.
A new chapter in America
I moved from the United Kingdom to the United States to take this work further and make a bigger difference within the horse industry.
Today, my focus is increasingly on the performance horse - particularly the horse whose talent is obvious, but whose body, nervous system, behaviour or previous experiences may be preventing them from fully accessing it.
I want Sabre Ranch to become somewhere trainers can confidently send the horse they don’t have the time or specialist resources to unravel themselves.
Not to replace their training.
To help uncover what’s getting in the way of it.
And ultimately, my purpose remains the same as it has always been:
To help horses feel better, understand them more deeply and give them every opportunity to become the horse they’re capable of being.
Hannah Jones BSc, MMCP
Performance Horse Specialist
Founder of Equine NeuroAlchemy™
