"I am working with horses in my own unique way, to motivate, educate and inspire. I help horse owners to become the best partner for their horse and give them the opportunity to grow to endless possibilities as a unity."
"I love the products from HKM. It is always difficult for me to find clothes that fit me as I don't have an easy size. Most clothes I try on look sloppy on me. But with HKM, this has honestly never happened! Everything I try on just magically fits me. Besides their fit, the material also feels very comfortable which is a big plus for me as I have to wear horse riding clothes every day. I am not wearing anything else anymore."
From the first riding attempts to the first own horse
Yvet discovered her love for horses at the tender age of about 3-4 years. She rode a pony at a fair and immediately fell in love. After some time of begging, she was finally allowed to go to riding school at the age of five. And so, every Monday, she rode a pony in the riding lesson, but did not focus so much on what the riding instructor was trying to teach her. Instead, Yvet told her pony what she had been up to during the week. The visits to the riding school were thus less about learning to ride and more about the contact with the horse. As a child, the Dutchwoman did not have the privilege of owning her own horse, but just when Yvet moved out, she bought her first horse, Mella. The mare is a bay pinto of unknown pedigree and for Yvet still the best horse in the world.
Despite her love for horses, Yvet did not directly take the career path of a horse trainer. Rather, she listened to the voices of society, or even the voices of reason, which told her "you need to go to school" and "you need to go to university" to get a good job. So, after leaving school she studied Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Twente in the Netherlands and graduated successfully. But besides that, there was still the love for horses and after graduation she quickly realised that she did not want to work in her learned field.
Just do it: The beginnings as a horse trainer
When Yvet was younger, she did not always have the easiest life. But horses were always there for her. And so, she finally had the dream of giving horses back what they had once given to her.
The current horse trainer had already initial ideas in her head about how to combine her passion for horses and her profession, when she was approached by various people who had observed her working with Mella, who was a bit cheeky at the beginning, and asked her if she could support them in working with their horses. It was not a job at the time, but perhaps the final push to actually put into practice the ideas that had already been brewing.
And so, she simply started training horses. And because she had neither clients nor money at the beginning, she agreed with her first clients that she will only be paid if she is successful. Yvet worked with many difficult horses that threw her off and challenged her. But from each horse, Yvet could also learn something, and she always got up again. In the end, she was always successful, always found a way to work with the horse as a team. And that is how her clients paid her. Thus, Yvets' story is not the story of a fairy tale come true, but the story of a hard-working woman. At her peak, she trained twenty horses a day. Her life with horses was not always easy, but horses have always played a role in her life.
The breakthrough as a horse trainer beyond the disciplines
With success came fame. The horse trainer from the Netherlands now has almost a quarter of a million followers on Instagram, where she is active under the name featherlighthorsemanship. For a horse trainer, that is a lot. Yvet says she feels great, at the point where she has now arrived. And yet she is still learning, with every horse she trains.
When Yvet bought her first horse, and also when she started training other horses, her riding style was heavily based on western riding. She rode in a western saddle and also put it on the horses that were brought to her for training and correction, often dressage and show jumping horses. Today it is a bit different: Yvet mostly rides in a dressage saddle and wears a classic riding outfit with dressage boots and breeches instead of western boots and western jeans. When Yvet trains a horse, she is less concerned with assigning it to a particular discipline and more about the partnership between rider and horse.
At the beginning of her career as a horse trainer, the Dutchwoman worked in a rather unstructured way. Sometimes she solved a problem this way, sometimes that way. The most difficult part of her work with horses was never to get the horse on her side, but to impart the knowledge and skills to the owners.
Meanwhile, Yvet records her training sessions and makes them available to a wide audience through her Featherlight Academy. This has also given more structure to her training methods, as Yvet can review the training sessions herself afterwards. While she regularly shows before-and-after situations from her daily work with a wide variety of horses on Instagram, interested people also learn about the process in between, in her academy. In the numerous videos, horse enthusiasts learn the core elements of training with Yvet, receive instructions on concrete exercises they can perform with their horse as well as tips on dealing with young horses. Yvet addresses concrete problems that several horse owners have in dealing with their horses: For example, she gives insights into loading training and how to keep the horse relaxed in all situations.
And so, today there is still a chance to learn from Yvet today, because she has long been unable to keep up with the countless requests from horse owners for Yvet to train their horses. In the meantime, there is a waiting period of several years, which is why the horse trainer was even forced to close the waiting list. Yvet also does not offer private training lessons at the moment. However, those who would like to see Yvet live can attend Masterclasses as well as Open training-days, which she conducts in Dutch at her stable in the Netherlands.
About the team, temptations, and time without horses
Meanwhile, the horse business has become so big that there is a complete team behind it. Yvet runs her business together with her life partner, Jacco, about whom she says there could be no better support than him. In addition, she has a team for the development and support of the Featherlightacademy website and content production.
Despite all her success, Yvet still has goals and dreams. One day, she would like to be able to ride a full Grand Prix in liberty, for example. Or she would love to go on a road trip with one or two horses and travel through some beautiful nature, together, in freedom.
When Yvet is not working with horses, she likes to spend time with her dogs and to spend time in nature. She also enjoys watching good series or reading a book. Besides, she also loves to paint. But although she has many interests, there is not much free time left for it.
Yvets favourite products
Yvet Blokesch
- 17.09.1992
- Zwolle, Niederlande
- Mella (2010), Mellow (2014), Imola (2013), Ruby (2021), The Mustang (~ 2011), Sara (5 May 2022), Jenga (2014) and Elvis (2009)
- Dressur, Freiarbeit, Horsemanship, Western
"Ich arbeite mit Pferden auf meine eigene Art und Weise, um zu motivieren, auszubilden und zu inspirieren. Ich helfe Pferdebesitzer:innen, die beste Partnerin oder der beste Partner für ihr Pferd zu werden und gebe ihnen die Chance, zu unendlichen Möglichkeiten als Einheit zu wachsen."
"Ich liebe die Produkte von HKM. Es ist immer schwierig für mich, Kleidung zu finden, die mir passt, da ich keine wirklich einfache Größe habe. Die meiste Kleidung, die ich anprobiere, sieht an mir schluderig aus. Aber mit HKM ist das wirklich noch nie passiert! Alles, was ich anprobiere, passt mir einfach wie von Zauberhand. Abgesehen von der Passform fühlt sich das Material auch sehr angenehm an, was ein großes Plus für mich ist, da ich jeden Tag Reitbekleidung tragen muss. Ich trage gar nichts anderes mehr."
Von den ersten Reitversuchen zum ersten eigenen Pferd
Ihre Liebe zu Pferden entdeckte Yvet bereits im zarten Alter von etwa 3-4 Jahren. Auf einer Messe ritt sie ein Pony und war sofort verliebt. Nach einiger Zeit des Bettelns durfte sie schließlich mit 5 Jahren zur Reitschule gehen. Und so ritt sie jeweils montags ein Pony in der Reitstunde, konzentrierte sich jedoch nicht so sehr darauf, was der Reitlehrer ihr versuchte beizubringen. Stattdessen erzählte Yvet ihrem Pony, was sie unter der Woche alles so erlebte. Bei den Besuchen in der Reitschule ging es also weniger darum, reiten zu lernen, sondern vielmehr um den Kontakt mit dem Pferd. Als Kind war es der Niederländerin nicht vergönnt, ein eigenes Pferd zu besitzen, aber just in dem Moment, als Yvet auszog, kaufte sie ihr erstes eigenes Pferd, Mella. Die Stute ist ein Braunschecke unbekannter Abstammung und für Yvet immer noch das beste Pferd der Welt.
Trotz ihrer Liebe zu den Pferden schlug Yvet nicht direkt den Karriereweg der Pferdeausbilderin ein. Vielmehr hörte sie auf die Stimmen der Gesellschaft, oder auch die Stimmen der Vernunft, die ihr sagten: „Du musst zur Schule gehen“ und „du musst zur Uni gehen“, um einen guten Job zu bekommen. Also studierte sie nach ihrem Schulabschluss Industrial Engineering and Management an der Universität Twente in den Niederlanden und schloss ihr Studium erfolgreich ab. Aber daneben gab es immer noch die Liebe zu den Pferden und nach dem Abschluss realisierte sie schnell, dass sie nicht in ihrem gelernten Bereich arbeiten möchte.
Einfach machen: Die Anfänge als Pferdetrainerin
Als Yvet noch jünger war, hatte sie nicht immer das einfachste Leben. Aber Pferde waren immer für sie da. Und so hatte sie schließlich den Traum, Pferden das zurückzugeben, was diese ihr einst gegeben hatten.
Die heutige Pferdetrainerin hatte bereits erste Ideen, wie sie ihre Leidenschaft für Pferde und den Beruf miteinander verbinden kann im Kopf, als verschiedene Leute auf sie zukamen, die sie in ihrer Arbeit mit Mella, die am Anfang etwas frech war, beobachtet hatten und sie fragten, ob sie sie bei der Arbeit mit ihren Pferden unterstützen könne. Damals war das noch kein Job, aber vielleicht der letzte Anstoß, die Ideen, die sich bereits breit gemacht hatten, tatsächlich in die Tat umzusetzen.
Und so hat sie einfach angefangen, Pferde zu trainieren. Und weil sie zu Beginn weder Kunden noch Geld hatte, vereinbarte sie mit ihren ersten Kundinnen und Kunden, dass sie nur im Erfolgsfall bezahlt wird. Yvet arbeitete mit vielen schwierigen Pferden, die sie abwarfen und herausforderten. Aber von jedem Pferd konnte Yvet auch etwas lernen und sie stieg immer wieder auf. Am Ende war sie immer erfolgreich, fand immer einen Weg, mit dem Pferd als Team zusammenzuarbeiten. Und so wurde sie dann auch von ihren Kundinnen und Kunden bezahlt. Yvets‘ Geschichte ist also nicht die Geschichte, eines wahr gewordenen Märchens, sondern die einer hart arbeitenden Frau. In der Spitze trainierte sie 20 Pferde am Tag. Ihr Leben mit Pferden war nicht immer einfach, aber Pferde haben immer eine Rolle in ihr Leben gespielt.
Der Durchbruch als Pferdetrainerin jenseits der Disziplinen
Mit den Erfolgen kam auch die Bekanntheit. Fast eine Viertelmillionen Follower hat die Pferdetrainerin aus den Niederlanden mittlerweile auf Instagram, wo sie unter dem Namen featherlighthorsemanship aktiv ist. Für eine Pferdetrainerin ist das sehr viel. Yvet sagt, dass sie sich großartig fühlt, an dem Punkt, an dem sie mittlerweile angekommen ist. Und dennoch lernt sie immer noch dazu, mit jedem Pferd, das sie trainiert.
Als Yvet ihr erstes Pferd kaufte, und auch als sie anfing, andere Pferde zu trainieren, war ihr Reitstil stark an das Westernreiten angelehnt. Sie ritt im Westernsattel und legte diesen auch auf ihre Berittpferde, häufig Dressur- und Springpferde. Heute ist das ein bisschen anders: Yvet reitet viel im Dressursattel und trägt ein klassisches Reitoutift mit Dressurstiefeln und Reithose anstelle von Westernboots und Westernjeans. Wenn Yvet ein Pferd trainiert, dann geht es ihr weniger um die Zuordnung zu einer bestimmten Disziplin, sondern mehr um die Partnerschaft zwischen Reiter:in und Pferd.
Zu Beginn ihrer Karriere als Pferdeausbilderin hat die Niederländerin noch recht unstrukturiert gearbeitet. Mal löste sie ein Problem auf diese Weise, mal auf jene. Dabei war das Schwierigste an ihrer Arbeit mit den Pferden nie, das Pferd auf ihre Seite zu bekommen, sondern den Besitzerinnen und Besitzern das Wissen und Können zu vermitteln.
Mittlerweile zeichnet Yvet ihre Trainingseinheiten auf und stellt diese über ihre Featherlight Academy einem breiten Publikum zur Verfügung. Das hat auch ihren Trainingsmethoden mehr Struktur verliehen, da Yvet sich die Trainingseinheiten im Nachgang selbst noch einmal ansehen kann. Während sie auf Instagram regelmäßig Vorher-Nachher Situationen aus ihrer täglichen Arbeit mit verschiedensten Pferden zeigt, lernen Interessierte in ihrer Akademie auch den Lösungsweg kennen. In den zahlreichen Videos lernen Pferdebegeisterte die Kernelemente des Trainings mit Yvet kennen, erhalten Anleitungen zu konkreten Übungen, die sie mit ihrem Pferd durchführen können sowie Tipps zum Umgang mit jungen Pferden. Yvet geht auf konkrete Probleme ein, die mehrere Pferdebesitzer:innen im Umgang mit ihrem Pferd haben: So gibt sie Einblicke ins Verladetraining und darin, wie das Pferd in allen Situationen relaxt bleibt.
Und so gibt es auch heute noch eine Möglichkeit, von Yvet zu lernen, denn den unzähligen Anfragen von Pferdebesitzer:innen danach, ob Yvet ihr Pferd trainieren kann, kann sie schon lange nicht mehr nachkommen. Mittlerweile gibt es eine Wartezeit von mehreren Jahren, weshalb die Pferdetrainerin sogar gezwungen war, die Warteliste zu schließen. Auch private Trainingsstunden bietet Yvet derzeit nicht an. Wer Yvet live sehen möchte, der kann jedoch Masterclasses sowie Open training-days besuchen, die sie in ihrem Stall in den Niederlanden auf Niederländisch durchführt.
Über das Team, Träume und Zeit ohne Pferde
Das Pferdebusiness ist mittlerweile so groß geworden, dass ein ganzes Team dahintersteht. Ihr Unternehmen führt sie gemeinsam mit ihrem Lebenspartner, Jacco, über den sie sagt, dass es keine bessere Unterstützung als ihn geben kann. Darüber hinaus hat sie ein Team für die Entwicklung und Betreuung der Webseite der Featherlightacademy und der Content-Produktion.
Trotz allem Erfolg hat Yvet immer noch neue Ziele und Träume. So würde sie eines Tages gerne einen ganzen Grand Prix, nur mit Halsring reiten. Oder mit ein oder zwei Pferden einen Roadtrip machen und zusammen, in Freiheit, wunderschöne Orte in der Natur erkunden.
Wenn Yvet einmal nicht mit Pferden arbeitet, verbringt sie gerne Zeit mit ihren Hunden und in der Natur. Außerdem schaut sie sich auch schon einmal gute Serien an oder liest ein Buch. Darüber hinaus liebt sie es, zu malen. Doch obwohl sie viele Interessen hat, bleibt nicht viel Freizeit dafür übrig.
Yvets Lieblingsprodukte
Yvet Blokesch
- 17.09.1992
- Zwolle, Netherlands
- Mella (2010), Mellow (2014), Imola (2013), Ruby (2021), The Mustang (~ 2011), Sara (5 May 2022), Jenga (2014) and Elvis (2009)
- Dressage, Liberty, Horsemanship, Western
"I am working with horses in my own unique way, to motivate, educate and inspire. I help horse owners to become the best partner for their horse and give them the opportunity to grow to endless possibilities as a unity."
"I love the products from HKM. It is always difficult for me to find clothes that fit me as I don't have an easy size. Most clothes I try on look sloppy on me. But with HKM, this has honestly never happened! Everything I try on just magically fits me. Besides their fit, the material also feels very comfortable which is a big plus for me as I have to wear horse riding clothes every day. I am not wearing anything else anymore."
From the first riding attempts to the first own horse
Yvet discovered her love for horses at the tender age of about 3-4 years. She rode a pony at a fair and immediately fell in love. After some time of begging, she was finally allowed to go to riding school at the age of five. And so, every Monday, she rode a pony in the riding lesson, but did not focus so much on what the riding instructor was trying to teach her. Instead, Yvet told her pony what she had been up to during the week. The visits to the riding school were thus less about learning to ride and more about the contact with the horse. As a child, the Dutchwoman did not have the privilege of owning her own horse, but just when Yvet moved out, she bought her first horse, Mella. The mare is a bay pinto of unknown pedigree and for Yvet still the best horse in the world.
Despite her love for horses, Yvet did not directly take the career path of a horse trainer. Rather, she listened to the voices of society, or even the voices of reason, which told her "you need to go to school" and "you need to go to university" to get a good job. So, after leaving school she studied Industrial Engineering and Management at the University of Twente in the Netherlands and graduated successfully. But besides that, there was still the love for horses and after graduation she quickly realised that she did not want to work in her learned field.
Just do it: The beginnings as a horse trainer
When Yvet was younger, she did not always have the easiest life. But horses were always there for her. And so, she finally had the dream of giving horses back what they had once given to her.
The current horse trainer had already initial ideas in her head about how to combine her passion for horses and her profession, when she was approached by various people who had observed her working with Mella, who was a bit cheeky at the beginning, and asked her if she could support them in working with their horses. It was not a job at the time, but perhaps the final push to actually put into practice the ideas that had already been brewing.
And so, she simply started training horses. And because she had neither clients nor money at the beginning, she agreed with her first clients that she will only be paid if she is successful. Yvet worked with many difficult horses that threw her off and challenged her. But from each horse, Yvet could also learn something, and she always got up again. In the end, she was always successful, always found a way to work with the horse as a team. And that is how her clients paid her. Thus, Yvets' story is not the story of a fairy tale come true, but the story of a hard-working woman. At her peak, she trained twenty horses a day. Her life with horses was not always easy, but horses have always played a role in her life.
The breakthrough as a horse trainer beyond the disciplines
With success came fame. The horse trainer from the Netherlands now has almost a quarter of a million followers on Instagram, where she is active under the name featherlighthorsemanship. For a horse trainer, that is a lot. Yvet says she feels great, at the point where she has now arrived. And yet she is still learning, with every horse she trains.
When Yvet bought her first horse, and also when she started training other horses, her riding style was heavily based on western riding. She rode in a western saddle and also put it on the horses that were brought to her for training and correction, often dressage and show jumping horses. Today it is a bit different: Yvet mostly rides in a dressage saddle and wears a classic riding outfit with dressage boots and breeches instead of western boots and western jeans. When Yvet trains a horse, she is less concerned with assigning it to a particular discipline and more about the partnership between rider and horse.
At the beginning of her career as a horse trainer, the Dutchwoman worked in a rather unstructured way. Sometimes she solved a problem this way, sometimes that way. The most difficult part of her work with horses was never to get the horse on her side, but to impart the knowledge and skills to the owners.
Meanwhile, Yvet records her training sessions and makes them available to a wide audience through her Featherlight Academy. This has also given more structure to her training methods, as Yvet can review the training sessions herself afterwards. While she regularly shows before-and-after situations from her daily work with a wide variety of horses on Instagram, interested people also learn about the process in between, in her academy. In the numerous videos, horse enthusiasts learn the core elements of training with Yvet, receive instructions on concrete exercises they can perform with their horse as well as tips on dealing with young horses. Yvet addresses concrete problems that several horse owners have in dealing with their horses: For example, she gives insights into loading training and how to keep the horse relaxed in all situations.
And so, today there is still a chance to learn from Yvet today, because she has long been unable to keep up with the countless requests from horse owners for Yvet to train their horses. In the meantime, there is a waiting period of several years, which is why the horse trainer was even forced to close the waiting list. Yvet also does not offer private training lessons at the moment. However, those who would like to see Yvet live can attend Masterclasses as well as Open training-days, which she conducts in Dutch at her stable in the Netherlands.
About the team, temptations, and time without horses
Meanwhile, the horse business has become so big that there is a complete team behind it. Yvet runs her business together with her life partner, Jacco, about whom she says there could be no better support than him. In addition, she has a team for the development and support of the Featherlightacademy website and content production.
Despite all her success, Yvet still has goals and dreams. One day, she would like to be able to ride a full Grand Prix in liberty, for example. Or she would love to go on a road trip with one or two horses and travel through some beautiful nature, together, in freedom.
When Yvet is not working with horses, she likes to spend time with her dogs and to spend time in nature. She also enjoys watching good series or reading a book. Besides, she also loves to paint. But although she has many interests, there is not much free time left for it.
Yvets Lieblingsprodukte