Just who is Kudaguru?
Me! I’m Kudaguru – which means what, precisely? I’m Ashleigh, a nomadic, hectic, packing-phobic, peripatetic adventurer who bounces around the world, playing with ponies… Literally.Many moons ago, I was an ordinary equestrian business owner. I had a yard full of horses and ponies, a mixture of my own as well as liveries. I had grooms, young instructors, clients. I competed most weekends in eventing, dressage, show jumping, showing and equitation, young horses, established horses, client’s horses, sponsored horses, as well as going to shows with pupils. And then? Well, politics happened, and I ended up moving my horses from Zimbabwe to South Africa, only 43 horses moving 3,500km, walk in the park, really.
During the South African spell, I was lucky enough to spend a couple of years riding with the incredible South African Lipizzaner’s, the only Lipizzaner team recognised by the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, so became very focused on classical dressage. Riding the Ballet of the White Stallions – an unforgettable experience. But… Well, South African life wasn’t really meant for me, I had some family in the UK, but being winter phobic as well as packing phobic, I wasn’t over keen to go back there full time. And so? I started taking on 6 month to 1 year contracts, to help yards troubleshoot issues, set up training programmes for horses, clients and grooms, build client bases etc. In that time, I worked across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and the Caribbean – I did like to choose pretty locations! But then, 4 years ago I decided that I missed working for myself, and so, time for adventure…During these four years, I have been lucky enough to build a pretty solid client base across several different countries. When people ask where I live – well? 36,000 feet? I’m fortunate to have no commitments (unlucky in some people’s opinions). I own no property, cars, furniture, horses, yards, employ no staff. (In my opinion, I’m not owned BY them, as so may people are. How often have you had the conversation with someone saying they hate their job, they hate their life, but they won’t move because what do they do with their house, car etc…) I literally live where I am at that moment, with no physical place or possessions drawing me forwards or pulling me back. Opinion is divided – about 50% of people I meet say, isn’t that wonderful, can I come along to carry your suitcases, and the other 50% saying that is terrifying and awful, they couldn’t live without stability and their things. And, another benefit of being a full time nomad – there is always time, space and opportunity for adventure, growth and learning… 
And, what is it that I do that is different enough to allow all this travel? I try to turn traditional teaching on it’s head. As a very young rider who I taught recently explained to her Dad afterwards – most people tell her what to do, but in our lesson, she learned HOW to do it. I’ve always had a slightly out of the box way of looking at things and explaining them differently, but almost 10 years ago, I discovered Mary Wanless and her Ride with your Mind methodology. That inspired more research, more in-depth thinking and more awareness. I now use a very eclectic mixture of old-school eventing training, classical dressage, Ride with your Mind and spatial awareness techniques, along with training from other sports – martial arts, climbing and scuba diving in particular. My aim is to create riders who think – who question what they are told, who notice what their horses are responding to, to BELIEVE their horses more than some of the instructions being issued, and to dance with their equine partners in a balanced and ethical manner. 
As I’m so often saying to my pupils – the only expert at being a horse in this three-way relationship (you, me, your horse) is your horse. He is the most important teacher that you will ever have. The horse is the teacher, all I’m doing is providing a translation…