Welcome to Pivo Meets, a series where we get real and chatty with the faces of Pivo. This July, we had a tête-à-tête with Olivia Simonetti Natural Horsemanship Trainer & Liberty Riding Specialist.
She shares her passion for natural horsemanship, liberty riding, and mounted archery alongside her beloved horse, Red. Olivia is a dedicated horsewoman and trainer whose passion lies in cultivating deep, trust-based connections between horses and their humans. She brings a grounded and intuitive approach to liberty training, bridleless riding, and emotional awareness in horsemanship.
Olivia helps riders explore a new way of partnering with their horses at Horses In Sync, her methods are thoughtful, calm, and transformative.
Here’s a look into her successful journey, how Pivo has helped her with training and everything that she has to share with the world.
Tell us about yourself, how you began horse riding and about Horses in Sync.
Hello, I am Olivia Simonetti and I am the oldest of the three 'Horses In Sync' sisters. I am currently 19 years old and in my second year of college. I also run D1 track and field for my college. My sisters and I were born into the equestrian world, so we have been around horses our entire life. Thanks to our dad, Tony Simonetti, we have been guided through our natural horsemanship journey since we were toddlers. 'Horses In Sync' is the business we started to help people with their troubled horses and to not only teach them how to solve their problem, but build a relationship with them and give them the partnership of their dreams.
What inspired you to pursue a career in equestrian training, and how did you get started?
In the last few years, we have been fine tuning our skills and testing ourselves with different horses. As we became more and more successful, we became more and more confident working with other horses. This inspired us to start our own business, embracing the internet and utilizing social media to reach people across the world. We started with our first online course last summer, spending countless hours filming, practicing and editing before we had to go back to school. When we went back to school we continued to work with our clients on weekends and evenings after classes.
How has your training style evolved over the years?
Our training methods have evolved a lot over the years. Before, we had a vague understanding of the advanced training, such as liberty and tackless riding. We began challenging ourselves to succeed without any tack from the start to see if we could utilize our timing and lightness to reach our goal. Over the years we have focused more on the smaller details to refine our training methods and maximize our communication with the horses and our clients.
How did you first discover Pivo, and what was your initial impression?
Pivo was first introduced to us by a friend of ours. She showed us this cool little device she had, that would follow her and her horse as she was riding. This was extremely helpful at the time, because we were long distance training and she had no one to film for her. Pivo allowed her to film her videos despite being alone and send it to us so we could give her advice while being 3 hours away. After this we realized we need to get one for ourselves, so we can start training clients over long distances, even when our crazy schedules don't line up.
How has Pivo helped improve your training sessions with your riders?
Running a business while being in school and sports has been a challenging task, but thanks to Pivo we don't have to worry about lining up our schedules with each other. Now we can just go outside with our Pivos and get the content we need to maintain our online presence and help us train our clients through video Lessons calls.
Tell us about the most challenging moment in your training career and how you overcame it?
The most challenging moment in my career was actually with my own horse. Red came to me with severe right side shyness, causing him to be extremely reactive and hard to handle. He did well under our training and we got better everyday. Eventually we bought our place upstate. And we started taking our horses up with us, after we got the barn set up for it. These trips started bringing Reds anxiety back even worse than before. Due to the open spaces, new smells and unfamiliar places. When I tried to apply my methods to help him through his nervous breakdowns I couldn't help but feel like he was outsmarting me. He was doing the exercises without mentally collecting like he should have.
He knew the exercises well enough that he could do them while still thinking of all the things he was scared of. I was so stuck and thought I had finally met my match. But I came back inside feeling frustrated and defeated after every ride. I was so determined to make it work that I tried everything I knew how to do. And still didn't make any progress, however, Red is my whole world so failure was not an option. I was talking with my dad and falling asleep trying to come up with new methods
Eventually I decided to give up riding and just work on ground work. We walked through all the scary parts of the property together. This allowed him to feel comfort and safety in me while I was walking beside him. We walked up and down the mountains, grazing and just learning it's okay to just relax. Eventually he gained enough confidence in me and himself that we were able to work through the issues we were having under saddle.
What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned from your horses or riders throughout your career regarding horsemanship?
Over the years the biggest lesson Red has taught me is patience. Due to his extreme anxiety he took longer to learn simple exercises. No matter how much we worked on relaxation and desensitization. His anxiety was still an obstacle to overcome when working on new exercises or tricks. There were times when I felt myself getting frustrated. And he taught me how to take a deep breath and stop going for the goal.
Taking it slow and putting my goals aside was the only way to maintain his trust and build his confidence in situations that made him nervous or unsure. This was one of the most valuable lessons he could have taught me. Because I am now able to apply that to any horse and even situations with people. Patience is the key to success in many situations and Red taught me how to apply it to extreme situations.
What would you say to other trainers considering Pivo to enhance their training methods?
I would recommend Pivo to any horse trainer or student that would like a way to film or train without having to ask someone to hold the phone. Pivo follows the horse while filming and allows you to get the content you need. It also has a remote that allows you to start and stop your videos while across the ring or on your horse. Pivo has allowed us to have remote video calls with clients all around the world. And inspire them to begin their natural horsemanship journey. Without Pivo this may not be possible for some people!
What is your training philosophy, and how do you adapt it to different horses and riders?
We have three principals and one ultimate truth. The three principles are to always keep things safe, fun and light. Safety because, if the human or the horse gets hurt everything ends, in most cases temporarily and in some cases permanently. Fun because, without fun training isn't enjoyable. And light because, everything is easier and more pleasant for horse and rider when the communication is light. Finally our ultimate truth is 90% of being great with horses is - self awareness. This means physically being aware of where you're standing and the energy you are releasing to the horse, and also the attitude you are bringing to the barn. Being aware of your energy and attitude when you're in the barn plays a huge part in your success or failure for the day.
What advice would you give to beginner riders who are just starting their equestrian journey? And how would you recommend them to use Pivo in their progress?
If i were to give advice to a beginner rider i would tell them to start from the ground and work their way up to the saddle. Starting on the ground will help them learn how to feel with the horse and how to handle different situations in a safe environment. Sometimes rushing straight to the saddle without having the proper feel can cause you to become frustrated. When new riders feel stuck they often begin to doubt themselves as riders and consider quitting. Being around horses can be an amazing experience if it's done right. So be patient and have fun learning the basics and building your horsemanship skills!
Save 10% when you shop Pivo with Olivia. Use discount code 'OLIVIASIMONETTI'
Connect with Olivia Simonetti to know more about horsemanship - https://www.instagram.com/olivia_and_red/
Read More: 5 Ways to Improve Your Riding When You’re Working Alone