
Sandra Manatos Horsemanship
Welcome to my website sm-horsemanship.com!
On this page, you can find information about my profile, my training philosophy and my offers. If you want to know more about me and my everyday life as a horse trainer and stay updated about recent activities, follow me on my Facebook and Instagram channel. In case you are interested in one of my services please fill out the contact form so that I can get back to you as soon as possible.
About me

My name is Sandra Manatos – a German horse trainer with the Vision to help people improve their communication with their horse. As a kid I already studied the behaviour of horses and read lots of books and articles before I started taking dressage lessons which is very common in my area. After a while I realized that the handling of horses, which the children are taught in most riding schools, does not correspond to my moral principles and my understanding of horse welfare and training. With my own horse I tried to take a different approach training wise. After graduating from high school, I used the time to work with as many different horses as possible.
Especially during my stays abroad in the USA and Canada, I got the opportunity to work with many different horses and horse trainers and developed my skills. From encounters with bears from the saddle in the mountains of Canada to driving cattle for hours and riding young horses in steep canyons, I gained a lot of experience.
During my BSc study Equine Sports & Business, I was able to expand my theoretical knowledge of horse welfare, housing, diseases, nutrition and also economics and marketing. Now I finally have decided to pass on my knowledge and help other people to understand their horse better. I am very grateful for the huge variety of horse breeds and human personalities I get to work with and I am looking forward to the learnings I will gain from it in the future.
Program Philosophy
The term horsemanship can be defined as the natural communication with a horse in combination with horse welfare. Therefore, my training is mainly based on operant conditioning with negative reinforcement and has a very scientific approach.
My goal is to create a respectful and trustful relationship with the horse.
Hence, it is important that the hierachy in this small herd of a human and a horse is clearly defined. A good leader guides the horse and ensures safety at all times.
Ground work and round pen work are the essential foundation for a solid relationship and the basis of a horse's education. Horse training begins as soon as you enter the stable because then, the horse analyzes every action and reaction of a person already and learns something from it, which can be useful for any further training, but it can quickly lead to any kind of problems as well.
What makes me different to other horse trainers is that I do not set any time limitations. I always try to give the horse the time that it needs to ensure that the horse has absolutely understood what I want from him and is comfortable with it before I move on to the next step. This includes breaking down an exercise into smaller steps instead of asking for everything at once. I also do not specialize in any riding style because I believe that in every discipline you want to move the horse forward, stop and steer it and work on a healthy collection, for example. Thus, I really want to respond to your individual wishes and goals that you have for your horse.
Articles & Research
During the year 2022/2023, I worked on a case study about species-appropriate equine husbandry and its practical implementation. I am now publishing the theoretical, scientific background (literature review) of this case study in order to offer an added value to multiple people. The literature review is only available in English language.
The document deals with the following topics:
-
The current equine husbandry situation in Germany
-
The Five Domains model by David Mellor (horse welfare)
-
Evidence-based practice vs. Practice-based evidence
-
How private horse owners will consider scientific research
in a decision-making process instead of looking at what is common practice