We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Alessandra Deerinck. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Alessandra below.

Alessandra , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My name is Alessandra Deerinck, I own and operate HH Sensing, a horse training and riding instruction operation out of Poway, California. In 2010 I experienced what it is to ride a Mangalarga Marchador, and it has added to my professional life. Since then I have worked on bringing this breed of horses to attention anywhere I work and compete.

I was not “born with horses”, in Milano, Italy. I “pulled” them in my life because I always felt drawn to them like a magnet is drawn to metal. I wanted to ride, since I was two, but my Dad asked me to wait until I was eleven. A few years later he also asked me to stop because he was concerned about the dangers of riding, but I could not obey him. Riding is my passion, and has become my job. At the age of sixteen, in order to keep riding I went to work at the racetrack, exercising horses before I went to school every morning. I also earned my license and rode and won in flat races. I value the time I spent at the racetrack as well as I am thankful to my parents for insisting I graduated from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Milano. During that time I followed the work of Dr. Bassignana, a racetrack Veterinarian and Professor at the school of Veterinary Medicine in Pisa, worked at different farms to assist in the foaling season and did student internships in small and large animal surgery. For the same doctor I illustrated with drawings and edited his book about lameness in horses.

I competed in flat races between 1980 and 1992, until an accident ended my racing career. In 1992 I also met Charles Deerinck, and we got married two years later. In 2005 I attempted to get a racehorse trainer license in the US, and started to exercise racehorses, but I had another major fall in which I broke my back for the third time. Too often jockeys risk their lives riding, because not much care is taken about the racehorse’s proper schooling. Since then, changing this very wrong conception became important to me, and I am very aware of how fortunate I am, being able to ride again and not having permanent consequences from my accidents. Of the many racehorses that left their influence in me, one is very special. His name was Maslogarth, an ordinary racehorse that, just for being a “good boy”, became the S Siro racetrack mascot, and earned himself lifetime room and board from this institution. Together we won and placed in several races, I was able to ride him bareback with a halter on the racetrack. On the ground, he walked at my side free of tack, even when we were between all the other horses. At that time I could not explain how I was able to work with him like that. It was spontaneous, and beautiful. Later in my life, I understood a lot more of what I had experienced. the relationship I had with Maslogarth inspired me to create HH Sensing, a new way to relating to horses, based on my experience of forty four years spent with horses, but rooted in the goals and nuances of classical dressage training, and current horse behavioral sciences. I have ridden in many different disciplines, trained many horses, and now, aside from being the mother of three children, I compete in any venue that is suitable for the horses I train. I believe in a comprehensive approach, and take care of any and every aspect of the horse, from managing their health and nurturing their mind, to trimming their hooves if barefoot, from training to competing if the owners would like to do so. The thrill of an endurance race is for me as exciting as teaching my horse to keep eyes and ears on me or to walk truly straight on a loose rein or to teach my skills to others.

Since the year 2009, first with Human to Horse, and now with Human Horse Sensing, I have worked as a horsemanship clinician and horse trainer, between the US and Italy, my country of origin. I coded HH Sensing to be able to teach it online, and in traditional settings, like the clinics I have held in Italy. I am a regular contributor in the training section for two different magazines, Il Mio Cavallo in Italy, and Elite Equestrian in Ocala Florida. In 2010 I was invited to present at Cavalli a Milano, a worldwide equestrian trade show held in Italy. The same year, I presented my work at Equine Affaire in Pomona and in 2017 I was at the Norco Horse Affaire.

2010 was also the year I first rode a Mangalarga Marchador. The reason this happened was because I was searching for a very smooth horse for a client, and in my quest I called Jacob and Theresa at Rancho de Los Cielos. My client bought a Mangalarga Marchador from another breeder, but they asked me to go back and work with their horses. Rio de los Cielos was the first horse I worked with at Rancho de Los Cielos. I will always remember the very first moment, the two of us in the arena, no restraints of any kind. We were both standing still. His big eyes were asking me to start moving. I was hesitating because I did not know him at all. As soon as I stepped out, he moved with me like my shadow, even following me when I leaped in the air. When I went from working on the ground to riding Rio, I realized the reason why we all fall in love with Mangalarga Marchadors. Rio was very light, attentive, relaxed; he moved effortlessly at each gait. He always seemed to be asking me what I wanted to do. More than anything else, he was easy. I felt like I was with a friend.

The same year I recommended another student of mine in Italy to buy a Mangalarga Marchador, and after exploring together the horses available in Europe, he bought a mare from Max de Vroet in France. I also connected with the AIAMM (the Italian association of MM breeders) and with Domingos Lollobrigida in Brazil, while I was studying about the breed to better my ability to train and portray it in my articles. I have published numerous articles about Mangalarga Marchadores, in Italian and English magazines, and still cannot feel I exhausted what I have to say about them, because my daily experience continuously adds subjects, and improves my knowledge.

I always like to work to give form to every feeling, expression to every thought and reality to every dream.

Alessandra , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

In light of the actual time, culture, scientific studies and my professional experience, I studied in depth the interaction between human beings and horses, and how communication naturally happens during this time, aiming to keep an objective perspective. I applied the information that came from this approach to the interaction between human and horse in many different instances, ranging from breeding to training, competing and performing in events. The experience suggested a deep innovation for the traditional modality of the relationship and the communication between human and horse, making a radical shift from an interaction based on training to giving a structure to the immediate interspecific communication that naturally happens in that time. The communication in the interaction between human and horse can be safely managed through purposeful movement, taking into account the content, modality, and the sense through which the information is perceived – from the ground (communicating through sight, hearing and touch) and from the saddle (communicating through touch and hearing). The interaction has the same meaning for human and horse, is kept in the social context of relationship, with concepts that are instinctual for human and equine, and does not include the use of force or of fear. The result is Human Horse Sensing Horsemanship (www.hhsensing.com), a system for communicating with the horse through behavior, in a dynamic dialogue with a comprehensive approach that always keeps in consideration both sides, human and equine. Such model allows us to manage safely the situation in the time while it happens, modulating it and reshaping it, moment by moment. I wrote a book about my work and it is called Human Horse Sensing Horsemanship published in English on Amazon and in Italian by Edizioni Equitare. This system of interacting with horses spontaneously is what I teach to my students, and they can apply it in their own equestrian reality, without having to do specific exercises or imitate what I do.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Alessandra Deerinck has a comprehensive experience, covering many equestrian disciplines, that spans forty years and has a degree as Doctor in Veterinary Medicine. She has successfully raced as a jockey for twelve years in Italy, as well as has competed in jumping, dressage and endurance. HH Sensing is located at Rolling Hills Boarding Stables In Poway, California. The barn offers great boarding with arena, turn outs, large covered corrals. From our location we also have access to an extensive trail system that allows for whole day outings.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

When communication truly works it is possible to have a true relationship, and the system we teach, which can be spontaneously understood even by horses works well between people too.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hhsensing.com
• Facebook: Human Horse Sensing
• Linkedin: Alessandra Deerinck
• Youtube: Alessandra Deerinck