About
Natural Horsemanship and THE MISSION
Hristo Shalliev with part of the herd
Hristo (Chris) Shalliev
"Mutual trust and respect is the essential in the relationship between human and horse. When will a horse fully trust and respect?
To understand that, one needs to understand how a horse thinks and feels, how horses interact between each other in a herd. "
As a teenager, Hristo made his first proper contact with horses in a riding club in Sofia, where he practiced jumping and dressage, after which he was certified as a riding instructor.
Hristo became Bulgaria's the first mobile horse trainer by the methods of Natural Horsemanship, who aims to help and train as many people and horses as possible for their mutual safe and successful communication.
In 2019 Hristo and Nadia founded Horsenook - Horsemanship Consulting and afterwards began building Horsenook Stables.
Hristo has worked with a variety of equestrian athletes in different disciplines, prepared horses and riders alike for example for showjumping competitions, dressage and endurance competitions.
He has held several clinics in Natural Horsmanship and Problem Solving like Trailer loading or Kicking, Biting, etc. and helped dozens of horse owners and their horses to establish a healthier and safer relationship via mutual communication and understanding.
In 2023 Hristo started the Horsemanship School of Bulgaria to help students all ages understand and learn the theory and practice of the horse-human world.
Hristo has participated in several ad and movie productions, as well as interviews and shows on national television.
Nadia Reid
"The method we use, is built on one key stone: understanding & communication."
Nadia grew up in Berlin, Germany pursuing later on a career as a ballerina at the Vienna State Opera.
She's lived and ridden horses in different parts of the world, with a focus on English riding styles. It was in New Zealand that she discovered Natural Horsemanship, where she began horse riding and training with a local family of trainers and horsemen, who were rehabilitating horses and the local wild horses: Kaimanawa.
Upon her return to Bulgaria in 2015, she completed a two level course in natural horsemanship and worked as a riding instructor and horse trainer at a horse riding center near Sofia, Bulgaria.
After founding Horsenook, Nadia trained for the first time Dressage and competed - winning in 2022 in the national championship silver and a 1st place in the international competition - Balkan League - amateur category.
Furthermore Nadia completed a three year education in Germany and is now a fully certified Еquine Аssisted Тherapist by the German State.
Combining her degree in psychology and trauma, her focus with equine assisted therapy lies in PTSD and complex PTSD for people all ages.
In 2024 Nadia adopted a newly captured wild Mustang via the BLM program in the United States and therewith imported a new breed into Bulgaria. She has been familiarising the Mustang with the human world and coltstarting her via Natural Horsemanship. Her work is being filmed and a documentary produced about the first wild Mustang in Bulgaria.
In 2024 Nadia won second place in Bulgaria's first national Western Riding Competition "Cowboy Extreme" Category Advanced, organised by the BWRA.
Equine Elegance is Nadia's side hustle, were she passionately creates jewellery from naturally collected horse hair and hoof trimmings.
Nadia is also Horsenook's photographer and content creator.
