Day 44: Reflections, Joker again, candles and tea (not exactly in that order)

My morning work companions ;) 

Do you like my morning set up above? ;) I spent a few hours today drinking numerous cups of teas and snacking on fruit whilst watching videos of my clients and making notes for next several weeks of lessons as well as reflecting on my own teaching. It's always slightly painful to have to hear myself talk over and over but without reflection the improvement is never as good as it could be.

What interests me most in coaching is finding ways to empower riders to do their thing, not to stand in the middle of the school and repeat the same instruction like a broken record. Some riders don't want to take responsibility for the course of their training or they don't realise that they are avoiding it so it's a good challenge for me.

It's a shame there is such a huge expense to equestrian sports because there are not many other sports that when put in schools could teach people everything they need to know in life ;) Look at the popularity of various Equine Facilitated Therapy programmes and Equine Facilitated Learning organisations...
Talking about those, Joker's owner - Helen - has been in touch with one of the EFL companies via one of my clients and it looks like there might be an option for Jojo's new career after all :) Nothing is yet agreed but have a look at this quirky website she set up for the boy - The Joker's On Me.

Scented candles can play with one's senses. For example, right now, there is this delicious, warm scent of spiced apple in the whole house but there is not a single apple pie in the oven. Mighty confusion.
Like this one - sometimes I write something for Aspire blog that takes me 5 minutes to think about, 5 minutes to organise somewhat into an article and a short moment to write down. I don't think much of it and the content seems ok, helpful enough but nothing amazing. It gets viewed in thousands, I get emails and messages with questions or thank you notes.
Then I think about something for days, try to put my thoughts into words, write it then re-write it to make sure what I wanted to say I did manage to say. I think how helpful it might be for many riders and I am excited to share it just for the post to have measly interest. Go figure!

This is the post I gave quite a bit of thought to: Three steps technique to help you progress from theory to practice. and was surprised by relatively low interest. Today at least.

Situations like that make me realise that even after 25 years of riding and 21 years of teaching I still know very little of what might interest fellow riders ;)

Until tomorrow,
Wiola