Before we get going, let me tell you this: seven days until the puppy arrives!! This time next Sunday the furry friend will be here :)
Tilly. Photo by Alison C.
As a word of warning, a bit of a serious tone today so if you are after some comedy, check HERE and come back when I post again soon :)
Most of my "free" time at the moment is spent on figuring stuff out... I am making friends with spreadsheets and getting my head around the concept of time scales...now you see, I am generally a time-scale rule breaker! Not that I have anything particularly against planning things so they happen at certain moment, far from it, but I feel like that drive to the end minute spoils the enjoyment of the current one somewhat. The goal becomes more important than the process of reaching it...It can't just be me?
Having said that, deadlines have been on my mind a lot from the beginning of this year. I don't know whether it is a good decision or not to create more pressure upon oneself when already under decent challenge but I must say, the cliche about not getting any younger has started to bug me.
So, maybe as a test, I set myself a deadline and an ultimatum for things to get started on the development of the Academy front and that scares me as I would imagine might scare anyone who loves what they do but were at risk of losing it all.
I know I can't carry on as I do for that much longer if this Academy project is ever to be what I would like it to be. Once it has moved a level up, and that includes finding the right facilities for it, I will be happy to chip away at my goals slowly, but until then, the pressure is on.
More so because I am stubborn and want to do things certain way... Don't get me wrong, I understand the concept of business world enough to know I ill fit it really with my limited drive for profit and all I feel like I know a little about is how to teach this or that.
But here's the thing, let me digress. I ride this mare, Una, and she is a sensitive kind of horse, a little on a sharp side and I like her because neither of us do small talk very well. You either have a proper conversation with her or she doesn't really get involved. Recently, just by a coincident than by having a clever idea, I put her in shoulder out and into a very little trot on one rein whilst riding as normal on the other rein. And I kept changing directions feeling things out and just like that she became this soft, pliable pony with a nice, relaxing blow through her nostrils without pulling me out of the saddle in the process. I look at her and she is nowhere near straight really, going somewhere out with her shoulders but I sit and ask her for a canter and she goes straight away in a nice, balanced stride. I ask her for a trot and she does it straight away. It is kind of wrong and yet it makes sense because who am I to tell her how to feel more athletic, more balanced, more relaxed. I am just winging it and she is the one who feels the effect. Maybe right there, right now, this is how she feels better. Maybe it is not the time to do things as the book says.
So, I am thinking, everybody at some point just winged it. Everybody at some point just tried it their way. We have surely not discovered every single possible way of doing something? I hope anyway!
These are no ordinary tea cups and this is not an ordinary walk with two cups of tea. This is a rider on my simulator/rider improvement session skipping along with two cups full of water building her awareness of what happens with her arms when her legs and hips canter ;)
Off-horse exercises are such fun, easy yet powerful way to build awareness and improve specific riding skills. There is a possibly very exciting little project coming up in my little head quarters in cooperation with another overseas professional covering this area of rider training so I really hope it goes ahead. Once I have some concrete information I will be blogging about it straight away.
The weekend training theme was outside aids control, self-carriage and corners. I chose to use a very simple exercise that help riders on both Foundation and Development programmes and it worked very well as even riders starting to understand the aids better and riders who compete regularly were both challenged and able to build feel, awareness and effectiveness. Love simple exercises that bring multitude of benefits.
All you need is two poles and you are ready to go :)
If you would like full description of the exercise let me know and I will cover it on Aspire blog.
Full on day today with lessons so instead of adding my post I should really be catching some sleep but the 365 project is relentless ;)
I filmed the next batch of videos of Emma and Shabby's eventing story today, hope to have enough time to have it all edited and up on Aspire blog by Friday evening.
I am still unsure of how to make a nice to watch story out of this, we are doing it the un-scripted, on the day kind of way ;) We shall see how it turns out. Shabby was very good today, they are doing a local dressage show on Monday to give him an outing before Goring Heath event so I hope he contains his excitement and relaxes enough to have a good time!
For some time I'd been wondering about the training diary idea that would follow one of my clients on Performance programme (riders competing at Grassroots levels - and perhaps beyond one day - of the sport,) to bring an enjoyable, relatable series.
I want to see how the idea goes but since Aspire blog is gaining viewers and popularity steadily I think it's only fitting that it helps the riders who help make it into what it is. Depending on how time consuming the series becomes, I will try to add at least one more horse and maybe another rider-horse combination in either pure jumping or dressage. It's very much a test of whether a little coach like me with a small but growing blog audience can help a rider become more visible and perhaps even attractive to some sponsors/supporters. We shall see.
Even though I have never officially worked in marketing, I did study it for almost five years so part of me wants to test if that genuine, fun, simple and honest way that we all so enjoyed at project level at University some 12 years ago can be applicable to real life as it is right now...In the world of deception and online craze, can simply telling an honest story still create opportunities? Perhaps not but I am tempted to try!
The weekend was fabulous weather wise, we had lots of fun and I had way to many layers on me following a deceptively sunny Friday that froze me to the bone!
Now, I have an exciting plan to lie on the bed with latest Horse & Hound and a bunch of weekend papers before I had over to Hampshire tomorrow to teach one of my most committed riders who only missed 2 sessions in some 8 months! (and the second one was due to my being unwell).
Feeling happy for no apparent reason today so sending you some happy vibes dear readers :)
Until tomorrow!
Wiola
After a couple of months of trying to solve the issue with my newsletters application, I have finally fixed it! I have managed to send one today but I do have another "issue" with this whole newsletter story.
The content. I have several ideas for it but none that I am currently wild about. As probably many of you, I sign up for various updates from numerous websites but I am yet to read one that makes me think "ohh can't wait for it to arrive"...
So that's when I need your advice...whether you have already seen Aspire's newsletters or not, what would you generally like to see in your horse/coaching related email subscriptions?
What do you look for in newsletters that you do sign up to?
I would really appreciate your views and ideas here.
Now, ever since my dear Mum discovered a concept of a "selfie" she likes to ask me for one - often. I don't really get this whole selfie craze but I try to keep her happy and snap one a month or so. Today, I sent her about ten various funny ones plus some "oh look I am still alive and doing ok" ones ;)
Sending you all a virtual smile.
These were taken in the morning before my admin marathon today so I look reasonably awake!
A few more emails left to reply but they will have to wait until tomorrow. I am signing off today to catch up with some offline reading and make a few notes for Saturday's lessons as won't have the time for this before the weekend.
Sometimes I chat with a potential client who says they would really like to sign up for my training but they live too far to come regularly.
Distance is a funny excuse for something you really want to do (if you indeed really want to do it...). I used to travel from London to Gloucestershire twice a week to part-time study and train, to Wiltshire and Oxfordshire to shadow-train and for lessons, 3h a day 7 days a week to my horse at livery during my first year of University - the concept of not doing something because it's 3-4 hours away is quite an alien thing to me.
It seems to boil down to the fact that we either do something or make excuses not to do something. At times, riders say that travel is too expensive just to say in the same sentence they'd been having lessons for the last 2 years and have not improved. If improvement is the goal then maybe 2 years of lessons that offer no value is more expensive in many more ways than monetary than travelling to training that do bring improvement?
Working with people who have the no-excuse attitude is probably the best part of running my own coaching programme. I used to joke that I don't advertise too much because then the right person finds me but I am starting to think this is truly the case!
I chose the Aspire blog to be my "advertising" because the seeking riders come across it and get in touch. It is definitely a much slower and a shoestring budget kind of process but oh so rewarding.
The picture at the top of this post shows my Sunday client who travelled for her training with me from Chile. She has her own Chilean horse over there but wants to progress and opportunities for that are limited where she is. We've been organising her intensive training day with me since last year as many logistical obstacles kept turning up but we managed eventually. She coordinates her UK work trips with training and I am already looking forward to seeing her again in a couple of months.
Making things happen is simply inspirational.
Talking about inspiration...I did an interview with The Gait Post where I shared some of my thoughts on training, motivation, inspirational people, international experiences and more :) If you would like to check it out, here is the link: http://www.thegaitpost.com/wiola-grabowska/
A friend of mine who runs a coaching group on Facebook started an interesting discussion today about most suitable age for starting to learn to ride and I thought the video that she posted is worth sharing...what do you think of Charles De Kunffy's opinions?
I have a base limit of 12 years old for joining the Academy but treat everyone individually upon assessment. Some children are very mature training wise and able to focus well whereas some older teenagers struggle with even more simple technical aspects of equitation.
When it comes to adults, from my experience, in most cases it is not the age but the perception of age that hinders their progress. Being "too old for this or that" becomes an excuse when in reality some exercises and movement can be difficult regardless the age.
Andrew Marr's audiobook "A history of the world" is my travel and yard work companion at the moment. It's kind of surreal listening about Genghis Khan as a child killing a deer with a special sound making arrow that tempts the deer to lift the head and expose her throat on a train to Ealing Broadway. Andrew's fabulous story telling can make you almost surprised that upon exiting the train you are facing ticket gates instead of open spaces of Mongol land. It also makes for ridiculous delays to be somewhat manageable.
Last day of #Barebruary today
Although not as amazingly sunny as yesterday, today brought some really good sessions, one of my young riders had a beautiful ride today with some elements of seat and feel coming together creating most harmonious work to date. New rider had a successful first session too although she is up for some drilling on position before she can relax a bit. Little habits creep in into everyone's riding when not watched and can make a difference between a good rider and a sloppy one!
I am also really enjoying my Saturday groundwork sessions, I am going to look into running more of those soon.
Finally we had our Aspire @ Cafe time meeting this afternoon and I feel it's going to be a really fun learning environment, very much looking forward to seeing how it all develops.
Fab little presentation from Gary on his sugar beet homework for today's Aspire Equestrian @ Cafe Time!
I am behind on some emails and messages as my usual admin dates were spent on yard work this week but stay tuned all, I will reply as soon as possible!
Finding products that don't have added sugar in them is like trying to find a perfect horse ;)
if you ever tried, you know what I mean.
In the last several months I have been slowly weaning myself off sugar in drinks like tea and coffee as well as looking at amounts of added sugar on labels of various foods more closely. The damn stuff is literally everywhere and in everything.
I have never been oblivious to this fact but only until I listened to the below podcast around November last year that I decided to finally cut more sugar out of my diet.
If you would like to listen to the podcast, click the image link below (it's over an hour long but well worth listening...)
I won't bore you with my food choices but let me tell you, for someone who loves sweet things, this is a little bit of a torture. However, I am surviving and can now very happily drink coffee and tea with no sugar. Result :)
There is just one BUT. Normally, if I feel like I am running low on energy in between lessons or when going from one place to another I would just have a nice cup of sweet coffee that would give me a temporary fix. I am replacing that fix with bananas and other quick snacks but they really don't work that well...Anyone has a quick pick-me-up snack idea? It doesn't have to be sweet at all, I don't really crave sweets, it just they seem to be most effective ;)
The weather is being kind to me lately with just enough sunshine to last for a photo ;) I took the below one this morning for Aspire's #Barebruary series and love the light in it. The winter coat on the mare, the cold tones in the colouring of the sky and foliage and the warmer hue of the chestnut hair are such a lovely combination. The rider's outfit somewhat matches the colours of the background too!
Today I received two out of three quotes from potential 2015 Aspire GetAway destinations and I have a dilemma. Not so much financial one but content of the trip wise.
As both locations come with some absolutely stunning trail rides I am wondering whether to re-focus this year's trip into more open spaces based option rather than run arena lessons as last time. Perhaps a combination of theory workshops with in-hand sessions and trail rides would be a good idea? My current potential locations are Spain, Poland and Italy but I am also looking at a "dark horse" one ;) All are in Europe though.
I really want the GetAway to complement the programmes we do on regular basis and as the training is heavily focused on arena work, technique, posture and biomechanics perhaps re-connecting with nature is the way to go! Ideally I would like to run two trips this year. Maybe I should look into western riding options too? The latter popped into my mind after reading Nina's blog.
Investigations shall continue :)
It might be that it is true what they say about childhood memories. You know, that bit where supposedly everything seem to last very long when you are 7 or 8 but is closer to a seven blinks of an eye when you get older.
When I was seven and woke up to snow outside the windows, that snow stayed for a month or two. Today the snow was there at 8am, all white and cold and wintry just as a snow is. I then got on a train and travelled for about an hour to arrive at a rainy platform.
I taught in the rain and patchy snowfall as if the place couldn't decide whether it was autumn or winter, and then arrived back at the station from which I set off to be greeted with a low yet still bright orangey sunlight glittering on everything that snow was no longer on.
Walking back home...
I made it through the first daily blogging month, how hard can it be to carry on ;) So many little moments that one can dress into words and leave on here for a few people to read. Like the fact, that I like watching the rowing boats out on the river. They row at all times of day, all weathers. I don't know much about rowing at all but feel somehow inspired by their even, relentless water journeys. They are there when I walk in the mornings, sometimes barely visible in the misty fog that gathers over the river, they are there when I walk back, coach's voice over the tannoy spurring them to make corrections. Sometimes moving smooth and silent, sometimes with a novice splash and ragged course.
Someone once told me that you don't need much talent for rowing - you just need to turn up for training and do your best. I don't think they were right. Turning up in life and trying one's best in what one does in whatever circumstances is one of the rarest talents I see...
My fab riders today braving the rain and cold :) Talent is overrated, it's the hours in the saddle, being with horses in all conditions and developing empathy with them that make real riders,,,
It was a great month, eleven more to come and hopefully each one will beat the other in some ways :) My little Aspire Equestrian coaching blog has grown as per my plan and had over 14.000 views and over 10.000 visitors this month! I am over the moon that so many people have found something worth their time on there and I hope to double that by March! :)
Tomorrow is my day off teaching and I look forward to a lie in, cup of tea and Nutella on toast in bed and some reading (real printed reading ;)
Last two months I'd been mostly searching...for answers and for the right opportunity to come along for my London clients. I finally gave up on one of the ideas and that is the one which was based on finding more riding schools to work with. I am not saying no to it fully but for now I feel that if I haven't made something happen in 2 years then it's probably best to become more creative. Without going into too much detail riding schools are either already fully booked and sorted with own activities or have excuses for not opening up to new ways of providing riding education.
The bonus of working with a good facility is of course the access to that facility, to the infrastructure, to comfort for the riders. However, I had a good think about it and I came to conclusions that after all, primary vision for non - owners branch of Aspire Academy is to provide top quality riding tuition for riders without own horses NOT plush time in cosy coffee rooms (even though I do like those :).
That's when I changed my approach and whilst continuing to search for a centre on smaller scale, I put 90% of effort into finding another solution...I'd been testing a "share a horse for lessons" scenario for a while now and decided it could be the way to go. Owners of the types of horses I am after often welcome a financial contribution to the upkeep of their horse whilst the type of rider I am after to teach is eager to build relationship with the horse they train on. It is not easy for a learner-rider to find a share horse simply because the owners are worried that the horse might end up mistreated or ridden badly due to simple lack of knowledge of the inexperienced sharer. The situation is different if the learner rider actually takes well structured, long-term planned lessons that not only teach the rider but might also school and improve the horse...
I'd emailed and messaged (good old Facebook) pretty much everyone that I thought might help me move forward with this development but for many weeks I had no luck. Either horses were not suitable or the place was just that little bit too "out in the sticks" or there were other reasons that would make the logistics impossible like the horse being only available on Mondays 7am...you get the idea.
In the meantime, various funky things were happening, like this bite on my eyelid a few weeks ago!
Waking up with an eye swollen shut is not a very amusing welcome to the day
Not sure what my immune system was thinking but it decided to blow up half of my face as well as the eyelid, working on laptop with one eye was a challenge and was also surprisingly tiring. I also had to teach in sunglasses so I didn't scare anyone and that was a little inconvenient too since it was a week of fog and rain ;) It lasted about 5 days but felt like 5 weeks. Kudos to all one eyed horses jumping and eventing out there, just moving around people and horses in walk was hard enough!
Finally, I found a yard with several owners looking for sharers. The yard that is very easy to get to and so the big trial begins this month. Of course it wasn't without a drama that almost made me lose the remaining hair that still hangs on to my head but all seems ok, for now at least!
If as many riding schools' owners say it is not possible to accommodate certain structures into the schools' set ups then perhaps it's time to change the set ups...Sharing a horse for lessons might not be for everybody but if it is for the kind of person that Aspire programmes exist for in the first place, then maybe that's the path to take.
I have so many plans for next year. I don't know if it's the age, the stress, the various things that needs sorting out but taking forever to do so or what but for the last couple of years I lost quite a lot of my usual courageous ability to make plans. Fear of failure maybe, not sure. I am glad I managed to shake it off to some extent.
Some big changes coming up next year too. One day I am feeling invincible to take them on, the next one I'd rather be hiding under the duvet ;) On those pathetically fearful mornings I tell myself that the clock is ticking, the time is passing, the worst that can happen is that someone will say no.
If you are doing something different or entrepreneurial in your life do let me know what you are up to and how you deal with your challenges!
On way from Lodz, Poland to London, UK...the commute with a view :) I am not a big fan of flying but could stare at cloudscapes for hours...the ones on this flight reminded me of heaps of semi-melted marshmallows floating on top of a giant mug of milky hot chocolate!
The last three weeks were a whirlwind of travel, organisation, emotions and restlessness. You know how we are told by "experts" to have a good rest when we feel tired to re-charge and avoid fatigue? Well that is all good for when we do feel tired. I often feel betrayed by my own lack of self-preservation which allows me to work for insane number of hours per day and carry on each step on some inexplicable source of energy. Then, as if all of a sudden realising that it was a mistake, I come crashing with the sofa, laptop and a cup of tea as the only places and activities that seem remotely possible.
The clinic in Poland went really well. Seeing the riders develop their relationship with the horses and that in turn letting them achieve better results in training is what I enjoyed the most during the weekend. I do believe that to teach an animal anything at all, we must get into its brain, it must understand, comprehend the task in a way that allows it to follow instruction with as little physical and mental resistance possible.
Photo from clinic at Stajnia Sabat, near Warsaw, Poland. I used this picture in the last Aspire's newsletter, love that quote!
If you struggle repeatedly with a training issue with your horse, double and triple check he understands the question. So many times we focus on resolving problems with exercises and equipment instead of finding a different way of approaching the subject in the first place. Even though I've been working with horses for over 20 years and I can see signs of their intelligence every day, I am not so sure about efficacy of training methods that suppose human-like intelligence in an equine. In fact, I consider it quite offensive to the horse ;)
Let's say, young wolves learn about hierarchy by many herd behaviours including eating certain parts of an animal they hunted and killed. They don't sit in a classroom and learn about history of canis lupus genes.
Same horses. Their learning process is different to ours and it is the trainer's/rider's duty to either learn it from someone or discover it from behavioural signs the horse gives. The moment we train horses' physical attributes without treating them like people, or dogs, or children, but like the species they are, we get content animals happy to work with us. It's fascinating to observe how athletic abilities improve with mental coherence.
My lovely cousin, Karolina, who works so hard on regaining trust and build a good relationship with Krater whom she has on loan and who has various unpleasant training experiences behind him . They've made a huge progress together in the last year :)
More pictures from Poland HERE. My clinics in Poland are a great way for me to visit my family which is both wonderful and a little sad. I enjoy every moment and savour it and go ahead quite happily but there is always this element of sadness in goodbyes which underlines the price one sometimes has to pay for pursuing path less travelled.
My beautiful little niece enjoying some pressies :) She's such a character already despite only being around for 3 years ;)
Meet Tymon, my fab little nephew, 10 months old and I've only seen him handful of times...
The time pass so quickly when I am there. Between coffees and window shopping with my mum, joking around with my brother, driving about and chatting with my dad, dinners and evenings with my aunt, cousins and grandparents before I knew it I was back in the clouds.
A couple of days at home with Rick with few lessons with regular clients fitted in and then back on the road again - this time to North Yorkshire. There is an interesting mix of clients that sign up for my clinics there from professionals working in the industry, through to teenagers eventing at lower levels, inquisitive adult riders to happy hackers and (a first this time) children.
Several regular riders who I have seen previously signed up this time too and that's probably what I enjoy the most - seeing riders change and progress over time, helping them find some more answers to various training questions, come up with exercises that awaken body awareness and make schooling more effective, chatting through issues. I had Ceri (Pure Essence Photography) taking pictures at this clinic and you can see the full set on Aspire blog HERE.
Very clever 3 year old TB off the track. Starting in-hand work here, learning to walk on a circle. He's got an amazing attitude and willingness to work.
Now I am back and having a few quieter days to get back into the swing of things and give my body a little rest. I need to upload all the videos I took from both clinics which takes a while on a not so fast internet connection! So far I managed almost all Poland videos so now I have a set from Yorkshire to do.
The autumn has truly arrived in London home counties. It's chilly albeit still sunny at times with equal amounts of rain and rainbow :) I am not too bothered about the change of seasons, quite looking forward to it. So many things to reflect on, think about, make plans - perfect filler for dark, winter evenings.
This year is very much a transition year from all the training back to teaching and re-building the Aspire programmes and although I am very much in-the-present kind of person, I also have started to tentatively look at next year. There will be a lot of make-or-break situations in 2015 and I am anxiously awaiting the challenges.
But for now, I do like sitting here with my laptop, writing, reading and just feeling grateful for all the fabulous opportunities I have experienced so far :)
Let me say first, right now, I am in no position to set up a riding school, whether from scratch, from made ingredients or even from half baked ;) However, I have recently realised that this has been on my mind for over 20 years...
For a start, it's a crazy thought with numerous establishments closing left, right and centre, costs of keeping horses sky rocketing and prices of land and properties might as well be named "in another life sister".
My rational brain tells me - "Look around, places that make it work have a good deal of backers behind them and/or other businesses supporting them and/or follow the traditional system of quantity over quality". And I should listen to that rational brain and stay very clear from a thought of setting up a riding school.
Yet, I can't help but wonder...what if I did have a go....What if I did attempt to set up a little riding academy that isn't just a coaching programme but an actual place.
I can picture "No" balloons floating around me every time I let that question sound louder ;)
Did you know that there are maybe three books written about running stables as a riding school and none of them actually considers much else than a quantity oriented business model?
How about some guidelines for creating a viable grassroots rider academy, not from how-to-teach point of view but how-to-survive point of view?
Perhaps there aren't any simply because the demand for quality riding tuition at grassroots levels just ins't as great?
Right now, in general terms, you go to a riding school to learn how not to fall off a horse, have a bit of fun, meet like-minded people (also learn how to kick, whack and pull). Then you realise that to actually learn to ride well you need to loan or buy a horse. The amount of negative feedback on riding school instruction among horse owners is staggering. I feel this is not always fair representation and sadly some lovely places fall into the trap of a statistical waterfall but there is a lot of truth in that generalisation.
My question to myself is, how likely is it to successfully run my Aspire Academy as an actual brick & mortar business without filling it up with a Pegasus and his herd of unicorns...
Anyway, I thought I would let you know what's on my mind ;) I've been doing a little research in the above direction and funnily enough I've been inspired to do so by our new little Hampshire base. It is simply so wonderful to teach out of an independent yard, to let clients build relationship with the horses.
My young rider getting ready for her training at the Little Base (as I call it in my mind)
So yes, I feel like this theme will continue as I explore the avenues...If any of you dear readers out there run a riding school and would like to share experiences and advice, feel free to make comment section below your own :) If you simply are a business owner or have entrepreneurial instincts and would like to add your tips, please join in.
I am thinking less in line of copying existing riding school model and more in direction of coming up with an alternative set up where private and small groups (up to 4 riders) are possible. Where riders learn to ride with an emphasis on thorough basic training and where schooling puts horse's wellness in the centre of any methods used.
From news and updates, I am off to Poland next week to run a clinic there as well as see my family which I am very much looking forward to. I will be back on here very soon :)
I am not sure why that is but I do enjoy writing on here late in the evenings or at night time as it happens right now. It has always been like this ever since starting this blog. At the beginning, it was mostly due to the fact I would be back home after 10pm or 11pm and by the time I had some dinner it was bed time. It seemed rather unfair to have no other life-time than travelling and working so I extended my "days" by writing.
The funny thing about writing a blog (and if you write one or write a diary of sort please do let me know if you feel the same) is that it becomes a big part of your life and not writing about the daily happenings somehow feels as if they didn't happen. Now I made it sound a bit like an obsessive Facebook posting where if you didn't post a photo on Facebook from your holidays then you may have never actually been on one but it's not quite like this. I have written more posts on here that have stayed as drafts and never been read by anyone but me than those that are published - writing organises the chaos of thoughts in my head.
Hugs for my wonderful Mum - she is the best :)
Thankfully the last week since I wrote had been a good one, nothing too backward have happened (to which I am quite used to since most good things come with a damn wrapping of difficulties) and so the delusional optimism has been happily spreading its wings. To my delight, my dearest Mum sent me a little parcel with some clothes and a magazine which for a nomad living on one suitcase does feel like the biggest shopping trip of the century ;) Thank you Mum!
[My Mum asked me what "selfies" were so I explained it was basically trying to fit yourself into the camera view balancing said camera with one hand. Now that she knows she wants me to send many of those - sigh]
Now, on a more serious front, the new yard continues to develop and I am really looking forward to working out from it very soon.
I have some interesting new guest bloggers who will write a series of posts on Aspire blog which I am very much looking forward to also. One is Science Supplements who will write a series of educational posts about health of competition horses (also older horses and grassroots horses) and a young journalist - Alice-Rose Brown, who is building her writing portfolio and will share thoughts of her battle with confidence. If you are interested in either, do check out the links :)
I am also preparing Aspire's next Newsletter which will go out on the 14th. One part of it will be a little video tutorial which I filmed with the help of one my lovely clients and which will be simply a video reply to a question by another rider who trains with me during Aspire clinics.
Sneaky peak at the video frames - can you guess what was the rider's question?
Many more tutorials coming up once the new base is fully up and running! Sadly, my trusty, wonderful Panasonic camcorder died of unknown disease and I am currently left with my old iPhone and it's limited quality. Hopefully the content will be good enough for the viewers to forgive the form.
Now I better hit the pillows, it's 01:25 at this very moment and I need to be up at 7:30. I wonder if it rains and hurricanes tomorrow as eagerly as it did today!
Ball games with Woody after morning teaching followed by long hours on the laptop
Someone asked me this morning why put so much emphasis on rider centred approach in my coaching programmes. I gave my answer but the subject kept coming back to me.
I think that, eventually, we all ask ourselves, what am I contributing to this world and how do I feel with it. .
The way I see it is that every well educated rider can educate many horses and give them a great life. This thought drives me every single time I give a lesson.
If I focused on producing lovely horses, I would not have the same sense of job/life satisfaction. If one is lucky enough to do both, great. There are many good riders out there who can bring on horses well. There are not that many good, all-round coaches.
I feel it's important to have a challenge in ones life, something that makes you feel that you are always learning, always striving for the better, giving something back and making good use of your skills. To me, rider centred training is one of those challenges.
Recently, I'd been working on getting the hang of online newsletters. I wanted to find a free service that would do the job of sending some "limited edition" content, news and advice to all my email subscribers. Yesterday, the first bi-monthly newsletter finally went into cyber space together with a little special shout out with some very interesting, unlisted videos on sports psychology that I was kindly given for use :) My aim is to prepare some special bit of content for each of those newsletters including video tutorials and advice that I would not normally put on the blog. If you would like to subscribe,then pop over to Aspire microsite http://aspir1.wix.com/aspireequestrian2014 , scroll down a tiny bit and add your email into the box :)
Regarding the habits and doing not-so-enchanting-but-necessary business-y stuff that I wrote about few days ago: I started with a little routine. For now, I put aside 30 minutes every day to sit on, what I call in my head, "a how not to drown strategy" ;) Apparently, it takes at least 2-3 months for a habit to form - I hope my head is still in one piece at the end of that formation process but I know once it's there I will be fine. Habits are power ;) Like in riding, training and coaching.
- Have you never thought of getting a proper job? You know, your studies and all... - my grandmother looks at me with her light-blue, watercolour like eyes. Her face small and wrinkled. She isn't being spiteful or dismissive. Tone of her voice is loving, bemused somewhat, suspended between concern and disbelief that someone might indeed seriously consider a future of travelling around and teach horse riding. There is a shy smile on her face and the fact that she speaks quietly tells me she isn't sure if she should ask this question at all.
I leave out the little detail, the fact that I would love to travel even more, teach all over Europe or maybe even beyond, stay at small, shabby stables and big luxurious centres, anywhere where there are grassroots riders wanting to explore and learn.
My grandmother worked in a textiles factory. She spent thirty three years of her life working in conditions that would most probably be considered high-risk nowadays and which certainly did damage her health. Overwhelming noise of machines, fumes, smell of vinegar, hot steam. She worked three shifts, sometimes only having several hours off in between them. She's over eighty now and despite her questions, she believes everybody should do what makes them happy.
Textile Factory, Lodz, 1934
When she asked me about that proper job on this snowy March afternoon, just as I returned from Norway where I had a great time running one of my Aspire Coaching Weekends, I waited for a feeling of defensiveness that I used to get when confronted with other people's views on my chosen way of life. The feeling didn't come though. It doesn't any more.
At 34, it's very clear to me, that life is an extremely short affair. It always seemed that way but as time goes by, the infinity loops back at me. I guess it is possible to derive some pleasure out of living to someone else's design but my genetics forgot to implement such coding.
Teaching riding, as long as not done mechanically, is more than "a proper job". Although dismissed by many, I believe the discovery process we experience whilst training, is enriching and fulfilling. When we take time to understand the training process, ditch contraptions we put horses in, give up on training methods that cause pain to both rider and a horse, then the sessions become a self-discovering journey. Even for very young riders.
If as a trainer, you can help a rider to get closer to that fulfilment, you are doing something worthwhile. And that is all that, in my opinion, really matters. In any job. To do something worthwhile.
In my view, riding & training are like books & arts :) Neither is absolutely necessary to survival but both feed those parts of us that are able to give back to life what's most enjoyable: dreams, senses, emotions, passion, dedication, adventure, freedom.
I start telling my Grandmother about my recent work and I can tell that although she listens, she will never comprehend my take on it.
The weekend was a superb experience, as ever in Norway. I love working with people there, there is a lot of hunger for knowledge, for new ways of learning, for different ways of looking at the same thing.
Below are some images from the weekend:
Train arrives to take me from the airport to Oslo centre. The station is tiny and remote so the funky, modern train that pulls in looks completely surreal and out of place. The top of the train says "Lillehammer" - the name I recall from the 1994 Winter Olympics. It makes me smile :)
Oslo. Electric cars, cheerful colours on buildings and much less snow than in the suburbs.
Simba the cat on my many layers. To those who think it looks cold on the photos - it was not that bad. As they say, there is never a bad weather, just a bad choice of clothing. I was well prepared this time and didn't notice the cold at all. Only the ice like crunching of snow under my soles gave away the -19C that visited at night ;)
Video analysis in a cute little log cabin/wooden mountain cottage.
Sunday morning. On way to the indoor arena for in-hand work with the horses.
Yummy, home made cakes! Delicious :) best served with horsey chats ;)
In-hand work session
Some of the riders in action:
On the above photo, the 4 year old TB youngster, Red, is being babysat by a racing pony, Naomi. This was Red's first time ever in an arena. In Norway, race horses get normal riding horse education as well as race training. Naomi races too with her young rider.
I was shocked to hear today that Red fell over on the track this week and fractured a bone in his knee. He is a lovely horse and although he will never race again, I really hope he makes full recovery and is able to dressage happily.
And finally, Maria (with Fame) who organises my coaching weekends there. She used to write a lovely blog (HERE) but is nowadays rarely seen in the blogosphere. Wonderful host and a great friend.
I received a really generous feedback from the riders and although it feels wonderful it must be said that without those riders' open minded approach and their obvious enthusiasm for their horses, none of those fantastic moments would be possible.
Now back home, I am preparing the notes and virtual coaching plans for those riders who signed up for it at the weekend. After some reflections on how Aspire training has worked in the last 2 years, I decided to transform my usual online training plans into a separate Aspire Equestrian E-Academy: Virtual Coaching Club.
If you would like to receive more information about it, or if you know someone who struggles with transport/access to trainers and would like to experienced motivational, committed coaching, please leave me a comment (add: "not for publishing" in the comment and I won't make the comment public) with your email address and I will send you full pdf.
Next Mobile Coaching Weekends are coming up also in the UK. The first one will be near London, on the 18th and 19th May. Please feel free to share the below poster with anyone who you think might want to join in. If you have any questions, email any time as per details on the poster.
There is another exciting weekend coming in June (1st-2nd June) and you can stay in touch with all Aspire training activities by joining the Aspire Coaching Weekends 2013 on Facebook or email me so I can put you on my mailing list.
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- Yes, I probably could get "a proper job", do something good - I say to my Grandmother and for a moment she looks surprised. Or hopeful. I find it hard to guess - but instead of that Gran, I decided to do something amazing...;)
She laughs and I wonder if she truly got it. But I don't ask. Disclaimer: Please do not be compelled to quit your jobs (unless you really feel you should) to also do something amazing. Keep your jobs that pay you nicely so you can afford the amazing horsey training... ;)
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