The last couple of days was spent on teaching and trying to stay sane in the office as a newly employed person left after two weeks! As it is easy to imagine a two people's workload in a busy office is rather exhausting not to mention I only have three hours a day (as working there part-time) to sort everything out. Fingers crossed for the next bunch of interviewees :)
Teaching is going well. I am catching myself on being very focused at the moment and finding non equestrian distractions (like office work in the mornings) mildly annoying.
This current state of mind is very enjoyable though.
Tuesday. I was very pleased with lady S.'s progress in Kent. We worked quite hard on re-aligning her seat and using her legs properly and practised Novice 21. . At the end I decided to ask her to ride the test without a bridle to make her really influence the horse with her body (if you plan to do a similar thing at home make sure your horse is suitable!). She was rather shocked at first but they managed to ride most of the movements!
I then had an hour with a friend whom I teach temporarily. She events at pre-novice level and I am helping out with some position and dressagey issues.
On Wednesday at Ealing R.S. I gave a lesson to an autistic man which reminded me how much an average beginner rider grips and tenses hindering their progress. This man seemed to have a very little comprehension of what I was saying and his coordination was far from perfect. However, when we trotted, he just sat there with a smile on his face, completely relaxed and centered, tuned in to the horse's movement. I found it quite incredible more so because his position in walk was far from secure. Apparently, according to his carer, he loves his riding sessions. The lack of communication though is quite disturbing...or maybe I should learn to let him get on with it!
The decisions in the subject relate to my little dilemma. I was offered an opportunity to teach at one of London's biggest riding schools in return for training towards Stage IV and BHSII which is great BUT my teaching hours would not be paid for :( The things is, if I want to pay for the training it will cost a fortune. If I work for free I won't have the money. Anybody smart enough to solve this??
Another issue to deal with is the quiet season at the LEC. They no longer have hours for me at the weekends and weekdays are questionable due to a long commute. I found an advert in today's Horse & Hound for a part-time instructor closer to my daily paths though so I am going there for a chat on Monday.
Now, I must look up the programme for Olympia 2008 and order some tickets! If I don't my friend, who is coming especially from Chicago to stay while all the action is on, will probably be mortally upset and kill me!
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