My new regime is proving to be a very good choice. Although I am actually working a few more hours than before I no longer have to commute for 4-5 hours a day 5 days a week and this has added some rest time to my weekly schedule :) I've also "booked" myself a day off next month which is an achievement ;)
For those of you who like statistics or are into industry analysis: I am now teaching about 39-40 hours a week plus 10 hours yard work a week plus around 3 hours (only :((((( ) riding a week (this doesn't include numerous pop on this pop on that during lessons and some odd schooling). I intend to continue like this till the end of the year but have some mad plans for 2011 which will hopefully let me ride a bit more. Right now I am throwing myself into improving all my riders and I'm trying not to dwell too much on limited training for myself.
Let's call it conscious cheating of ones subconscious ;)
The more time I spend on improving others the less I despair about so little riding time - a win/win situation. As a result my clients get a bit of a boot camp but it will hopefully take them where they would like to be.
One thing I've learned for sure is that if you have no financial back up you have to keep calm and carry on ;) If you're going in the right direction, the opportunities will come up your way...
One such opportunity has arrived in form of an offer from Horse and Country TV!!!
I will be writing a blog on their website on the ins and outs of the Academy. As I am setting the Academy up on a shoestring every promotion opportunity is great. I hope you will follow us there and I will post a link to Academy's blog once it's up and running.
While we are on the subject of promotion...If you like the idea of an everyday rider/ grassroots rider having an opportunity to train via holistic, progressive, comprehensive Training Programmes that don't cost more than an average riding school's voucher, then please join the Academy's Facebook Page on here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aspire-Equestrian-Riding-Academy/233852927658?ref=ts and suggest it to your friends. It will be much appreciated :)
I wish the technical tasks on the website could be sped up as I would love to put it live now for you all to see (and maybe send your comments and feedback :).
I might not be riding as much as I wish but I'm trying to focus on being riding-fit anyway. Part of my plan for this year is to sort out my shoulder/neck pain which gets worse after riding. I guess mucking out deep litter bedding in your teenage years, falling off a lot while backing young stallions and being put in plaster 8 times doesn't help your body to stay healthy. I am trying to fit in my sessions into my hectic lifestyle and Kari (who also works as Academy's chiropractor) came to see me today at my lunch time. We did a first part of prodding and poking which apparently starts diagnostic process. On a serious note, it seems I have much less sensation on the left side of my body and could have damaged some nerves but I will see Kari again for further investigations (I had to shoot off to teach and we didn't complete the assessment).
The funny thing is, my left side does feel less "connected" to me when I ride.
Kari's sessions and exercises have made some fabulous difference to some of my riders so I am really interested in seeing our method of combining on-horse training with off-horse very specific, personalised exercises developing and gaining popularity. It's not just professionals who can be trained in this way!
Pic: Kingsley still on box rest. Vet is coming again 4th or 5th of August.
The hardest bit is not to resent poor little Kingsley every time I see him; as much as I like him he reminds me all the time about the year of riding he has stolen from me. Naughty boy.
Seriously though, as frustrating as no-proper-riding is, what I miss the most is that everyday work with 1-2 horses and I fully intend to make it happen next year.
Enjoy your horse/pony - kingdom for a sound horse!
2 comments
All well earned results. Well done.
Thank you :)
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