Sunday, 8 December 2013
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Writing for "Your Horse" Magazine :)
I'm not sure when my first Q&A will be published but I've already sent one Answer at the beginning of the month and had 2 more Questions sent early this week. They will let me know when my answers are in so I will let you know too.
If you are having problem with any particular riding issue feel free to email me at ridinginstructor at gmail.com and you might have the answer printed in the mag.
Monday, 20 December 2010
Meet Case Study #3: Suzanne
Meet Suzanne. An endlessly jolly character who absolutely loves having lessons and learning new things. Suzanne helps out at a riding school by managing the whole operation on Sundays. She pretty much does everything from mucking out to meet & greet, open and close, feeding the ponies and hacking out with clients. In return, she gets the lessons, mostly on a Cleveland Bay mare, Rosie.
Photo: Suzanne also has a very non-horsey job in London but here is what Rosie thinks about it!
Suzanne introduces herself
I am from Zimbabwe where I was introduced to horses at an early age, plodding around a farm on a horse that was way too big for me. I started lessons when I was about 6 and pestered my parents for my own pony but to no avail. I was lucky enough to have a friend with horses so my teenage years were spent on crazy hacks and hanging around shows being my friend’s “groom”. For a couple of decades I barely rode. However, the bug returned and I started riding again at a local riding school. I have always loved horses; they are huge and majestic but so trusting and generous. Being outside, riding a horse you love, what better thing is there?
Horses She Rides:
I ride at a small riding school where I generally ride the same horse in my lessons, Rosie, a Cleveland Bay mare. Rosie is in her teens, a bit stiff (like me) and sometimes finds things a little tricky. However, if I get something right, she tells me and we float off on cloud 9. I also hack some friends’ horses, a gentle giant called Thomas (also a Cleveland Bay), the handsome Phagan (an Irish Draught x TB) and Clarissa (the most comfy cob).
Suzanne also comes for Intensive Training Days at Hall-Place Equestrian Centre a few times a year.
Easy and effective exercise to become more aware of what each side of your body does. Suzanne tends to collapse her waist in the saddle so here she is stretching each side to trigger her awarness of being symmetrical.
Suzanne BEFORE the Academy training started:
Why does she like having lessons?
I enjoy hacking, being out and about and taking in the surroundings. But I LOVE lessons. I need to be pushed to try to achieve those things that I don’t think I can do, I like to be challenged by the technicalities that lessons bring even if it takes time for me to get there. Most of all, I want to ride quietly and effectively, respecting and in harmony with the horse, and for that lessons are vital.
What are your riding ambitions? Would you like to compete or do you prefer training at home?
I’m happiest training at home, progressing slowly. I don’t have ambitions to compete although I might eventually be persuaded to try something like Interdressage or Dressage Anywhere.
Photo: Suzanne on Bella on one of her Intensive Training Days. Hacking is a great addition to lessons especially when you have instructor on another horse next to you who drills you now and then ;)
Did you enjoy participating in the Academy’s Case Study?
I was honoured to be asked to be a Case Study. I’ve learnt that it’s all the little things being knitted together that make a difference. The Academy’s training is holistic, structured and fine-tuned to suit the individual. All aspects are interlinked and I enjoyed the whole experience.
1) Intensive Training Day(s) - Riding different horses at a larger yard. Riding one I had ridden before and finding the feel more quickly. Hours in the saddle at one time and being given the luxury of learning something and then being able to try it again a bit later on that same day.
2) Video Feedback - Invaluable, really instils what one is trying to learn and connects the image of how one imagines one rides with reality.
3) Written homework and links to articles on the theory chosen to help with particular element of training - Widens all round knowledge. Exposure to alternative methods.
4) Fitness programme/Stretch Exercises/Chiropractic assessment - The stretching exercises make a huge difference (I just need to remember to do them!).
5) Was taking the programme motivating? Did you feel like you were more/less focused on tasks & training? - Highly motivating and very addictive. The way the programme is organised certainly concentrated my mind and helped me to see the progress I was achieving.
I would. Having definite aims and a structure is so beneficial to learning. For me, time is an issue but the Academy programme is flexible enough to fit around a full time job.
Long term goals:
Improve flexibility and suppleness in the rider to help with her seat and influence in sitting trot and canter. Ride a good quality Preliminary level Dressage test, being able to control the horse's way of going, the tempo in all gaits, increasing the feel and awareness of when things are working well and when they start falling apart. Getting to know as many aspects of Preliminary dressage as possible, understanding the Scales of Training and the process of basic schooling for dressage and soundness.
Training Plan Goals:
1) Develop fundamentals of deeper seat. In Suzanne's case the areas to address were:
- confidence in sitting trot and canter!
- address the usage of psoas muscles and abdominal muscles and understanding their role in rider's stability
- hip flexibility
- body suppleness
2) Understanding longitudinal and lateral bend in the horse and being able to ask for both.
3) Ride an accurate BD Walk & Trot test with full awareness of gymnastic value of dressage movements included in those tests.
Photo: Giving Piriformis muscle a nice stretch. This exercise makes you feel like your legs lengthened by good few centimeters once you've sat back in the saddle!
We had several months to reach these goals so the first thing we did was to implement a lot of fun off - horse exercises into Suzanne's daily routine. She was to sit on a gym ball at work and keep her hips mobile ;) She did say her colleagues were quite amused.
She was also to do some very simple and gentle stretch workout programme which she found very helpful.
Suzanne tends to stiffen her wrists too so she got a special series of wrists movements several times a day which also met a few bemused comments ;)
It took several weeks but we soon started to see the benefits of these little routines. As the body of the horse constantly moves, the joints in the rider's body have to be kept mobile and relaxed. It takes a lot of confidence to just "use" ones skeleton for balance rather than applying constant muscular effort sprinkled with nervous tension. Suzanne isn't particularly nervous rider but tends to grip and "hold" when unsure or when the movement gets bigger.
As with all other riders, we also introduced lunge sessions. On a trustworthy horse these are the perfect way to develop supple seat and improve balance in motion.
Photo: Suzanne and Boss - "squeeze down the rein"...but how? Suzanne learns how to keep her wrists "soft" while changing the pressure on the inside rein to ask the horse to yield to the bit and produce inside flexion at the poll.
Suzanne is happy to canter on hacks in light seat but arena work is a different matter for her. This is why we simply made a point of cantering in every lesson. To keep Rosie comfortable we did all the canter work in light seat at the beginning and only once Suzanne was able to follow her movements more comfortably we started introducing deeper seat.
Suzanne's lower leg lives its own life so we addressed the balance and lower legs control first.
Here is a short clip showing the improvement in upper body balance and lower leg stability in a light seat in canter.
Photo: Keeping the horse "in front of the leg" in trot is becoming easier and easier for Suzanne. She also developed a lot of feel for the moments when "things are about to go wrong" and is able to correct herself even before I say anything! I still have no idea how she can stay warm in just a T-shirt in the winter but I can only guess that all the enjoyment of hard work is keeping her toastie ;)
Photo: Snapshot from one of Suzanne's Video Feedback sessions. The seat in canter is coming along!
We were going to film Suzanne for one of the November's BD Walk & Trot tests for Dressage Anywhere but the weather spoilt our plans. I will keep you updated and will also add the video once Mr Snow and Mrs Freeze decide to go away.
Photo: Suzanne also has a very non-horsey job in London but here is what Rosie thinks about it!
Suzanne introduces herself
I am from Zimbabwe where I was introduced to horses at an early age, plodding around a farm on a horse that was way too big for me. I started lessons when I was about 6 and pestered my parents for my own pony but to no avail. I was lucky enough to have a friend with horses so my teenage years were spent on crazy hacks and hanging around shows being my friend’s “groom”. For a couple of decades I barely rode. However, the bug returned and I started riding again at a local riding school. I have always loved horses; they are huge and majestic but so trusting and generous. Being outside, riding a horse you love, what better thing is there?
Horses She Rides:
I ride at a small riding school where I generally ride the same horse in my lessons, Rosie, a Cleveland Bay mare. Rosie is in her teens, a bit stiff (like me) and sometimes finds things a little tricky. However, if I get something right, she tells me and we float off on cloud 9. I also hack some friends’ horses, a gentle giant called Thomas (also a Cleveland Bay), the handsome Phagan (an Irish Draught x TB) and Clarissa (the most comfy cob).
Suzanne also comes for Intensive Training Days at Hall-Place Equestrian Centre a few times a year.
Easy and effective exercise to become more aware of what each side of your body does. Suzanne tends to collapse her waist in the saddle so here she is stretching each side to trigger her awarness of being symmetrical.
Suzanne BEFORE the Academy training started:
Why does she like having lessons?
I enjoy hacking, being out and about and taking in the surroundings. But I LOVE lessons. I need to be pushed to try to achieve those things that I don’t think I can do, I like to be challenged by the technicalities that lessons bring even if it takes time for me to get there. Most of all, I want to ride quietly and effectively, respecting and in harmony with the horse, and for that lessons are vital.
What are your riding ambitions? Would you like to compete or do you prefer training at home?
I’m happiest training at home, progressing slowly. I don’t have ambitions to compete although I might eventually be persuaded to try something like Interdressage or Dressage Anywhere.
Photo: Suzanne on Bella on one of her Intensive Training Days. Hacking is a great addition to lessons especially when you have instructor on another horse next to you who drills you now and then ;)
Did you enjoy participating in the Academy’s Case Study?
I was honoured to be asked to be a Case Study. I’ve learnt that it’s all the little things being knitted together that make a difference. The Academy’s training is holistic, structured and fine-tuned to suit the individual. All aspects are interlinked and I enjoyed the whole experience.
1) Intensive Training Day(s) - Riding different horses at a larger yard. Riding one I had ridden before and finding the feel more quickly. Hours in the saddle at one time and being given the luxury of learning something and then being able to try it again a bit later on that same day.
2) Video Feedback - Invaluable, really instils what one is trying to learn and connects the image of how one imagines one rides with reality.
3) Written homework and links to articles on the theory chosen to help with particular element of training - Widens all round knowledge. Exposure to alternative methods.
4) Fitness programme/Stretch Exercises/Chiropractic assessment - The stretching exercises make a huge difference (I just need to remember to do them!).
5) Was taking the programme motivating? Did you feel like you were more/less focused on tasks & training? - Highly motivating and very addictive. The way the programme is organised certainly concentrated my mind and helped me to see the progress I was achieving.
Considering what Academy’s Programme is all about would you consider purchasing the Training Plans? If yes, why? If not, why?
I would. Having definite aims and a structure is so beneficial to learning. For me, time is an issue but the Academy programme is flexible enough to fit around a full time job.
LITTLE LOOK INTO SUZANNE'S TRAINING PLAN
Long term goals:
Improve flexibility and suppleness in the rider to help with her seat and influence in sitting trot and canter. Ride a good quality Preliminary level Dressage test, being able to control the horse's way of going, the tempo in all gaits, increasing the feel and awareness of when things are working well and when they start falling apart. Getting to know as many aspects of Preliminary dressage as possible, understanding the Scales of Training and the process of basic schooling for dressage and soundness.
Training Plan Goals:
1) Develop fundamentals of deeper seat. In Suzanne's case the areas to address were:
- confidence in sitting trot and canter!
- address the usage of psoas muscles and abdominal muscles and understanding their role in rider's stability
- hip flexibility
- body suppleness
2) Understanding longitudinal and lateral bend in the horse and being able to ask for both.
3) Ride an accurate BD Walk & Trot test with full awareness of gymnastic value of dressage movements included in those tests.
Photo: Giving Piriformis muscle a nice stretch. This exercise makes you feel like your legs lengthened by good few centimeters once you've sat back in the saddle!
We had several months to reach these goals so the first thing we did was to implement a lot of fun off - horse exercises into Suzanne's daily routine. She was to sit on a gym ball at work and keep her hips mobile ;) She did say her colleagues were quite amused.
She was also to do some very simple and gentle stretch workout programme which she found very helpful.
Suzanne tends to stiffen her wrists too so she got a special series of wrists movements several times a day which also met a few bemused comments ;)
It took several weeks but we soon started to see the benefits of these little routines. As the body of the horse constantly moves, the joints in the rider's body have to be kept mobile and relaxed. It takes a lot of confidence to just "use" ones skeleton for balance rather than applying constant muscular effort sprinkled with nervous tension. Suzanne isn't particularly nervous rider but tends to grip and "hold" when unsure or when the movement gets bigger.
As with all other riders, we also introduced lunge sessions. On a trustworthy horse these are the perfect way to develop supple seat and improve balance in motion.
Photo: Suzanne and Boss - "squeeze down the rein"...but how? Suzanne learns how to keep her wrists "soft" while changing the pressure on the inside rein to ask the horse to yield to the bit and produce inside flexion at the poll.
Suzanne is happy to canter on hacks in light seat but arena work is a different matter for her. This is why we simply made a point of cantering in every lesson. To keep Rosie comfortable we did all the canter work in light seat at the beginning and only once Suzanne was able to follow her movements more comfortably we started introducing deeper seat.
Suzanne's lower leg lives its own life so we addressed the balance and lower legs control first.
Here is a short clip showing the improvement in upper body balance and lower leg stability in a light seat in canter.
Photo: Keeping the horse "in front of the leg" in trot is becoming easier and easier for Suzanne. She also developed a lot of feel for the moments when "things are about to go wrong" and is able to correct herself even before I say anything! I still have no idea how she can stay warm in just a T-shirt in the winter but I can only guess that all the enjoyment of hard work is keeping her toastie ;)
Photo: Snapshot from one of Suzanne's Video Feedback sessions. The seat in canter is coming along!
We were going to film Suzanne for one of the November's BD Walk & Trot tests for Dressage Anywhere but the weather spoilt our plans. I will keep you updated and will also add the video once Mr Snow and Mrs Freeze decide to go away.
Friday, 29 October 2010
Just the usual...NOT
Somewhere in between work, learning and a rest time I have finally found a moment to catch up on the last two weeks. The yard we were looking at in London unfortunately has been taken out of the market in rather unexpected circumnstances so the search for a London base is still on.
It is believed that we spoil at least 10 horses before we make 1 good one. Nobody seems to be saying about how a 1 good horse can spoil all the others for you ;)
In my early teens I rode all the standard riding school horses and ponies - crooked, stiff, rigid and unwilling most of the time, bored with my lack of skills and probably in discomfort from my lack of balance. I made do with saddles with broken trees, saddles that made you want to scream after half an hour with no stirrups and those that made it virtually impossible for the rider to sit in any kind of balanced position. In my late teens I moved onto my then trainer's horses - variety of stallions and show-jumpers at the Stallion Depot I trained at. That was the first time my taste in horses has definitely changed. To sit on a supple horse that bends both ways, that has a "go" button built in, that has a tack that doesn't make you want to get off right there and then and that helps you rather than fights you every step - it was an amazing experience.
To those of you who are thinking why do I keep mentioning the tack...I was quite oblivious to comfort in the saddle for a long time. Until I started schooling for 6-8 hours a day. Then my view changed very drastically!
Going back to riding school industry brought many issues back. The saddlery has certainly moved on from the 90's but one-sided, bored horses are still around. It's very satisfying to be able to ride them into a happier state of mind and I do enjoy schooling them to make them more athletic but it has nothing to do with actually enjoying the ride.
Last week I worked at Anna Ross-Davies' beautiful new set up (their website is now live and I definitely recommend checking it out if you are into Dressage and training: http://altogetherequestrian.com/) and I was pretty much taken back in time and spoiled once again by some truly lovely horses I got the training on. Not to mention all the riding in those lovely dressage saddles!
I think it's very much of a case of "if you don't have what you like, you have to learn to like what you've got" - you get on with riding sour horses, you get some pleasure out of making them less so and you chose not to think about how fabulous it can actually feel to ride and how much you still love it.
The last week was a 12h a day- sleep - back to 12h day sort of work but the riding was amazing. It helped me focus on my own riding problems for a change rather than scrutinising others all the time. I haven't ridden such beautifully produced horses for almost 10 years and it made me realise how much I miss it.
If you have a seriously nice young horse and are looking for seriously good backing/schooling services you should look into Ben Martin's offer.
Words just can't describe how it feels to ride this type of horses after years of struggling to feel again something you have a distant memory of but can't quite get the feel for again.
Back to reality and plenty of things happening here to keep me busy. I will probably have to yet again (!) re-think the organisation of my week/month work so I can accommodate more Academy clients as for now I am pretty much at full capacity.
A few interesting meetings coming up next week which may or may not bring more busyness...details soon as and when it all unveils.
It is believed that we spoil at least 10 horses before we make 1 good one. Nobody seems to be saying about how a 1 good horse can spoil all the others for you ;)
In my early teens I rode all the standard riding school horses and ponies - crooked, stiff, rigid and unwilling most of the time, bored with my lack of skills and probably in discomfort from my lack of balance. I made do with saddles with broken trees, saddles that made you want to scream after half an hour with no stirrups and those that made it virtually impossible for the rider to sit in any kind of balanced position. In my late teens I moved onto my then trainer's horses - variety of stallions and show-jumpers at the Stallion Depot I trained at. That was the first time my taste in horses has definitely changed. To sit on a supple horse that bends both ways, that has a "go" button built in, that has a tack that doesn't make you want to get off right there and then and that helps you rather than fights you every step - it was an amazing experience.
To those of you who are thinking why do I keep mentioning the tack...I was quite oblivious to comfort in the saddle for a long time. Until I started schooling for 6-8 hours a day. Then my view changed very drastically!
Going back to riding school industry brought many issues back. The saddlery has certainly moved on from the 90's but one-sided, bored horses are still around. It's very satisfying to be able to ride them into a happier state of mind and I do enjoy schooling them to make them more athletic but it has nothing to do with actually enjoying the ride.
Last week I worked at Anna Ross-Davies' beautiful new set up (their website is now live and I definitely recommend checking it out if you are into Dressage and training: http://altogetherequestrian.com/) and I was pretty much taken back in time and spoiled once again by some truly lovely horses I got the training on. Not to mention all the riding in those lovely dressage saddles!
I think it's very much of a case of "if you don't have what you like, you have to learn to like what you've got" - you get on with riding sour horses, you get some pleasure out of making them less so and you chose not to think about how fabulous it can actually feel to ride and how much you still love it.
The last week was a 12h a day- sleep - back to 12h day sort of work but the riding was amazing. It helped me focus on my own riding problems for a change rather than scrutinising others all the time. I haven't ridden such beautifully produced horses for almost 10 years and it made me realise how much I miss it.
If you have a seriously nice young horse and are looking for seriously good backing/schooling services you should look into Ben Martin's offer.
Photos below are of me having a lesson on Ben's 4 year old - the horse I wish was for sale!
[I also wish I could turn my damn body to the right!]
[I also wish I could turn my damn body to the right!]
Words just can't describe how it feels to ride this type of horses after years of struggling to feel again something you have a distant memory of but can't quite get the feel for again.Back to reality and plenty of things happening here to keep me busy. I will probably have to yet again (!) re-think the organisation of my week/month work so I can accommodate more Academy clients as for now I am pretty much at full capacity.
A few interesting meetings coming up next week which may or may not bring more busyness...details soon as and when it all unveils.
Friday, 17 September 2010
Books, Burghley, Home Made Pizza and Academy's tasks
You never know how much rubbish you have in your own house until you try to tidy things up. September started for me with a giant clearance. Having been ill almost entire August and being unable to shed a horrid cold for several weeks, my energy returned all of a sudden. At first I just wanted to get rid of stacks and stacks of equestrian mags that I seem incapable of throwing away but ended up filling our patio up with mountains of large, black wheelie bin liners full of all sorts of stuff we no longer need/use...For those of you who don't know our house is a size of a match box so I was impressed at how much storage space it actually has ;)
Old magazines gone it was only fair to order some new books to take up the available shelves! I decided to ask my mum to order some books in Polish for me as although I have no problems reading any English training books it always feels like I learn more reading in the mother tongue.
There are many new things I've learned since I've lived here and I am ashamed to admit but I find some concepts way easier to explain in English than in Polish.
I am rectifying this by reading some excellent books in both languages. The two I've just finished are:
1) Centred Riding by Sally Swift
English Version: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Centered-Riding-Sally-Swift/dp/0851319335
2) Klaus Balkenhol - The Man And His Training Methods
Polish Version: http://www.empik.com/klaus-balkenhol-szkolenie-ujezdzeniowe-wedlug-zasad-klasycznej-szkoly-jazdy-konnej-schoffmann-britta,prod29890131,ksiazka-p
The Sally Swift book was a great read, some very good ideas on how to explain variety of riding concepts and some excellent examples of very creative images illustrating those concepts.
I also have her second book and I am looking forward to reading it.
The Klaus Balkenhol's biography was a joy to read and very inspirational. I thoroughly recommend it, fantastic insight into life of a very dedicated horseman and coach as well as into his classical training methods.
He is to be the guest speaker at British Dressage's: The Albion National Convention which will be held on the 27-28 November at Hartpury College and I am planning to go to at least one of the days.
Burghley 2010
On Saturday the 4th of September, Kari and I made a two hour road trip to Burghely Horse Trials to watch the XC and to see Craig and Spider doing their first 4* track. It was immediately apparent why Burghely is regarded as the most difficult 4* - the ground goes up and down non stop and there is barely a stretch of even galloping surface. Everything seems to have a gradient to it and if the ground happens to flatten a bit there are strategically placed mounds to make things nicely hair rising!
Despite Kari's hope to avoid any drastic looking falls we ended up witnessing a dreadful one of Rosie Thomas. Her horse Barry's Best caught a knee on the table jump, landed on his knees and face, rider's foot went deep through the iron and didn't release when the horse got up resulting in an awful looking drag :(
Both were fine and Rosie hopped along to give the horse a big hug once stewards had caught him.
Spider went clear and looked fabulous.
A couple of videos I took of Craig and Spider:
The crowds were substantial and it wasn't easy to see the action unless you planted yourself at one jump, sneaked your way to the ropes and just watched several riders going over. In this way you could compare different ways of riding to and over each jump but it could get samey!
The Academy
Time has come to deal with the mammoth task of editing all the Case Studies videos. It's a Grand Design scale project in itself as I literally need hours of free time to upload all the videos and then put them together into short clips. Let's just say I will be relieved when that's done.
The riders are doing very well and I hope you will enjoy reading about their progress.
I wrote a second part of the blog for Horse & Country TV's website and sent it over. I try to make sure that what I write there isn't identical to the content on here so if anybody reads both blogs they won't find the same boring waffle ;)
The H&C TV blog is more about the ups and downs of the Academy from the launch, set up and the running point of view but I also included details that I haven't discussed on here. I will post a link once the second part goes online. If you missed the first part, here it is:
There is another company that wants me to write for them so I need to come up with an interesting version of a blog like material that isn't a repetition of the other material I already write. It's all great opportunity to share my passion for this project but believe me, writing on other sites is a bit stressful as I am very aware of my lame grammar. Thankfully, I have lovely secret proofreaders who will help with any major mishaps!
On the subject of sharing the news - I am working on more, hopefully interesting ways of spreading the word about Academy. Once those ideas are finalised I will post more details about them.
Other Stuff
I blame my friends for making me re-visit the kitchen and start cooking at home again! I really don't have the time for this!! ;) They prepared the most fantastic home-made pizza last week with plenty of some home-prepared ingredients and then actually baked own bread for our breakfast! It was just plain delicious and so tasty :)
Haakan's Home Made Pizza - Yummy!
It's therefore entirely their fault I spent an hour in the kitchen today getting our dinner ready but it was so worth it!
London Ride Network
A couple of weeks ago someone emailed me saying they couldn't make a meeting organised by London Ride Network and whether I would be interested if she recommended me for her place. I have never heard of this organisation but thought it might be interesting to go. According to the information I received "The purpose of the network is to: work in the collective interest to develop the industry, share knowledge and best practices, fund access to the sport, work with external agencies and engage with County Sports Partnerships (CSP’s) and schools. "
I then got sent the Agenda for the meeting and decided it sounded intriguing.
I am not sure if I will be able to meaningfully contribute to the meeting but I would certainly love to learn how to search for funding as well as how to create better environment for the sport to develop further. Every now and then I teach a child or a teenager who have so much drive and talent and I think, damn you could be really good if there were opportunities for you to make it in this sport! The sad truth is that the costs of training and competing are way beyond the reach of those kids' parents. The meeting is on the 28th so I shall post a note of what it was all about.
I am not sure if I will be able to meaningfully contribute to the meeting but I would certainly love to learn how to search for funding as well as how to create better environment for the sport to develop further. Every now and then I teach a child or a teenager who have so much drive and talent and I think, damn you could be really good if there were opportunities for you to make it in this sport! The sad truth is that the costs of training and competing are way beyond the reach of those kids' parents. The meeting is on the 28th so I shall post a note of what it was all about.
Off to Kent tomorrow for more Academy chat, some riding, some videoing - speak soon!
Friday, 25 June 2010
My teaching might be rather strict...
...but rest assured I'm equally hard on myself. I asked someone today to take some photos of me riding because I know that bad habits creep in really fast and although I can tell when things aren't right it's difficult to feel what exactly isn't right.
I've been having a really bad neck/shoulder pain for quite a while now and I know it relates to how I sit on a horse. I can't afford to have lessons myself right now and the training I get via various centres is focused on horses rather than riders. The best recipe for very unwanted habits to settle :(
Now that I've got a good camera I'm going to video my own sessions as I recommend to all my riders to do with theirs. I used to do this a lot when I set on a mission to retrain myself from show-jumping seat to being able to ride with longer stirrups and it worked ok.
What I do is I sit with my video and watch it as if I was teaching someone else. I then think what needs doing and how to do it. Then I go and do it until it's as good as possible.
So now I need to work on keeping my back straighter and head above the shoulders as that's what's giving me chronic pain in shoulders area. I also tend to collapse the middle of the body which weakens my seat. Considering how bad my upper body position is I'm quite glad all the hard work on the lower body seems to have paid off!
Ok, few images for you from today. I'm riding Casper, the TB I mentioned in earlier posts. He is starting to relax about ridden life a bit more and although still has days when he just bursts with tension, there are others when we can just focus on the way of going rather than keeping his mind settled.
If someone wonders why I'm riding him with such long reins and no contact: he is an ex-race horse and doesn't accept anything but very soft feel on the rein. His owner is way more experienced with off the track TBs and this how he advised me to ride him. It does work wonders for Casper's relaxation.
Saturday, 1 May 2010
Still catching up and bits and pieces of present time
I mentioned a week ago about a teaching trip to Gloucestershire but still didn't write about it.
After a long drive from London, Kari an
d I arrived at this stunning place where I was to spendmy day. Church Farm is a beautiful set up of a stable yard and farmhouse: http://www.churchfarm.uk.net/.
We had a great day with some on the ground, "contact" training and ridden lessons in the arena with some stunning views.
The place is so nice I asked if we could use it as a venue for some future Academy's ventures (of which in a moment) and Lucy is very happy for us to go ahead.
Church Farm has the facilities for riders to stay with own horses which is perfect.
Now, talking about the Academy. I had to change the launch date from 1st May to simply May as there is still a couple of things that needs sorting out organisationally. I am also awaiting for various information from people involved and it takes a while to chase for all those bits and pieces.
Two out of five Programmes are pretty much finalised and ready to go on the site. The third one will be ready on Monday and the other two need my attention as are still in a form of million little notes.
It's hard work to put it all into a meaningful, easy to follow form, it's much easier to just 'do' things than to describe them well.
We are having some really good feedback so far so I am hoping this will continue.
Pic. above: Outdoor arena at Church FarmOn the horses front there is a very positive news on Kingsley boy. The vet saw him on Thursday and he trotted up really well with longer, freer steps. His back is in much better condition too and the compensation seems to be decreasing.
All this considering he is now allowed to trot for a short periods of time. As haven't ridden him much at all we will continue with walk hacks for a bit to strengthen his muscles and improve his balance.
I hacked him out properly on Friday for the first time. So far he was doing half in-hand walking, lungeing and short periods under saddle.
This was hist first proper 40 minutes hack and he was really good, very keen if a little tense. We went out in company but he was still a bit reluctant to leave the yard. That said, the moment we moved up the driveway he marched forward and wanted to lead all the way. The tree roots and smaller holes in the ground still made him trip and his undulation perception/balance weren't great but then he barely had a rider on board for the last 8 months.
It's quite funny to ride him because in a way we know him fairly well now but that knowledge of him is mostly from on the ground handling. It's like getting to know him all over again from a ridden perspective.
Hopefully he will improve now that we can take him out and about. This morning, I took Frank for a hack in-hand with Pauline riding Kingsley. Both boys behaved really well and already Kingsley was tripping less. Pauline's very calm disposition also has a very good effect on his hyperactivity and tension.
Pic. Pauline on Kingsley and Frankie with me in-hand.
It was also Frankie's first venture into the woods and apart from a few worried looks at more interesting parts of nature around us he behaved impeccably.
He still isn't too happy with a saddle on though so we are still "playing work". On Friday I did his girth one hole loser than normal which meant the saddle was moving a fraction. It wasn't any big movement and Kingsley wouldn't even have noticed but Frank wasn't impressed. I am yet to see him buck but he showed some interesting arched back upwards hops.
I decided not to tighten the girth, continued until he totally settled and didn't mind any movement anymore and we finished on an even, relaxed trot work.
Horses aside, I'm going through an odd time right now. Election in the UK is bringing up the subject of immigration a lot and not in a positive context as you can imagine. This means I am witnessing numerous conversations on my daily commute, in shops and on the streets and in many ways it does have a negative impact on my normally very positive attitude to life and future.
I guess I should have gotten used to this by now but I haven't. Perhaps I need to toughen up even more.
More updates soon but for now it will have to be rest time.
Friday, 23 April 2010
Why eventers can't show-jump, training half-steps, napping,shadowing Anna and watching Human Performance in action - week in review
Pic.left: Watching dressage warm up with Barney who after becoming friends with me decided being close by is the way to go!Where were we?
Tweseldown trip was very interesting. The reason I like to go to various events is because I like to stay on top of the level of riding out there, what do riders have problems with, whether there is any common issue, how does everything runs etc As I barely ever compete myself it's important for me not to stay too much out of the loop. On top of that, being foreign, I still think about competitions I used to take part in and many aspects of events here are very, very different to what I'm used to.
One thing that was particularly striking at Tweseldown was that eventers have a grand issue with the show-jumping phase! I watched quite a few rounds, 30-40 in total and saw maybe 1-2 rounds where horses had a good show-jumping canter. It was an unaffiliated Pre-Novice class so perhaps the level was lower than at a BE event but nevertheless there was quite a few pros competing.
It's good to know there is plenty of scope for improvement in the rider's way of jumping the courses.
The Dressage phase was another interesting part. I watched the riders warm up and very few practiced movements or transitions that came up later in the test. Many just rode around trying not to be mowed down by other riders! It was quite manic and very few looked like they were focusing on the job in hand. Not surprisingly, the transitions seemed to be the weakest link in majority of the tests I watched.
I'm very pleased to report my friend rode a lovely, rhythmic and forwards yet relaxed and supple test on her horse Epperne Z (or Ernie) to score 25.5 for it. Look out for them, they are good!When you go as a help you can see much more than when you compete and have to focus on yourself. Observing is both good fun and an inexpensive education.
Very few riders walk their horses much once off the lorries. I saw several riders trotting away and into jumping warm-up literally few minutes after they chucked the saddles on. Not too good for all these cold tendons and ligaments is it?
Another good area of teaching - how to organise your time at an event, how to look after the horse before, during and after the event.
The horses. I rode Kingsley today and he felt much nicer and straighter than he was couple of months ago. He is still lacking a lot of suppleness and avoids any bending. Turning on the right rein rocks me to the outside quite significantly. I walked him in the woods in hand as there was nobody to go for a hack with and I thought it might be a bit silly to go solo on a horse that hasn't had the saddle on for almost 2 months. We then walked into the arena where Craig was riding Spider (Just Ironic who is on Badminton waiting list but only 6 places to go! We are keeping everything crossed he goes in!!) and Kingsley was totally fine until Spider started leaving...Kingsley spied that he would be on his own and reacted with napping. He didn't rear but because I know that he might want to I rode him firmly for a couple more rounds on his own. He was fine with that.
Frank was still quite worried about the saddle. He acts almost cold-backed. However, he was much better in the arena, no galloping around at the end of the lunge. He listens now and I can slow him down almost immediately. He still overreacts to most things around him but I was really surprised at how much calmer he was. He was also fine with me leaning over the saddle again. No drama there. I really like him and working with him is quite a challenge.
Day with Anna Ross-Davies. If it was financially possible I would happily just go and spend few days a week just watching the training sessions and anything involved with top horses and riders. It's a fabulous opportunity and I love my days there.
This time Anna wasn't teaching any clients but was focusing on preparing herself and horses for Saumur CDIO where she is selected to ride for the Team GBR.
After 4.30am start to the day I got picked up by Ali who also teaches and rides some horses for Anna. I groomed quickly the two horses that were to be worked at 9 and went to watch Ali riding lovely black mare. A couple of months ago she was a hairy, fluffy, unfit broodmare look-a-like, she is rather sleek now! And moves! Well, I thought it was quite good until Anna came, said a few things and the canter went from bum high to sitting on the hocks.
Then the rest of early morning was all about piaffing in hand with MK and watching very elegant Merrie learning half-steps. I've never seen a horse being taught half-steps in - hand before, fascinating. Simon, who does the in-hand work is quite a magician with the whip!
I was then left with Benji the dog with permission to eavesdrop on James Burtwell's clinic (he is a Coach & List 3 Judge as well as Team Selector for Home Internationals and BD Regional Camp coach) while Anna dashed to the gym. Benji and I leisured in the sun while observing the training sessions. I must say James Burtwell knows how to be positive! He also seemed to have found that happy medium that allows him to praise riders a lot without sounding overly complementary and correct the problems without sounding too harsh. The skill I don't think I have much of...yet...I'm trying ;)The riders ranged from prelim to medium/adv medium level and yet again there was a lot of emphasis on correct basics but also a lot of freedom to play with more advanced movements despite a gap here and there.
What I really like about Anna's teaching is that the basics come first. I don't think I've seen many lessons when the gaps in rider's position and the correctness in horse's training wouldn't be addressed first and foremost.
Having said that, all the horses on James' clinic improved their way of going and finished on a very good note. He used a serpentine exercise a lot to work on horses' balance, rhythm, bend and flexion and it was interesting to see how many riders/horses started rather badly and rode much better and more balance aware after several goes.
The afternoon started with Anna teaching Eppi who rides for her at home. Then MK, Borris and Anna's riding were scrutinised by Jon Pitts who helps Team GBR with rider's fitness & performance. Jon came to help with improving the canter zig-zag and one tempi changes. There is so many minute details in the training of a GP horse and a GP rider it is mind blowing, in a good way! To semi - quote Anna here, all the weakness that you have as a rider, all the gaps in the basic education might not show at Advanced Medium or PSG level but will hinder you at Grand Prix. Therefore she teaches riders at prelim as if they were going to make the GP level. It seems that once you're there you better have your basics well in place or you can forget about improving your horse at that level.
This is probably why Anna's way of training suits me as I like to be taught the correct way, no gaps, and I like to coach riders this way too. If I go for a lesson I'm not interested in being praised all the time and/or told how good my horse is. Sure, I want my confidence to be built but if I needed a tell-me-sweet-little-lies session I am sure I can get it for free. Not all riders like this of course and many prefer to move up the levels without ironing out the foundation steps.
The solid basics and relying on rider performance tools is the sort of work we want to do with Academy for grassroots riders (scaled down of course!) so watching the training with Jon's input was a fabulous opportunity.
Even more so, he is interested to get involved on rider performance side of the Academy so I just have to figure out how to organise it all!
The day finished with setting up the dressage boards on grass for Anna's lessons for eventers in preparation for Badminton. Wish I could see those. Maybe next time.
Running Training Day tomorrow, then teaching my dear Barnfield gang on Sunday.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
April Plans & Academy's Next Step
Word of hindsight wisdom - if you're freelance, have a sicky fund ;) Not that I've got one but I would certainly like to have it.
As hard as it is not to be earning I decided to give my illness one more day as I continue having very little voice, jumpy temperature, cough and just generally feeling ill. I worked in similar states before but it always ended up dragging with me for weeks, disapearing for a moment only to return with double strength. Not worth it. I am fully aware I am not making it easy for myself working 7 days a week but right now I don't think I can do it any other way.
Right, onto the current whereabouts...
As I am now at the yard, lovely Cane End Stud, that kindly let's me use their facilities I can offer lessons for horse owners without them having to pay unrealistic amounts. I have two girls coming from London with their horses next week which I am looking forward to.
Speaking of teaching. Someone I taught once at one of my BHS exams contacted me to arrange for me coming for the day to her livery yard. Although I've done some 'training days' (don't want to call it 'clinics' as that's something top riders do!) for Riding Clubs before, this is the first properly paid teaching trip. I am very much looking forward to it and hope I can offer what the riders want/need.
ACADEMY
I have just bought a domain and hosting account for the Academy and it's all getting more and more real!
www.aspire-equestrian.com
(there isn't much there as yet) but do check back soon!
I now have to order some promo materials as well as place the adverts. Lady from Horse & Hound is due to ring me mid-April to help me with putting adverts online in the right places on H&H website. Then there are a few horsey magazines to consider on top of some non-horsey places to encourage people new to the sport.
If anyone out there knows of good places to advertise comprehensive Training Programmes for riders at all levels, adults and junior riders (12-18yrs old) from those first time in the saddle to affiliated competitors please email me at ridinginstructor at gmail com or leave a comment on here.
We will be looking to find riders with aspirations to get the best they can, improve their skills with help from a network of supporting coaching services. The Academy is partially venues based (riders without own horses can learn to ride/train at several participating Riding Centres in London, Berkshire, Kent & Surrey) partially mobile (any horse owner can have their training session at their yard providing the outside trainers/instructors are allowed). There will also be a possibility to attend training sessions on own horse at participating venues.
Descriptions of the Programmes will be released on the website on the 1st of May. To give you more of an idea here is the latest of each Programme in a nutshell:
Aspire Equestrian overview:
START - training focus here is 99% on the rider and the programme is designed as a start up for anyone who wants to begin their adventure with the sport. This is the only 'fixed' Programme and consists of 22 Lunge Lessons and is solely committed to seat education, development of balance & coordination.
Riders will also learn the basis of handling of the horses, stable management, equitation theory; we will also address rider's fitness and performance even at this early stage both for improvement but also for fun and enjoyment.
As well as providing a great start to the sport this programme can also be taken by:
-anyone wanting to re-educate their seat
-come back to riding after a long break/injury/accident
-BHS students needing to address their position in the saddle
FOUNDATION - roughly 75% rider focused, 25% horse focused. Level 1 & 2. This is a programme where most 'riding school' type riders would fit in. It's for novice/intermediate level riders learning correctness of the aids and principles of basic schooling of the horse (at Level 2).
DEVELOPMENT - roughly 65% rider training focused, 35% horse training focused.
=riders straight from Foundation Programme
=riders developing partnership with new/young horse
=riders learning to train their horse
=riders wanting to train towards 'start up' competitions (low levels unaffiliated)
PERFORMANCE - 50%/50% rider/horse training focus
=for competition riders wanting training plans to improve performance
=affiliated and higher levels unaffiliated
Some exciting plans are being made for this Programme :)
BHS Training - preparation for BHS exams for all aspiring coaches out there.
And the last news to share is that I have a possible riding project available and I'm figuring out ways to fit in riding him into my busy working schedule. Thankfully, there is a nice young rider who is happy to share the training workload with me. I will introduce the horse properly once we are up and running with it.
Friday, 2 April 2010
Waming Up For Dressage with Anna Ross Davies
Anna Ross Davies gives her thoughts about the warm up in her demonstration on Pegasus MK.
PART 1
PART 2
And a couple of videos of Anna competing. I don't think I will live long enough to ever ride like she does but I guess you've got to aspire the highest you can :)
March 2010 Pegasus MK Grand Prix Freestyle
2009 Regionals Medium Freestyle
PART 1
PART 2
And a couple of videos of Anna competing. I don't think I will live long enough to ever ride like she does but I guess you've got to aspire the highest you can :)
March 2010 Pegasus MK Grand Prix Freestyle
2009 Regionals Medium Freestyle
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
Around Tweseldown With Brynley Powell - My Self Improvement Training Continues
Despite horrendous weather which brought rain, hail storm, more rain and more rain water everywhere I've had a super day. Since I decided that this year will be very much about watching higher level trainers/coaches and learning as much as I can I am trying to go by that aim.It's not always easy to swap a day of teaching (and earning) for a day of some unpaid training education but if I didn't try to get better I wouldn't see much point in doing my job.
Today I had a chance to zoom around Tweseldown racecourse and British Eventing XC venue (http://www.tweseldown.co.uk/) with its manager and an international three day event rider-trainer, Brynley Powell. Bryn took two riders XC schooling on their Novice/Intermediate level horses to sort out some xc technique issues and boost rider's confidence.
Pic. Statue at TweseldownI've never been to Tweseldown before but I must say the ground is keeping well considering how many buckets of water per square meter had already gone into the soil!
I will be grooming there for a friend and her horse at a Pre-Novice event on the 18th of April so it was good to be able to have a look around. I hope the weather is better for her (and me!) on the day!
This morning on the course was all about confidence and technique that allows the rider to feel the horse, that doesn't disturb or worries the horse and that allow riders to ride a flowing round. The objectives were certainly achieved!
The other thing worth noting was how the positive comments were mixed with constructive help. There was no negative coaching there at all. There are trainers out there who, although might be good riders themselves and have knowledge to offer, the way they pass it on can destroy a lot of trust and confidence in the rider...and the horse.
As one of the riders said today: 'If you have a relatively good rider who wants to improve more you can't just strip them off everything in one go. Even if what they do isn't ideal, it might suit that horse, that combination. If you take their skill and confidence away there is not much left to run on...'.
As Bryn later added, if you want to teach a rider something new, something better, you must first make sure it doesn't take their confidence away. This is because jumping and XC are 90% confidence.
Some coaching techniques are really mind boggling to me and I wonder whether some trainers just try to cover up for own inadequacies by bringing their riders down.
Then off to watch Bryn teaching two show-jumping lessons to two very different combinations with different problems to solve. I liked the way he chose jumping exercises to help with particular issues rather than throwing plenty of tasks at both horse and rider.
I volunteered to drag the poles and jump wings around so I could get the feel for what he was setting up and what distances he was using.
I've invited Bryn to get involved in Eventing side of coaching within the Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy project and he kindly agreed!!! I have this idea that is part of Academy project but I can't really talk about fully yet. However, it looks like it might be very real :) Let's not rush though.
I then fit in some riding in the rain and lunged Kingsley (in freezing cold, my hands almost froze to the lunge line, not impressed). He's now been on Bute for a week and had new egg bar shoes put on yesterday. Amazingly, he looked way more level AND his canter was 3 beat! I wouldn't go as far as to say he looked sound but the improvement is encouraging. I will lunge him again on Friday and post both videos together.
Well deserved rest now!
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Notes From Lecture-Talk 2 with Andrew Murphy: Why Sound Horses Can't Always Work Well Under Saddle, Biomechanics and Three Bascules
Friend of mine got me involved in those really interesting lecture-talks run by Andrew Murphy, one of instructors/trainers of the Training Teachers Of Tomorrow Trust. The first one was in November last year and here is a link to some notes from it for anyone who might be interested and haven't seen my post back then: http://freelanceinstructorsdiary.blogspot.com/2009/11/medical-approach-to-teaching-evening.html
The second one was on this past Monday and this time the focus was on the bio mechanics of training a riding horse, how any natural crookedness and any balance issues will show up with increased intensity under the weight of the rider.
Partly due to my interest in bio mechanics is general and partly because of Kinglsey's rehab I am finding the subject fascinating.
Andrew started off with explanation of engagement and thoroughness and although you could probably find plenty of books giving pages of text about both, it seems that you can define them very simply too.
Here are some notes I made on Monday:
Thoroughness could be described as unrestricted movement of every part of the horse's body. I actually always thought about it more in terms of feel. When I ride I look for the ease with which the horse accepts the aids and for me the thoroughness feels as if whatever I do with any aid I 'feel' it in all others. The idea of 'movement in every part of the horse's body' helped me see it better from a teacher point of view.
Engagement is "doing more", the joints flex more, there is more power and expression in each movement.
If you encounter schooling problems try not to think about them from psychological point of view only. The horse need not to be unsound to have problems under the saddle. Try to analyse issues from physiological/bio mechanical point of view. Many slight crookedness issues will give horses no problem whatsoever in the field, on the lunge etc Put the rider's weight on and the whole equilibrium changes.
I watched Kingsley galloping around the field today, having some chasing games in trot, changing leads in canter effortlessly. Ok, he's not totally sound but seems to have no troubles with free movement - and yet, he can barely keep a straight line in walk under the saddle...
What I found very interesting was when Andrew described the outline or silhouette that we normally want to achieve with a ridden horse as a combination of 3 bascules. Normally we say that an outline means that the horse 'engages' the hindquarters, brings the back up and rounds through the neck. To me, that image of three bascules, was actually much clearer. Again, from teaching point of view.
The horse bacules (rounds) over the neck forwards, over the pelvis backwards (by posterior pelvic tilt or in other words by tucking his bottom underneath him) and in between these opposing forces or pulleys the third bascule - of the horse's back - is created. None is more important than the other and all has to be present if the horse is to remain healthy and sound throughout his ridden career. All three give the horse the supporting structure on which further athletic education can be built.
Stretching. We all know the importance of stretching the horses in the warm up, during the work time and in the cool down. Andrew said that the most important element of stretching is not when the horse moves with the neck down etc but when it is in the process of lowering it. In other words not a stretch itself but an act of stretchING that is of greatest value. He compared this to when we stretch our own tired back, we lean forwards and the feel of stretch in the muscles gives us a relief. Once we got down to the floor with the fingers there is nothing happening and there is a little benefit of hanging down there.
Same with horses, the moment when the horse "seeks" the rein downwards is of more importance stretch wise than the act of the horse "arriving on the bit".
I hope this post made some sense. It's almost 1am and my brain is lacking function.
The second one was on this past Monday and this time the focus was on the bio mechanics of training a riding horse, how any natural crookedness and any balance issues will show up with increased intensity under the weight of the rider.
Partly due to my interest in bio mechanics is general and partly because of Kinglsey's rehab I am finding the subject fascinating.
Andrew started off with explanation of engagement and thoroughness and although you could probably find plenty of books giving pages of text about both, it seems that you can define them very simply too.
Here are some notes I made on Monday:
Thoroughness could be described as unrestricted movement of every part of the horse's body. I actually always thought about it more in terms of feel. When I ride I look for the ease with which the horse accepts the aids and for me the thoroughness feels as if whatever I do with any aid I 'feel' it in all others. The idea of 'movement in every part of the horse's body' helped me see it better from a teacher point of view.
Engagement is "doing more", the joints flex more, there is more power and expression in each movement.
If you encounter schooling problems try not to think about them from psychological point of view only. The horse need not to be unsound to have problems under the saddle. Try to analyse issues from physiological/bio mechanical point of view. Many slight crookedness issues will give horses no problem whatsoever in the field, on the lunge etc Put the rider's weight on and the whole equilibrium changes.
I watched Kingsley galloping around the field today, having some chasing games in trot, changing leads in canter effortlessly. Ok, he's not totally sound but seems to have no troubles with free movement - and yet, he can barely keep a straight line in walk under the saddle...
What I found very interesting was when Andrew described the outline or silhouette that we normally want to achieve with a ridden horse as a combination of 3 bascules. Normally we say that an outline means that the horse 'engages' the hindquarters, brings the back up and rounds through the neck. To me, that image of three bascules, was actually much clearer. Again, from teaching point of view.
The horse bacules (rounds) over the neck forwards, over the pelvis backwards (by posterior pelvic tilt or in other words by tucking his bottom underneath him) and in between these opposing forces or pulleys the third bascule - of the horse's back - is created. None is more important than the other and all has to be present if the horse is to remain healthy and sound throughout his ridden career. All three give the horse the supporting structure on which further athletic education can be built.
Stretching. We all know the importance of stretching the horses in the warm up, during the work time and in the cool down. Andrew said that the most important element of stretching is not when the horse moves with the neck down etc but when it is in the process of lowering it. In other words not a stretch itself but an act of stretchING that is of greatest value. He compared this to when we stretch our own tired back, we lean forwards and the feel of stretch in the muscles gives us a relief. Once we got down to the floor with the fingers there is nothing happening and there is a little benefit of hanging down there.
Same with horses, the moment when the horse "seeks" the rein downwards is of more importance stretch wise than the act of the horse "arriving on the bit".
I hope this post made some sense. It's almost 1am and my brain is lacking function.
Tuesday, 9 February 2010
One Step Forwards
Have you ever heard about 'spontaneous trait transference'?
When you gossip about another person, listeners unconsciously associate you with the characteristics you are describing, ultimately leading to those characteristics being 'transferred' to you. So, say positive and pleasant things about friends and colleagues and you are seen as a nice person. In contrast, constantly bitch about their failings and people will unconsciously apply the negative traits and incompetence to you. Source: Richard Wiseman '59 seconds'
Interesting isn't it? I think the world would be a much nicer place to live in if more people made use of the positive side of gossiping.
Anyway. That was just a little digression.
The past week was packed with long hours and I just didn't have the time to sit down and put it all into words. Up until Thursday I made a super progress with Kingsley but hit a bit of a problem when I rode him on Friday. More about it in a separate post on his Rehab.
Friday actually started with a lovely extension to my birthday. As I only had half a day off on the 2nd we decided to use Friday morning to top the day up ;) Rick and I went for a lovely walk through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park for breakfast in a recently refurbished Cafe on Serpentine. The weather was all of a sudden all springy and sunny, absolutely gorgeous. Didn't last very long though. Weekend was back to freezing cold. I ran a Training Day on Saturday which was great fun and the rider loved it.
The Centre had the Riding Club giving Vaulting Demo and I was challenged to have a go. I haven't done vaulting for 15 years but it was a good laugh. Hoping on in canter was easier than I thought it would be after such a long break. However, standing on the horse was a different matter. Quite spooky!
Pic. above: Ally patiently letting me stand on her back. Note her expression of total boredom ;)
Sunday was as always rather interesting with my dear naughty ponies playing up in the cold. We had a late evening stable-drink-party-leaving-do as my fabulous, funny, amazing beginner rider is daring to stop her lessons now that she is getting somewhere! She is off on a bit of a journey around the hot parts of the world and I am invited to Mango Beach when she gets there! I just need to find some time for the time off to be able to go. Oh, and funding!
Either way, I hope she will be back once her year around the world is up for more adventures in the saddle. In return for riding lessons I've been given some great driving instructions and practical sessions. We came up with rather eccentric mnemonic for various maneuvers that is unfortunately totally unsuitable for print but made us laugh so much I couldn't operate my facial muscles anymore. My driving is now taken to the next level, I only hope I won't use any of the mnemonics on my exam or I might have trouble passing it.
Will miss you loads Linds!! X
At the beginning of the year I decided I wanted to find an additional job so I keep learning new things that will help me with what I want to do in the future. Ideally I wanted something on a professional yard and take part in rehabilitation of horses with sports/performance related injuries and retraining of ex-racehorses. Well, I will be starting a job of the above description in March on Mondays and Fridays and I am very much looking forward to it. More details to follow next month.
Stressful as it is I also decided on the launch date for Aspire Equestrian - 1st May it is! End of procrastination.
Yesterday, I went to a second in the series of lectures by one of the TTT trust's trainers, Andrew Murphy. I will write a summary of it tomorrow as it's getting late yet again and an attempt to put it all together would probably end up in a chaos ;)
Another day with Anna Ross-Davies this month to look forward to and some more news to come soon.
I think that's it for now. Hands into olive oil and cotton gloves and off to bed :)
When you gossip about another person, listeners unconsciously associate you with the characteristics you are describing, ultimately leading to those characteristics being 'transferred' to you. So, say positive and pleasant things about friends and colleagues and you are seen as a nice person. In contrast, constantly bitch about their failings and people will unconsciously apply the negative traits and incompetence to you. Source: Richard Wiseman '59 seconds'
Interesting isn't it? I think the world would be a much nicer place to live in if more people made use of the positive side of gossiping.
Anyway. That was just a little digression.
The past week was packed with long hours and I just didn't have the time to sit down and put it all into words. Up until Thursday I made a super progress with Kingsley but hit a bit of a problem when I rode him on Friday. More about it in a separate post on his Rehab.Friday actually started with a lovely extension to my birthday. As I only had half a day off on the 2nd we decided to use Friday morning to top the day up ;) Rick and I went for a lovely walk through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park for breakfast in a recently refurbished Cafe on Serpentine. The weather was all of a sudden all springy and sunny, absolutely gorgeous. Didn't last very long though. Weekend was back to freezing cold. I ran a Training Day on Saturday which was great fun and the rider loved it.
The Centre had the Riding Club giving Vaulting Demo and I was challenged to have a go. I haven't done vaulting for 15 years but it was a good laugh. Hoping on in canter was easier than I thought it would be after such a long break. However, standing on the horse was a different matter. Quite spooky!
Pic. above: Ally patiently letting me stand on her back. Note her expression of total boredom ;)Sunday was as always rather interesting with my dear naughty ponies playing up in the cold. We had a late evening stable-drink-party-leaving-do as my fabulous, funny, amazing beginner rider is daring to stop her lessons now that she is getting somewhere! She is off on a bit of a journey around the hot parts of the world and I am invited to Mango Beach when she gets there! I just need to find some time for the time off to be able to go. Oh, and funding!
Either way, I hope she will be back once her year around the world is up for more adventures in the saddle. In return for riding lessons I've been given some great driving instructions and practical sessions. We came up with rather eccentric mnemonic for various maneuvers that is unfortunately totally unsuitable for print but made us laugh so much I couldn't operate my facial muscles anymore. My driving is now taken to the next level, I only hope I won't use any of the mnemonics on my exam or I might have trouble passing it.
Will miss you loads Linds!! X
At the beginning of the year I decided I wanted to find an additional job so I keep learning new things that will help me with what I want to do in the future. Ideally I wanted something on a professional yard and take part in rehabilitation of horses with sports/performance related injuries and retraining of ex-racehorses. Well, I will be starting a job of the above description in March on Mondays and Fridays and I am very much looking forward to it. More details to follow next month.
Stressful as it is I also decided on the launch date for Aspire Equestrian - 1st May it is! End of procrastination.
Yesterday, I went to a second in the series of lectures by one of the TTT trust's trainers, Andrew Murphy. I will write a summary of it tomorrow as it's getting late yet again and an attempt to put it all together would probably end up in a chaos ;)
Another day with Anna Ross-Davies this month to look forward to and some more news to come soon.
I think that's it for now. Hands into olive oil and cotton gloves and off to bed :)
Friday, 22 January 2010
Ferdi Eilberg - Masterclass / Beginner
I am embeding this video as it has a very good footage of Ferdi explaining the use of aids, the importance of riding from the seat (and how to do it), how to ride the horse from inside to outside aids to improve its balance and how to work with a young horse.
Friday, 15 January 2010
My Dressage learning day at Bury farm and Patchetts EC
Thanks to a fantastic on-going opportunity offered to me by Anna Ross Davies I spent yet another superb day at Bury Farm and Patchetts EC observing all sorts of her lessons and training.
Considering my £0 budget for personal training at the moment I can't even start to tell you how grateful I am to be able to learn so much simply by being able to watch, listen and be around people who do Dressage for a living.
What I like about watching the training, both horses' and riders', is that I can think up my own corrections and what I would say myself if it was me teaching/riding and then confront it with what Anna is saying to her riders.
Sometimes I get it right, sometimes I manage to be on the similar track of thoughts. Many a times I am well off the mark though and hearing it immediately corrected works wonders for my understanding of consistency and continuity of the bigger picture of the training process.
My personal interest is very much in rider's performance and I try to log into my head all the position problems riders show during their lessons and how it affects different type of horses.
It seriously feels like a training experience on quality fast-forward when you can note so many different riders on so many different horses in one day.
It was very much a Dressage To Music lessons theme today with riders preparing for Music tests from Novice to Medium. As much as I love Music tests the whole floor plans plus well chosen notes are still a bit of a foggy area for me so it was great watching the work in progress.
The thing I really noticed today was what a difference riding a test a few times over and over again with well incorporated corrections did to horses' way of going. It might be that the riders had more focus on the quality of the movements, it might be that riding certain sequence of movements simply improved the horses' balance and acceptance of the aids but the difference in between first test-ride of the lesson and the last was substantial. Go on - ride those tests at home, the movements are linked together for a reason :) You might be surprised how much better your horse goes as a result of having to think about changing its balance in transitions and correct positioning in arena figures.
I hope I am making some sense here, I am well and truly knackered after 5am start and rather interesting travelling adventures! Can't wait for the next time though!
Running first Training Day of 2010 tomorrow and the rider will certainly work hard! ;)
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Some more training and some thoughts on the future of this blog
It's been dreadful last 3 weeks work wise. Whoever is thinking about setting up as a self-employed instructor you'd better have a good winter plan b/c/d and e.
I am not even sure what is more desirable, having to work in this weather or not. Having managed some working hours a couple of days a week in the freezing cold I don't think I have ever longed for spring as much as this year.
BBC Weather seems to think the thaw is coming which is just as well or I might seriously have to look for another job.
Despite the cold I am going to go ahead and travel to Anna's yards tomorrow to watch her ride and teach. Very early start to the day for me, I got lazy with all these weeks of relatively little travelling.
Some like to say nothing happens without a reason and I'm just going to assume this lay off is here for me to have time to write the content for the Academy's website and really focus on developing the next steps for the project.
Talking about the Academy's website...it is very likely I will be moving this blog over there too. I haven't decided on that for sure but it would make sense to concentrate on one online project rather than many. I also feel I should make it more professional and skip my silly waffle but then again, what would I write about if I didn't waffle? ;)
You see, part of me thinks that if I am to undertake this rather large project I should make sure I present myself sane and trustworthy...but then again, if I was sane I would be doing something earning me a decent income and setting me up nicely for a life on a secure pension.
But that's not very me...
Some thoughts will have to go into it and maybe a mid-solution will be found.
What do you think?
I am not even sure what is more desirable, having to work in this weather or not. Having managed some working hours a couple of days a week in the freezing cold I don't think I have ever longed for spring as much as this year.
BBC Weather seems to think the thaw is coming which is just as well or I might seriously have to look for another job.
Despite the cold I am going to go ahead and travel to Anna's yards tomorrow to watch her ride and teach. Very early start to the day for me, I got lazy with all these weeks of relatively little travelling.
Some like to say nothing happens without a reason and I'm just going to assume this lay off is here for me to have time to write the content for the Academy's website and really focus on developing the next steps for the project.
Talking about the Academy's website...it is very likely I will be moving this blog over there too. I haven't decided on that for sure but it would make sense to concentrate on one online project rather than many. I also feel I should make it more professional and skip my silly waffle but then again, what would I write about if I didn't waffle? ;)
You see, part of me thinks that if I am to undertake this rather large project I should make sure I present myself sane and trustworthy...but then again, if I was sane I would be doing something earning me a decent income and setting me up nicely for a life on a secure pension.
But that's not very me...
Some thoughts will have to go into it and maybe a mid-solution will be found.
What do you think?
Thursday, 7 January 2010
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