"Small opportunities are...

 ...often the beginning of great enterprises." says my Quote of The Day. The funny thing is, those quotes appear at random but they often seem to match my thoughts! How spooky. So I am toying with this idea of mine as have now met two people who might potentially add an interesting element to the whole thing...(yes I know I am not really saying anything but I will if/when I go for it). For now I just keep wondering what and how to make things happen. 

What is doing my head in is me wanting too many things at a time, I just have to decide to go for one of them and stick to it. Another thing is to stop getting attached to people as it's doing me no good. I've been doing pretty well for a long while so I reckon it's time to go back to old ways.

I will post work update tomorrow once I have put together pics from today's Training Day. And yes I know I still have some videos left to remix - will try to catch up with this on Monday.

What I need is an aromatic bath and a glass of wine.  

Corporate Days and What Really Matters

Let me tell you, those Corporate Days are designed for me to have a laugh ;) I find the things people do on them rather hilarious and thankfully they also seem to think so.

For future reference, a few pointers:

- It is not a good idea to tell me you are a little nervous as I will make sure you get to know about many interesting accidents happening in the horse world. On a good note, your walking adventure will all of a sudden seem so much less stressful...

- You may want to keep to yourself the fact you would rather not trot...I will make sure you will.

- I do not do 'serious' on those days. Don't even attempt to learn to ride with me on those days. You are going to travel your bottom on your new four legged friend for an hour and that has as much to do with learning to ride as observing the behaviour of a gold fish in a tank has in common with getting ready for sharkdiving. 

- The demonstration you are given in the beginning of your session is for you to try to emulate what you see when it's your turn to do so. I watched the demo myself. I did not notice the demo rider rolling underneath the horse upon dismounting and then lying there motionless. It also must have escaped my attention the way of dismounting whereupon you throw yourself onto your back from a 17.2hh horse. It may indeed be spectacular but please take care of your spine. You only have one. I am sure your colleagues know you are brave anyway.

- The hat you wear was tested in a factory with relevant equipment. It is good. Has all the kite marks etc. You don't have to crash test it on trees.

- High pitched screams are NOT a signal to stop. 

- Please remember. Your Corporate Day is for us, the instructors, to have a bit of fun. Don't try to spoil it by riding too well. Feel free to make all the most ridiculous mistakes you can possibly think of. That's why you are here. It has nothing to do with team building. You are here only so we, the staff, can have a good laugh with you. 

Thank you for coming ;)))))) You were all great! 

My afternoon was spent with a lovely couple who has been trying to book lessons with me for the last 8 weeks, oops! They finally managed and so they had a lunge lesson each. The lady came to me afterwards and said: 'I want to give you a hug, I enjoyed myself so much and learnt so much'. It was a pleasure to teach them. 

Then my brother phoned and we had a good giggle as we always do. And now I've just gotten off the phone after spending over an hour on chatting to my mum and dad. 

And here is what I think: life is great...but only if you share it with people you really really care about. It may have been a lovely day today but I miss working with my Friend. It may be super that Mr. Bell invented the phone but it's no true substitute for popping for a coffee with my mum. 

Agrh, life annoys me sometimes. Saddens me and makes me feel so helpless. 

So, if you parents are around give them a hug, they won't be here forever. If you work with people who you know no one will be able to replace, enjoy the moments before they are gone. 

Now, on a totally different note, I MUST remember to write Easter cards or my mum and gran will be on my back ;) 

Training Day

Another day of fabulous weather. I spent most of my teaching time on training; first running stable management and riding for Stage I candidates who help at the riding school, then assessing PTT lady who trains with us and who thankfully have a great sense of humour. 

The only downside of this glorious spring approaching is that the bumble bees arrive. I have a bumble bee phobia. One was chasing me in the afternoon on the xc course. It would not leave me alone. I swear they know I am afraid of them. Cheeky buggers.

You got to play the game...

I wouldn't be myself if I didn't try it on. So I chose the easiest subject, one that surely no one would fall for...

- I won the lottery - I say to a colleague while having a coffee in between my lessons. It's a beautiful morning. So warm, sunny. We're sat watching some of the staff having a training session.

- Yeah right - she says.

I keep my straightest of faces.

- Seriously. 

I can tell she considers me with some caution.

- Really? How much? 

I take a sip of coffee. Let her wait.

- A lot.

-Yeah right - she says but I know she fell for it - how much? A tenner?

- More - I say looking her straight in the eyes and sending some cheers with the coffee - Here's for my glorious future. - Jackpot.

- No you haven't!

- Yes I have.

- No you haven't!!!

- Yes I have.

She says nothing just stares at me speechless.

- I still have to go and pick it up. However - I say - what day is today?

She thinks.

- Wednesday.

- Date?

Silence. Then she laughs and screams at me ;)

Another colleague comes along. She falls for it too. I am lucky with further two. 

Oh dear ;))) April's Fool you fool.

Lots of laughter. So needed it.

Rode the chestnut youngster today, got me working hard.

Apart from normal teaching I also sat with Centre's Manager at an assessment of a lovely lady who is with us training for her PTT exam (Preliminary Teaching Test). 

She's a college lecturer and a show-jumper but her employer wants her to take the exam so she is going for it. That was a lot of fun too.

At some point I was asked to make assessment notes so off I went criticising away thinking it's just for the manager only to hear: 'Here S., notes are for you'. Oops ;)

Took my regular little people for a lesson on the grass. After the initial 'open spaces panic' they pulled their act together and rode very well. 

 

Then I set off back home which did feel a bit odd as I would normally go back with my friend but here we go, got to get used to new status quo.

Falling on my face

I had a bit of a surreal day today. Despite an attempt to get up early I ended up sleeping till 11.30am! I am so strangely tired. Not so much physically though, just this peculiar sort of tiredness when you just want to go to sleep and let the life pass by for a bit. 

I was fine once up, jumped into my breeches and riding stuff, ran to the station and managed to arrive just in time for my 1pm start. Once I walked into the arena I barely stopped until 9.30pm, talking and talking and riding and talking. I tend to get into this trans sometimes when I have to keep telling myself to shut up although clients seem to like it! 

The "owner of my Tuesday's job" is a funny man. Cynical as they come. So he watches me for a moment giving a jumping lesson to my super new French rider (whacked the fences up today for her and she loved it), walks up to me and says: 'Wiola, you enjoying your job here?' - his face motionless. Smile less. I look at him thinking, s**t, hope he is not going to ask me to do more hours as no way I am going for it. . 'Glad you do' - he says instead - 'someone has to' ;) Cynical people make me laugh. 

I think I got two more riders mega excited about coming to one of my Training Days. Super. 

And now I better sleep or I will never get up at 7 tomorrow. 

P.S. I have just spell checked this post and Blogger highlighted my name as a word with a spelling mistake. How rude! ;))

Day off, more of de Kunffy's wisdom and house hunting continues

The spring has certainly arrived to London. Ricky and I had a very tasty breakfast in the company of Mr. Holland basking in the sun :)

These gorgeous flowers have no scent whatsoever. How disappointing. They look stunning though. 

The more I read of de Kunffy the more I realise he is a communication genius. Every word he uses seem to have its purpose and there is nothing unnecessary that would cloud your understanding. 

Just have a read how he describes "the horse on the bit":

" 'The horse on the bit' is a misleading expression, yet it is one we are accustomed to using, and, by consent, we pretend to understand, in spite of its mischievous suggestion that it has to do with the rider's hands and the horse's bit exclusively.

Being on the bit is the most important concept in classical horsemanship. Only a horse that contacts and accepts the bit and moves forward to the bit is athletically correct. Using a human analogy, let me suggest that there is a great difference between people who are moving about in a grocery store buying mustard, for example, and those working out in a gym. Both are moving and are engaged in some mental activities, but only the one working out in a gym is improving himself physically and mentally. He will show muscle development and skeletal coordination that one cannot acquire by shopping for mustard. 

Likewise with horses; just by moving a horse around, the rider traveling, the horse covering ground without using himself properly, no improvement can take place. One can only make athletic and gymnastic improvements if the horse is longitudinally flexed. Therefore, the horse must be flexing toward the bit before any gymnasticising can take place[...].

Being on the bit, or longitudinal flexion, as it should be called, has to do with the total horse. When a horse is on the bit, his skeletal position as well as his use of his muscles changes. To be on the bit connotes relaxation, suppleness of muscles, elasticity in the joints, elegance, and obedience. That is both the foundation and the substance of dressage work.

The most important feature of horse on the bit is that he is longitudinally flexed, thereby becoming a shorter horse, capable of moving deeper under his own weight with the hindquarters, lifting the weight up rather than pushing forward. The longitudinally flexed horse is well poised to carry his rider, and therefore will be able to surrender his haunches to the rider's will and become obedient rather than subservient to force. "

I am continuing the house search and I am ever so thankful for the Internet! There are some really lovely properties out there but it's not so easy to match all the requirements that we need fulfilled. Not that there are that many but still!

After 1.5 years of super service my fantastic Tredstep Ireland gaiters gave in (the zip went) so I have just ordered a brand new pair, eek! :) I think I will attempt to repair the other ones though as they are still doing fairly well despite being used rather heavily almost every day.

My computer crashed twice while uploading the new pics and videos from last Friday's Training Day. The Great Upload goes on. I really would like a brand new machine ;) 

The Way To Learn

I had one of those days today that make me smile quietly. Days that make me think that whatever happens I actually do love my job and want to be the best I can ever be at it. All the riders worked superbly today. If I can't bring the best out of my riders I always feel like I failed and brought the horses down.

But not today. 

Pics above.: The sun kept coming and going today. 

What is immensely interesting in this whole teaching adventure is that every single rider has it's own special way of learning. You can't just run all the instructions by default because we are all so different, our perception of the world is so varied. Some people 'feel' things more, some 'see' more, some 'hear' better. I think that as an instructor you have to learn to deal the right cards to the right person and only then you have a chance of a correct response. 

The finding out of the way an individual rider learns the best is quite an adventure. An adventure when you constantly make mistakes but you repeat them less and less as your experience widens. 

I make mistakes all the time. I just try not to make the same ones. 

I find that with some riders I can just give the key-words and they will know what I mean. Especially if we have worked together for a long time.

With others we need to dig in into every possible technicality and when I thought we've just wasted 10 minutes on dry theory they walk away and show me the most perfect canter transitions I have ever seen them doing. 

I try to keep my mind open. Try not to think that my ways are the only ways. I like to talk to my riders. About everything and nothing. Look for cues on how best to teach them. 

If I ever get bored with that I think I will get bored with life.

MORE EDITING

A. brought a memory stick with pics and videos from Friday's Training Day so looks like a long evening/night of editing fun in front of me!

This Chapter's over

The ladies on the Training Day were so much fun that it must have been one of the best Training Days so far. And just as well as today's afternoon was one of the worst I had for ages. 

First of all today was my last day of working with my dear friend and I have this personal dislike of all things last. 

It was a rather memorable year and quite a chapter that is now over. I guess many people just don't care and take no notice, they just keep going and enjoy what comes next straight away. Believe me I wish I had the same attitude but being a sentimental old cow as I am it takes a bit of an effort! 

So last night for the last time I waited for my friend to finish her late Friday night teaching. I sat in a coffee shop and thought it was somewhat sadly fascinating watching things, being places, living moments and knowing that these particular circumstances will never ever happen again. It's almost like being from the future and watching an already happened past. 

To balance totally shit afternoon today I had a fabulous morning jumping my friend's event horse and then teaching one of my favourite teenage lessons. 

The horse can really jump and makes you feel like you can actually ride well, just sit there and wait for the jumps to come. We popped over some 1.10m and he made it so easy. 

So here you go my dear, a little written thank you note for a teaching year of so much fun, for every single lift to stations, for waiting, for all the funny singing, for all the silly 'why' buttons talk, for super coffees, for listening, for your help with my training days, and for many other little things I shall miss on my working days to come.
All the best with the new job! 

Full day of teaching tomorrow and a very early wake up alarm as no more Great British Lie In!

Feeling guilty

I always feel guilty when I don't give my 100% on my lessons but unfortunately I must say I am running on an auto-pilot. Hopefully a good one as have lovely ladies coming for a Training Day tomorrow and I know they have been waiting for it for weeks. 

Jumped my baby horse today (as I call him although he is a 6 yr old but he is a very special horse to me) and he was fantastic. I seem to go through fazes when I have no riding fear whatsoever which is slightly worrying. I think I need a good fall to keep me on the straight and narrow. 

I am not looking forward to all the changes at work. I am totally rubbish at dealing with them. Especially when I enjoyed myself so much beforehand. 

But se la vie. 

Late nights

Almost midnight so I am well and truly tired but hey, I managed to edit one long video remix so have a look at http://trainingdays-equestrian.blogspot.com. Compiling those videos is actually a lot of fun but it is also extremely time consuming! The riders better like it ;)

I wish I knew how to add own music to it but since I don't I have to use default pieces provided by photobucket. They are rather amusing...;) You got to at least smirk at them!

I still have some super videos left to use for two additional remixes so watch this space. 

There is more editing to come as I have a group of three ladies on a Training Day this coming Friday. 

The recent late nights make me feel a little spaced out in the mornings so it took me a good couple of hours to wake up properly today. I am also trying to switch off from all the necessary changes at the yard due to my friend leaving which certainly doesn't help me to stay mega focused. 

On a good note, got to ride three horses and even jumped one over the actual jumps (as oppose to 2.6/2.9ft poles that we seem to train over on regular basis). If only that was an everyday occurrence ...

Addicted

Funny day weather wise today! I started teaching in a long sleeve t-shirt feeling rather hot dragging jump stands and poles around and ended up with three jumpers, a body warmer AND a coat at my 8pm lesson! 

Decided I need to spend as much time in the saddle as I possibly can so I walked all the horses and ponies to and from the arena ;) 

Had a chance to school a 4yr old 15hh pony as well that is actually a really interesting animal, very trainable and is moving well. One of my regular clients is currently riding the pony and it teaches her a lot. 

It's fantastic to ride well schooled horses who are fairly straight, fairly flexible and you can focus on more advanced work with them but I think that when we truly learn to grow as riders is when we ride those 'green', unbalanced youngsters that make us so aware of our body language and how detrimental we can be to the horse.

Those good old fellows with strong muscles and soft backs might be super to sit to but they won't tell you as well as a young horse that you have pushed too much here or there, that your contact froze for that 1/10th of a second too long blocking the movement that would otherwise have earned you 8s or 9s few years down the line.  

I loved schooling that pony. It's amazing how you can just "click" with some rides, from the very minute you sit on them. I ride a fair few horses and on some I just feel absent, there is no connection no matter how many times I ride them. 

With the others it's as if I was entering this fascinating conversation where you sometimes disagree but enjoy it nevertheless. 

And what's even more unbelievable is that the horse seem to feel the same...it's as if it *understood* with some magical-like clarity what every single cell in your body is telling it to do. 

It seems to be similar regarding human interactions. We feel completely blank about some people regardless how much time we spend with them and find others infinitely fascinating. 

With some we can't agree about the simplest of things and with others we connect almost instinctively.

So hey, horses are awesome. It blows my mind and I am happy to admit I am well and truly addicted to the feeling of this complete connection. It's my drug.

Pic.: On the left, the pony in question, enjoying the sun with a couple of little fellows.

Uploads struggle continues

Ok so I managed (just around 2am) to upload all 130 files to photobucket, falling heavily asleep in between the uploads. I guess I could have used a bulk upload or something funky like that but hey I am not a computer geek!

Anyway, all files are sitting where they should now but I am being called in early to work today so you will all have to wait a little longer for the final product!

I watched a few videos yesterday, quite a laugh ;)

Now I have to write invoices for one of the yards or they will bite my head off. Then onto my late night teaching day.

Still uploading!

It's past 11pm and i've been uploading the pictures and videos since 4pm ish! Ah the joys! Let's hope the effect will be worth it and the riders will enjoy having their antics recorded :) 15 more files left, then onto the slow work of putting it all together into slideshows and videos with some music.

Coffee...!

Working on the biggest video/photo record so far!

Pic.: Dimitri performing a Greek dance? ;) upon dismounting!

Stay tuned to http://trainingdays-equestrian.blogspot.com/.

In a few of hours there should be a lovely photo-video record from a super fun Training Day from Friday the 20th; featuring Sara, Dimitri and Libby. 

I am working here downloading, uploading, saving and creating videos/photo slideshows on photobucket so be patient(have 129 photos plus videos to sort through) as I am trying to be too with my dear, slow computer (anyone who wants to buy me one of those cool new VAIOs will be cherished forever!).

Pic.: Hacking out in the morning

Pic.: KJ, my dear friend who is leaving and who ran this Training Day with me. Now I have quite a task of finding another instructor who I will trust to teach my clients well! 

Pic.: And myself with Dimitri 

We do not remember days; we remember moments. ~Cesare Pavese

The coming week is the last one I will work with one of the best friends I have ever had. It's very true what they say that it's the people who make your workplace unforgettable. 

She is venturing into the blogging world with http://ramblingsofahorserider.blogspot.com/.

It should be a very interesting career record of one very special person. 

I will miss working with her. No-words. Much.