Page From the Diary: Early February

My birthday came and went, years pass by and although it's a cliché thing to say, I do feel some shifts and changes in the way I look at things, plan things and think of life in general. I hope they are for the better! You know, more sensible and less impulsive with my decisions ;) 

I do miss writing this little blog but hopefully someone will enjoy the now-hidden-from-public-views posts in the future book :) 

The Aspire blog has a couple of new guest bloggers whom you might want to meet: Laura Williams from England and Christine Lien from Norway. Laura is an equine behaviourist and human psychologist whilst Christine is a passionate young rider and an owner of a beautiful Friesian gelding which dressage training have proven to be a real quest...

To read the above posts please hover over a link below and give it a nice, firm click :) 

http://www.aspire-equestrian.com/blog/

As you can see I also added a post on Psoas Muscles in riders - it's an updated version of the most popular blog post I have ever written on this blog, having had over 6.000 views. The links and videos no longer worked in the initial post so I re-wrote it, found better resources and posted it to Aspire blog. Direct link is here: Deep Hidden Secret of Good Riders

The Polish "branch" of Aspire Equestrian is very slowly taking shape. I decided to only put it up on the website publicly once I have most details organised so it will take a few more weeks before the materials are ready for publishing. 

For now, I set up a Facebook page for Aspire Equestrian Polska:  

What I can tell you is that Aspire Equestrian structure is now changed and the services will be based on three main programmes: 

The Riding Academy will remain largely unchanged from its current form; the other two will come with full descriptions and their unique features in March 2013! 

I am also really excited to be invited to run Aspire training weekend in Norway again! Some warm winter clothes and furry hat and I am ready :-D

Until next "Page From the Diary". All the best,

Wiola

In Memory Of My Grandfather

My dad phoned tonight to pass the sad news. I guess we expect the elderly loved ones to leave us sooner or later and yet it still comes as a shock. My brother and I grew up very close to my grandparents. And now he's gone...

Hurry up 

Hurry up to love people, they pass away so fast 
Only shoes and silent telephone remains 
Only what is trivial lags like a cow 
The most important is so beautiful that occurs suddenly 
Afterwards natural silence therefore unbearable 
Like purity born straightforward from distress 
When we think about someone, remaining without them 

Don't be sure that you still have time, because certai

nty is vague
It takes away compassion like any joy
It comes simultaneously with pathos and humour
Like two passions still weaker than one
They go away fast like thrush falling silent in July
Like sound a bit awkward or emotionless bow
To see decently they close their eyes
Though greater risk is to be born than to die
We still love too little and always too late

Don't write about it often but once and forever
and you will be like a dolphin gentle and powerful

Hurry up to love people, they pass away so fast
And those who perish, not always return
And we never know talking about love,
Is the first the last, or is the last the first?

Jan Twardowski

RIP Grandad :((((((

Sunday Morning on Video

7:30 My dear friend who always takes me to work on Sunday mornings rings to tell me that she left her lights on in her car for the night and the accumulator is down...She says she will organise another car...
7:45 Friend rings to say she "got" a car so now someone is going to drive us to town centre so we can pick it up. Cool. I check the time and know we are going to be late. Not good.
8:05 We arrive at the place where "new" car lives. The passenger seat is half broken so I sit with a significant twist in my spine - a bit of morning gymnastics as the journey takes a good hour.
8:10 We can't start the car
8:15 Car owner gets out of bed again to drive the car out of the car park. He manages to start the car OK. Friend's brother says the car often doesn't start so we might not be able to come back. Cool.
I check the time. Not cool! I try to open the window and the handle stays in my hand.
8:25 We finally hit the road. The car comes with a few instructions which I recorded below:



Amazingly, we arrive only 20 minutes late and I have a fabulous day teaching in the sunshine, getting my farmer's tan and sun kissed hair highlights as a bonus!

Figuring Things Out

Although I am spending hours on my laptop reading and learning I've been updating sporadically on here so apologies to all who check regularly and see no new updates.
Pretty much same old here right now ;) I am pursuing an acquisition of the investment idea (into my Aspire programmes) by researching the details of my broad plan and by learning more about business side of things. Admittedly I am finding it frustrating at times because I would much rather put these efforts into developing my coaching and training skills but it seems that for Academy to succeed I really need to become a businesswoman :-/
I've been around self-employed parents and family members since I can remember so being resourceful and somewhat multitasking are familiar waters to me. The perfectionist in me wants to devote my time to one thing only but in reality this is not possible.

Pic above: Aspire Intensive Training Day today. Introduction to building jumping courses and pacing distances. More photos on Academy's Facebook page on here: CLICK 

If anyone fancy sending any links to anything to do with finding an investor(s) please do. Although I do have quite a strong vision for the whole project I am trying to do my background learning first before jumping in...Huge thank you to a certain reader from across the pond who already contacted me with some wonderful advice. I really appreciate it.

I am sure you are also wondering how is Kingsley doing. Well, he is as much a mystery as ever. Following the few weeks of being totally crippled on all 4 legs he is now feeling and looking very well. He is on 2 sachets of Bute a day for another week or so (in total about a month on Bute) and right now he lives out 24/7 since Wednesday.
It might be that the free movement is helping him a lot or it might be that the painkillers are doing the job. There will run out soon so we will know whether he is able to be comfortable without them. I admit I lost faith in him ever becoming a riding horse in any form, at least not until we know what the problem is and how to address it. He is a pet and a very expensive one.

One thing we never tried with him was to turn him out for a year with no ridden exercise. We didn't try this because we were advised by a vet (not the current one) to continue with rehabilitation process as otherwise he is too weak in his body to function correctly.

It might be the case that a year off with a constant movement helps somewhat but one thought that comes back to me is that when we got him in the first place he looked exactly like a horse that lived out for some time: he tail was eaten by youngsters he was out with, he was in "field condition" with poor overgrown feet. He went lame a few days into being brought back into work (on the lunge/in hand).
It's a wrenching decision to make. On one hand, we know pretty well now that he won't make a riding partner neither for Pauline, myself or anyone else. On the other, when he seems happy and content with life euthanising him feels wrong :-/
Lots will now depend on affordability of a livery for this dear pet and on what he feels like when the Bute is out of his system.

On a separate note, I would like to say I'm really sorry to hear about passing away of an old friend's horse. It's a friend from what seems like, another life - life of training, show-jumping and competing. Something I miss deeply. Her very old photos took me on the trip down the memory lane...
I vividly remember one training session in a very small indoor arena. Gusia was riding Graal and I was riding Fetas. Graal was believed to be a rig and Fetas was a stallion and both boys tried to dominate each other to the point where Graal would bolt across the arena and attack Fetas. I recall our trainer, Grzegorz Kubiak, having to arrange the jumps and rounds in such way that we were always on opposite sides of arena and divided by jumps!
The blog she writes is in Polish but photos can be understood by anyone. Rest in peace Graal - click here for Gusia's blog post.


To finish off a few words on goals and persistence that I really agree with...

 

Third Place in Equestrian Social Media Awards :)

I've just came back from spending a week with my family and whilst away I received this fabulous news! My little coaching project has been growing steadily and we placed third in Equestrian Social Media Awards for Best Use Of Social Media by a Riding School!

Once again, huge huge thanks to all out supporters because without you there would be no aspirations for Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy :-D
The first two places are taken by massive organisations so a third place in such company of very well established big guns feels good!

Thank you All :-D

Shadow Training Day with Anna Ross

This is a backdated post because I am having too much to catch up with! On Saturday, I took seven riders with me to one of Academy's unique Shadow Training Days with an international dressage rider and trainer, Anna Ross Davies. Few years ago Anna gave me a chance to learn from her and I realised there and then what a wonderful training - by - watching opportunity that was. It's not just sitting and starring, Anna always gave me a running commentary on what was happening, the why's, what's and what for's. As well as many other riders, I learn by active observation and wanted the Academy riders to experience the educational and inspirational element of such days.

It took me about four hours to edit the below video so I hope you'll enjoy it! ;)

Hoof Ride's London Horse Network Meeting

Facebook: HOOF RIDE

It took my friend and I almost two hours of driving from Berkshire to Brixton but after some weak attempts at map reading and direction guessing we found The Ebony Horse Club, the place for yet another great initiative from Hoof Ride. I've enjoyed attending the meetings and seminars for the last year and I feel like they gave me a much better understanding of the industry as a whole.
Today it was all about marketing and PR, something I probably feel the strongest at but nevertheless it always helps to learn from pros.

It is very true that you can have the best possible service or product but if nobody knows about it, that value is lost.
The speaker in the morning was Jane Fraser and she talked us through some basics of SWOT analysis as well as being able to describe the businesses for what they really offer. It was all done in form of an interactive exercise which allows for comparing the problem areas as well as strong points.
Jane gave us some useful advice on how to write press releases and understand the good timing for various events.
One exercise in particular provoked a discussion on staff retention.
From the point of view of someone who was employed by many riding establishments for number of years I find it interesting that some issues the horse businesses encounter that relate to staff are the same in 2012 as they were in 2002...I guess all of us who work as grooms, instructors, bring-this-tack-up-that type staff know how we would like to be treated and what floats our employment boats but why are there no changes and same problems year after year? Do we not communicate effectively? Is it that the demands cannot be met for some reason? And if so, why?
I don't have the answers to those questions and until I employ people to work for me I don't think I can objectively assess the situation.
My opinion is that the money isn't as big a problem as some employers might think. Sure if the pay is very low nobody will want to stay for long but it's the simple respect and attention to individual needs that's important. I have friends working very long hours, mucking out 15 stables a day, tacking up horses, feeding, haying up in the fields, rushing through the day to get everything done and I have done it  myself in the past. It's hard physical work and I personally did it to be able to ride and train and so do many of my friends.
Someone said to me recently "you know, it would be nice if during an especially hard day, my employer noticed I'm running on empty and said - hey, have 10 more minutes for your coffee break, catch your breath - I would have appreciated that hundred times more than that £10 more for staying after hours".
I feel lucky to be in charge of my time and to be able to rest when I feel I need now so the quality of my job is always as high as I wish it to be but there were many days were I could identify with this statement.
Perhaps what really needs addressing is the hiring process so young people are understood, their motives known (and re-checked periodically as they change all the time) and their life plans helped with. If it's a "lifestyle reward" industry then maybe more attention is needed to non-monetary benefits.
If biggest reward for a low paid groom is to make horses in her charge look and feel great then giving her ten horses to care for with one hour a day to do them all is not going to give her any job satisfaction...

Sad procedures are still very much in place even at well regarded, nicely presented establishments. Even being freelance you come across people who think that if they pay you enough they don't have to bother with your feelings, needs or opinions. You are just a mucker-outer, horse exerciser or money maker (when you teach) they can pick and drop as they wish.
But then again, I am sure there will be people out there arguing that such situation is common across other professions, other industries...

I'm an idealist and would love to see happy people doing what they love and having pleasure doing it. Whether it is possible in real life? I hope so. It's great these issues are discussed and there are employers out there though who stroke the right balance.

I do love to see places like Ebony Horse Club. No idea about staff satisfaction there but it's one great place that must be changing so many lives in the area.

Hoofcare and Equine Body Work: Kingsley and Pocholo Video Diaries

Good news all round. Both boys are doing well self-trimming their feet and Kate didn't have to make any dramatic changes to their feet to my great relief!



Kingsley's feet have amazingly all started to even up. Considering how oddly shaped they all were not so long ago it is interesting to see them becoming consistently shaped - could it be the sign of improved biomechanics of the whole body?
This is how they looked in April:

Front feet aside, I am really amazed at how nicely his hind hooves look now (if you enlarge the above photo you will see that his hind feet were very unbalanced and growing in all sorts of directions).
Today, the only foot with unequal weight load is his left hind which corresponds to his movement mechanics. He has larger, stronger lateral part of that hoof and weaker, less developed medial part. Kate wrote on his report: "all good frogs, soles, concavity, heels, bars a little high at the heels".
One problem he does have is signs of white line separation (WLS) on all four feet and Kate suggested changing Cal Mag to Magnesium Oxide as well as upping his work it all possible. I will try both.
Susanna found him much calmer and accepting of treatment, nothing gone worse, some improvement in the hamstrings - much less tight and very good changes to forearm' muscles which were very tight (bone like).

Pocholo has improved immensly on the left side of his body - no soreness or tightness which I hoped to hear. His right side had some tight spots but nothing major. Big improvement from October.

Pocholo's feet are all different. Each has a set of good and bad points but overall Kate thinks he is doing great. Main problem is that due to his high heels his frogs don't get enough stimulation on the surfaces that he feels comfortable on. I will need to find some more stimulating surface that allows more contact with the frogs but where he will not be too uncomfortable on. Ah, if only there was a pebbly beach nearby :)
He is wearing his right fore more on the right side and less on the left side whilst his left hind has much stronger right side.
As his feet have still a long way to go and changes happen all the time Kate suggested I continue with current workload and reassess 6 weeks later. I am happy with that.

Great day and I feel like I got to 'know' the boys a bit better today. It was super to have Susanna there in the same time as we could discuss the issues from three different perspectives: the training, the feel of the body and from the hoofcare point of view.

And to end: Kingsley with "his pony"! It's so great to see he has a little friend. Apparently they play for hours together :) Kingsley - the horse that always got bullied or sent away finally has a play buddy :)

One summer day on the boat and a gift from Mongolia

For the second time we had the pleasure of a lovely boat trip on the Richmond parts of the river Thames yesterday. Thanks to wonderful Suzanne and Gary for hosting us :) The food was delicious and it was so nice to switch off and float in the sunshine :)

The Great Captain:

Ahh the scent of BBQ on an island - perfect addition to a gorgeous, lazy sunny afternoon :) 

Today, one of my Academy riders who has just returned from 3 weeks long trek - adventure in Mongolia brought this gift for me: 

It's to hang as an exhibit on "my own yard" one day. I like the idea! Right now it stinks like hell of goat's skin but loving the detail and the thought :) Thank you Emma x

My first hunting experience - day on the moor with Exmoor Foxhounds

We couldn't have wished for a better weather. Many, many thanks to Pauline, Nic and Exmoor Foxhounds for an unforgettable experience and one amazing day. I will let the photos tell the story. Above: moment of rest. Beautiful countryside. The hills are out of this world and as Nic said about the horses who hunt there "there is fit and there is Exmoor fit", I wouldn't even attempt to hunt a semi-fit horse there. You need buckets of stamina and muscle power there. And pair of good knees yourself as there is a lot of jerky descents...

6.55am. View from my bed. Sheep, an arena and the hills we are to gallop up later - a dream team :) 

8.30 ish. Felix - my absolutamazing partner for the day. Groomed and ready to go. He is barefoot. The best horse I have ever taken over some serious terrain. 

Helping to groom the rest of the horses. 

First horses arrive...Exciting!

Pauline, Whiskey and Port ;) 

More people and horses arrive at Rockley Farm

And the HOUNDS! They are rather impressive :) 

And off we go...

Pauline and Angel returning at the end of the day.

Amazing Felix and I at the end of the day

Fabulous memories and unforgettable experience. Thank you once again to Pauline and Nic for making it possible :) 

Blog Award

I have so much still planned to write and so little time! For a very short moment I felt very smug and happy with my finances but now that I paid my self-employment tax for 09-10 and the largest pressing bills it's back to the drawing board and counting the pennies...sigh.
But never mind, I have a new exciting training project on the go for Academy and I will fill you in properly as soon as possible. This month I also have 2 new riders coming for Assessment Days to join the Academy :) we shall see how they do and whether we can figure out best way for them to train with me on regular basis.

So, that's that and now onto the Blog Award! I received it from a few bloggers but haven't had the time to see to it so here we go now.

The Award comes with some rules:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself
3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers
4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award.

Thank you to:

Nic of Rockley Farm

Musings from the Judging Box

A Teen's Dressage Dream 

for this lovely award :)

Seven things about myself. 

1) I get annoyed when people say I work too much and/or think about work most of the time. It's not only my work, it's my hobby and passion in life. You don't get people being told: don't think about work, hobbies and passions in life, right? ;) 

2) Having said that I do have other interests too which I don't blog about that much. Like painting. Would love more time for that. 

3) I wrote several "books" (in Polish) and stuffed them in my drawer. My childhood dream was to become a rider, dog trainer and a writer ;) 

4) I like traveling and would love to do more Academy training events in different countries as well as around the UK. 

5) I received an amazing gift last year, a training holiday in Portugal. We will be going in June this year. More about this soon :)

6) I believe that to get satisfaction from what we do we need to give it our best. Otherwise we might as well not do it at all. 

7) I love swimming. 

Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers. OK, I wouldn't call all of them recently discovered but here we go (no particular order!): 

1.http://horseofcourseeng.blogspot.com/

2.http://shannonfornari.blogspot.com/

3 http://ayearwithhorses.blogspot.com/

4 http://livetoevent.blogspot.com/

5 http://girlplushorse.blogspot.com/

6 http://teammcnair.wordpress.com/

7 http://allhorsestuff.blogspot.com/

8 http://anneihannover.blogspot.com/

9 http://sbjolseth.wordpress.com/

10 http://danilonpuraraza.blogspot.com/

11 http://barefoothorseblog.blogspot.com/

12 http://ontrackforacci1star.blogspot.com/

13 http://www.bitlesshorseblog.com/

14 http://transitiontoharmony.blogspot.com/

15 http://walkingwithhorses.blogspot.com/

I will do the contacting bit when I have more time, got to dash off now. 

London Horse Network Meeting 3: Your horse spooked because of something you thought about, before you thought it...How the coach can influence the rider, how the rider can influence the horse, training bursaries and Look Forward

Photo: Nosing around the lovely mini yard (see these trees so very close to the buildings? well, one of the stables has one of those trees in the corner of it :) My camera has no flash so I didn't take a photo but it looked rather interesting!)

At yet another inner-city riding centre- the Wormwood Scrubs Pony Centre, the London Horse Network organised it's 3rd meeting.

Hoof Ride London. The London Horse Network Training Workshop

The Network is definitely growing more into what it aims to be: a facilitator of communication between London's equestrian businesses and instructors. I was looking forward to today's meeting and it was definitely worth coming to. The first guest - Andrew MacFarlane of Lead Change, gave a very interesting talk about "How the coach can influence the rider".  Coaching Psychology is absolutely fascinating because you realise that with the right approach you can achieve more than you ever thought you would. 

As coaches we have to learn how to change people's behaviour and/or actions to help them become who they want to be as riders.

However, it seems that change is a very complex key to improvement! Andrew quoted some medical statistics to us.

How many of every 10 heart surgery patients do you think change their lifestyle when they are told they will die if they don't?  

One. Out of ten.

Change is so difficult than even when facing death threat these patients were unable to alter their lifestyle. 

Andrew then proceeded to explain how we can help the riders to make the changes needed for improvement. It's something I am really interested in and read a bit about and I found the talk really insightful. 

We can't change something on the level it happened. We need to consider all the levels: the environment, behaviour, skills & competences, values & beliefs and identity. The latter constitutes the top level and that;s where the change has to start if we are to succeed in it. 

Andrew also talked about mental maps and the role of unconscious mind in actions of the conscious mind. This is another thing about learning to ride I am fascinated about. Horses are extremely perceptive animals. I've taught people who would try to convince me they weren't nervous or worried and yet their horse would be spooky and fidgety. A man can fool a man, you can try to fool oneself too but you can't fool a horse ;) 

Our conscious mind is way behind our subconscious. It's like when your horse spooks before you thought it might spook. In fact, your subconscious thought it before you became conscious of the thought itself...

We also talked about learning styles, what blocks the rider's progress and how to teach so we don't overload with information. 

Click on the below photo if you would like to read more about Lead Change. 

Next on the agenda was identifying the training aims of the London Horse Network. We divided into small groups and discussed our views on the challenges of running equestrian businesses in London. I have a feeling something really positive will come out of the LHN actions...

The next guest speaker was Janet Coe, the BHS London representative. It looks like BHS London has £12.000 to spend on Training Bursaries which will be available in form of £250 worth of training aids. From what I understood this will only be available at BHS Approved riding establishments and to be spent on training with BHS qualified instructors. There is no details as yet about the ways of choosing who the bursaries will go to but the ins and outs should be decided in February. 

I am keeping a watchful eye on anything like this as I would love to be able to take some more days off work to go and train with Anna R-D!

The closing talk of the day was by Minnette Rice-Edwards. 

The first time I've heard of Minnette was in 2003. I was hacking with a client whose horse had had to be put down some months previously and she was trying to keep up with the riding. I told her I wanted to sort my seat out and get into dressage more but I didn't know where to look for a trainer (it was just after I came over to the UK). She said "You just must go for a lesson with Minnette Rice-Edwards". My English wasn't very good back then and although I asked her to repeat the name I couldn't understand her accent and had no clue how the name should have been spelled. I found lots of other people under the name I thought was right but none had anything to do with riding ;) 

So now, in 2011 I actually got to listen to Minnette and all I can say is I wish I asked that client to write the name down. 

To learn more about Minnette have a look at her website: 

Fortunately, a year or so after the hacking conversation I came across a Centred Riding instructor who taught me many of the training techniques that Minnette uses. I would still love a lesson with her though! 

Some of her sayings I've never heard before and I'm sure they would be helpful for many riders. For example, many riders know they need to "let go" in the neck muscles to allow the shoulders and back to widen and release the lower back. However, it's not always so easy to do it in practice. Minnette discovered that you can imagine the roof of your mouth being like arches and thinking about it automatically releases your neck muscles (she did say it might not work for everybody but it did for me). 

Another one is for kids to keep their heads up and sit straight: imagine you have rabbit ears growing up and up and up ;) 

Not sure about my rabbit ears but my eyes are closing down, early night then two very packed days with late night teaching for me. 

Speak soon :) 

Planning For Norway Training

Unbelievably it's only 4 more days until our departure for Oslo. I am sitting here preparing little folders for each of the participants as I want those three days to be as interactive as possible.
We have 10 riders booked for the full training, 4 for half of the weekend and another 3 joining for Theory Sessions only. That's the total of 17 participants and I want them all involved.
I sent out a short Questionnaire to the riders to get to know their goals, to understand where each of them wants to be as far as training goes and what their perceived riding issues are. This gives me an opportunity to "get to know" the riders and use the fairly limited time we will later have to help them improve as much as possible.
I don't believe in changing the riders in "one go" as I think we all develop certain amount of feel even if our position isn't ideal. Dramatic changes might result in a superb looking position but sometimes rider's feel is all they have and all they love about riding.
Many years ago when I switched from jumping to dressage I had this trainer who wanted me to sit with a "long leg", "long stirrups", all neat and tidy and super still. Well, it looked OK on photos but it felt like being made of concrete and losing all the timing and sense of rhythm. I have since learnt that small but accurate changes make the biggest difference. The difficulty lies in determining what to change first and how to do it so it suits particular rider.
The rider's answers tell a lot about them and help me adequately adjust my teaching style/methods or at least try to.

The way I thought the weekend out means that each of the riders goes through a structure resembling a mini-format of the whole Academy. They get Assessed ridden on the first day to determine the "what's nexts", they have posture/chiropractic assessment with Kari on the first day too. The programme also includes video feedback alike on every Academy Training Day and Exercise Plan for each rider (personalised by Kari). We've accommodated 2 Equitation Theory sessions which I like to do with all Academy riders as talking through training problems and issues is one of the best ways to turn your head around them.
I prepared some materials which I hope the riders will enjoy but I won't share on here in case they are reading! ;)
The riders on full training will have 3 ridden sessions and will be under Kari's watchful eye to improve posture symmetry and biomechanics. As with horses, one of the cool way to improve the rider is to make them more symmetrical and body aware.

Four days to go!

New venture for me and Aspire Equestrian

Hello All,

I'm delighted to let you all know that Aspire Equestrian is entering a new exciting partnership with the Riding Club London!

WHO THEY ARE?

"The Riding Club London is  a Private Members' Club which provides affordable access to quality horses for riders living in London. Collecting together like-minded, experienced riders in the Capital, we offer far more than pony trails, and specialise in taking enthusiasts to develop their riding at unique equine venues across Europe, whilst offering a buzzing social calendar within the city walls."

WHAT DO THEY DO?

"Whether you prefer to be at the gallop, or at the extended trot, we bring our members access to top quality horses at carefully chosen locations across the UK and the continent. Meanwhile, back in London, the RCL host a variety of social events, ranging from lecture evenings to balls; accessing some of London's most exclusive venues."

I was first approached by one of the founders of the Club at last year's London Horse Network meeting. The Club was on the look out for a coaching structure they could offer to their members.

Several meetings later we agreed all the ins and outs and I will now provide all the willing members with comprehensive Riding Assessments. Click on the image below to have a look at some of the other instructors the Club uses -  there is a super mixture of some really top ones! It feels rather unreal to be listed next to all those great names!

I will be running two types of Assessments for Riding Club London members:

Short Format Assessment (available exclusively for the Club members only)

Two hour session in which the rider will be assessed on basic horse care, tack handling skills and riding skills. The rider will also be videoed during their ridden session for visual feedback.

Upon completing the Assessment session the rider will receive:

1) DVD with video content from the ridden session
2) Written Feedback describing the rider's skills as shown on the day.
The description will also allocate the rider to one of the Academy's Programmes for further understanding of the level the rider is at the time of the assessment  (for example: Rider who is described as confident at Development level will be conversant with majority of the skills listed here: http://www.aspire-equestrian.com/services-training-for-riders-development-skills.php)
3) Short written suggestions for further training i.e. what's best to work on next and what type of lessons/training would aid the improvement of the rider's skills.

Long Format Assessments - Standard Option (which are alike regular Assessment Days already offered via Academy):

Five hours training day normally 11.30am - 5.30pm which includes:

1) Three ridden sessions: flatwork/dressage, jumping/XC or Hack out plus lunge session focused on seat development
2) Lunch break with meal and refreshments included
3) Horse Care and Video Feedback sessions

Upon completing the Assessment session the rider will receive:

1) DVD with video content from the ridden session
2) Written Feedback describing the rider's skills as shown on the day. The description will also allocate the rider to one of the Academy's Programmes for further understanding of the level the rider is at the time of the assessment.
3) Short written suggestions for further training i.e. what's best to work on next and what type of lessons/training would aid the
improvement of the rider's skills.

Long format Assessments  - All Inclusive Option (also already available via Academy)



Format: Five hours training day normally 11.30am - 5.30pm which includes:

1) Three ridden sessions: flatwork/dressage, jumping/XC or Hack out plus lunge session focused on seat development
2) Chiropractic Assessment
3) Lunch break with meal and refreshments included
4) Horse Care and Video Feedback sessions

Upon completing the Assessment session the rider will receive:

1) DVD with video content from the ridden session
2) Rider Performance exercise plan based on Chiropractic Assessment
3) Written Feedback describing the rider's skills as shown on the day. The description will also allocate the rider to one of the Academy's Programmes for further understanding of the level the rider is at the
time of the assessment.
4) Written suggestions for further training i.e. what's best to work on next and what type of lessons/training would aid the improvement of the rider's skills.
5) Written feedback on rider's Equitation Theory knowledge and summary of the concepts worked on during the day (for example: written explanation of particular exercises and the theory behind them)

The main Venue for the above Assessments will be HALL-PLACE EQUESTRIAN CENTRE

All the Club members will be able to take advantage of various discounts on Academy's Intensive Training Days and Training Plans across all the Programmes.

Likewise, every Academy rider has a discount on Club's Membership. Have a look at some of the events planned for the next few months:

I am hoping to encourage many new riders to train with the Academy and I am looking forward to meeting the Club's members at our clinic in March.

All the best,

Wiola

Writing for "Your Horse" Magazine :)

Continuing with the exciting news: starting January this year I'm writing for Questions & Answers section in the 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.