Last week I was having an awkward week with Dudley. He wasn't doing anything wrong, he was working relatively well, but I could feel that he was doing something unusual with his body, something I hadn't felt before.
First of all, I had to remind myself that just because I hadn't felt this 'new' thing before didn't mean he hadn't done it, I just may not have been aware of it!
Usually, I have to spend time working him to level up his right rib cage, as this is the side he drops. However, recently, halfway through our sessions, he had started to push up the right side which then made the left seem lower. After trying to work out what was going on, rather unsuccessfully, I decided to give my instructor a call and see what she thought.
We discussed at length what I felt he was doing. We threw ideas back and forth and came up with many things to try. So, off I went, armed full of promising exercises and ideas.
It just so happened that after that phone call, my planned days of riding went out the window and I got really busy. So Dudley ended up having a few days off. I forgot all about our issues as I carried on over the weekend.
So, Monday comes along and I get Dudley ready for our schooling session. What do I find? That our issues of last week have vanished and instead he is working even better than he ever has! I was delighted to say the least!
So what do I think made the difference? The days off! I think in this case, maybe he was having difficulty because of something different in his body, maybe has was just having an off few days or maybe it was something else entirely. Whatever it was, giving him a few days off did the trick.
Never underestimate the benefit of a few days off if your struggling with something, maybe a break is the best thing for you and your horse. A rest isn't giving up, it's just giving you both a bit of breathing space - and maybe that's all that's needed.
Happy Riding
x
Friday, June 28, 2013
Body work for your horse
How many of us think about the horse's body and how hard it has to work dealing with everyday occurrences? Carrying us around, galloping around the field, slipping and sliding, sharp turns and sliding stops, playing with his buddies, the list goes on.
When your horse is sound, it's hard to imagine that his body may be working extra hard on the inside or compensating for an aching muscle or a strain that has occurred. It may really be affecting the horse but as we all know, horses are prey animals, and can effectively cover up any aches and pains, so they don't appear weak to a potential predator.
It's been said many times, horses are athletes and should be treated as such. So what does this mean? Well, thinking about human athletes, they really have to look after themselves to stay at the top of their game and remain fit and healthy. They have a specific diet, they maintain a good body weight, they exercise regularly and practise their sport and they have body work to help maintain their most important bit of equipment - THEIR BODY!
So if our horses are athletes, then all of the components of the human athletes lifestyle are relevant to our horse.
Body work in particular, unfortunately, seems to be a neglected part of these components. Your horse MUST be comfortable to enable him to work well and be supple, responsive and able to carry out our requests. He may seem fine when you ride him, look at him or turn him out, but he could be hiding things from you that only a qualified practitioner can find out about. Or you may have gotten so used to seeing him go 'that' way that it didn't occur to you that he may have a problem.
Personally, we use different practitioners for different things and at different times. We usually have a McTimoney Chiropractor out a few times a year. This sorts out any big imbalances, releasing muscles to allow the body to bring it's self back into alignment.
Secondly, our horses are treated regularly with Shiatsu. Dudley will usually have a treatment every four to six weeks, (as do I), but other horses I deal with who are having problems or are making big changes, have them as frequent as every 2 weeks.
'Simply put, it is a ‘hands on’ technique with the same theoretical background as acupuncture. However, instead of needles I use my fingers and thumbs to apply pressure into specific points. In conjunction with massage, stretching and joint manipulation - this is why Shiatsu is often referred to as Japanese Physiotherapy.' By Louise Ledwith Shiatsu practitioner.
These things make a massive difference to Dudley's well being and way of going. It also means that I have people who know my horses body on a deeper level than I do, so if I think we are having problems, I can call them out and hey presto, they give me an exact answer as to what has changed and I can deal with it much better than if I was guessing.
There are so many different treatments available for horses these days that you are sure to find one which your horse enjoys and benefits from the most. As previously stated, there are Chiropractors, Shiatsu Practitioners, Equine Sports Massage Therapists, Light Therapy, Osteopath, Cranio-sacral, and that's just the ones I can think of right now!
It's our duty to keep our horses as comfortable as possible and able to do the work required, I highly recommend including body work as part of your stable management routine.
Dudley and I wouldn't be without it!
Happy Riding
x
When your horse is sound, it's hard to imagine that his body may be working extra hard on the inside or compensating for an aching muscle or a strain that has occurred. It may really be affecting the horse but as we all know, horses are prey animals, and can effectively cover up any aches and pains, so they don't appear weak to a potential predator.
It's been said many times, horses are athletes and should be treated as such. So what does this mean? Well, thinking about human athletes, they really have to look after themselves to stay at the top of their game and remain fit and healthy. They have a specific diet, they maintain a good body weight, they exercise regularly and practise their sport and they have body work to help maintain their most important bit of equipment - THEIR BODY!
So if our horses are athletes, then all of the components of the human athletes lifestyle are relevant to our horse.
Body work in particular, unfortunately, seems to be a neglected part of these components. Your horse MUST be comfortable to enable him to work well and be supple, responsive and able to carry out our requests. He may seem fine when you ride him, look at him or turn him out, but he could be hiding things from you that only a qualified practitioner can find out about. Or you may have gotten so used to seeing him go 'that' way that it didn't occur to you that he may have a problem.
Personally, we use different practitioners for different things and at different times. We usually have a McTimoney Chiropractor out a few times a year. This sorts out any big imbalances, releasing muscles to allow the body to bring it's self back into alignment.
Secondly, our horses are treated regularly with Shiatsu. Dudley will usually have a treatment every four to six weeks, (as do I), but other horses I deal with who are having problems or are making big changes, have them as frequent as every 2 weeks.
'Simply put, it is a ‘hands on’ technique with the same theoretical background as acupuncture. However, instead of needles I use my fingers and thumbs to apply pressure into specific points. In conjunction with massage, stretching and joint manipulation - this is why Shiatsu is often referred to as Japanese Physiotherapy.' By Louise Ledwith Shiatsu practitioner.
These things make a massive difference to Dudley's well being and way of going. It also means that I have people who know my horses body on a deeper level than I do, so if I think we are having problems, I can call them out and hey presto, they give me an exact answer as to what has changed and I can deal with it much better than if I was guessing.
There are so many different treatments available for horses these days that you are sure to find one which your horse enjoys and benefits from the most. As previously stated, there are Chiropractors, Shiatsu Practitioners, Equine Sports Massage Therapists, Light Therapy, Osteopath, Cranio-sacral, and that's just the ones I can think of right now!
It's our duty to keep our horses as comfortable as possible and able to do the work required, I highly recommend including body work as part of your stable management routine.
Dudley and I wouldn't be without it!
Happy Riding
x
Ambitions
During one of my lessons recently with my trainer, she casually asked me what my riding ambitions were.
A simple question you think, but to be honest, I was completely stumped.
I thought about the question for a minute. I thought back over everything I had experienced, things I had accomplished and how my perspective had changed during my retraining and teaching.
When talking about riding ambitions, most people think of their competing aims, what they would like to win and how far up the competition ladder they would like to go. I thought along these lines too, but nothing jumped out at me as something that I yearned to achieve or experience. Lots of the people I come into contact with in the horsey world tell me about this or that competition they would like to do, we practise dressage tests together, perfect jumping courses, go through everything that will enable them to reach their riding goal, but thinking about my own seemed much harder!
As it turned out, on that day, I just couldn't find an answer. You see, I have experienced competing and it was due to those experiences that I decided to sell my lorry, postpone any competing until a future date and retrain to get the best out of my horse and myself through correct training. You're probably thinking, gosh were they that bad?! But the answer is no! We weren't doing badly at all, we were getting placed and having fun, I knew we could do better but that retraining would take time and lots of it and I discovered that I was prepared to wait!
A few days later, I was still thinking about my riding ambition. Suddenly as if the mist had cleared, something just clicked into place, I knew what I wanted to achieve.
My riding ambition is to do the best I can with my current horse Dudley. That's it. My riding ambition is bound to my lovely little horse. Maybe one day I would like to get out competing again, but it all depends on him and whether he can cope with it and enjoys it. But if he doesn't, i'll be more than happy to get us as perfect as we can be at home, working up the schooling ladder.
I haven't told Dudley yet, but I'm hoping we will achieve piaffe one day! ( that's just between you and me lol!)
Your ambitions are yours and yours alone, big or small they are all important to each and every one of us. Never stop working towards them :)
Happy riding
X
A simple question you think, but to be honest, I was completely stumped.
I thought about the question for a minute. I thought back over everything I had experienced, things I had accomplished and how my perspective had changed during my retraining and teaching.
When talking about riding ambitions, most people think of their competing aims, what they would like to win and how far up the competition ladder they would like to go. I thought along these lines too, but nothing jumped out at me as something that I yearned to achieve or experience. Lots of the people I come into contact with in the horsey world tell me about this or that competition they would like to do, we practise dressage tests together, perfect jumping courses, go through everything that will enable them to reach their riding goal, but thinking about my own seemed much harder!
As it turned out, on that day, I just couldn't find an answer. You see, I have experienced competing and it was due to those experiences that I decided to sell my lorry, postpone any competing until a future date and retrain to get the best out of my horse and myself through correct training. You're probably thinking, gosh were they that bad?! But the answer is no! We weren't doing badly at all, we were getting placed and having fun, I knew we could do better but that retraining would take time and lots of it and I discovered that I was prepared to wait!
A few days later, I was still thinking about my riding ambition. Suddenly as if the mist had cleared, something just clicked into place, I knew what I wanted to achieve.
My riding ambition is to do the best I can with my current horse Dudley. That's it. My riding ambition is bound to my lovely little horse. Maybe one day I would like to get out competing again, but it all depends on him and whether he can cope with it and enjoys it. But if he doesn't, i'll be more than happy to get us as perfect as we can be at home, working up the schooling ladder.
I haven't told Dudley yet, but I'm hoping we will achieve piaffe one day! ( that's just between you and me lol!)
Your ambitions are yours and yours alone, big or small they are all important to each and every one of us. Never stop working towards them :)
Happy riding
X
Friday, June 7, 2013
Coping Mechanisms
I have spent the best part of the last 3 years, reschooling my horse, Dudley. He is almost 11 years old now and it has been what seems like a very long but also very rewarding process.
Once I discovered what I now know, I spent years unlearning what I had been taught and relearning the Classical and Biomechanical techniques I now use and base my teachings on. Then I had to transfer these things to Dudley. I spent even more time, unravelling the wrong, he had learnt and retraining him with the correct things.
This was such a big learning curve and it has taught me much about how things are never usually 'black' or 'white' when it comes to training horses. Your horse is never 'done' in the sense of its training.
One thing that surprised me more than anything was his ability to revert back to his old ways whenever he felt he needed to. His 'evasions', consisted of going completely solid and tense, spooking, setting his neck, rushing forward, wide opening mouth and almost ignoring any rein aids. I must add that these didn't always happen all at once or to the extremes! He wasn't completely awful, but on occasions, wasn't far off it!
As I began to notice when he reverted back to 'old Dudley', I noticed a pattern. It was always when he was asked to do something new, something that meant he had to use his hind end more, when he felt less secure, ie hacking out and when I improved my position to the extent that he couldn't continue working in his old self carriage. All these things made him display his old coping mechanisms.
As we progressed, things are much better, but he can still revert back to 'old Dudley', particularly when I'm out hacking, he especially likes to open his mouth very wide and ignore the rein aids!
It seems that horses, however well schooled they are, always have their 'thing' or 'things' that they revert back to when the going gets tough for them - their coping mechanisms.
It may be rearing, bucking, spooking, getting strong, planting themselves, pulling you out of the saddle, you name it - I've seen it! Even down to the smallest things such as getting the rein gradually longer without you realising or slowing down each time you ask for something specific. All can be described as coping mechanisms.
Of course these things can definitely be improved upon by consistent correct training. But I think they may always be lingering somewhere ready to emerge when the horse needs to show us he is struggling or is worried by something imparticular.
However, I don't think it is all bad. Big, dangerous evasions, of course are a no, no, but I think some are an asset to our training programme. Clients come to me and say, 'Im fed up of xxxxx doing this!' Or 'Why does he always do that, it's so annoying!' And sometimes I will say, 'Well how else can he tell you he is struggling with xxxx?' And the the penny drops. People realise their horse is communicating to them about how hard they are finding their work not trying to annoy them or necessarily being naughty!
What does your horse do that annoys you? Does he have any coping mechanisms he uses when the going gets tough? How do you respond and could you now respond differently?
Happy Riding!
x
Non Reaction As A Training Tool
I used to react and over react an awful lot, to my horses undesirable behaviour.
He was spooky, strong and forever rushing away from things he didn't like. He would school perfectly for an hours lesson and then at the last minute as I took my feet out of the stirrups he would spook and unceremoniously dump me on the floor. Or he would develop a spooky problem half way through a schooling session at some poles in the corner that he had already passed several times that session.
Back then, I was a lot less aware of how I affected him.
I didn't realise that every time he did something, I would tense up, tell him off, tell someone else what he had done and generally make a big deal about it. I used to remain flustered for at least five minutes, then it took us another five or ten minutes to settle down enough to continue our training where we left off.
All that wasted time and energy!
I could never understand why the spooking didn't get less as we did more work. It didn't get better because I didn't change my response.
Over the years, things did eventually get a little better, but it wasn't until my trainer gave me a fantastic example that it really clicked for me.
She said;
'Imagine your in a crowd of people, the energy level of the crowd is high and everybody is anxious, restless and nervous. How are you going to feel?'
I thought about it and realised, if people around me are anxious and nervous then I'm bound to be the same.
She carried on;
'So what happens to you if the crowd of people you are in, are completely calm, the energy is low everybody is happy, relaxed and non reactive?'
I am going to feel calm and relaxed too! I'm not going to react to things I might have in the anxious crowd.
YOU are the crowd your horse takes his lead from. You have to be the calm, non reactive crowd that keeps him calm and non reactive.
What does your horse do that makes you react? How do you react?
Investigate the answers to these two questions and then next time something happens - use non reaction instead and see the difference!
He was spooky, strong and forever rushing away from things he didn't like. He would school perfectly for an hours lesson and then at the last minute as I took my feet out of the stirrups he would spook and unceremoniously dump me on the floor. Or he would develop a spooky problem half way through a schooling session at some poles in the corner that he had already passed several times that session.
Back then, I was a lot less aware of how I affected him.
I didn't realise that every time he did something, I would tense up, tell him off, tell someone else what he had done and generally make a big deal about it. I used to remain flustered for at least five minutes, then it took us another five or ten minutes to settle down enough to continue our training where we left off.
All that wasted time and energy!
I could never understand why the spooking didn't get less as we did more work. It didn't get better because I didn't change my response.
Over the years, things did eventually get a little better, but it wasn't until my trainer gave me a fantastic example that it really clicked for me.
She said;
'Imagine your in a crowd of people, the energy level of the crowd is high and everybody is anxious, restless and nervous. How are you going to feel?'
I thought about it and realised, if people around me are anxious and nervous then I'm bound to be the same.
She carried on;
'So what happens to you if the crowd of people you are in, are completely calm, the energy is low everybody is happy, relaxed and non reactive?'
I am going to feel calm and relaxed too! I'm not going to react to things I might have in the anxious crowd.
YOU are the crowd your horse takes his lead from. You have to be the calm, non reactive crowd that keeps him calm and non reactive.
What does your horse do that makes you react? How do you react?
Investigate the answers to these two questions and then next time something happens - use non reaction instead and see the difference!
Emotions
I'm sure we have all, at some point, planned a schooling session, only to spend an hour riding aimlessly around the arena and come out feeling thoroughly disappointed with our progress.
Has this ever happened to you? I'll admit it's happened to me - more than once!
I used to feel really down when this happened and it would really knock my motivation and would make me feel like I actually wasn't capable of progressing any further.
Of course this wasn't really the case. I had just let my emotions run away with me and before I knew it I was feeling really down about my riding.
So what did I do about it?
Well, I started to notice when I seemed to have these 'off' sessions and how I felt prior to riding. The more I noticed how I felt, the more I realised that my emotional state prior to riding had a massive impact on how successful or unsuccessful the training session went.
I noticed that lots of factors prior to my riding actually affected it. Things like how busy I was that day, if I was running late or early, other things that were going on at home or with my family, bills that were on my mind and the list went on.
I learnt through my own experiences, that my emotional state on any given day, was THE most influential factor when faced with any horse.
So, I did the only thing I could if I wanted to be successful with horses, I learnt to control my emotions and it was probably one of the hardest but most rewarding things I have ever had to do!
Before I get on my horse, and this applies to any horse I am working with, I take a few minutes. I take a few minutes to breathe, to put whatever is on my mind on the back burner, for the whole time I am training that horse or giving that lesson. I focus only on the task in front of me and everything else just has to wait its turn.
Being able to be completely in the moment with the task in hand has been one of the turning points of my career and it will work for you too!
Before you jump on your horse, give yourself a few minutes to breathe and forget about your day. Focus on the task in hand and connect with your horse. As you ride round, your mind will keep trying to distract with with all of the things you need to do etc etc. Keep focusing on your horse, ride every step and notice what is happening - now.
You may find this hard at first, but keep practising and the rewards are endless! You will start to know your horse better, your training will improve and you will look forward to having an hour free from the pressures of life, enjoy!
Happy Riding!
x
Has this ever happened to you? I'll admit it's happened to me - more than once!
I used to feel really down when this happened and it would really knock my motivation and would make me feel like I actually wasn't capable of progressing any further.
Of course this wasn't really the case. I had just let my emotions run away with me and before I knew it I was feeling really down about my riding.
So what did I do about it?
Well, I started to notice when I seemed to have these 'off' sessions and how I felt prior to riding. The more I noticed how I felt, the more I realised that my emotional state prior to riding had a massive impact on how successful or unsuccessful the training session went.
I noticed that lots of factors prior to my riding actually affected it. Things like how busy I was that day, if I was running late or early, other things that were going on at home or with my family, bills that were on my mind and the list went on.
I learnt through my own experiences, that my emotional state on any given day, was THE most influential factor when faced with any horse.
So, I did the only thing I could if I wanted to be successful with horses, I learnt to control my emotions and it was probably one of the hardest but most rewarding things I have ever had to do!
Before I get on my horse, and this applies to any horse I am working with, I take a few minutes. I take a few minutes to breathe, to put whatever is on my mind on the back burner, for the whole time I am training that horse or giving that lesson. I focus only on the task in front of me and everything else just has to wait its turn.
Being able to be completely in the moment with the task in hand has been one of the turning points of my career and it will work for you too!
Before you jump on your horse, give yourself a few minutes to breathe and forget about your day. Focus on the task in hand and connect with your horse. As you ride round, your mind will keep trying to distract with with all of the things you need to do etc etc. Keep focusing on your horse, ride every step and notice what is happening - now.
You may find this hard at first, but keep practising and the rewards are endless! You will start to know your horse better, your training will improve and you will look forward to having an hour free from the pressures of life, enjoy!
Happy Riding!
x
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Be Proud Of Your Achievements - Every Last One
My partner recently completed the 2013 London Marathon and I couldn't have been more proud of him.
Obviously, completing a marathon is a massive achievement for anyone taking part, but for my partner, this is, up to now, probably the biggest achievement of his life.
This got me thinking about my achievements over the years and I started to wonder if I had done anything that I felt could come close to the feeling he must have felt going over the finish line.
And the truth is yes, we all have. You might be sitting there thinking, 'God, I could never run a marathon!' or 'I'll never achieve anything close to a marathon runner.'
But, we have all experienced great achievements for ourselves and maybe now is as good a time as any to start really seeing your achievements and feeling proud of yourself.
Your achievements are completely personal, what you strive for is likely to be different to the next person, the girls on the yard or your work colleagues.
Be proud of everything you do, every positive thing you do, every goal or target you reach, these are your personal achievements. It could be anything, getting correct canter leads on your horse this week, mastering that dressage test you have been struggling with, all the way up to winning that competition you entered or being brave and and finally doing something you have been frightened to do.
These achievements should mean as much to you as completing the marathon did for my partner. Just because no one was around to see what you achieved or it wasn't televised doesn't mean it is any less significant!
Celebrate your achievements, give yourself a pat on the back and do the things that matter most to you - Be proud of your achievements - every last one!
Happy Riding!
x
Obviously, completing a marathon is a massive achievement for anyone taking part, but for my partner, this is, up to now, probably the biggest achievement of his life.
This got me thinking about my achievements over the years and I started to wonder if I had done anything that I felt could come close to the feeling he must have felt going over the finish line.
And the truth is yes, we all have. You might be sitting there thinking, 'God, I could never run a marathon!' or 'I'll never achieve anything close to a marathon runner.'
But, we have all experienced great achievements for ourselves and maybe now is as good a time as any to start really seeing your achievements and feeling proud of yourself.
Your achievements are completely personal, what you strive for is likely to be different to the next person, the girls on the yard or your work colleagues.
Be proud of everything you do, every positive thing you do, every goal or target you reach, these are your personal achievements. It could be anything, getting correct canter leads on your horse this week, mastering that dressage test you have been struggling with, all the way up to winning that competition you entered or being brave and and finally doing something you have been frightened to do.
These achievements should mean as much to you as completing the marathon did for my partner. Just because no one was around to see what you achieved or it wasn't televised doesn't mean it is any less significant!
Celebrate your achievements, give yourself a pat on the back and do the things that matter most to you - Be proud of your achievements - every last one!
Happy Riding!
x
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