I went down to Rachel for St Pirans last weekend and it was intense,fabulous and exhausing all at the same time,ive been completely shattered at work all week from the weekend and cos I was so fired up to try out all the new 'stuff' I picked up!:)))
I had an absolutely amazing trip im still struggling to remember everything but i'll have a shot at giving a brief taster on what we worked on.
Friday I arrived got changed and was straight on board having a lesson on Fichaje,a lovely Andalusian stallion,so Rachel could assess my riding.Rachel is a very positive instructor and said Fich was going very nicely for me and I was basically a nice little rider requiring some tweeking.
Strangly I am stronger on one rein in trot but then better on the opposite rein in canter...I also struggle to put the weight in my right stirrup.
Rachel's physio was down for the weekend too so we had some demo's on exercises to stretch the horse and the impact we make when we ride them.Im a bit jumbled about what happened when but over the weekend Celia and Rachel demo'd pole work to strengthen the horse's core,I had a physio session where Celia assessed my posture giving me lots of exercises to try and straighten and help with my neck and shoulders.She said she could manipulate me til the cows come home but if I dont do the exercises to deal with root cause then it will just keep coming back.I also still had a touch of whiplash with coming off AliG so I think she was pretty gentle with me:)..I have been doing the exercises and the tightness in my upper back is definately easing:)
I also had a lesson with Celia assessing my position talking me through what im doing wrong and how to correct this,im to fill my right side lung with air to help lift my rib which will help release that 'side' enabling me to put weight in the right stirrup.I also over flex my lower back basically cos my upper back and shoulders are so stiff and tight.
I then watched Rachel ride 'B' he's her lovely grey Andi stallion, she showed me lots of exercises I can be starting AliG with.Neck flexes,how to use my core to control their movement,moving onto leg yielding and shoulder in.It was fabulous to watch B literally canters from Rachels exhale!
I then had a lesson on Fichaje practicing the flexes,it was absolutely incredible to feel him completely lighten and work purely on the weight of the reins ive never felt anything like it.
Sunday we totally crammed it in and I had a gentle lunge lesson to help me loosen up,I was seriously stiff at this point.I then had a crack at pole work with B, who's an expert, then got to try it with one of Rachel's new stallions Giganton who's never done any polework at all.He is a huge boy and will be quite some horse when he grows into himself anyway he loved the polework and got very keen but still staying sensible.
I then had a final lesson on Fich doing the flexes and some leg yield and shoulder in..what a fabulous boy he is only 5 but so level headed and will only give you when you ask properly the perfect school master:)
I cant put it into words how much I gained from the weekend,how brilliant Rachel teaches and how fabulous the horses are and boy do they work hard.Rachel and Paul both work full time,have 17horse's,including 2mares who were about to foal,4/5(?)stallions and 5in full work plus have two kids..dont know how they keep going!
Ive still got two rides owing as we couldnt squeeze anymore in so im going to try and get down again in August when im off.
Anyway this week ive been ready to drop but fired up with it all so have introduced AliG to poles which went well,had a ridden session with him doing the neck flexes and rode Polo 3times so im pooped but feel I have a game plan now,finally,for AliG.
Couple of picks of Ali working on a fan..you raise the poles to different heights to get them using their abs.(Ali had knocked one off but we left it as the camera was playing up)
Rachel and Ce emphassised that there is no right and wrong on distances as it all makes the horse think and letting them make mistakes is important so they learn to think and not panick when things go wrong.
6 comments:
Glad to see you back. I was a little worried that maybe the fall had slowed you down. Evidently it hadn't.
So nice to ride a really trained horse to teach you all the right and wrong things you are doing. Congrats on the compliments.
Cavaletti (poles) are a great training tool. I also use little jumps now and then on the lunge or the lines. It gets the horse thinking and learning how to use his body.
AliG looks great. Quite content and interested in his work. Something new to add to his repertoire.
You lucky *** !!! Can I come next time???
Ali looks really lovely.
C
"Strangly I am stronger on one rein in trot but then better on the opposite rein in canter"
So are horses - the bad side to trot is usually the other side from the bad side in canter - something about the strength of the dominant hind leg.
///You lucky *** !!! Can I come next time???///
Haha yes... you'd love Rachel's no nonsense down to earth approach!
Strangly Ali doesnt look as porky in those pics as he does in 'real life' so it must be the pole work engaging the abs:)))
My head is still spinning from trying to remember it all and put everything into practice....feel like ive come on leaps and bounds all in one weekend.
When I rode Ali for the first time it was almost like he was saying at last she asking me the correct way:0
ah nicola - wondered where you'd gone.
can I come watch?
myplan for this year had involved devon/cornwall, but hijacked by cork (wedding) and france (horse/housesitting - couldn't turn that down!)
actually, next weekend Steph (BertieM from EE) will be here, we're going to huddersfield saturday, she may be interested in what you're doing with AliG for her youngsters, the eldest of whom will be old enough to be starting the basics this year, I rather think!
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