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Monthly Archives

November 2022

November

By Uncategorized
We are now towards the end of the year and in the Northern Hemisphere many will be trying to stay warm and dry and those in the Southern Hemisphere will be dry and warm. Life is full of contrasts.

Whats Happening: Last weekend Rachael and I had the opportunity to attend a Carl Hester Masterclass in Caboolture, Queensland. Carl is an accomplished Olympic dressage rider, competitor and coach. He spoke on an array of topics while coaching, horse and rider combinations through the dressage levels. A great evening and well worth attending.

Well it has finally happened, earlier in the year I spoke of doing some work on the website and it is now completed. There is a small shop which will I hope will grow over time and an online course.

The Online Course: while not replacing attending one, I hope, will act as a source of support for those that have been on courses or perhaps as a source of preparation for those going on courses in the future. There is quite a lot of video footage plus some notes as well and I trust that the information will be helpful for all. For those that are interested go to the course button on the website home page. There will be a drop down box for the online course.

This weekend we have a 2 day course at Anstead Acres within the Brisbane area. Detail are available on the website. In December I am back in Western Australia for 10 days , again information is on the website.

Horsemanship: Balance is a topic that is often discussed and something that was said to myself a long time ago was: That feel brings you timing and timing brings you balance. As our feel develops so do many other attributes.

When the horse gets out of balance their emotional stability is compromised.

The image on the left is a horse that I started in Western Australia. I was using the flag to help him gain confidence and also to help in creating flexion on the circle and to not have him fall on his inside shoulder. You can note the inside hind leg stepping up underneath the horse.

Having the horse stay balanced through the shoulders is also very important. If the horse is not perpendicular through the shoulders, leads and lead changes are going to prove challenging as well.

This was a mare that I rode in the U.K., while it was a long time ago and I cannot remember everything now. Her balance in this image is nice for where she was at after a few rides.

Learning not to override your horse and to develop your horse at the walk and trot in preparation for the canter. Encouraging your horse to see you as a place of peace. The meaning of the words above when they were shared with me was often limited by my experience. As my experience and understanding grew so did my knowledge.