I was immediately impressed by the fact that my new trainer, Ros Morgan, adjusted two bits of tack before we even got started. Frank managed to pull the rein attachment off the martingale about a year ago and bent the metal clip – it had been re-attached the wrong way round but I had tried, and failed, to change it as my fingers were just not strong enough so I left it as it was. Ros, however, sorted it fairly easily. Next, a minor adjustment of Frank’s Micklem bridle placed the bit in a better position – just like that! I had to smile at this. All the gear and no idea eh? The second thing that impressed me about this trainer was the detailed assessment of where we were at right now, what had we achieved in the past and what my goals were. This wasn’t your usual ‘eats, shoots and leaves’ lesson. I haven’t had any riding trainers do this. Very few trainers set out measurable learning outcomes at the beginning of a lesson or review these at the end. It is possible that trainers have learning outcomes for their pupils but there’s not many that share these with the rider which is rather odd. No trainers have ever set me homework other than suggesting I might practice something. Lessons aren’t cheap. Are they value for money I wonder? How much do we actually learn in a lesson – how much of it actually sticks, how many of us set clear goals with our trainers and coaches. What should we do when we get conflicting advice from trainers?
Three things I remember from the lesson:
remember to breath… count breaths in and out – they should be the same (one could argue that the outbreath takes slightly longer and that there is a definite pause before the inbreath takes over). Mindfulness meditation can help relaxation and can calm competition nerves. Mindfulness meditation is essential for mental toughness and there’s no doubt that as riders we definitely need some psychological hardiness…whether its concentrating on the moves in a test or seeing a stride and a line in a course of jumps – we need to be able to hold our nerve. Breathing out in this mindful way helps us achieve a deeper seat and better connection with our horse.
Sit up tall and stretch heels down – sit softly in the saddle when rising and sitting to the trot
Imagining reins are handlebars and moving the hands accordingly when turning . Inside hand moves out slightly and outside hand moves forward. So, for example to achieve correct canter lead on landing after a jump – look upwards and in direction of next jump, inside hand out (?) legs?? JP recommends lifting hands on landing to allow correct strike off. This helps us control the horses shoulders – if we have control of these then we have control of the steering wheel.
Only three things but its a lot to remember. Ros recommended writing this down – which is a good idea in my book. First, its a good way to reflect on what happened during the lesson, second, it can provide something to work on (homework!) and finally you should be able to make some assessment, at some point, about how much you have achieved your goals and think about setting new ones.
My evaluation of the lesson: since I use mindfulness meditation (MM) anyway it was good to have it ‘approved’ for riding. I can see how it will improve things – particularly in helping control anxiety. I get awfully anxious doing dressage tests so I’m definitely going to incorporate MM into my riding. The ‘steering’ advice consolidated training i have had from other trainers which was good and I wasn’t really aware, or had forgotten that I tend to lean in going around corners. I would have been nice to have had some positive feedback – all I got was ‘nice bend in the elbows’ but I wasn’t sure if this was a compliment or an instruction. Since most riders are hyper critical of their achievement and abilities – some do not have any idea about how good they are – so they need to be praised. Riding is hard… sometimes there is little reward … sometimes it feels like we’re going backwards. So come on trainers, don’t be mean. Credit please where credit is due – we work so hard at this – some encouragement would not go amiss.
Only Joolz and Horses 