"This show is so special because it's in your hometown." "It was one of the best experiences of my life," she said. Twenty years later, VanWinkle got her chance this past March. Riding in the Red Hills trials was a goal of Lillian VanWinkle since she was 6 years old. We may be smaller but we have a darn big heart for this event."
"We have wonderful memories that I’m sorry other budding equestrians or Olympians won’t have. "I volunteered at this event for many years, and my daughter rode in it her senior year in high school," said Kleindienst Bruns. Once you get on a horse you’re an athlete- train like one and you will reap the rewards.Linda Kleindienst Bruns, who runs Triple R Horse Rescue, said the federation does itself a disservice by skipping Red Hills on its schedule. This is short blasts of exercises that will improve your cardiovascular fitness, your stamina and core strength. I also love to teach HIIT Pilates – High Intensity Interval Training interspersed with Pilates exercises. Try it – it really works! Pilates is fantastic for core strength- an essential element for horse riders. If we aren’t physically fit we aren’t able to maintain balance independently of the reins. A very wise man (a certain Mr Hester!) once said in a demo ‘you can’t expect your horse to be in self carriage if you as a rider aren’t in self carriage’ how true this is. Research shows the maximum weight your horse can carry comfortably is 10% and that includes your saddle. So Rider straightness is key, but also rider fitness. The riders straightness, suppleness and core stability is of equal importance to the long term soundness of the horse as correct saddle fit, correct farriery, equine physio, correct training etc etc. So is it the saddle slipping causing the rider to sit right or is it the rider sitting to the right causing the saddle to slip? I guess this we may never know the answer to but as latest research shows a saddle out of balance can cause lameness in the horse, it’s vitally important we work as a team to ensure that all elements are covered. Things can be taken even further than this – is the saddle now sat to the right too? Quite possibly. I help riders in the same way struggling with the correct canter lead, sitting trot, lateral work right through to 1 x changes, focusing on the rider always improves the horses performance. We straighten the rider – the horse is much more even from left to right and the contact improves. I look at things slightly differently here – I see the rider sat slightly to the right so their whole body weight is telling the horse to turn right (remember the fly and how sensitive they are!) so the rider then starts to pull the left rein so the feedback is the horse is heavy in the left hand. It only has to be a slight imbalance but it’s enough.For example people will come for a lesson and explain they struggle with left bend and turning left, so they’ve tried every technique they can think of to ‘make the horse bend left’ their instructor hops on and ‘they are much stronger so can get him to do it!’ When we break things down the horse is only actually doing what we are asking them to – we just don’t realise what our bodies are asking! If you think how your horse reacts to a fly touching him, imagine the signals you are giving him if you are sat slightly one way. I’ve developed a style of teaching that hopefully improves horse and rider and I have to say every day it makes me smile to see the difference in the partnerships I work with.
I trained to become an Equipilates instructor, then a biomechanics coach and Pilates instructor. I look back at pictures and think “poor horse!”įollowing my own improvements I changed my teaching focus too. I got fitter, attended weekly Equipilates classes and found a good sports massage therapist. I changed my focus massively to concentrate on me. I couldn’t do sitting trot without crippling pain and my horse who I was desperate to compete at PSG was tight through his back. I started assessing my own riding much differently after breaking my back for a second time. We are often injured, we work long hours (usually to pay for the treatments of said 4 legged friends!) often work is physical, we get thrown off – we get back on! We break a bone or pull a muscle- what’s the first question- when can we ride again?!
Back in focus horse full#
I work with hundreds of riders all over the country from intro to Grand Prix and if I were to calculate the percentage of riders taking care of themselves in terms of physio, massage, fitness training etc and the horse equivalent, I can tell you that the majority of horses get the full works of treatment and very few riders dedicate the same to themselves. Dressage training- Where’s the focus? Horse or rider or both?
0 kommentar(er)
