Riding Lessons

We do riding lessons in classical dressage for all levels. and ages. You must bring your own horse. We have plenty of space for parking and both an indoor and outdoor arena. We also have stables for your horse whilst waiting. We have no formal qualifications just years of practical experience. Biomechanical principles form the basis of our teaching for both rider and horse and chief amongst these is balance. Sounds obvious but it is very often overlooked by even experienced riders. It stands to reason that if you cannot balance yourself independently on your horse then clearly you are not free to ride but more importantly you will be hanging on to the horse in some way (usually via the reins) and thus more prone to falling off if unbalanced by a sudden movement of the horse. We have trained for many years in martial arts for which balance forms a fundamental principle. 

"Katy took Toby out today and worked very well with him, she is so much more confident and competent. The work she has done with you has been invaluable. Her lessons with you combined with the care and lots of good assistance with her riding from the Pony Club as well has proved a really good combination of intensive one to one and group work. So good for her confidence." Ros Garratt, Hay on Wye

Less considered is how important balance is for the horse. Now the horse being 4-legged is inherently very stable (much like a table) but put a rider on him and ask him to move (when he has no idea remember of what is coming next) and you have the potential to seriously unbalance the horse. Apart from possibly falling over (actually quite unlikely unless you happen to be on a slippery surface), balance (or lack thereof) is PSHCHOLOGICALLY very destabilising for a horse. Think about it: if your primary means of defence is to run as fast as possible then not being able to run as fast as you can could mean you end up as dinner.

We approach each rider and horse individually, but irrespective of age or experience, start with the basic fundamentals. Once these are embedded many other things become much easier. 

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