I am really excited to launch my new website. It’s basic right now but the great news is that I can update it more easily. It will be the place for my thoughts on how you can achieve, not just the physical wellbeing but the mental wellbeing for your horse too. I am keen to support you and your horses, with their musculoskeletal health as I always have, but I’m looking forward to adding a new dimension to my ability to help you.
For many years I have sought to combine competing my own horse, alongside my business and my family. I have dreamt of tails and top hats but in reality my goals have been much more aligned with achieving the best I can with the knowledge, skills, time and support (and money!) I have.
I had a plan about 5 years ago and started putting the pieces in place to achieve them and that was to own a lusitano. And now I have two! That wasn’t the plan but the journey so far has changed my outlook on what I want to achieve. Bear with me as this evolution affects my physio too!
So here it is, this is what I want:
I want a great relationship with my horse.
I want my horse to be the best he can be physically and mentally.
I want to compete and achieve success but only if the above two are in place.
Are these similar to your goals or vision of you and your horse?
I needed to learn more about training, so I have be collecting information and experiences from talented trainers. My influences started with straightness training (Marijke de Jong) during the time I had my daughter as a new baby gave me free time, ironically! I had training with my old horse, Neo, and one of the straightness training instructors as well as being a member of the home study course. I then felt a need to find out more, so I followed Manolo Mendez and was able to see him in action, alongside Dr Kerry Ridgeway and Cnl Christian Carde, a few years ago.
I have had amazing chances to observe and be trained in Portugal, learning more in a few hours with great teachers than ever before. More recently I have been interested in the work of Bent Brenderup. I have even been reading the original texts of the old masters, Xenophon, Pluvinel, de la Gueriniere.
My background and knowledge of equine biomechanics allows me to select the perfect exercise to work with your horses problem, if they have one. I know which can be used to work towards your performance goal even if you don’t have any problems. I also have an understanding of how horses learn (equine learning theory) and plan to follow this up with further study of equitation science in 2018.
I have seen that physical and often called ‘Classical’ exercises can be the physiotherapy that a horse needs. I am planning a way of adding these to how I treat your horses. I will often leave a client with a list of suggested exercises, but whether I’ve explained them clearly or with enough detail, depends so much on how I communicate the instructions.
So coming in 2018:
Horse movement therapy – classical exercises blended with equine biomechanics to improve posture, strength, balance, coordination and partnership.
Now its over to you – how would you like me to share this information with you? Online? Video? Audio? A book? Let me know!!
Online will be great. Will you have ownership of your words and will you use one of the WordPress websites to publish your blog? I look forward to reading and learning.
Hi gillian ,I would love your info online but any way will be a great way
Hi Gillian, I have recently been watching vlogs made by a dressage rider on Facebook. She produces one a week and they are about 15 minutes long. I find that a manageable amount to watch so perhaps you could do something similar. I would be very interested in advice and demos of ground and ridden exercises we can do with our horses to keep them fit, healthy and supple. Rehabilitation would also be of interest to me after my horses tendon injury and period of box rest.
Vlogs with good quality audio would be most beneficial for clients I think. Often people interpret the written word differently than was intended and find it difficult to visualise what exactly is going on with their horse. Slow motion would be amazing. Good luck with it all.
On-line is great..videos for practical demo and helping to develop observational skills. A workshop or two?? Eventually a book would be fab.I like the Ritters approach linking dressage and biomechanics..and their combination of on-line, live webinars on FB and short courses is great.
Hi Gillian
I am keen to learn as much as I can regarding biomechanics, posture, balance & movement & still trying to build muscle on my horse after a kissing spine operation. Any exercise ideas are welcome & I agree with Kate above regarding workshops & demos. For at home learning online with videos if possible. Looking forward to hearing more.
Hi Gillian – There’s nothing like learning by doing! So for me I’d have to be there on the ground. Having access to people like Manolo is outside of my, and maybe most people’s reach due to distance and cost (flying around Europe to see him, etc.) So having someone to work with on an individual basis works for me. I can only do that if I am able to trade off some the cost of having individual instruction…I’d have to be a working student (short-term) in other words. I would be interested in that type of scenario, if that is something you would consider. I am a student of anatomy and biomechanics, and want to be able to “read” a horse’s body. Thanks!