Mastering tempi changes on a forgiving mount.
This winter I have been expanding my education by attending a series of evening talks. These have been arranged by a variety of groups and have been a reasonably cheap and easy way of learning new things and widening my knowledge base.
So far I have been to:
- A talk on Flying Changes given by a List 2 BD judge and organised by BD Northern Region. This was open to members and non-members and mostly consisted of discussion and video feedback of how to introduce changes, improving the quality of changes and some critique of changes in videoed tests. They also held a talk on ‘Collectives – Their Importance and how to Improve Them’ which sounded really good, but unfortunately clashed with work. Most information can be found on your BD Regional Page and Facebook pages.
- An evening workshop on core strength and posture at Bishop Burton College. This included floor/gym type exercises designed to strengthen and develop your core and a session on the mechanical horse.
- A video talk on Gymnastic Jumping given by Gillian Higgins of Horses Inside Out. This showed videos of horses jumping, some ridden but mostly loose, and explained how different types of jumping exercise/grid changed the way horses jump and use themselves. The slow motion video and anatomically painted horses really emphasised the movement and we came away with a greater understanding of how the horse physically creates the jump and how to alter jumping exercises to improve the horse’s weak areas. Information on future talks can be found here
Most vets also hold evening talks through the winter and you don’t generally need to be a client to attend.
It does make for some late evenings, but it’s an awful lot easier, cheaper and less hassle than loading a horse up after work to go for a lesson!
