Equal Equestrian

Wow! Optico started off his lesson today half asleep so we quickly moved on to the canter work and he woke up ! I had Laura ride the cloverleaf pattern focusing on riding square turns with her belly button and outside rein and doing a "give and retake" with the inside rein. Laura's outside elbow can creep forward when she turns so this was the perfect exercise to practise keeping it at her side! It also had the double bonus of helping Optico with his straightness in the canter and then it's easy for him to use his hind end more effectively . We added in some "gear changes" at the trot before we finished and the last video is a bit of extra sexy slo-mo for all his adoring fans Great work today Laura and Optico! #disneyprinceoptico

Laura and Optico had a fabulous lesson yesterday, practicing what they worked on in their lesson on Thursday with Susan Nelson Thibault . We worked on playing with different "gears" within the trot. 1st and 2nd gear were performed in sitting trot, 3rd, 4th, and 5th gear were done in rising trot. Then we took this exercise and used it as our preparation for our canter transitions great job Laura and Optico! #disneyprinceoptico

Lola and Elisabeth had their first training session at the crack of dawn this morning. Elisabeth had shared with me that Lola isn't good at standing still at the mounting block and that when leading, she knows she's big and uses her weight to push into the halter. So we started at the very beginning. Walking, in harmony, with Lola matching Elizabeth's feet on a loose rein. When Elisabeth stops her feet, she exhales, softens her posture and drops her energy, so that Lola can l...earn to listen to Elisabeth's energy and not just how tightly the rope is being held they picked it up very quickly so then we took the same exercise to the mounting block. Lola loves scratches and makes the best faces so we used this to make standing still at the block the "happy place" so that she can stand calming without being held to stay there. Huge progress in just our first session together and I couldn't be happier #princesslolita See more

At the end of Vegas session, I lowered the X in the middle to see if Vegas could work out how to get from one side to the other. He was very confused at first and I had to lead him across the block in the middle several times until it started to make sense to him first video is the first time he successfully jumped across the block, he makes a lovely shape over a fence just love this happy ginger #Vegasakatigger

I had so much fun working with Romeo today in my lesson with Susan Nelson Thibault . The first three screenshots show the various, super athletic, baby fits of "I don't want to/why should I?!" And the next few screenshots and videos are the "maybe it is more fun to work with you, not against you" examples. This is ALL about training his brain, not his body at this stage. We need to have a respectful relationship where Romeo doesn't put his front feet in my face when I ask him to try something... And there was a massive difference from the beginning to the end of the session! He's a super fast learner and we will have our hands full keeping it interesting and challenging enough for this boy, but I can see soooooo much potential in this horse, I adore him so much #babyromeoottb

I love how our parelli tool kit helps us to use psychology in our training approach! Vegas is still afraid of water. It's less scary than it used to be, but when he's standing at the water's edge, it's still daunting to him to take that first step in. Today we played a game called "don't go into the water" I positioned myself so Vegas circle would take him through the middle of the water. He would go to the edge, grind to a halt and, if he lowered his head to investigate th...e water further my energy was 'off' but when he got distracted my energy went up and he had to trot if not canter away in the other direction... By about the 8th time, Vegas couldn't be bothered to canter away from the water and was trying to drag me to the water! (I love a bit of reverse psychology) and then he went into the water calmly and of his own accord. The big difference is he chose to do it, because I didn't tell him to 'do it' After I turned him out to roll and run and he just went through the water of his own accord whilst I was putting some blocks away this is HUGE for Vegas and he looked pretty proud of himself too See more

Vegas says he was happy to bounce around like Tigger to get all his energy out before I asked him to concentrate and listen to what I was asking him in our online session today. His personality reminds me so much of the my own cheeky, excitable, and very playful ex-racehorse Guinness. He has such a big personality but we wouldn't have it any other way

Laura and Optico have never done anything together at liberty before so we started at the very beginning "Does my horse want to be with me?" I think the answer was a resounding "Yes"

Laura and I had a great day today, getting to know each other and I had a little ride on Optico before the rain comes tonight although I didn't ask much of him at this early stage of our relationship. What a smashing boy he is and so gentle and kind. So far I thinks he's a very mild left brain horse and just fractionally on the introverted side but not by much. We then hung out in the round pen together for a while and played his first little bit of liberty. I'm fairly sure that by the end he felt a lot more that he wanted to be with us humans than he did when we started in the beginning.

So today there were some tears... But tears of joy! Vegas and Sharon had a beautiful ride today and they are really becoming an incredible partnership. It's been a long road for Sharon and Vegas since they first found each other a few years back, and there have been several points when Sharon was, not surprisingly, worried that she had got herself "to much horse" for her experience level. Since coming to shadow hills equestrian centre a few months ago, they have found that they can be just what the other needs and are now taking care of each other and it's so beautiful to see. Sharon can now make downwards transitions on her breathing, make upwards transitions using her energy and intention, and steer with the lightest of aids from her body and the rein and all this makes Vegas a very happy boy work with

Sharon and Vegas are making huge progress together and very quickly. We've worked a little of Sharon's posture which has made a big difference and she's starting to get the idea of directing and moulding Vegas energy where she wants it to go. She's now able to use her inside leg and her subtle rein aids to direct Vegas body and to think of her legs, seat and hands as the support to mould his body along the line she wants to ride. She's also able to simultaneously use her breathing and the tempo of her posting to adjust the speed of Vegas trot or ride a downward transition on her breathing and body! That's a lot to do all at once! Today was also Sharon's first time riding with two sets of reins, one attached to the halter and one attached to the bit incredible work today team Vegas!

I can't tell you how proud I am off these two . Vegas is actually listening to his Mummy whilst they work on trotting and steering There so much to think about that Sharon is sometimes concentrating so hard she forgets to keep posting but what I love most is that 1). Their transitions are smooth and relaxed 2). That Vegas steering is getting lighter and lighter every session and his downwards transition are almost entirely on our energy now and 3). That when it starts going a little bit wrong or Sharon gets slightly out of balance Vegas slows down so his mummy can reorganise herself and then they carry on without any stress

Vegas and Sharon are working on trotting and steering I want to make sure Sharon can guide Vegas where she wants before I send them off together around the entire arena. Today they worked on a basic figure 8 and worked towards being able to maintain their gait through the pattern. What I love most about this video is how connected they are. Vegas is no longer zoning out and simply going through the motions, he's actively listening to what Sharon is working on communicating and checking in with her throughout. When Sharon gets a little off balance he slows back to the walk which is great so we never want to correct him too quickly or to firmly, but instead just re-ask and continue on with the pattern.

Vegas has changed so much since he arrived at the end of last year. His mind is engaged and he's listening to everything we ask which means we have responsive transitions now on our energy, and soft steering. Yesterday Sharon learnt about how to create a bend through Vegas body on a circle and how to adjust the size of the circle to smaller when Vegas gets a bit too keen and to bigger when he feels relaxed. The fact that he can now blow air whilst Sharon is trotting it huge for him these two are going to be a really incredible partnership because now they are really listening you each other

Vegas was such a good boy today even though it was extremely windy! We decided to play it safe and work on some groundwork stuff but Vegas was calm, connected and even the couple of times his energy came up, he came back down to relaxation really quickly his upwards transitions are becoming smoother and more relaxed every session and he doesn't feel the need to wave his front feet around in the trot - canter transition anymore such a good good boy

Trotting and steering was on the agenda for Vegas and Sharon today we're using a transition box in the middle of the arena to help Vegas prepare for his downwards transitions and Sharon is learning to time her 'ask' for Vegas to turn with not only her body, but by timing the rein aid with the moment Vegas's outside front foot touches the ground. Vegas downward transitions are getting more responsive every ride as Sharon goes through her phases of 1) sit up and think it 2) breathe out and 3) lift the reins and his walk to trot transitions are now smooth and relaxed

Sharon's confidence is growing every session and Vegas is such a good boy now at listening to and taking care of his mummy. Today they had a lovely ride together. His steering is considerably lighter and his stop is vastly improved and they even enjoyed some calm trotting over poles . After, Vegas and Peroni had a rolling session and play time together and then we had fun with a little liberty play time with them both

Lila and Pixie had a great session today with some groundwork and some riding. Pixie was Ann angel as always even with all the other horses riding in the arena at the same time. Lila loves her Pixie so much