TESTIMONIALS
To Debbie and the wonderful team at Gainfield.
I just wanted to say thankyou for a very interesting and informative afternoon on your Open Day. It was great to see the horses and riders working so correctly and in harmony. There was a lovely atmosphere and everyone was so informative, kind and helpful. I enjoyed my ride on the Anky machine and found the tips for improving my posture very useful. I would definitely like to book on to a Rider workshop day soon.
I have been thinking about the tips given to improve my posture and putting these into practice. I am sure my horse and others that I ride are appreciating this. The wonderful thing about horsemanship is that you are always learning new things and striving to be better. I would recommend that anybody looking to improve their riding and posture to look at Gainfield Training Centre.
(Thank you Holly! )
Rider Workshops-A thorough look at the source of most of our riding problems - Us!
Recognising the value of stretching our horses, the warm up, the cool down is common place. In order to optimise our riding we must do the same for ourselves!
Another successful workshop- Many thanks to our super riders and lovely comments-
Hi Debbie Thanks for the day ! it was great and I’m definitely feeling the effects - my shoulders and hamstrings are paying the price !I would like to do more and combine it with some riding lessons too ? Was good to meet fellow riders with the same problems. I would like to see if regular pilates sessions does help improve me.
The day went by so quickly –Fantastic hospitality and lovely people – so knowledgeable and friendly
Thanks again Liz
Hi Debbie,
I really enjoyed the workshop on Sunday and would definitely recommend it to others. I came away with so much to think about that I’m not sure where to start. I know Marble would appreciate it if I was straight so I maybe I’ll start there! It was nice to meet everyone and it was interesting that we had all types of horses and riders to watch. Thank you for all the cups of tea and lovely lunch too. They were just what we all needed to keep us going.
Gretchen
Rode Paris yesterday and really felt I had the outside shoulder (a first for me) so thank you again for great course.
Lis
Many thanks for Sunday I really enjoyed my lesson and watching everyone else.
Vicki
Victoria has started doing the pilates stretches and exercises. So far, so good ....
Not only does Sport Specific Exercise help to strenghten you, improve suppleness enabling you to be straighter on your horse but by balance and co ordination exercises to challenge your core muscles we can train you to respond quicker when you need to
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Balance and co- ordination in action!
"GET YOUR BODY ON THE BIT!" Workshops- "Feel more and do less!"
These run approximately once a month. Our sessions are devoted to concentrating on you! Your approach to your horse through your balance, posture and suppleness (or lack of it!). Identifying misunderstandings between horse and rider and improving feel by becoming more body aware.
This included a;
One hour ridden evaluation discussing feel and response -videoed and observed for posture by the Osteopathic Team
A Private consultation with them to discuss medical history/ falls etc which may be influencing you.
Then approx an hour studio session to discover stretches and exercises specific to you and your needs.
The cost for this is only £100 for 3 professionals viewpoint - tea and coffee are included throughout.
Places fill fast- send a post dated cheque to Gainfield and the date of the workshop you`d like to attend.
(Watch dates page)
Feed back from our recent "Get Your Body on the Bit!" Rider Development Workshop below
It was really useful for me to think about my posture in everyday life (not just when I'm riding) and be conscious of the way that I carry / hold myself. I've been having a lot of trouble with tight shoulders for a while - just feeling really tight and like they need a good massage! The workshop identified to me the reason for this is the way that I'm holding myself (very tense) and i'm doing this whether I'm sitting at my desk / driving or riding (poor horse!) and I need to find ways to be more relaxed in every task I do!
So now I'm conscious of what I'm doing its given me food for thought for doing something about it! And hopefully my riding will improve and the horses will feel a bit more comfortable...get better balance and get better work!
I thought you all worked really well together and thought the day was very informative and relaxed - I don't think that you could really break the day up any differently and the agenda worked well and I would recommend to others.
I also thought the day was great fun and it was really nice to meet some new people and watch everyone else ride because you can learn a lot from that. It was also really interesting to hear how other people view their riding / relationship with their horse - I remember someone saying they had a very business like attitude to the schooling - getting the job done.
For me riding is like my escapism - wind down time, building relationship with the horse and enjoyment. I want to ride well and get good work - when that happens it makes me feel good! And when I'm hacking just enjoy being out and feel safe ;-) But there is obviously something hindering me getting the feeling that I want and if I carried on in the same fashion maybe I'd have got frustrated and given up!
My posture is not something I have really given much thought to before - so thank you for opening my eyes and making me aware so that I can do something about it.
Anna B
I just wanted to say a big thank you to you for organising this wonderful clinic, and to Phillippa and Kelly for their sterling work (they must have been tired too by the end of it!). I found it immensely useful and am singing your praises all round our yard! I really like the way you teach – it follows the classical training I have had – and was amazed at how Zido “melted” after your corrections of my seat (even though he wasn’t as relaxed as he might have been). I think the structure of the whole day worked very well.
It would be great to repeat this workshop after a few months to make a comparison; I think it would also benefit any up and coming instructors in showing them how to really look at riders’ bodies (I did my AI many years ago and would have definitely found it helpful while teaching), and make helpful corrections.
I would love to bring Zido over in the future for training.
In the meantime I look forward to hearing news of any other events you might organise and hope to see you again soon.
Christine W
Hi Debbie,
Just to say a big thank you for the clinic yesterday.
I thought it was well planned, with a very informal approach which was relaxing and made the learning balanced without being over technical.
The level of involvement (even without my mare there) was very useful and the chance to observe people with similar issues was most helpful.
One suggestion for future, could be to video the riding so the rider can watch back the footage against comments made by the experts? (We have taken this on board and will be using video for future clinics)
You all worked well together, providing clear and concise assessments in “plain English” backed up with improvement exercises.
Once we riders are sorted out with our wonky backs and wobbly legs, a clinic to get the horses to learn the stretches would be helpful!
I would highly recommend this clinic to anyone who rides, it has certainly made me more aware of my issues, and now I have the people, tools and help to sort them out.
One day I will nail that sitting trot!!
All in all a very enjoyable “grey” Sunday.
Helen
CONTACT Debbie or Jack Beasant. Tel 07887 808630
email : db_riding@btconnect.com
