Horse HeroLessons in Breathing Hi James, We met at Shuttleworth College, when you visited England recently (I'm the one from Western Rider UK magazine). Just wanted to say how nice it was to meet you, and how interesting I found the workshop. I found so much of what you were showing us immediately fitted with my style of teaching. When I'm giving lessons, I focus a lot on the 'mental' side of riding, as well as the physical signals. The emphasis you put on breathing is the perfect link between the two. Funnily enough I have often used breathing as a way of helping nervous riders - I get them to stop the horse just by breathing out, which really boosts their confidence (and stops them holding their breath!). But for some reason I had never really extended that into my regular lessons. Now it seems really obvious, especially when you consider that one of the first questions I ask new riders is 'have you ever done any martial arts?' because I know this will help to lower their centre of gravity. The good thing about your workshop was that it made a lot of things fall into place.....things that I already was half familiar with, and now can use to a greater advantage. Just this week I did 2 lessons entirely based around breathing and they were very successful - so I shall be recommending people come to your workshops when you next visit! Thanks once again for all you shared with us, We've had great fun putting it into practice, with some seriously good results. Best wishes, |