First of all, please forgive my awful drawing! An artist, I am not! The drawing only serves for illistrative purposes and is most definitely not anatomically or proportionally correct.

As riders, we should always strive for quiet, effective communication which is sympathetic. Foreceful riding, and the all-to-common "kick and pull" approach should be avoided so far as is possible. Most riders know that we should use our seat more than we actually do, but has anyone explained to you exactly how to do that? For a long time, I was told "use your seat, do less with your reins" and everytime I was left thinking "How? What does that actually mean?". Today, I'm going to briefly cover how to use your seat when turning and bending, and why you should use your seat.

I'm not particularly old, and I don't have 5 decades of life experience, but I like to think that some of what I've experienced might be useful to those of you who are trying to get your foot in the door of the equine industry.

It's important to remember that the equine industry is an experience and connections industry. It's about where you've worked, what you've done, and who you know. Your qualifications, for the most part, are secondary.

Voluntary work/Free labour
This bit of advise is possibly a little controversial. I've spent a lot of my time, up until this point in my career, 'working' for free. And now that I'm trying to really push forwards in my career, it's something that I'm going back to doing.

I'm sorry to say, you have to start at the bottom of the foodchain, and work your way up. Nobody jumps straight in to a well-paying job, it's just not realistic in our industry. I've learned a huge amount through the free labour I've contributed, it's probably benefitted me more than the extortionate sums I've spent on professional training.

Yes, you can get ripped off. You can be treated as slave labour. But there are brilliant people out there too, with wonderful yards, and lovely horses who are willing to go out of their way to help you - so long as you uphold your side of the bargain, and put in a little effort in return.

Some examples of places I've 'worked' and volunteered for free;
Riding for the Disabled Association (RDA)
I spent two years volunteering at the RDA. I started, like many people do, volunteering for the DofE award. I was trained in basic horse care, gained experience in caring for horses (some with quite difficult personalities). I swept, and discovered how important a well-swept yard is to my mood. I poo picked. I made feeds. I groomed & tacked-up, including learned to fit and apply specialist tack and equipment. I side-walked with riders and led in lessons. RDA groups always (present Covid pandemic aside), need volunteers. They need all the help they can get, and the RDA has a system in place for training volunteers. They will usually be very good at looking after you, especially if you don't know what you're doing. Some groups and sessions are better than others, but find the group of people you can get along with and you'll learn lots!

Boarding School
I was very fortuante that the school I went to for Sixth Form had it's own stables. I took the Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma of Horse Management BTEC, alongside 2 A levels, and worked on the yard every spare minute of the day. We did everything; mucking out, grooming, turning out & catching in, tack cleaning, sweeping, schooling & lunging horses, took responsibility for younger & less experienced helpers, helped teach elements of lessons under supervision (like helping riders on a 1:1 who struggled with rising trot). I trained for, and achieved, my BHS Stage 1. I learned to ride strong horses, sharp horses, green Irish ponies, and had my first taste of competitive success. To this day, I think of this as my first horsey job.

Summer working pupil at a BHS riding school
After a very difficult 1st year at University, I'd decided that coaching (the course I originally took) wasn't for me. I had been a little traumatised by it - I had panic attacks when horses and riders came into the school. I didn't know what to do with my life - maybe run a livery yard? So, I turned to a riding school that I had taken lessons at the summer before. I began as an unofficial working student to 3 days a week, to train for my BHS Stage 2 Riding & care exams. I schooled horses, mucked out & did all yard work, helped with pony parties and own a pony days. Then, after a while, I ended up being pressured into doing some teaching - something that I'm actually very grateful for. And my plan of running a livery yard, and just doing the BHS care & riding exams was uprooted and replaced with my original goal of becoming a coach. I did achieve my Stage 2 whilst I was working there, and my Stage 2 teach a few months later.

Summerfield Stables - Birmingham
I didn't get to spend anywhere near as much time with Summerfield as I would have liked. They are truly the loveliest group of people I've ever met. I left at 5am, and drove 50 miles every Tuesday whilst at University this year to volunteer there. By the time I got home, it had usually be an 19 hour day.
I did basic yard work, taught a few lessons, rode a few horses, and in the evnings we trained for BHS exams with a help of a BHSI & Assessor from Ingestre Stables. Unfortunately, my uni house flooded so I had to come home to Surrey, and then Covid hit (3 days before I was going to go back!). It was a little bit too far to travel from home, so unfortunately I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked. If you live near Birmingham - I 100% recommend these people. If I lived closer, I'd go everyday.

What springs to mind when you think of “classical training”? Dressage? Andalusian or Lusitano horses? Airs-above-the-ground? The Spanish Riding School of Vienna? People dressage up like Napoleon in traditional tailcoats and funny hats or outdated uniforms?

Whilst these things are not, necessarily, wrong. They most certainly are not the whole truth...

So I've decided to hunt down some really useful resources - videos, diagrams etc. that I can share with you guys! They will all be shared on my Facebook page, and a lot will make there way to here too.

This one was created by an American dressage rider, trainer and Doctor of Chiropractics, and it's all about using the core, and goes into hip flexors a little bit. It's quite long (a little over an hour) so make sure you've got some biscuits and a drink! Credit Jamie Pestana D.C. & Megan Leonard.

Mental health, and mental health awareness, is so important, especially at a time like this! I'm so grateful to UK Coaching for offering this vital training, and making it available to sports coaches from all sports and backgrounds.

Long-reining clinics are pretty popular in the USA, but long-reining is a bit of a dying art in the UK. Most people just do straight lines and circles when long-reining, or believe that it's just for young horses, don't they? The reality is, if you can do it from the saddle, you can do it all from the ground eventually! We can use poles on the long-reins too.

Many, many riders focus on the head and neck when schooling. At Elementary levels upwards, a greater element of collection is needed, but a lot of riders forget that their is an entire horse to collect. Their version of "collection", not that it really is that at all, comes from bringing the head and neck up and in. Meanwhile, the back end trails out behind the horse, who hollows their back and drops onto the forehand.

After a very quiet few months, due to a certain pandemic that need not be mentioned, I am finally back out teaching. Yesterday was the first day back, and it was both busy and brilliant! 12 lessons taught in all, and all went superbly.

Each clients is different, with different horses, needs, ambitions etc. so each lesson is different.