Horse and rider Straightness training workshops.

What is stopping you from achieving natural stress free excellence?

Horse and rider Straightness training workshops.

Schooling the rider’s body to release their one-sidedness in preparation for training the horse, is a neglected topic that most people don’t think about. We spend all our time focusing on how the rider’s position should look, with next to no attention on the wonky foundation it is built upon.

Art is a deep release therapy that dissolves crookedness at its very core by combining the, Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais and NLP. You can only dissolve spinal twists which are the root cause of our wonky foundation holistically. Trying to manipulate parts of your body into, “looking the part,” only builds more layers of crookedness on top of your already wonky foundation.

“Good riding creates a balanced horse. Balance means you keep the whole body working well as a unit.” Dr Gerd Heuschmann author of, "Tug of war." and, "If horse's could speak."

Watch his videos here.

Art is unique because it shifts the focus of attention onto what you are doing wrong without judging or pressurising you to be perfect. F M Alexander said often, “Stop doing the wrong thing and the right thing will do itself.” If you think about it for a moment that is the very opposite to traditional training More here…

On the introductory day we will cover:

If the horse is not enjoying being schooled they soon switch off, shut down and become resistant. I like to lunge horses over poles and small jumps to find out their little quirks, what turns them on and to release any explosions lurking inside! When they have this time and space to work alone they start to figure out the best way to manage the challenges presented to them, without the distraction of the rider. As they become braver they soon start to relax their back, round up and develop a top line. With this improved impulsion, rhythm and balance, the training process becomes much more comfortable for both horse + rider.

If you learn to ride before you ride by attending these dismounted virtual riding days, instead of the arena being a place of disempowerment and constant mind numbing, micro management, it becomes a place where training is fulfilling, fun and lifts your own + your horse’s spirit which leads to good movement and expression. What “turns him on” is then incorporated into schooling games that lead to him naturally seeking the bit and moving well. This is very important because if the horse is bored or restricted he will become unhappy and mirror his mood in his body. We cover this on the follow up mounted day.

ART unfolds to you throughout the day how unique but simple it is to get a horse into self-carriage with the graceful ease of movement that they display naturally in the field.

What we cover on Horse + rider Straightness training workshops.

1. The chair game shows us:

 

2. Diagonal pathway exercise. During this exercise we start learning how ART works using a specific floor exercise. I chose this fabulous, simple exercise out of about 500, because it quickly dissolves spinal twists which are the root cause of crookedness in both horse +rider. During this floor exercise riders slowly, accurately discover their stiff side. This is important because their stiff side blocks the horse's movement which affects their soundness and happiness. As we move on further into this deep release exercise, the rider learns how to rebalance their right/ left-sidedness until they become ambidextrous.

 

3. Feeling contact. During this exercise the rider learns how to encourage their horse to lightly seek the bit forwards and down with a relaxed poll, jaw and tongue while keeping your hands soft, following and even. As horse's were not designed to be sat on, it is important to lift and protect the back.

4. Flexion extension. This exercise strengthens and deepens the rider's seat while they absorb the horse's longitudinal - front to back - movement through their body and how to lift the horse's back.

5. Mental rehearsal using NLP. Throughout the day Joni will be using mental rehearsal to teach the rider how to use their body to diagnose the horse’s crookedness with particular attention paid to:

 

6. Turning and spiralling.

Costs. The dismounted workshop costs £59.50 for the day. If you bring a friend the cost is reduced to £110, that's £55 each. If you bring more than one friend everyone goes for £50 each

Horse + rider straightness training workshops.

In summary:

 

In Horse and rider Straightness Training workshops. Whatever your level. Joni offers exemplary experience in a safe, warm environment.

Whether you are:

 

If you have any questions to ask Joni please email her here
If you would like to call her for a chat her mobile is 0777 181156
If you would like to book now, the current list of venues are here