We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

When you are working on your own, you can investigate certain questions together with the horse and let the horse show you how he wants to be ridden. Each horse is different, each situation is different, and the preferences of individual horses change over time, as they develop and move up the levels. That’s why you should investigate these questions again from time to time with your horse in order to be able to adapt your seat and aids to the horse’s changing and evolving needs.

Mindfulness - Wherever You Go There You Are

Mindfulness  - Wherever You Go There You Are

In practising mindfulness (as with Feldenkrais) you have to bring your whole being into the process. In my opinion, this is exactly what all of us need to do in order to be a true horseman or woman.

Dynamic Seat vs. Static Seat

Dynamic Seat vs. Static Seat

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the fact that traditional seat descriptions and discussions of the seat often seem to treat the seat as something static that doesn’t move. Sitting still, having a quiet seat is often considered to be the ideal. Traditional seat instruction is often rather static as well: always sit on the inside seat bone, always have the inside hip more forward and the outside hip more back….

Unfortunately, the emphasis on stillness and on always sitting exactly the same way - whether the horse needs it or not - can lead to stiffness in the rider’s seat, which will in turn create stiffness in the horse’s body and interfere with the horse’s freedom of movement.

Investing In Yourself To Help Your Horse

Investing In Yourself To Help Your Horse

You have probably all seen funny memes and jokes in which the horse has the best of everything - custom saddle, top notch farrier, regular massage, osteopath, chiropractor, you name it - while the rider wears old, worn out boots and breeches, and takes some ibuprofen to keep going. There is often a stark contrast between how well we take care of our horses and how much we neglect to take care of ourselves. Sometimes this probably has to do with the limited availability of funds. So we prioritise the horse over ourselves.

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 4 of 4

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 4 of 4

So what IS Feldenkrais? And how can YOU use it in YOUR riding?

Very simply Feldenkrais lessons refine your ability to ‘listen’ to the information from your senses that lets you know the quality of your balance, breathing, posture and movement. It is this ability to pay attention to the subtle nuances of your sensory feedback mechanism that makes the difference between the effortless co-ordination of great riders and expending too much energy for the job in hand.


As a rider, it can help you to recognise and inhibit the unhelpful muscular efforts that interfere with your performance. You will become more discerning and improve your sensitivity, so you can respond quickly and easily to your horse. You will become quicker at identifying how to adjust any part of your body so you can ride how you’ve always wanted to. 

If you want to experience this now try this short Feldenkrais lesson…

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 3 of 4

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 3 of 4

Recently I was out on a hack with a friend. She was asking about Feldenkrais and how it applied to riding. She had observed me having lessons with my trainer and was struck by my ability to easily move my body in a particular direction or with a certain quality.

I explained that Feldenkrais lessons improve the quality of our action and that we can apply the experience of moving better to our riding. She looked puzzled.

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 2 of 4

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 2 of 4

In my last blog I described how I got to a pretty low point in my horse-owning journey. Before Shana’s email dropped into my inbox, I had felt compelled to have lessons with one of the yard staff because it seemed easier to fall in line with their wishes rather than to be on the receiving end of their sniping or criticisms whenever the classical trainer that I wanted to work with came onto the yard. 

I had also surreptitiously signed up to a couple of online trainings with people who seemed to have a similar philosophy to my own, but I was not having any success in translating their teachings into my riding. I was at the point where I would sail down the school on the right rein, trying to apply what I’d learnt online about steering, but with no positive result whatsoever. I was frequently to be spotted stuck in the corner of the school while my horse ate the hedge. Amusing though this was - and I do have the capacity to laugh at myself - this only served to contribute further to my feelings of inadequacy and embarrassment.

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 1 of 4

The "HOW" of Learning Rider Feel - Part 1 of 4

There’s nothing like the feeling when everything comes together and you are totally at one with your mind and body. When I’m in that state, where the lightest of intentions turns into effortless action, it’s the most exhilarating feeling imaginable. Some people call it being in a state of flow, but I think of it as being ‘in the zone’. When I’m in the zone, I feel completely in balance, I feel strong yet light and, most importantly, I have this immense sense of freedom that allows me to be totally spontaneous.

Core Stability

Core Stability

A member asked a question about core stability on the Artistic Dressage page. I was struck by the huge variety in understanding of what the core is, which got me thinking about how you might access your core in a way that could be effective in riding, as well as in daily life. So in my ride today I decided to pay very close attention to how I keep myself in balance and report my findings back here. I’m not the greatest or most experienced rider, however many years of teaching Feldenkrais, movement and sport has given me a relatively refined sense of how I’m moving at any point in time.

Turning The Pelvis With Ease

Turning The Pelvis With Ease

This week's newsletter article is a guest post by one of our guest teachers in our courses, Catherine McCrum. Catherine is a Feldenkrais practitioner and Gestalt psychotherapist living and working in London. The Feldenkrais Method is a way of improving how you move and function in daily life with a particular focus on how your unconscious movement patterns and posture holds you back from doing what you want to do with ease and grace. She works with a wide variety of clients and students from athletes and performers to people with neurological difficulties. Her original training was as a ski coach and trainer which she finds very applicable to her relatively new love of riding and her horse.