Note to all current Aspire riders: if you like the sound of Mariana’s clinics let me know and we will organise it in London and Henley!
Wiola
Monthly Archives: September 2015
Should I buy a young horse as my first horse? – a very short look at preliminary considerations…
A question of this character makes a frequent appearance in Aspire blog’s “search terms” so I feel I should share at least a few thoughts on the subject from time to time 🙂
BLANK CANVAS
The most appealing quality of youngsters is their so called “unspoilt” nature. Older horses come with their baggage and here is a chance to train a blank canvas. If you are a good painter, have a decent ability to handle your tools well, you have a high chance of creating a nice painting on that canvas, something of a pleasing quality that brings enjoyment to you and many who come to see your work.
If you are just learning your acrylics from your watercolours, you might really benefit from some faint sketch to follow so the shapes make sense…maybe some education on mixing colours so they match those in real life…
Consider: if despite your inexperience you are set on purchasing a young horse, you might want to surround yourself with a good support team that can step in quickly when needed. This is sometimes seen as a weakness but is anything but. It shows the knowledge and appreciation of the horse’s learning process, development of habits and confidence.
FIRST HORSE – YOUNG HORSE?
I often see riders being advised against buying their first horse if it is a youngster. As a general rule, I agree. However, if you took your time to educate yourself well, rode many different horses and handled variety of them at various stages of their life, don’t let the general rule stop you from investigating the possibility further.
If a notion of bringing on your own young horse drives you to acquire the necessary skills, then you might not take the general rule too seriously.
Consider: your level of experience and knowledge of training (be honest with yourself), your ability to work on natural crookedness of a young horse, natural lack of balance, natural hollowness of the back, natural curiosity of the world and natural unpredictability of reactions to that world..
ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY and MENTAL SIDE OF THINGS
Knowing how horses develop anatomically and physiologically, even if in simple terms only, is an absolute must for anyone who takes on a challenge of educating a youngster. The body changes can be huge in a relatively short space of time. Those changes call for adjustments in tack, nutrition, riding demands, rider position, type of training…
Then there is mental and emotional maturity that can only develop well if the rider is aware of what he/she needs to work on.
Consider: if you are a competent rider but lacking knowledge in the above department, don’t give up – consider involving a trainer who will keep you in check and help you read the changes well. Sometimes eyes on the ground and an experienced seat in the saddle a few times a month is all you need to keep everything under control.
RIDING TIME
This is probably least mentioned aspect of owning a young horse. Many first time owners want to spend a lot of time with the horse, go for longer rides, fun rides, hacks with friends, schooling shows etc etc There are many views on young horse training including how much “stress” is too much and how much is necessary for learning to happen, but one thing is pretty sure: you don’t spend a long time on a young horse’s back…
Consider: youngsters thrive on short sessions, 25-30 minutes is often more than enough for a schooling time. Long rides are out of question for young, growing bones and unfocused minds. Variety is paramount to learning but so is routine and structure to the training.
CONFIDENCE
Young horses have an uncanny ability to know a leader from a boss – leadership comes from confidence in purpose, tasks and actions whilst bossiness, well, they see through it and they will catch any inconsistency.
Consider: you don’t have to be the bravest, most fearless rider to go for a young horse. Sure, it helps to be brave but I don’t believe it is necessary. Look at your level of confidence in your training methods, your handling methods and yourself as a person. Quiet confidence helps with patience, assertiveness, persistence and open mindedness…The qualities that have the power to bring on a well educated young horse.
That’s it for now. If I see more of these kind of searches in the blog’s stats, I will try to bring more content on this subject 🙂 Please feel free to add your own thoughts and experiences in the comments!
Wiola
Monday Motivation – When the SMART goals need a magic boost ;)
You know, I am sure. that for the goals to materialise they need to be specific, measurable, achievable, results-focused, and time- bound.
Sometimes, however, when all the maths, analysis and reason gets rinsed off with the rain, when no method seems to be working and the morning alarm rings just way too early, you might want to abandon all the usual steps and follow the one below 😉
Hope you all had a good Monday 🙂 If you have your own magic one-liner, feel free to add it in the comments 🙂
LOGO DESIGN CONTEST/CHALLENGE – create an update for our logo!
Dear Creative People out there 🙂
I am looking to update the Academy’s logo with an image/illustration that would look awesome across various media as well as rider wear, horse wear and accessories…
Apparently this is what everybody wants but I am looking for a memorable, strong, simple yet powerful symbol to add to current logo (please see below).
A LITTLE BRIEF
Name of the logo: Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy
The industry/business type: Equestrian grassroots sports coaching/amateur sports coaching
Who are our clients aka target audience
Horse riders and owners who like to train, progress and/or compete with horse’s wellness in mind
Horse riders and owners who believe they too are athletes whatever the level and participate in this sport accordingly.
Horse riders and owners who are open minded, always wanting to learn more, always striving to be the best they can be (whatever the level/discipline/abilities)
Tagline: “For dreamers and hard workers” (not looking into adding this to the logo though)
Structure of the Academy: There are 4 main programmes – Start (colour code Green), Foundation (Colour Code Deep Red), Development (Colour Code Navy) and Performance (Colour Code Black) + Instructor Training (Colour Code Yellow).
Start is fully on the lunge and focused on seat training, Foundation is an all-round-have-fun-with-horses-whilst learning to ride training, Development is where we learn how to school the horse as our training/riding partner and Performance is where we go out and test the knowledge and skills in grassroots competitions environment.
Other info
I would like the logo to highlight the progressive, structured adventure in riding training at lower levels; to be memorable, strong, simple, suggesting quality/progress/”study in training”, easy to use on different media and products.
Nothing cheesy please 😉
WHAT NOW
If you think you have an idea for Aspire’s logo update, please email Wiola at aspire@outlook.com with the following:
- Your project
- Your fee (please read on before submitting your project)
- Any other questions email away 🙂
If there are few good projects submitted then I will do an open contest on here and other Aspire’s social media making sure all designers are mentioned by name/website to offer exposure of your services.
I will let readers, riders and friends to vote to see which logo is most popular. Winning logo will be chosen shortly after voting is closed. The choice stays in my hands.
The winning logo receives:
- 1 year banner on Aspire blog and website for the creator’s services. Banner can be designed by the creator.
- small ££ payment (details by email)
- promotion across all Aspire’s social media channels
Help create something unique and be the part of Aspire Equestrian’s training adventures 🙂
Thank you!
Wiola
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