
Mairi joined Aspire Equestrian non-horse owner riding programme at Foundation level at the end of December 2014. She started co-sharing Tilly following her Introductory sessionĀ and has been enjoying the intensive progress and seat development that I am putting her through š
Mairi’s observations about her bareback lessons include:Ā
– heightened awareness of my own body movement in relation to the horse’s movement
– realisation how pelvis of the rider is moved by the motion of the horse’s back
– how easy it is to lose balance through lousy posture!

– feeling much clearer when inaccurate turns cause bracing response in Tilly’s back and neck
– really starting to understand the meaning of “seat first, rein aids last”
– getting the idea of connecting the upper arms and elbows to my hips and how this affects my ability to rotate the upper body correctly on circles
– how slippery it is if I don’t move exactly with Tilly!
– how I can slow her down or speed her up by changing my posture and energy through the seat
Thank youĀ to Mairi for sharing her observation from the lesson š I hope I haven’t missed any points she mentioned!Ā
Would you like to join in #Barebruary training theme? If you do, email your bareback pictures to aspire@outlook.com, post them to our Facebook page or Tweet at @aspireacademy adding #barebruary hashtag with a few words about how bareback riding has helped you with your riding skills ā I will publish your photos on the blog throughout February!
To read more about #Barebruary click HERE
*Please note: I don’t accept any pictures, no matter how beautiful, of riders without riding hat/helmet or of horses wearing “creative” bits/bridles suggesting violent training methods.