By Wiola Grabowska The first time you try to stand on the gym ball you might conclude it a mission impossible. Your joints might go all stiff, muscles all rigid and you might try to grasp for anything and anyone to grab hold of for balance. If this sounds a bit like you when your…
There was a time I was angry with the sport for glorifying the kind of riding that I didn’t want to teach. You might say I didn’t need to be involved, didn’t need to be teaching any riders who wanted to compete. The catch was, the competition riding was all I knew. Having spent ten…
My loan horse was off work for two months after an injury and I’m blogging his rehab – fitness, suppleness, flexibility – sharing successes, exercises and more. This is Gilly. He’s a 10-year-old, 16.2hh Irish Sport Horse gelding who I’ve had on loan for just over a year. He’s a character and a great horse…
Here’s one fun idea for a groundwork exercise that works very well for horses that are: easily distracted and unfocused when ridden spooky and generally either too much in front of the leg or behind the leg uninterested in the rider uninterested in communication with the rider You will need: a lot of random things…
Here we go. The 2016 has just about ended and I would like to thank you for being part of the Aspire Academy’s adventures for another 365 days. It’s been a life changing year (which one isn’t, hey?!) with many challenges accomplished and some fabulous moments that I will remember for a long time. It…
There are those who believe everything happens for a reason and those who think this concept is a silly idea. I’m somewhat in the middle. I believe we participate in many life changing events, both sad and joyfull, and sometimes it is helpful and maybe even healing to create a reason… In case you have…
I’ve been sitting down to write this post so many times in the last two days. Each morning, as I go to catch Leo from his field and he greets me with his cheeky face, I can’t help but think how unfair and cruel life can be. Today, a friend of a friend arrived to…
Welcome to this new series on Aspire Academy’s blog – it will be packed with quick tips, visuals, photos and videos, all in a form that can be easily replicated by most and in most places. Your Rider Fitness Trainer for this series: Kathlyn Hossack Certified Athletic Therapist, CAT(C) Kinesiologist, BSc. Pn1 Nutrition Coach. Rehab,…
Great to see training initiatives receiving support. The Prestige Training Schoolmasters project sounds like something I aspire to with the Academy’s Instructors’ training programme so I was really interested in learning more about it! Check it out if you are on the lookout for some schoolmasters lessons, sounds fabulous. Wiola ***** Kate Negus Saddlery is…
One of the most common rider frustrations is a horse that would not go in the corner of the arena or a particular spot when out hacking, not wanting to jump a particular jump, go into the water, or one that spooks a lot when fresh, or always “over-reacts” to various objects whether he has…
