Wondering what Straightness Training is all about and how you and your horse can benefit from it? Check out this video!
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Watch with sound.
When your horse that used to spook and bolt stays calmer than you when a shot goes off! 💚🐴
Rider Seat Clinic Impressions #riderseat #enlightenedequinetraining #dorahebrock
A little glimpse into a Rider Seat Clinic. 🙂🐴
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In the Rider Seat Clinic 1, we will start out with examining our pelvis and its ideal position in the saddle or on the bareback horse. We will do a "Seat Detox" to find our individual "Home Seat" by doing gentle exercises to go to the extremes of pelvis and body position in order to end up in the middle with relaxation and ease. We will work on a fake horse in order to save our own horses from the discomfort of going to the extremes in finding our individual rider position. There will be demos and possible try-outs on Dora's horses to feel and illustrate the changes.
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In Clinic 2, we will look at the rider's tendencies of positioning and movement on the ground in order to create body awareness and assess rider asymmetries that may affect our horse. We will then sit on our horse as a passenger with the goal of feeling our horse's asymmetries and tendencies in movement, and seeing how much we can feel, and then also influence.
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In Clinic 3, we will discover creating awareness of, and adding the leg and rein aids to, our seat as the main aid, and put them together to help our horse balance on a circle and explore lateral movements.
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For Clinic 1, students will attend without a horse, but all students will take an active part in the Clinic. Some will also be able to do the seat lessons on one of Dora's horses, depending on the number of participants.
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For Clinic 2, there will be limited spaces for riders to bring their own horses. Guest horses must be ok with standing still, being lead, and being longed, with a rider on-board in an indoor arena. All participants will be taking part in the exercises, and lessons will be both mounted and on the ground.
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For Clinic 3, there will be limited spaces for riders to bring their own horses.
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All participants will be taking part in the exercises, and lessons will be both mounted and on the ground.
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Dates: July 6th, 2024
September 29t
Kim left hind progress
Sometimes things don't work out as we would like or expect them to. But as the saying goes, we get what we need, not what we want.
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Some of you may know that Kim has been mildly lame on her left hind leg since 2019. It's not clear why, but it seems to be a combination of an old injury and the repeated torque on her poll from pulling hay from a haynet fixed to the wall over a long time.
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It has meant taking a break from active lessons in the Straightness Training Academy and figuring out what is going on and how to help her feel and move better, if possible.
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Last year I finally fully embraced this new, unexpected journey of going deep and finding missing pieces. It is often painful and frustrating, but also very rewarding.
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There is visible progress, which I'm sharing in this video. As her left hind leg is getting more stable, the twisting when that foot is under load is diminishing. Her poll und upper neck, which was blocked and inflamed, is healing and getting looser and softer.
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But what I am starting to realize, too, is that this journey is improving my feel in a way that Straightness Training alone has not been able to.
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There is a lot to celebrate about this!
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As with everything, it takes a village. I've had so many helpers on this journey, and we're not done yet!
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To horses, and to learning. 💚
When I first met my horse Kim she was scared of being saddled, mounted, ridden, and resorted to either freezing or bolting when under saddle. She still prefers being mounted from her right side. 🙂🐴
A brief compilation of Ruta Mazelis' two-hour Masterson Method demonstration at our Equine Health Day. The recordings are still available!
A little excerpt of my recent riding work with Andero. Some of the footage had his feet cut off as I had the camera tipped up too much. Lots of things to smooth out, but given that I've been gone most of the summer, I'm happy.
I got back from Austria late last night. Andero wanted to move today, so I let him.
It’s important for horses to develop their carrying muscles, and that they can only do if they can lengthen their necks and move with their nose at the vertical or only slightly in front of it. Some horses can also “cheat” and not fully lengthen the neck or keep it braced, so it’s important to recognize this and also work on relaxation. The head and neck position changes over time to a higher one, when the horse is ready, but a forward down head and neck position should always remain possible at any time.
I made a little demo trim video, not to demonstrate how to trim, but to show how well a horse can stand for trimming. Hoof care is a very dangerous occupation, we get hurt literally EVERY DAY to some degree, and I have heard of many serious injuries of colleague trimmers. Many horse owners and handlers underestimate how difficult it can be to trim horses that are uncooperative. So here is a good example as an inspiration for every horse owner and handler to train their horse and pay attention to what is happening when your hoof care provider is under your horse. Please watch out for them as they watch out for your horse. I always say treat your hoof care professional as you want them to treat your horse.
A short section of yesterday’s observational longeing session. Kim gets tight in her left lumbar area and glutes, so she generally moves better going to the left and with a left bend. It could be that she was muscle sore after the walk the day before and not having worked while I was away.
I focussed on motivation in this session, and loved that she was keen to move and offered canter without me prompting her. Minimal guidance from me to shape her, so it was all mostly her idea. I love this horse. 💚
Because I’m gone for more than two weeks at a time when I travel for work at the moment, it’s always a bit like starting from scratch with the horses when I get home. A but frustrating, but I am learning to ease them into work more gently. I never just get on them and ride on the first day. Yesterday, the three of us went for a little walk together.
Who says barefoot horses can’t walk enthusiastically on gravel?
Natural Asymmetry Assessment Summit - April 22nd, 2023
🐴Does your horse brace against the right or left rein?
Does your horse pull against the longe line?
🐴Does your horse not want to turn or bend?
Does your horse get stressed out?
🐴Does your horse start speeding up when you ride or longe it?
There is a reason for those symptoms.... just like humans, horses are not symmetrical.
When we ask them to carry a rider or move on bent lines we need to teach our horses to develop their muscles symmetrically in order to carry weight in the correct way and stay healthy.
But how do we know where these asymmetries show up? How do we pinpoint them?
This Summit is all about identifying the natural asymmetry in horses. Marijke de Jong is still accepting video submissions of participants' horses now. She will go through them during the Summit live and discuss each horse's individual asymmetry.
Don't miss out on this great opportunity!
The Summit ticket price is only $18.88, but with the link below and the coupon code “SAVE10”, you can sign up for only $8.88!
Follow this link to sign up:
https://www.straightnesstrainingacademy.com/summit?via=v93sdurl9d
See you there!
Dora
I just found this video from about a year ago when Kim offered a beautiful posture at liberty. 💚
Lesson Days in Las Vegas
Learning new skills can be fun! 😁
