Torridon Lodge Stud and Equestrian Centre

10/07/2024

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:🦄🦄🦄🦄

1. ✅This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. ✅You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. ✅You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. ✅This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. ✅EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. ✅Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. ✅You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. ✅Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. ✅We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). 💝People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. 💝They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

30/06/2024

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

📝 Kimberley Reynolds

📸 Max & Maxwell: Equestrian Photography

12/06/2024

Hi my name is Deb I'm fundraising for Jill Wood Ainsley from Torridon Lodge. I have know Jill for 20+ … Deborah Hamilton needs your support for Rally for Jill

22/08/2023

https://fb.watch/mAVrqJrSnc/?startTimeMs=241000&mibextid=HSR2mg

24/07/2023

Emir stepping up so beautifully to allow Beth to have her first lesson on him last Saturday . Such a gentleman.

03/06/2023

24/03/2023

24/02/2023

Beautiful pics

19/01/2023

19/01/2023

Wonderful news

05/01/2023

Love this Fergus Ainslie

05/01/2023

16/12/2022

A wonderful affair - John Whitaker and Milton.

Many have asked once again to see a relaxed photograph of John Whitaker with Milton away from the competitive arena. This one could not be more perfect than it is. One of the most popular combinations of horse and rider if not the most popular partnership ever. All of us followers of show jumping know what they did together and the thousands of fans they collected around the world. It is hard to believe that John at age 66 as we all know is still competing internationally at the highest level and winning like crazy, truly amazing.

I only wish that Caroline Bradley had been around to see this. However, we all know that if we had not tragically lost Caroline, all of the thousand of photographs and winnings of this great horse would have been of her on the back of Milton.

Fate played an enormous hand here, John got the ride after extremely careful consideration by Caroline's parents, this included two years of none competition for Milton. The rest is history, they formed a great love affair between horse and rider and boom, tremendous history was made in our sport.
Please enjoy this super photograph of a brilliant combination, John Whitaker and the great Milton.

Christmas time is here. To buy the book of the Golden Age of Show jumping your local book shop will order it for you or just go direct to Amazon or Barnes & Noble, thank you!

You can also pick up my children's book, Toby Rogue. This wonderful book of a mischievous little Shetland pony has many five star reviews already on Amazon. Kids and adults love this book and laugh constantly at the antics of this little mischief, a must for ALL children. A wonderful stocking stuffer for the children in your life.