Flow Riders Equestrian - Music Clinics

26/01/2025

26/01/2025

Everybody is cold, everybody is bored and everybody is feeling guilty for not getting anything done.

Some thoughts on the winter of our despair:

1- guilt is a waste of time. Take some time to organize and take stock of what you actually have : if you look at your day objectively, you’ll see what amount of time you have to work with your horses, and what the footing or situation is. Are horses are standing in three feet of mud or snow or frozen trenches? Do you have a barn or indoor arena? Do you have lights ? How much time in your day remains after working or whatever your responsibilities include? You may find yourself looking at a normal winter reality - not much daylight, not much time, bad footing.

2- get creative : what CAN you do? You maybe can’t do canter sets in -2 degrees in the snow, but you can think of what ingredients go INTO canter sets and break it way, way down. What’s required for a canter? Alignment, good flexion, responsiveness, lifting the inside shoulder, diagonal unity - how can you work on those ingredients in the space and time you have? (I have videos on this in my video library for those interested)

3- when consistency is not possible, stick to awareness and high quality. Can you give the time you have - a ten minute session, or whatever the case is - can you keep your thoughts 100% (or as close to this as possible) to the session? Can you be aware of the details and your movements and how you breathe and how aligned the horse is doing the small things you CAN get done? You’ll feel a much greater sense of accomplishment if your mind is here in the session, rather than in some potential situation you can’t create with the following disappointment of not creating it.

4- as tempting as it is to wish for summer, don’t waste this valuable time. Winter has its purpose : rest, reset, reorganize. Don’t wish this period away but instead find its value and turn toward introspection.
Your summer will be better off for it.

26/01/2025

As our knowledge of animal welfare and ethical training develops, there are lessons we can learn from other animal care sectors.

Zoos have incorporated cooperative care principles into the management and husbandry of captive wild animal species for decades.

For our next Welfare Wednesday Webinar, we'll be joined by equine behaviourist and trainer Barbara Dreyer to explore how we can apply these principles to horses.

In her role as a zookeeper, Barbara has trained Eastern Bongo to be weighed, Eastern Black rhinos to accept conscious blood draws and Grevy zebras to accept worming treatments.

We will also be joined by equine behaviourist, Samantha Couper, who regularly observes feral horses in the USA, using her observations to improve the lives of domesticated horses.

Click here to sign up 👇

https://bit.ly/3EgWtKm

22/01/2025

Really interesting, we work through some of this during Flow rides. Do you think about breath work when riding - or just remember when your coach yells “breathe!”

⭐️🐴Brilliant Basics : Breathing 🐴⭐️

🫁Our breathing, both mounted and dismounted is hugely influential on both horse and rider biomechanics, and on the emotional connection between ourselves and our horses.

🫁The most important fact to bear in mind is that your horse will mirror your own breathing, both good and bad.

🫁Even with a very steady, grounded sort of horse, if that horse spends enough time with a human who has shallow, inconsistent breathing, that horse will soon pick up on the human and mirror them. And vice-versa, the outlook of an anxious horse can be dramatically improved by the influence of a human handler or rider that is breathing well. The scientific word for this is entrainment, and the process is called co-regulation.

🫁Also, a very interesting fact; horses cannot conceptualize their breath like we can. For example, we can use our pre-frontal cortex to make decisions on how many breaths to take, how deeply to breathe, and in turn we can positively take control of our own emotional state. In comparison, a horse cannot make decisions to change his breathing rate. He responds via environmental input to his central nervous system, and breathes accordingly. So, if others are calm, he is calm. If others are triggered by a threat, he is also triggered. A good example of this is how a young horse will stay calm in traffic around an older horse who is not in fear of the traffic. So, as best as we can, we have to be the ‘reliable external modulator’ in the relationship.

🫁This means that if we can master good breathing, then we have a very powerful tool at our disposal for regulating ourselves and our horses and improving performance.

🫁Not only are there emotional benefits to good breathing, but also postural benefits. The muscles that are involved in inspiration and expiration also have a dual function in core stabilisation and are very useful for promoting human and equine self-carriage.

So how do we do it?

🫁First of all, take some slow steady breathes and notice how your ribcage and lungs expand on the in breath. Do you breathe mostly into your upper chest? Does your shoulder girdle lift with each breath, lengthening your front in the process? This would indicate your breath is fairly shallow. As your front lengthens, you are losing some of your strength and core integrity. It might help to sit in front of a mirror to gain clarity on this.

🫁Instead, can you breathe into your belly, expanding your ribcage outwards instead of upwards. Can you keep your front the same length, with your breath going down and outwards instead of remaining in your upper chest?

🫁To test yourself, place your hands on your waist, and squeeze your waist inward so that there is some resistance given to your breathing (a bit like a tight belt or corset). Then notice as you breath in, can you start to push your hands outwards against the resistance. Repeat this until you get the hang of expanding your ribcage and belly against a resistance.

🫁Next, notice what happens on the outbreath. Does your ribcage and belly contract, or can you keep pushing out against the resistance, even during the outbreath? This starts to raise intraabdominal pressure and contraction in the muscles of both inspiration and expiration.

🫁Can you increase your resistance against your hands on the in breath and the outbreath, until there becomes no difference in your tone as your breathe in and out. You are now starting to breathe diaphragmatically.

🏆Well done!

Want to experiment further with the amazing influence of your breath? Click below for my free guide to calming breathing techniques for your horse ⬇️

https://www.horseandridercoach.co.uk/pl/2148359070

13/01/2025

To be light, truly, is a feeling from within
A feeling of buoyancy - finding the beauty, the humor, the whimsy everywhere. To be vibrant, and open is to see the possibilities everywhere, and instead of trying to make, finding instead a wave to simply ride.

To be unchained by the heaviness of insecurity, by the need to feel important or cover a damaged heart.

To be light is to be free enough to take in the world and reflect it everywhere -

To be truly light with horses, we must cultivate an inner lightness - a true reflection of selflessness, as we reflect the beauty of the world around us back out, no longer bogged down by a desire to be anyone at all.

Photo by hatch art

22/12/2024

Looking forward to the last few working days before 2025. My Christmas riding playlist is a bit light this year. 🎵
Any additions for riding to that you use? Playlist link in comments 🤶

01/12/2024

Beautifully explained.

Correct use of Thighs...

Internally rotated thighs.
If there is one change I make to the majority of riders that has a profound impact on their ability to sit the trot and feel more stable and hence safe in the saddle, it is finding the internal rotation in their thighs.

This can easily be done yourself in the saddle. Put your reins into one hand and reach your other hand deep under the back of your thigh and lift the muscle and tissue outward and away from the thigh bone (femur). Switch reins into your other hand and do the same to your opposite thigh. Notice how this allows more of your thigh to connect with the saddle in that soft, wet towel feel.

In the attached photo I have demonstrated the change in the look of the thigh using this manual rotation of my thigh. Keep in mind that my thighs are already quite internally rotated in the first photo as I have ridden this way for a long time. However, after bringing the meaty part of my thigh out from under my thigh bone in an internal rotation you can see how much flatter my thigh lies on the saddle with a better connection and increased tone. Note the red arrows pointing out the change in the seam line of my breeches. The blue arrow demonstrates the change in my knee to a more kneeling feeling and a better connection from the inside of my knee up to the top inside of my thigh.

If internally rotated thighs have not been in your conscious awareness, on your next ride, take the time to ride at all gaits with your thighs in their usual comfortable, at-home place in your saddle. Then do the internal rotation exercise as described above, and notice how this changes your feel in the saddle. You may have to stop and do it a few times and be willing to let it feel really weird. Your muscle memory will try to tell you this can’t be right!! Stick with it.

Ask yourself the following questions: Do you feel more or less secure? Does this new position allow you to steer your horse better? Does your horse change and become more or less relaxed? Bring their back up or drop it? Reach more into the rein or suck back? Noticing how our horses change as we ride more biomechanically correct can be mind-blowing!! It got me hooked over 20 years ago!!

I’d love to hear about your observations in the comments below.
Enjoy your ride!❤️

27/11/2024

25/11/2024

The power of noticing. 💭

Something I reflect on deeply—and sometimes feel is missing in the world of horse training—is the art of truly noticing. Noticing how the horse responds to the things we do, not just when we ask for something specific, but in the subtle, everyday dialogue we share.

When I praise my horses, I want it to be more than a random pat on the neck. I want to feel that they receive it as something positive, something meaningful. Too often, I see a rider offer praise, yet the horse’s expression remains unchanged—no softening, no flick of an ear, no shift in their energy.

And that makes me wonder: Is the praise truly for the horse—or for us?

If our praise, our release, or our rewards are to have any real value, we need to know they truly land. Connection isn’t automatic; it’s built through noticing the smallest signs that tell us our words and actions resonate.

For me, it’s in the glimmer of understanding in their eyes, the sigh of relaxation, or the subtle melting of tension. That’s when I know I’m truly communicating, not just talking into the void.

So, how do you know your horse appreciates the things you do? What signs do they show you when they feel seen, understood, and supported?

Because in those moments, we create not just training—but partnership. 💕

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22/11/2024