Sam Davies Equine Services and Coaching

04/04/2024

Within the 263 pages of Geoff Teall on Riding Hunters, Jumpers and Equitation, Teall covers an impressive multitude of topics aimed at helping riders increase the effectiveness of their time spent in the saddle. From setting goals and finding the right trainer to high-level jumper course work, the n...

10/02/2024

Love this ♥️

“Be brave enough to suck at something new”

25/12/2023

♥️

To lift the back, the horse must be able to reach forward and stretch downward with his head and neck …

Imagine that your horse’s shoulder blades form a slot through which his neck must fall in a downward direction. In order to reach and stretch, his neck must come straight out of his shoulders. If his neck isn’t aligned with the slot, the horse is unable to lower it.—Beth Baumert

🎨: Sandy Rabinowitz

01/11/2023

It’s that time of year again! 🍂

🍂 No Stirrups November 🍂⁣
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If you are taking part, here are some tips to help you:⁣
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1️⃣ Relax and breathe - don’t brace or tense as then you will find it hard to follow your horse’s movement. Relax your shoulders and neck, and think about breathing into your belly so your diaphragm works to its full capacity. Remember your diaphragm and pelvic floor work together in a synchronised manner to control your breathing. This has a massive effect on your seat.⁣
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2️⃣ Start small - 5 minutes of walk at the start or end of each ride. This allows you and your horse to build up tolerance and progress together - without putting undue pressure on your horse’s back.⁣
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3️⃣ Allow your legs to hang down loosely, don’t grip. Remember this is about letting your seat follow your horse’s movement. Think about having the weight of your upper body and trunk through your seat, and then let the weight of your legs hang down loosely.⁣
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4️⃣ Allow your pelvis and hips to follow the movement of the horse - think of tiny little feet attached to your seat bones 👣 ⁣As the horses right hind leg moves forward so should your tiny little foot on the right side, and then the left.⁣
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5️⃣ Warm up before you get in the saddle. A short targeted warm up that moves your pelvis and hips through all three planes of movement will allow you to follow your horse’s movement more easily in the saddle.⁣
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6️⃣ Targeted resistance based exercises to improve strength and control around your pelvis and hips done OFF the horse will improve your position, symmetry, comfort and performance in the saddle.⁣
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🌟 I designed the Activate Your Seat exercise programme, done against the resistance of the bungi, to target all the muscles of the rider’s seat improving strength, suppleness, symmetry and balance in the saddle 🌟 ⁣
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🍂 Are you joining in on the ? ⁣
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🏇Two sets of level 1 exercises to warm up before you ride and then 5 minutes of no stirrups walk at the start and end of each ride. If you don’t already have a bungi I’ll post some warm up exercises tomorrow as well so come and join us.⁣
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🙋‍♀️ What are your no stirrup tips?⁣
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Maeve ⁣
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03/08/2023

First camp of 2023 done ✔️ We rode, played with dogs and kittens, looked after the ponies, toasted marshmellows, tried our hand at side saddle and rounders, and much more!

08/06/2023

2023 Camps! Here’s our packing list

05/02/2023

26/12/2022

🎄Polework Clinic 28th Dec🎄Reminder to everyone who has booked onto the clinic please arrive 10-15 mins before your lesson time to groom and tack up your horse/pony and have them at the arena a few minutes before your lesson time! I am fully booked so am unable to run lessons over if you are late! Thankyou

29/11/2022

Message to book

30/09/2022

[video] Seat Bone Control In Walk - https://dressagetraining.tv/seat-bone-control-walk/

Some riders move around too much in walk, which gives them little control over tempo or the length of the horse's stride. In this 2 minute video in the above link I talk about seat bone control and show a little exercise which prepares the rider for developing better control of tempo and better control of their seat. The final exercise is a precursor to learning how to halt directly from stopping the seat bones.

27/08/2022

26/08/2022

On camp we learned about the horses bones and looked at how two differnt horses moved. The Shetland has a locking stifle, it was a great visual for his condition. We then bathed the animal safe non toxic paint off to finish.

26/08/2022

That’s a wrap! Last summer camp finished! We had a brilliant few days, learning long reining, show jump building, how to create a feeding plan, tack fitting, polocross, learnt horses bones, and did an equine scavenger hunt! Videos of the last three camps to follow!

11/08/2022

Now time to sleep! Second camp of the summer finished. We learnt about horses muscles, long reining, putting a bridle together, did mounted games and did some TikTok challenges on an evening 😂 bring on the next camp in two weeks 🎉

05/08/2022

First camp of 2022 done ✅ We did everything from gymkhana games, to mucking out and feeding, playing the with cats rabbits and rats and in the animal rescue, rock hunting and painting, grooming and plaiting and much much more!