Denise O'Reilly & The Dressage Secret

15/08/2024

Anna from Poland spent a couple of weeks with us recently. Daily lessons, and plenty of discussion, video analysis, and making forward plans meant that she got a huge amount of learning done.

04/08/2024

Just 2 senior ladies, doing their thing...

02/08/2024

Teaching at our dressage camp recently, I realised that my buddy here is doing better with Slimming World than I am....🤣🤣🤣

21/07/2024

So so proud of this pair! Danni Nicholson-Round and her gorgeous gelding Luka are winners of their Elementary Area Festival today and now off to The Nationals.
They have come so far this year, and have worked so hard, they deserve every bit of success they are getting.

15/07/2024

A little news update on the shoulder injury I sustained in April - I am now driving again - hurray!
This means that if you can't get to my base at Tong, in Shropshire, I can come to you.
Happy to come for individuals or clinics.
Please get in touch if you would like me to come and help you with your horse, ridden lessons, dressage training, or groundwork.
Ah, the taste of freedom!

14/07/2024

Some musings from this week's teaching...
🐴Every rider brings a skill into my arena when I first meet them; they may be talented riders generally, or not. Or talented for the canter, or the sitting trot. They may be exceptional in the lateral work - or none of the above. My best students are talented at learning how...at being in the moment, and having feel and empathy for the horse. This is truly a gift.
🐴Learning is hard. Riding well is hard. None of it comes that easily to any of us. Conditioning your body and mind make us 'fit to ride'. Open-mindedness is much harder when you have years of experience, but in recent times I have met 2 or 3 riders whose mindset is unbelievably open, despite a lifetime of lessons, being told one way (which may not sit comfortably with you) for decades, and then deciding - 'no, I am going to be kinder - a more ethical rider. I am going to learn to train my horses in a way that reduces their stress levels and makes getting it right easy' - now that is impressive.
🐴Learning what your horse cares about changes your approach to riding and training. We have to put the effort in to understand the world from their point of view. Quite a lot of what we ask them to face is frightening, and also goes against their 'flight animal' nature - much of what we do, to them must seem utterly pointless. We have to reward them often, and teach them with clarity and patience. Repeat without drilling them, stop before they are tired, break things down into smaller elements so that we can be understood. If we praise in ways they understand (friendliness - a scratch, a soft low, voice, our positive emotion, which they always feel)- training and learning then progresses much more quickly.
Enjoy a peaceful Sunday - and make time to hug your horse. ❤️

09/07/2024

Thank you beautiful CJ - just the safe conveyance I need to get back on board

08/07/2024

Love, love love teaching riders how their bodies' can have such a major effect on the way the horse goes.
Here, regular rider Celia, rides TDS schoolmistress Kia, and we are starting to work on how the backward phase of the inside seatbone in canter has the opportunity to connect with the inside hindleg and ask for more 'sit' or (hock bend to lower the croup).
Tricky on Kia, who at 20 years young, is capable of this, but would rather not if she can get around it. She prefers to canter quarters in, a way of avoiding the difficulty, and of course if we allow this, long term she will become less flexible as well as weaker - something to definitely avoid in an older horse.
So our seat quietly insists, in effect, almost a 'physiotherapy from on board' approach.
It is unusual to think of a backwards phase of the seat in canter, as everyone normally focuses on the forward swing of the hips - but it is there, between each of those forward swings, as a sort of forgotten (long lost?) cousin, who once you see and acknowledge, you end up noticing all the time!
Look out for it, feel it happening, and know that right there, that is your moment that you can influence the hindleg during the canter stride.
Getting good at this is part of what brings about collection - a really great feeling once you have it!
Happy cantering!

15/06/2024

Coco and Clare, last weekend at Newbold Verdon EC. 😍😍😍
(Photo by Barry Barnard Photography)

14/06/2024

Some of the lessons from the last week or so - and a trip out with Clare and Coco. 😍

09/06/2024

Coco put some more miles on the clock today with Clare Atkins riding a lovely Prelim 7 at Newbold Verdon.
Our plan to escape all the air show traffic worked a treat, and our first time at this venue was a total pleasure.
He had one or two baby moments, but finished on 65.8% which I was really pleased with.
He loaded and travelled well in the 'Bab-mobile' (thank you Helen Blackburn for the use of your lovely new lorry).
He was a dude in the warm up, and just makes me so proud of him!
Not quite ready to retake the reins just yet (MRI next week), but eternally grateful to Kieron Oreilly top trucker for taking us and Clare for doing a cracking job with him while I'm off games.

06/06/2024

Woody Woo and his 2 modes of transport - in the back of my Jalopy on a pile of coats this morning - and his 'upgrade to first class' earlier in the week, in the back of Helen Blackburn 's very plush Range Rover.
And yes, he did try to turn left as he entered the cabin door. 🤣

05/06/2024

24/05/2024

Hi all, hope you are all geared up for a fabulous Bank Holiday Weekend of riding in weather that is a perfect mixture of not too hot and not too cold!

I wanted to extend my thanks to all of those who came to watch our demo last Tuesday on Biomechanics from Elementary to Grand Prix, and also to do a little write up for those who couldn't make it.
Illness and life's curved balls prevented a couple of the original rider line up from attending, but after a bit of stressing on my part, and a shout out to all our lovely facebook friends, we came up with a new line up, which actually worked so beautifully.

Our first rider, Lois Ellis-Briggs, is both a dressage rider and a judge. She has produced her (not always easy) Welsh x WB x TB mare, Blue, who is now 19, herself, and they are dipping their toe into doing some BD Medium tests.
I would say that one of the biggest struggles for riders at this level is cracking the sitting trot - especially difficult on a big moving horse, and also tricky to start to move on from simply 'surviving' the sitting trot (we all know that feeling!) to becoming truly influential.
Now, I am going to be controversial here, and say that for me, working without stirrups (which most people believe will fix the sitting trot) is not the panacea it is made out to be....
Yes, I think it improves the balance of the rider, and can improve the core, but I don't think it naturally does that to everyone.
I sometimes use specific exercises without stirrups in the walk, but for me, the ethics of a rider who cannot yet sit the trot effectively, spending hours 'practicing' on the horse's back are questionable, at best.
Access to a mechanical horse would be fantastic for this, as then the coach can be up on a step guiding the rider the best way to move. (I soooo want one if anyone sees a second hand one anywhere!)
So back to Lois and how we changed her sitting trot.
Two main tips here - firstly, the glutes should NOT be recruited - they become like 2 over inflated footballs to sit on when they tense up, and pretty much guarantee a bounce.
Glutes, as a muscle group, are a bit like gate crashers at a party....if there is any action going down, they are IN!
In fact, any 'over-trying' on our behalf produces a gate crasher from somewhere in our bodies.
It could be a tense jaw that joins in uninvited, or shoulders, or feet that tense up....all pretty unhelpful, and most certainly without an invite or the correct dress code!
So step one was to relax those glutes. Finding an inward rotation of the thigh helped this massively.
Step two was to talk about the pelvis 'matching' the movement of the horse's back - having in effect, a backward push as well as a forward swing.
I have a lovely little cheat too for recruiting the core in the right way, which is to get hold of the tabs on your saddle pad, and think of pulling them upwards and a little forwards whilst holding the contact normally in the sitting trot.
Now that one is really like magic!

Second up was Fiona Hulme, dressage rider and coach, on her own very talented Mt. St. John mare, Lola.
They are competing at a solid Medium level (they are both at Somerford Park's High Profile show this weekend), and of course training higher.
We were banned from looking at Lola's flying changes, with a show at Medium level 3 days after the demo - we didn't want to be responsible for gate crashers of the equine rather than human variety!
We did however look lots at the shoulder in's and half passes, and Fiona, who has incredible body awareness, had a bit of a wish list about her left seatbone, which she never felt was as stable as the right.
There are so many causes for this happening, that finding the absolute root of it all can be very difficult, so I suppose a good way to start is by exploring the most common reasons, and the common fixes for the problem happening in the first place.
With such good body awareness, Fiona could really feel my first 'go-to', which is that Lola's Left hind was not as strong as her right, meaning that she didn't 'square up' her left long back muscle and therefore Fiona didn't have as solid a base to sit on on that side.
In effect, the left side of Lola's back was like a ski slope, and the right side more like a table top, so no wonder really that Fiona was struggling to stabilise.
This might sound very alarming, but I assure you, it is all part of normal horse asymmetry, and I suppose is what we dressage riders spend our lives and training budget, plugging away at!
I taught Fiona how to 'draw out' the weaker left long back muscle using a very specific group of muscles where her pelvis and thigh join, and she did a brilliant job at transforming Lola and herself.
We then challenged this in the left half passes, which really showed clearly the difference between when she had the new fix and when she didn't.

Our final combination was Shropshire dressage rider, coach and breeder, John Biggs, with his beautiful Lusitano, Janota.
John is a prolific producer of young horses, and we were delighted that he came to join us with his top horse, with whom he is about to compete in his first BD Advanced test.
I had not met John before, although his reputation precedes him as a very classically trained and principled rider.
From the get go, he was just the most generous, warm (and pretty funny) demo rider.
Being totally new to this work, he must have been in shock, whilst Rebekah (Adshead), my literal right hand woman (shoulder still not functioning), used hands on techniques to give John a new body awareness.
This produced a new 'self carriage' in his own seat, recruiting the oblique muscles, and with instructions from me to 'sit as though in a climbing harness' - dangling over the horse and barely making contact.
I asked John to think of making room for his horse to come up underneath him - which made the most awesome, visible difference to both the trot and the canter work.
Janota then treated us all to his gorgeous, expressive changes, which also benefitted from John's new posture.
We worked a little bit on John's shoulders and upper back, which he finds tricky to change, and then moved on to his shoulder ins, which he had told me were easier one way than the other.
The difficulty with them was that, to the left, he found it difficult to turn his body that way, compared with the right.
I showed John a resistance trick, having his right fist against the badge of the saddle and then using that pressure to rotate into.
The change to the shoulder in was startlingly good - but this is where a rider of such experience uses all the know-how they have gathered over the years to bring about such a good result.

So there it is - my little round up of the action from last Tuesday evening!
Huge thanks to all 3 of our demo riders for doing such a great job.
If you would love us to do another one, please comment below!
Happy Riding!

19/05/2024

Update on plea for help on demo night -
John Biggs and his gorgeous Lusitano, Janota are coming to our rescue!
I do love a Knight in Shining Armour, especially one on an Iberian 😊
John and Janota are about to do their first Advanced 101, so I am really looking forward to having them as our guests.
Full write up on the pair tomorrow.

19/05/2024

Hi Facebook friends! I know you have all been really helpful with my various requests for help recently, but darn it, I need you again!
I need a new demo rider (again) this time ideally one at PSG or above, as Leonie is unwell and cannot come.
I know this is a huge ask because the demo is on this coming Tuesday 21st May. The demo is at our base in Tong, Shropshire, around how the rider's seat influences the horse and how subtle changes can bring about a greater ease for the horse, and bring more throughness, a better connection etc.
The idea is that this work provides solutions which are different to those provided by the more usual training route.
The demo is from Elementary level to Grand Prix (or as near as we can get!) and I am looking for a willing, open minded rider.
The demo is in the evening and we have a 20 x 40 indoor arena.
If you would like to be a demo rider, please message me, and I can then call you for a chat about it.
Thank you in Advance!
(Gets down on knees to say a prayer)...

19/05/2024

I am very excited about my demo at my base in Tong, Shropshire on Tuesday night!
It is all about rider biomechanics and the rider effect - looking at riders from Elementary to Grand Prix.
For those riders riding higher level dressage, they already have so many training tools, and so much training knowledge under their belts.
But what about the tools they have not yet discovered? And the knowledge they don't yet have?
Oddly enough, this new information won't even come from the same toolkit as the rider's other skills.
It will come from a totally new place.
The skill of making a change to the horse's body through changing your own.
Did you know that there are predictable responses in the horse in answer to specific changes that the rider makes?
For those riding at the very high levels, they will actually have some awareness and perhaps some knowledge around this already.
For these riders, my job is to fill in the missing links for them...
To complete a skill that they are almost certainly 'playing around with' inside their own head - but perhaps not completely figured out what really works for them and their horse.
The difference made by moving certain aspects of the rider's seat, sometimes mere centimetres, can be really empowering, and can help the horse find a new ease within their movement.
If you want to see this in action, message us to book your place at Tuesday night's demo!
I would love to share this with you.
Refreshments served from 6.30pm, tickets £25, and the action starts at 7pm.
Please message me if you would like to come.

15/05/2024

Boss lady riding Coco today - Stef Eardley thank you so much. X

15/05/2024

Hello facebook land! I am wondering if anyone out there can help me?
Next Tuesday 21st May, I am doing a demo at our base in Tong, Shropshire, around how the rider's seat influences the horse and how subtle changes can bring about a greater ease for the horse, and bring more throughness, a better connection etc.
The idea is that this work provides solutions which are different to those provided by the more usual training route.
The demo is from Elementary level to Grand Prix, and my middle rider has had to withdraw sadly.
I am looking for a willing, open minded rider, who is working between Medium / Advanced Medium and PSG.
The demo is in the evening and we have a 20 x 40 indoor arena.
If you would like to be a demo rider, please message me, and I can then call you for a chat about it.
Thank you in Advance!

12/05/2024

Some of the lovely combinations that came along with their own horses for lessons this Saturday...I am blessed to do this job - I love every minute!

09/05/2024

So whilst I am still healing my rotator cuff, my wonderful team are continuing Coco's education for me.
Zoe is doing a brilliant job in our TRTmethod sessions, and just in case anyone is missing Coco, I thought we would share a little video 😍

27/04/2024

Hi all, I thought I would take a couple of minutes to keep you all up to date with the state of play after my 'unplanned dismount' almost 3 weeks ago.
It is good 'rider bonding' to talk about these things, and it is also good to realise that if you have had a fall that knocks you mentally as well as physically, you are certainly not alone.
I fell off because I was ill and really not with it - Coco had a little shoot forward (the visiting feral cat has a lot to answer for, with it's love of jumping down behind the school mirrors) followed by a turn left which, well, basically, I didn't follow at all....
I have had far worse falls, resulting in nothing more than a bit of bruised pride, and I have had silly little 'nothing major' sorts of falls that have rendered me black, blue, and rocking the hospital gown look.
This was one such fall, and it seems I have probably torn both my Rotator Cuff (shoulder) and my biceps on the right side.
The really awful thing for me is, you guessed it, the sheer length of time this will take to heal, and therefore, the length of time before I can get back on board.
12 to 14 weeks is the estimate, although I hope to get an MRI soon to get more specific advice.
For the first week or so I have to say that mentally, I really hit the skids.
The pain was awful, sleep was difficult, and I couldn't stop being really cross with myself for letting the fall happen.
I did all the re-runs of 'should have' and 'could have', which of course is all fairly useless, but I really felt that I deserved a good kicking, so set about giving myself one!
All the negative emotions were all about believing I had let Coco down, about not being good enough, etc etc.
And of course, the elephant in the room for me - the FEAR.
I tried so hard not to let the blasted elephant into the room in the first place, but, you know, when something the size of an elephant bashes his way in, well, it would seem he is coming in.
Of course, I don't really know yet how real this fear is - I might feel ok when I get back on. But then again, what if I don't?
Is it possible to feel fear of fear itself?
Is this just getting older and being a bit physically compromised in other ways that is getting to me?
Anyway, I could hear that elephant crashing with all his heft against the door, trying to get in, so I waited until he was having a good run up and opened the door with spot on timing to see him fall flat on his face.
Well, trunk, I suppose really.
You see, this elephant will not get the better of me, and I WILL have the last laugh on him!
I then felt bad for being mean to the elephant, but goodness knows, he doesn't show me much mercy!
So I sat him down for a chat, and to tell him what I though of his unwanted appearance(s) in my head.
Rude. Just rude.
All joking aside, I think I decided that the only way to deal with these unfortunate circumstances is to make a plan and set about making the best of a bad job.
So Clare, my lovely yard manager and right hand woman has taken the reins for me, and is doing a fabulous job with Coco, and this in turn reassures me that I HAVE got a great little horse, with a super character, who is basically as safe as any horse can ever be.
I am being rigorous with my physio instructions (and not overdoing it) and am building in small exercises to try and make sure that any core strength that might have been developing doesn't go completely to seed.
I can build on this as healing continues so that I don't end up totally one sided - I also know that building my strength is the thing which gives me the best chance of staying on in the future!
The diet needs attention (now I have stopped consoling myself with wine and chocolate) I need to get back on track to continue my weight loss journey.
As for elephant taming, this needs just as much daily attention as everything else.
So I am putting aside time every day to sit quietly, find a state of calm and relaxation, and practice my 'mental rehearsal' skills.
This technique is often used by riders for learning dressage tests, but it's value goes so much deeper than this.
It is well proven that our bodies and brains cannot tell the difference between 'real' and 'imagined' practice.
But there are ways to do this practice that enable us to not just retain our current skill level whilst we are physically off games, but to actually IMPROVE it.
Taking the time to find a very relaxed focus is the key, to stop the mind 'wandering off', and becoming distracted.
Sitting (rather than lying), closing your eyes, and practicing anyone of a number of deep breathing exercises is the essential preparation.
Then I begin with just one aspect of my riding. Not the thing I find the hardest, nor the thing I find the easiest, but the sort of thing that I am beginning to get a handle on (or was, last time I actually rode).
Yesterday I chose to think about a smoother landing in my rising trot - more weight in my thigh, counterbalanced by my feet 'reaching down' towards an imaginary platform, holding my lower leg firm and still, using it only when I mean to, and staying quiet the rest of the time.
I had this feeling so well before 'the dismount' and it led to some really good stability (with softness) in Coco's back....I need to remember the feeling in the hope that I can get it back in a few weeks time!
The other real positive thought to keep me going is that Clare is going to start competing Coco a bit - she made a great start at TDS a couple of weeks ago and I am really looking forward to their adventures to come.
So between the mental rehearsal about the physical improvements I want to make, and the mental rehearsal about staying confident and strong in my belief in my horse, are the outings in the lorry, the wonderful training clinics and the fact that all things are temporary - even this injury. ❤️

19/04/2024

Our next Coach of the Year Nominee is Denise O'Reilly from Riding Centre, Tong

Denise O’Reilly is the proprietor of TDS Riding Centre. An advanced dressage rider, Denise set up TDS to make dressage less ‘elite’ and more available for the average rider, while of a range of other riding services to her clients. Denise was nominated by one of her students, who called Denise ‘the most inspiring, motivating coach and a fantastic role model’. This view is backed by the numerous richly-deserved testimonials offered by clients.

Well done Denise. 👏

ℹ️ If you would like to nominate a coach from an ABRS+ centre, just complete this simple form telling us why they deserve to be the ABRS+ Coach of the Year - https://rebrand.ly/Coaching_Award_Nominations

17/04/2024

15/04/2024

Well, you know what they say about when life hands you lemons....
Last Monday I had a really silly little fall off Coco. A sharpish spook, (not usual for him, and genuine reason) and me not on my A game (horrid lurgy / cough thing going on), and landed on my shoulder damaging my rotator cuff...
It may well be torn, and that means a longish time off riding. Which is just rubbish really.
We have all been there, and I know it will heal, and that there are lots of people worse off than me for sure.
But anything that means we can't ride puts most of us on a bit of a downer.
So, with some very good advice from my coaches, I set about making lemonade from the said lemons.
Clare and I started planning to utilise this time I am off to get Coco out and about, doing a few tests maybe, some new hacking venues and just generally getting him a little more worldly wise.
After a few days of getting my head around this, I can really see the benefits, especially for my special boy.
We started yesterday with Clare taking him in our little Prelim test here, and he was just a star.
I can actually begin to look forward to watching this next bit of his journey, and am so so grateful to Clare for her unending support.
Here he is, doing his best dressage trot.
Big love for my little dude.

14/04/2024

I really love this episode of TRTmethod podcast. So much to aspire to...so much to learn.
When I teach the idea of the 'thought aid' as the first aid, I feel as if I am doing something so intuitive, and in a way meeting the horses where they communicate with each other. This is so natural for them, but for many of us as logical human beings, it is so clunky and difficult to learn (let alone believe and to trust in).
So, once again, opening ourselves to new learning makes us hungry for better answers. Enjoy the podcast guys.

People notice that I never use spurs anymore. Therefore, one of the frequently asked questions I often receive is: ”What’s your opinion on spurs?”In this epi...