Connected Dressage NZ

09/12/2024

Last trimming / lesson trips of the year:

13.12 Alex - some space left!
20.12 Wanaka - nearly full - be quick!

Eli ❤️

04/12/2024

It’s been a little quiet here lately. Quiet Facebook means busy life 😅 I’m still here tho, ticking along. Here are some pics from the past week.

Riding, building a new deck, trimming some rock hard hooves and also starting to see some cool changes, birthday celebrations and lots of swimming. And oh, Ruska is pregnant too😍❤️ Right on time for Xmas 💪🐶

Eli x

26/11/2024

Couple more photos from the weekend. My first clinic with David Landreville- On the Vertical but definitely not the last! So much information! Loved it x

Eli

23/11/2024

Day 2 with David Landreville about to kick off! Let’s goo! 💪

17/11/2024

Small weekly trims to keep the hoof in place. Mabel was enjoying her pedicure. 😍

15/11/2024

I have the best clients 🌷❤️ let’s see how long they last till someone pulls them down 😳🤣

Happy weekend everyone 😍🥰

Eli x

10/11/2024

Just a couple ground-work sessions in between these photos. Quite a nice change in a short time!

Eli x

08/11/2024

I was honoured to present a webinar to the Working Equitation New Zealand Inc judges last night about healthy riding biomechanics.

Super grateful about this opportunity and it seemed like anyone who participated really enjoyed it too.

I am going to record this webinar to my up and coming website as well. It can then be purchased with an affordable price by anyone who is interested to learn more!

Eli x

05/11/2024

Busy day teaching and trimming 13! horses yesterday! 🌱🦄

Its great to have group of people who are keen to get their horses trimmed every four weeks! Makes a huge difference! 6-8 week trimming schedule is tooo long!!

Eli x

29/10/2024

Every year I say I am never gonna build a fence again myself. And every spring I somehow find myself building one. 🤦‍♀️ Must be a similar rabbit hole as giving birth and having a newborn. You somehow forget what it’s like and find yourself thinking about doing it again. 😅 ❤️

This year I started building a track. 1/3 done 💪 I’ll post some more pics once it’s finished, hopefully in the next couple of weeks.🤞

Eli x

22/10/2024

Luna looks so big when she is using herself correctly! Anyone who sees her live always comments how small she is. She is tiny. Just looks big in photos 🤔😅 x

18/10/2024

Cannot wait for the New Zealand clinic next month 😍😍

13/10/2024

Now the question of the day is.. to let the horse “stretch” down or not?!🤷‍♀️

There seems to be two thoughts of school for this. Yes always - the lower the better, or no never below the withers, of which both can be a little problematic - I think.

To ride the horse long and low puts more weight on to the forehand and strains the ligaments. Also 90% of the time it’s not only the neck that’s low but also nose faar behind the vertical. Not ideal - not at all.

On the other hand, I don’t think we should micromanage the head and neck position so much, especially at the start. Low head position is very normal for young horses. It can be mentally quite challenging if the rider is trying to manage the head too much while the horse is learning. Yes, there is more physical stress in the body but we should not forget the mental stress either. When we ride the body correctly the head will come higher and the need to go low gradually decreases.

The same goes when we are reteaching contact to a horse who tucks behind the vertical. Yes, we want to correct the horse and show him better movement patterns. But correcting on every step or every mistake can really be mentally so draining that the learning is not so effective.

It can sometimes be hard to find the golden middle line.

Eli x

12/10/2024

I will be in Alex again next Tuesday 15th October.

Eli x

11/10/2024

Two days of sunshine and I have forgotten all the misery of the past rainy days!

Here is couple of photos from today. Such a simple but great day.

1. We have a gorgeous new addition to the team, for a little while at least.❤️
2. Amazing ride with Luna. 🦄
3. Trimming and catching up with Steepdown Horses .💜
4. Windy day means lots of branches for the horses to eat. 💨
5. Feeding the ponies with my two best helpers. 💙

Enjoy the weekend ❤️

Eli x

09/10/2024

08/10/2024

Rainy trimming day today in Wanaka. Although I somehow didn’t even get wet! 🤷‍♀️ Even managed to pull out a few lessons in between the pouring rain 😅

I will be back in 4 weeks 😊🦄

Eli x