Course Reports:

Balanced Riding Course 2005

Students from Stirling University Riding Association thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the first Balanced Riding Course of 2005. The weather was beautiful and the sun shone for both days of the course making all the work carried out even more enjoyable.

One of our equine instructors, Mouse, discusses the finer points of lightness and balance with one of the students. Mouse helped the students understand how control of your own energy levels and a balanced approach to groundwork and handling can allow even the most nervous and highly strung horses to relax and work calmly and confidently.

A calm horse can help the handler understand the best position to be in to allow the horse to move and Mouse politely informs one of the
students that perhaps she could be a little better placed!
Groundwork is the basis for all ridden work and it must be correct before the more difficult mounted exercises can be carried out. In order to get a horse’s point of view of things the students practiced on each other, feeling how difficult it was for two people to fully understand what is required by pressure on the lead rope and allowing them to realise the problems faced by the horse who isn’t even of the same species!