RIDE WITH YOUR MIND DEMO DAY

25th March 2018

Hartpury

 
The Ride With Your Mind Demo Day at Hartpury was a brilliant, information filled day. Mary Wanless and Ali Wakelin were joined by Danish Vet, Osteopath and Acupuncture Practitioner; Rikke Schultz and explored the Fascia and Ride With Your Mind theory with the help of some lovely demo riders and their horses.

Once again, the day could not have run without the army of RWYM coaches, willing demonstration riders and their horses (some of whom had driven multiple counties–again–to be with us) and, of course, you, the fabulous audience.

THANK YOU

 
The audience were given some useful exercises to work through in their chairs, some positional, some to do with breathing, many to do with fascial nets and core strength. The RWYM demo days are audience participation events, and hopefully these exercises helped the audience to feel something new or slightly different that they could take away and try at home. The atmosphere at Hartpury was quite exciting, and some of our demo horses found it very interesting to be in front of so many lovely people. This gave the hosts an opportunity to demonstrate how groundwork can be used when the a horse isn't 100% focused on the rider, and let's be honest, I'm sure we've all had moments with our four legged friends when they have been much more interested in something other than what we're asking them to do! It did take Tinker a while, but by the end of the day she had completely relaxed, the consistent handling had helped her to feel more settled in the environment.
The two riders who were new to RWYM did a fantastic job and it was wonderful to see the determined changes they made and the responses from their very lovely and willing horses, one of whom was only six. The very best of luck to them both.
Chantal and her lovely coloured cob, Mia, who have feature in Mary Wanless' 'On the Bit' and 'Rider Biomechanics' courses on Dressage Training TV, joined us again to illustrate some of the ways a rider's position can go wrong, and the transformations that can happen with consistent training. Chantal and Mia were joined in this demo by Sarah and Pablo, who are one combination featured in the Retraining the Horse and Rider series. If you look at their progress from the start of their journey with Dressage Training TV up to today, you'll see how far they have come from then to the point where Sarah was able to settle Pablo in to the new environment and get some nice work from him with Ali's help. It was the first time either Sarah or Pablo had been to such a large venue and the first time Pablo has ever seen such a large crowd.
We also had Karen Whiston's four year old with us, who behaved beautifully, and was expertly ridden, even assisting a rather alert Pablo with company during Rikke's assessment of him. The superstar Cob, Billy Whizz and his owner/trainer Sam Turner Dressage gave us a fabulous demonstration of more advanced movements once again. Sam is sponsored by Aviform, who she says have been instrumental in keeping her and Billy in good shape with the help of their supplements. If you would like to help Sam and Billy progress in competition and get great coverage for your company, do get in touch with her using the links above.