-
Back to Trent Valley
Most students hate autumn. But I love this season. So many beginnings; new people, new modules, new notebooks, and for the equestrian society of the University of Nottingham, a new year of subsidized lessons in Trent Valley! The committee say that this year the members are over 500, the highest number ever, and of course all those people want to learn how to ride and volunteer for RDA yards! So, imagine, what it takes for a member to secure a lesson, and how hard it is for the committee members to organize everything! So here we go, it was my turn to show up in Trent Valley for my first…
-
Riding frustration
My holidays in Crete are almost over, the pressure is at its high for chores that have to be done before I return to England, and my riding adventures have been a small catastrophe, with a lot of frustration from my part and a lot of disappointment from Yannis’. For some reason, everything goes wrong, except for treats and grooming. Yannis focuses effectively on teaching his riders how to absolutely control a horse and expected to see that on me. His private-only lessons, the shape and size of his arena and the educational hacks around the area will help you realise whether you can have control of a horse; that is make it move, stop,…
-
How to bridle your horse
With short hands and little experience, I tend to struggle a bit with bridling. My issues are my dificulty in detangling the parts of the bridle, my uncertainty about what to do with it when I have it neatly in my hand, and last but not least, the bit, which too wide for my hands to handle. Pretty much everything, that is, and the problem is that I will be tacking horses on Saturday. I watched some videos and found them quite helpful. I admit here that I tried the gum trick on my own gums a few times! It worked! (Shhh!)
-
A new equestrian club for Christina
My goals this summer include more involvement with equestrianism, including taking lessons to improve my techniques, plus volunteering to learn about how to loo after horses. But Trent Valley is too far and just going there and returning takes me one day, plus it’s costly. Therefore, I contacted another riding school, called “Saint Leonard’s”, which is 15′ from my students’ hall by bus, on the boarders of Nottinghamshire. And there we go, at 9:45 am I was at α soaked bus stop, waiting anxiously. I had seen some pictures on their website, but I didn’t have a clear picture of the environment, the atmosphere, the facilities. So, I didn’t know…
-
Not all cultures ride the same way
As I said on my last post, different cultures ride in different ways. There are substantial difference sometimes regarding basic things. This post comes from my experience as a foreign rider in Britain. Having started in Greece, I noticed “it’s done” differently in Britain sometimes. Controlling a horse: In Crete I learned that when I turn on one specific side, I need to hold the opposite reign higher. So, if, for example, I want to turn right, I will pull the right reign and I will rise a bit the left one. The logic behind this is that in this way you “lock” the neck of the horse, so that…
-
Ten things that most novice equestrians have done already
Being introduced to equestrianism is not just about starting your journey in the sphere of a demanding sport, it is about changing your way of living. Once you start riding, you are introduced to new things, moves that your brain is not used to and needs to learn from scratch, words you have not heard, equipment you have not seen. Clothes you have not worn. So here is a list of what you might have… accomplished so far if you are a novice equestrian: 1.You know how to walk, trot and canter. With confidence or not, you have already worked on the basics of riding. You might have a balance…