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	<title>Trent Valley &#8211; Equestrian from Crete</title>
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	<description>A Greek islander explores equestrianism</description>
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		<title>Improving!</title>
		<link>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/improving/</link>
					<comments>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/improving/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[chriszygakis]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2016 02:52:00 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[My adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equestrianism]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lesson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trent Valley]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://equestrianfromcrete.wordpress.com/?p=1551</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[ Hello! I would like to speak tonight about the lesson I had with the uni at Trent Valley. It was a perfect day for riding in Britain: not too cold, not too warm. At 11:00, two cars full of girls -and one boy- set off from University Park to the equestrian centre to learn amazing things! Emma would be our instructor for the day. Emma was a member of our equestrian society until last year. She graduated a few months ago and now she does what she likes. As a learner, I believe that Emma&#8217;s special skill is her fun and challenging exercises. Her lessons are not just about riding around the school; she will challenge your skill and brains in any way that she can find, using posts, poles, or incorporating many tasks in just one exercise. So, the lesson went surprisingly well last Saturday. I was riding on Oslo, a beautiful white stallion, who was not in the mood of carrying out a lesson that day, judging from his neck, which he would turn left and right all the time. The staff had put on his bridle special strings to prevent him from doing that, but, well, he just couldn&#8217;t stop. This was exhausting for me, because I had to keep his jaw from my body. When we got to the school, Oslo was waiting next to a mare, Flo Joe, so, judging from the fact that the reproduction season is near, I thought it would be a good idea to turn him around. This did not make things perfect, but, at least, he was being less annoying. Another solution that I found was to raise my elbow right under the neck every time I felt that he had turned it the other way. It was painful for the horse, I guess, but it was super tiring for me as well; it&#8217;s a heavy neck, you see! As soon as I mounted on Oslo, I had the feeling that I would be bucked off quite soon and began to recall my falling technique. Thank God, I was wearing a helmet. But I was coping with Oslo&#8217;s issue very well in fact; I don&#8217;t remember what I did, but I pretended I did not care. At some moment, I pushed the reins forward and squeezed his belly, a technique that Gemma taught me at the last equine therapy lesson at Scorpton. Oslo&#8217;s behaviour improved a little bit, but it was obvious that there wasn&#8217;t much more that he could do. He was an absolute sweetie, anyways. He would do each and every corner that I asked, and would also keep himself in the outer part of the school. The only problem with that was that sometimes we would stay behind because the other pairs were riding closer to the centre. So, we had to catch up, but Oslo didn&#8217;t mind -sweet! Emma said she hadn&#8217;t seen me going that fast before and was surprised to see that Oslo was nice to me on that day. And she was right; despite the problems in his behaviour, it was a beautiful ride. I would handle the reins in a relaxed and easy-going way, without pulling and without too much kicking. Oslo would just be so responsive! He wouldn&#8217;t even bother when I kept watching around the others who were doing the exercises; I was so absorbed from that sometimes, that Oslo would assume I had lost interest and slow down. Then, with just a slight kick, he would be active again. And he would correspond to the new way of halting that I&#8217;ve learned, with the reins slightly squeezed and my bottom sitting deep in the saddle. Before I would finish my squeeze, Oslo would have already stopped! It was just so simple, easy and pleasant to ride him, even if he couldn&#8217;t stop moving his neck! In general, I feel that, despite the fact that I have attended a smaller number of lessons this year, my riding has significantly improved. I have more and more control of the horse, who would feel quite relaxed. I still can&#8217;t use my legs to do turns; I use my core and thighs instead. First of all, I make sure that my spine is aligned to the horse&#8217;s and I just become one with the horse really. I turn my body and ask pressure with my thigh on the side I want to turn to; for example, if I want to turn left, I will turn all my upper body left and put some pressure with my left thigh on the left side of the horse. The steeper the turn, the sharper the pressure of the thigh. For the time being I plan to stick to that because the horse looks more responsive to my asks this way. When I push its body just with the opposite leg, I feel that the horse doesn&#8217;t know where it&#8217;s supposed to go. In general, I feel satisfied, although I still crave for cantering! When will I canter? When??]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1551</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>An Engage session at Trent Valley</title>
		<link>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/an-engage-session-at-trent-valley/</link>
					<comments>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/an-engage-session-at-trent-valley/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[chriszygakis]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Jan 2016 04:00:12 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[My adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Engage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equestrian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lesson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trent Valley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[whip]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://equestrianfromcrete.wordpress.com/?p=1440</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[To my excitement, I received an e-mail earlier this week from the Uni&#8217;s equestrian society that I had been secured a place in the Engage session, which is organized now and then at Trent Valley Equestrian Centre. Our society is HUGE this year and, after struggling to secure a place in one of the lessons, I could not believe my luck! The much expected day arrived and, yes, the weather was perfect for riding! The sun was shining, there was zero wind and I couldn&#8217;t stop looking at the English nature through the minibus window. My father says that Crete is the best place in the world, the most beautiful etc. But, having lived in two countries and visited many more, I believe that all places are beautiful; all that it takes to realize this is an open mind and the intention to meet other cultures and appreciate their people. And, of course, a tendency in trying new things! I love the seaside and the olive tree fields. But I also love Trent river and the boats floating in its canals. About 40 minutes later we arrived and sorted ourselves out. When I opened my bag, I realized the value of being proactive; my riding gloves were disgustingly dirty; probably I had forgotten to wash them! And then, my schooling whip, always sticking out of everything! While the newbies were filling in their registration forms, I took the chance to donate 1 pound to buy the promotional wristband of the charity of the centre, named Help for Horses. In time, each of us had to choose a horse from the list. I chose Ben, a sweet oldie with whom I gave an equitation exam last year. So there we go, we had to tack up the horses and get in the saddle. When I went to sort out Ben, I found him tacked, eating his dinner. I decided to let him eat and go find the other girls who were sorting out their own horses in a nearby stable. By the time we returned, Ben had not finished, and was unhappy to realize that his meal would be interrupted. The riding session would include gymkhanas. I hadn&#8217;t taken part in a gymkhana before, and soon I realized that Ben was not the horse I should have chosen. It was a fun session, but, even with whipping, Ben refused to go any faster than a vivid walk. It was frustrating, but I like him too much to be mad at him, bless him! My riding wasn&#8217;t better either that day! Next, we had to dismount and put the horses back. Ben was first, as his stall was close to the arena. And then, it happened again; looking forward to finishing his meal, Ben stepped on me! Unlike Woody, Ben managed to step on all my toes, plus he&#8217;s heavier and slow-moving! So slow, I thought my distraught would never end until he finally lifted his hoof from the ground! But thanks to the thick straw bedding, at least I wasn&#8217;t injured and I forgot about it in about 15 minutes. After putting the horses back to their stalls, we had some stable-management training. We were asked to name the brushes (with the foreigner-me- taking notes and pictures on OneNote) try to tie the horse we were being trained on and then groom him. Have you ever seen 8 ladies grooming the same horse, simultaneously? After stable management, we went back to the office to prepare for our return. With a few minutes left, I was granted  permission to wander around and take some photos. One of the horses posed like a pro and also looked at the picture I had taken! Soon I found Smartie. I was not happy when I was told that Smartie was not on the list of the horses we could ride, because he had been used for a lesson earlier. I couldn&#8217;t resist patting him and playing with his smart-looking face! Here are the pics! PS. Have I told you that I haven&#8217;t seen any other equestrian centre with so many carrots; carrots, here, carrots there, stored carrots, dropped carrots, eaten carrots, carried carrots&#8230; &#160;]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">1440</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Back to Trent Valley</title>
		<link>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/back-to-trent-valley/</link>
					<comments>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/back-to-trent-valley/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[chriszygakis]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2015 10:52:25 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[My adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equestrian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lesson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nottinghamshire]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sports]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trent Valley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[University of Nottingham]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://equestrianfromcrete.wordpress.com/?p=997</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[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 lesson of the season. I signed up for the pre-novice level and I was happy to know that I&#8217;ve gone one step higher! The day began as a disaster, me being late both at the meeting point and the lesson, but it turned out it was for the best! Everyone had mounted except for me, and the good thing is, that my old friend Smartie with the cute bridle was available, as the last choice! Smartie is an active horse, but he has his own attitude, which many people hate! He&#8217;s a naughty, unpredictable horse, that loves making riders fly! He also bites sometimes, and his favorite target is the butt of the horse at his front! And these reasons exactly make me love Smartie so much! After sorting myself out, the lesson began. The horses had already warmed up thanks to the beginners&#8217; lesson that had just finished, and this was good for an active horse like Smartie. All horses were lazy, but Smartie was really energetic and knew his job. It was his day! Today&#8217;s lesson included practicing some things that I hadn&#8217;t practiced enough in the past; jumping (oh, yeah!) and the sitting trot. I managed to jump twice or three times on Smartie (without flying towards the exit of the school), and realised how hard the sitting trot can be. My bottom still hurts! Here I have to stress again how intelligent horses can be. Smartie was getting a lot of pats, of course, since he was brilliant. While we were just standing still next to the mirror, waiting for our turn for the jump, I told him &#8220;look in the mirror Smartie, how beautiful you are!&#8221; Smartie glanced at the mirror, and got a bit melancholic. Then he turned his head and stared at me until we had to walk forward. I became a bit melancholic too. Imagine having all this stuff on your mouth and face, being pulled, and kicked, and whipped and forced to run and jump around with a bossy 65kg, two-legged creature on your back! After a lovely and fun lesson, we unmounted (I was the last one as always, in case that you wonder), sorted out the horses, then ourselves, and then back to our accommodation. It was so nice! Please, Laura, let me ride Smartie again!]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">2405</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Walking across a beautiful campus</title>
		<link>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/walking-across-a-beautiful-campus/</link>
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		<dc:creator><![CDATA[chriszygakis]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 02 May 2015 00:16:20 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[My adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[campus]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[garden]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[library]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nature]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[student]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sun]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trent Valley]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[university]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[University of Nottingham]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://equestrianfromcrete.wordpress.com/?p=556</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[Spring is here and The University of Nottingham community know exactly what that means; lively colors everywhere! The massive variety of flora on the University Park Campus has woken up to welcome the warmer days! Colourful flowers, all-green trees, everything looks different under the spring British sun (yes, I love this seldom sunshine)! Clear paths leading to fountains and pieces of art, trees devoted to important people, students&#8217; halls and research centres showing themselves through all these leaves! On the main campus there is a plethora of gardens. In them stand benches and tables, where students discuss, eat or study. With wi-fi everywhere, excellent lending services and thousands of digitized books, who needs the library when nature creates such wonders? So, on my way to the Sports Centre of the university, where I would meet our lovely driver who would take me and some others to Trent Valley, I took many, many pictures with my smartphone. I didn&#8217;t know where to look first, what to photograph first! Here are some photos from one of the most pleasant walks of my lifetime:]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">556</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Are horses more responsive than we think? Ben&#8217;s self-esteem</title>
		<link>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/are-horses-more-resoponsive-than-we-think-bens-self-esteem/</link>
					<comments>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/are-horses-more-resoponsive-than-we-think-bens-self-esteem/#respond</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[chriszygakis]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Mar 2015 01:36:16 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[My adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[class]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equestrian]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lesson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[riding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[school]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[training]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trent Valley]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://equestrianfromcrete.wordpress.com/?p=413</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[I don&#8217;t know how many times yet I will speak about last Wednesday&#8217;s lesson and exam at Trent Valley, but anyway, here is another story that proves horses&#8217; responsiveness to humans in situations that have nothing to do with training, instructions and circles around the arena. So, we all had done our stuff and we were holding the horses until the next class arrived. The next class was 20 minutes late, therefore we had to hold the horses in the arena for just as long. I was holding Ben, whose winter coat had started falling already, plus he had not been groomed, or this is how it seemed to me. So, I started rubbing him with my hand, trying mainly to remove some mud and hay from his neck and face. While I was doing that, I said: &#8220;Ben, in the summer, without all this fur, you must be a very beautiful horse. What do you think?&#8221; He looked at me and nodded positively, like a human! No I did not move Ben&#8217;s head up and down myself!]]></description>
		
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		<post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">413</post-id>	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Off we go to the equitation exam!</title>
		<link>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/off-we-go-to-the-equitation-exam/</link>
					<comments>http://www.equestrianfromcrete.com/off-we-go-to-the-equitation-exam/#comments</comments>
		
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[chriszygakis]]></dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Thu, 19 Mar 2015 03:51:38 +0000</pubDate>
				<category><![CDATA[My adventures]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ABRS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[certificate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[equitation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[horse]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lesson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trent Valley]]></category>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://equestrianfromcrete.wordpress.com/?p=392</guid>

					<description><![CDATA[March 2015 has been an exciting month for me; I went to my first para dressage show, I am probably going to next week&#8217;s dressage show at Trent Valley, and today I had my first equitation exam. So, today I woke up quite excited. I had a healthy breakfast with yogurt, honey and oats, did my workout, got dressed (wearing that polo-neck blouse to keep myself nice and tall in the saddle), picked my whip and got out. No stress, just happiness and pleasant impatience. But this changed, as I went to the hall&#8217;s shop to grab some healthy snacks. The shopkeeper asked me whether I felt nervous. And then I felt it; how would I demonstrate ten months of work to foreign people? I learned the first basics at home, in a different environment, on different horses and I had to do these things differently. And, yes, I admit it, that I wanted my 10-month experience to be visible comparing to the other beginners having 4 months of experience. And, no matter how selfish it seems, I was feeling quite anxious about that as well. So, with my psychology changed for the worse I ran for the bus and then for the train station. I can say that for once more, I felt that I looked like a terrorist to some. As always. Is it because I&#8217;m foreign? Or is it because the whip is long and red (which many men connect to&#8230; well, naughty things and tease me all the time)? Maybe the fact that I can&#8217;t sit still for too long? Whatever it is, the station process feels unconfortable every time, with security officers checking on me discretely and passengers looking at me funny. I hope they will feel safer once I start insulting each person that treats me like that. Because I&#8217;ve had enough of it already. Anyways, I had my tablet with me (a potentially explosive device, for some, I guess, as they went even crazier when they saw me pulling it out of my bag) and read a bit for my Grand Strategy essay, until my peers arrived. As we were heading to Trent Valley, I was feeling more and more nervous. And the thing is that I couldn&#8217;t concentrate on my reading and forget about it, since the ladies around me were gossiping. So I just enjoyed the trip. Finally, we made it to the centre, sorted out ourselves, got the horses and did all we had to do; taking the horse out from the stable and leading it to the arena, fixing the girth and stirrups unmounted, mounting, checking and fixing the girth and stirrups mounted, walking, dismounting, leading the horse accross the arena. Between mounting and dismounting, we had also the chance for a lesson, that went well for me. A big problem for today&#8217;s trot was the stirrups again and the fact that I couldn&#8217;t sit properly on the saddle, but thankfully Laura fixed it for me. Today I had Ben, a quite willing horse. But as I was nervous hence clumsy, he got impatient, starting hitting his legs on the ground. The good news is that we all passed the test. But, since we, humans learn from our mistakes, today all the class -including me- learned that, when we lead a horse, it is important to keep his head away from our body. PS: I can&#8217;t figure out which equestrian body will award us the certificates. I will know in a few weeks, when I get mine. But, after a search I suspect it&#8217;s the Association of British Riding Schools (ABRS). But, as I said, I&#8217;m not sure.]]></description>
		
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