Just wow! It is so exciting when you find someone who gets you, gets your horse and gets how to get the best out of you both. This is exactly the experience I had when I took Estrid for our first flatwork lesson at Ingestre stables with Rob Lovatt.
I really want to get Estrid working long and round, powering form behind in a nice even rhythm. Which we sometimes achieve at home but she’s so stressy that anywhere else she’s like a llama.
Rob instantly got us working better within about 30s, the way he explained things to me and simplified exactly what to do made me feel less like I was juggling plates and more like I was just using one simple lever. Now Estrid’s head was like a yo yo, up, down, throw in a bit of sass BUT there was more good relaxed low head with engaged core than there was llama. We were getting some really good supple work between the sass and even better she finished the session relaxed!!!!
I am so excited to work on what we learnt and I can’t wait to go back and keep progressing. I’m going to use dressage tests as a benchmark for our progress, even if I don’t get to competitions just running through them, recording them and comparing, or even doing some online dressage competitions so I get the judges feedback and score. With Estrid hopefully stepping up to 80km this year I don’t want her just to be fit, I need her to be strong and this is a big step in the right direction.
Beth Endurance 