Second workshop at Walford College 14 May 2016

​Our 2nd workshop at Walford College today was a great success with 5 super horse and rider combinations. It was a perfect sunny day and the horses - and humans - were all relaxed and in good mental states, ready to learn.
Huge huge thanks to Kotti Brewin for organizing so brilliantly (sorry you were not able to stay) and to Jo Rawlinson for helping out.
For me the theme that came out of this workshop was the importance of having a correct lateral bending, and consistently correcting the inside shoulder when the horse falls in. This is in all of the movements but particularly the LFS and haunches in. There were super improvements in the horses’ posture when the point of mass moved out of the inside shoulder and with correct bending, and even a tiny 2 mm correction can make a huge difference.
First was Cilla Allmark with her young gelding Finn. Cilla is new to ST so it was a great way to start the day, with an explanation about the 6 keys of Straightness Training and how to get started. Fen is very much into his shoulders so he didn’t find it easy, but Cilla made a good start and finished with some nice steps of LFS on the circle.  
Gill Cooper and her mare Fen were next. Fen was very much more relaxed than last time and Gill was able to show some lovely LFS and work on the haunches in.  Fen was in the habit of pushing through her shoulders - and through her handler - and she responded very well to strategies to correct that, which Gill picked up brilliantly.
Karen Whittaker and Tango were super again. They continued from the last workshop working on diagonalizing the walk and half steps to improve the trot. They did a great job and were fabulous for the auditors to watch.
Jane Dove and her mare Hon have made a great start at home from the home study course and we were able to make a start on haunches in – which Hon picked up straight away! ST will be a perfect therapy for her injury, and I’ll look forward to following their progress.
Finally Mastery student Jill Griffith with her Spanish gelding Atomico were a treat to work with and to watch. We looked at the 2mm details in preparation for their level 2 groundwork and they made some very nice improvements.    
All in all a super day!