Bronson and I had a great time at one of Pips Horse Connection Clinics this weekend. We’ve made tremendous progress together and Pip was helping us to build upon that and reach the next level in our training. The sun was shining, we were up in the grass arena, which has panoramic views of the rolling Somerset hills and it was just perfect! As always, the ladies in attendance were so supportive and even gave me a round of applause after our first lesson! I had never experienced such a supportive environment before I came to Pippsway and it is always so wonderful to share my delight with such a lovely bunch and to feel so happy for them when they do well too. What really struck me this weekend
Recently I was forced to have a five month break from working with my horse Bronson as, due to the flare up of an old repetitive strain injury, I was unable to use my arms. I couldn’t even drive never mind anything else! Thankfully Pip offers training livery so, rather than Bronson becoming a field ornament and losing all his fitness, Pip brought him even further along in his training. Happy days! Not only did he go from being dangerously nappy to being happy to hack out alone, he went from being a nervous wreck to being this very proud horse! I was flabbergasted. When I asked Pip how she had achieved this she simply said “By believing in him”. A while later I was at the yard and had tacked
When I first came to Pippsway, after a 20 year break from riding, it transpired that all my bad habits and muscle memory had sadly endured the 20 year break. In walk I was ‘pumping’ with my seat, in trot I was putting all my weight in my stirrups and was rising far too high out of the saddle and in canter I was either bouncing on my horses back, or, if I was in forward seat, then my balance was all over the place. What a state to be in! Over the last year and a bit Pip has found so many different ways to break through those old habits to teach me a new way of riding that works with my horse, instead of against him. Today was one of those days where my soul was singing as I left the yard beca
Recently Bronson and I have been focusing on hacks at a walk and as it turns out, and much to my surprise, they have proved invaluable to my overall progress and set us up really well for my lesson today. Now when I say walking, this is walking Pippsway! Which means an extended walk with both horse and rider completely focused and going forwards with intention and a sense of purpose. Not having a mindless bimble! In fact nothing is done mindlessly at Pippsway and having learned to be this way around horses it becomes shocking that anyone does anything else! Pip has moved all the barrels and tyres from the ménage up to the top field so we can enjoy a change of scenery, a bigger area to work i
We did it! After several hacking lessons, where Pip came with me first on foot, and later with her scooter, Bronson and I had a successful hack on our own. This is no small thing! Only 5 months ago, when Bronson went into full training livery because I couldn’t ride, he was very nappy and when Pip took him out on his own or away from other horses, if they’d gone out together, he would rear and jump about. For Pip to have brought him on to a place where it is safe for a novice rider like myself to ride him out solo is frankly a miracle! Pip always sets her clients up for success and doesn’t take unnecessary risks and so the process of bringing us to the point where we could ride out alone has
Pip has been working with me and my horse to bring us to the point where we can safely hack out on our own together. This has been no small endeavour as my horse is a rehabilitation case, that came to Pip some time ago, and he would nap severely if he was asked to go out alone or leave a group of horses. Whilst I was out of action with an old injury, Pip worked with him to build his confidence and worked through his efforts at avoidance such as rearing, shying and jumping around. Once she was happy that he was safe for me to ride around the lanes she has been coming with us, walking alongside. Today Pip announced that, as we were making good progress, she was going to bring her scooter and w
Today's video is of Bronson enjoying his first ever fun ride with Pip! To think he used to be terrified of water! It had been a couple of weeks since I’d ridden as my RSI had been particularly painful. So I read my lesson notes today before heading up to the yard. I always try to remember the new things I’ve learned at each stage of the process but it’s good to have my notes as a reminder. The last time I mounted, Bronson had stepped forward. This meant my intention wasn’t strong enough and also my reins were too loose for me to respond when he walked off. So, today I remembered to have a light contact with my reins, asked him to stand still and mounted. He was perfect! We set off and Bronso
Having had a couple of walks out with Pip, with Bronson on a leadrope, whilst my arms recovered, Pip took us out and walked behind us instead. I had been wondering just how much influence Pip had been having on us by being at the end of the leadrope and I was about to find out that the answer was A LOT! We set off and Bronson was all over the place. He didn’t want to go forwards and kept looking behind at Pip. Pip explained I needed to look ahead to where we were going, as I was looking the wrong way, and that I needed to keep his focus forward. Thanks to having attended a clinic the previous weekend, I had also gained a great deal of knowledge about changes I needed to make to my riding pos
Before I came to Pippsway I thought that if a horse was shying at bins, or wasn’t doing as it was asked, that this was a reflection on the horse; Pip has taught me that it is actually a reflection on me! At the Pippsway clinics it is always a joy to watch Pip schooling our horses. When we ride we see the horse working at the level we are capable of. When Pip rides we see the horse work at the highest level he is capable of. It’s fair to say there is usually a huge divide between the two! The upside of this is that not only is it always lovely to see, it is a great reminder that our horses are capable of so much more, it is us that we need to work on! So instead of getting frustrated with my
