Well I’m going to try and make this short as I’m sure like me you are ready to switch off for a well-earned rest over Christmas. For those of you that have to work I salute you and I hope you at least get a decent Turkey Dinner in!
For those of you that do have some time off and therefore hopefully some more time to spend with your horse why not take the time out to have a look at what are your current strengths and weaknesses as a partnership.
Go for a ride and don’t try and fix anything just listen to your horse and your own body. What do you do well together? Why do you do that well together? Did that come naturally or have you worked on it previously?
Maybe your horse has a lovely trot but your walk isn’t quite as good. Don’t worry about it right now just log it in your brain. Do you find you ride better on the right rein rather than the left? Do you think that is something that carries over into other daily activities i.e. how you sit, drive etc.?
Just note all the good points and perhaps reasons why they are your good points, then what are your not so good points. Then decide what steps you can take to improve it next year.
What can you do yourself to improve it? Do you have weakness; tightness etc. that needs addressing in order for you to be able to ride the particular element yourself better or perhaps to help your horse out a little bit more if he struggles too?
Whilst you may have some more down time than usual spend some time starting to work on those weaknesses so you will be already on track by January.
If you need any help then just hit reply and I can talk you through some programme options.
In the meantime, I hope you all have an awesome Christmas.