The Trisha Wren
Experience!
by Alicia Fistonich
Recently, Trisha Wren invited one of our staff members
to attend one of her clinics. Being an
avid reader of Trisha’s articles for so long, I snapped up the offer and sat in
on one of her clinics for several hours to get a better taste of what she was
all about.
As you will be aware from Trisha’s articles Connected
Riding is quite different from the traditional form of riding most equestrians
would have encountered in the past. Not only
does it provide you with an awareness of body and movement that encourages you
to move in harmony with your horse, it also teaches you to ride from the inside
(by feeling) to the outside (by action).
The connection that Connected Riding creates allows us to perform
better, communicate better and have a personal relationship with our horses.
At the clinic one of the first things that I was able
to watch was Trisha explaining to her students just how much your position can
affect the way your horse rides. Interestingly
enough Trisha took a rather hands-on, practical approach with this lesson by
using some of the students as ‘model horses’ and the left overs
as ‘riders’. She then asked the ‘riders’
to try various things such as sitting too far forward, too far back, slouch,
sitting correctly and wobbling and then asked the ‘horse’ to explain what each
modification felt like.
Trisha then proceeded to explain to her students the
exact impact that sitting incorrectly on a horse’s back can have on your strength
and balance. Try this exercise at home;
find something flat to sit on without a back where you can rest your feet
firmly on the ground. Now sit like you
would when riding, preferably with yoru shoulders
back, a small hollow in your lower back and your pelvis tipped forward. Now ask someone to come along and push on
your sternum. Try to resist them as much
as you can – you can’t can you? Now try
this. Sit on your seat bones, ensure you
are sitting up straight but avoiding bringing your shoulders back to create a
hollow; instead you want to mimic a straight line with your back. Now ask someone to repeat this process – if you
are sitting in the correct position you should theoretically not bow to their
pressure and manage to remain in the same position.
Trisha also went on to explain to her students that
through a series of ground exercises, the horse’s body movement and suppleness
can be evaluated and developed. From this
point the communication between the horse and handler will be developed,
improving performance along the way.
What I have talked about is really only a general idea
of what goes on in Trisha’s courses and some examples. Her courses are both very informative and
interesting, and she has a really unique way of conveying ideas and theories to
her students. I came away having learned
a great deal with lots to go home and work on and I can honestly say that it
makes a difference.
©The Organic
Equine
as printed in: The Organic Equine magazine (Feb 2008)