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Trisha wren ~ Connect With Your Horse

Peggy Cummings Clinics ~ Connected Riding

2010 Clinic Feedback!

Feedback from Cambridge clinic so far (4-7 Dec):

During the last 3 decades I’ve dedicated a fair portion of my hard earned cash to riding lessons, primarily dressage oriented but with some jumping training as well.

I have enjoyed learning from great Kiwi riders and some very well known International trainers.

There are so many different spins on rider/horse training these days that I often see people start off with one system then move to the next flavour of the month, then the next, sometimes confusing themselves and their horses in the process.

It’s a shame I had to wait until my horse was 14 before I first met Peggy Cummings and finally learnt how to help my horse with his damaged poll and pelvis lift and round his back. But good things come to those who wait.

For me, Connected Riding is a one stop shop that provides far more than any of the previous training regimes I have experienced. This is because it is not just about making a horse perform a shoulder in or an extended trot. The rider and the horse work in unison, not through force, but in harmony. Harmony can only be achieved through the balanced movement of both the rider and the horse - together.

Connected Riding is a therapeutic form of horse/rider training, encouraging freedom of motion in both beings through specific groundwork, postural re-balancing and a way of riding that is unlike conventional training. Rather than the Strain, Train and Drill mentality where it can take months/years of ‘schooling’ to build enough muscle to over-ride an individuals limitations to perform a particular ‘movement’ and which often ends in the destruction the body and mind of the horse, Connected Riding actually builds athletic ability, correct bio-mechanics, fluidity and poise by helping the horse release tension and holding patterns that restrict its range of motion. This change can happen in a very short space of time and is amazing to watch as each horse reprograms its body to assist better balance. The great thing is you don’t have to be an upper level competitor to help your horse develop beautiful self-carriage. Everyday pleasure riders and even beginners are able to feel that when they sit in a neutral pelvis position, move their joints in a balanced way in time with the movement of the horse, that the horse can actually free its own body to become more fluid and balanced in motion and lift and round its own back underneath the rider. For me the true beauty of Connected Riding is in its therapeutic approach, old horses, physically and even mentally damaged horses find joy in their improved movement, re-develop atrophied muscle and can actually shake of some of the mental anguish that has been associated with painful movement. Happy, healthy horses, living a longer life has to be a bonus.

Thank you Peggy for your fantastic work, your constant striving to define, refine and improve your training methods, your drive to share the maximum amount of information with riders to benefit the horses and for coming all the way to little NZ to help us be the best we can be.

See you next year, and the next year and the year after…..
Love and best wishes from Jenny Lomas and Connor

~

How do you describe it – THAT feeling? That amazing thrill of your horse softly, powerfully, springing along carrying you seemingly effortlessly, while you ride the crest of the wave in perfect balance with him.

Peggy taught myself and my horse how to put ourselves together to get this feeling, and when we lost it, HOW TO GET IT BACK.. again. And again.

Peggy teaches releasing, rebalancing and energising to horses and riders independently, and then together, through a series of specific, gentle and respectful exercises for the horses, and riders. We were shown the clear benefits of a neutral pelvic position and independent MOVABLE limbs to cradle and activate the horses, allowing them to really lift and use themselves, with spectacular results. The ground work Peggy has developed had a profound effect on all the horses, enabling them to soften and stretch the head and neck, lift backs, reconnect and empower their hind quarters, and really begin to move.

I feel very fortunate to have had Peggy teach me over the 4 days how to begin to ride in a pain-free and softer, lighter way for myself and my horse. The skills and exercises she taught me are sustainable and will work for me at home, and under any trainer I go to.

This course has changed my riding for the rest of my life, and my horse is already showing me how much better he feels and how much more he can do, if given a chance by his rider! Thank you Peggy, I will absolutely be back for your next course.

Melanie Drumm
Paeroa NZ

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