I love guiding riders and improving the combination of rider and horse to help a combination to a higher level in sport and / or to help overcome fears.
In my lessons I pay a lot of attention to confirm the basics, relaxation, straightness, a good connection with a soft hand and a good harmony between the rider and the horse.
I find it very important that a horse wants to do the work for its rider. I adjust the method that I choose on the horse, and not the other way around. I plan the training in a structured way and I use a lot of exercises to confirm and straigten muscle groups. By training a horse correctly, we can keep our horse strong and healthy and prevent, correct or reduce many problems.
During the training I will pay attention at the hindquarters & active tempo control. Of course a horse must respond well to the leg of the rider / rider and come back to the aid. He should also wait for you to set a different tempo instead of getting slower or faster.
For me, it is also very important that the horse is in balance, this is mainly due to the muscle structure of a horse. Every horse has an easy and a less easy side, this varies per horse. If he bends easily to one side, he has short muscles on this side, these are stiff and difficult to make long, while the other side is very weak and difficult to contract and become shorter. We want the muscles on both sides to be just as flexible and strong. The muscles must be able to stretch as much on both sides as they can tense. The muscles become supple and strong, so that it can easily bend to both sides and the horse can walk a straight line without “pulling” to one side.
The most important thing for me is that you and your horse have fun and keep having fun riding.
A number of physical problems in horses start during or as a result of the training. With things like massage you can avoid the problems, but prevention is better than cure. That is why proper training is important.
I am addicted to the biomechanics of a horse, and therefore I did the equestrian training of sportmassage. I use all this information in teaching and riding a horse.
Next to the lessons, I see the massage as a extra to the overall picture. A relaxed horse can make optimal use of its muscles. The sport massage improves the body use of the horses.