FALCON CREEK FARM NEWSLETTER
(October 2003)
CENTERED RIDING CLINIC
September 6th
and 7th was the weekend Falcon Creek Farm hosted a Centered Riding®
Clinic, given by Level III certified Centered Riding instructor Anne Cole, from
Guffey, CO. It was allot of fun and
each participant was given individualized attention and help with Centered Riding
(CR) techniques. CR was developed by
Sally Swift many years ago and she is widely known for her innovative teaching
philosophy stressing body awareness, “soft eyes”, breathing, centering and
balance. Sally’s methods enable horse and rider to achieve harmony, working
together naturally, without pain to either.
Sally does not believe in forced training that result in stiff and tense
postures. She uses very creative images
and anatomical drawings, to convey proper body position and use. Her techniques are used in both English and
Western, and in many sport and riding disciplines.
The first day
started off with a brief explanation of CR and its benefits. A few exercises were done throughout the
morning to help illustrate how riders sometimes use their bodies to interfere
with their horse’s movement and to help stress better body position. Later in the day, riders mounted up and were
evaluated one by one, looking for areas of tightness or improper seat and leg position. The horses were checked for proper saddle
fit. Riders were then led around with
eyes closed to get a better sense of feel for the horse underneath them. It was really amazing how much more the
horse is felt with the eyes closed!
Riders also
practiced going from “soft eyes” to “hard eyes”, and back and forth. This helped to teach use of peripheral
vision and awareness of surroundings.
The second day
started off with some stretching exercises on the floor. The exercises sure showed some of us just
how stiff we had become! We then got on
our horses and rode through some patterns, working on centering and balancing
ourselves as we rode. We worked on
centering and growing, which is a technique that helps stretch the legs down
and the back, shoulders, neck and head upwards.
A few were
asked to trot without stirrups, which proved to be quite a challenge and quite
a work out!
The second day
wrapped up a little early as the weather didn’t want to co-operate fully with a
little mist and drizzle, but we all learned quite a bit about ourselves that we
will continue to benefit from. I
continue to teach many of Sally Swift’s concepts in my own lesson program that
has helped many riders improve greatly.
Happy Riding!!!
Comments and feedback are always welcome!
Leslie @
Falcon Creek Farm
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