Case Study Rider: Foundation Programme



Pauline and Kingsley at Rockley Farm where Kingsley undergoes his barefoot rehabilitation for navicular syndrome




Pauline Introduces Herself:

Riding since I was 11, owned a pony 13-17, hunted pony club etc. Started having weekly lessons in London 2003.
I'm not a very sporty person in general but have always loved horse riding. I think it's in your blood ! Great physical exercise and great fun !
Horses have such individual characters, that you really get to know when you ride regularly.

About Horses She Rides:

I own Kingsley but sadly he has navicular syndrome and is currently undergoing barefoot rehab.
However, I regularly ride on Intensive Training Days at Hall-Place Equestrian Centre as well as weekly in West London.

Pauline is a gutsy rider who will ride most horses but wanted to work on riding technique and being able to school her own horse in the future. This is a short clip from before the Academy training started.
We had a weak core strength to work on as a main issue as it affected entire position and effectiveness of the rider's aids. The rider has come a long way since this video was taken but we might possibly be in trouble for showing this particular clip off ;) Apologies for the quality - the rest of the videos will be better! This is a video of a Photobucket video - that's how we do it with advanced technology!


We started the Academy Training with posture Boot Camp ;)



Here Pauline is having a session with Kari which involves a bit of an introduction to different muscles and how she can use them to remain stable in the saddle.

We then added many hours back on the lunge to re-educate the rider's seat - she actually really enjoyed those sessions :)


Pauline's Future Riding Plans and Ambitions?

I used to only really be into hacking, cross country and hunting but now fully appreciate that to be able to get the best out of a horse you need a thorough understanding of dressage principles. So my ambition is to really be the best rider I can be and to work through my BHS levels and to do some dressage competitions.

A month with the balance strap followed! It was quite a revelation to the rider to find that she couldn't do much with the horse once she could no longer use the reins for steering...On the video she is having some fun time discovering how to use her body for control, where to sit and how to sit to remain balanced and how to stop treating the reins as a safety belt. It's very helpful with riders with busy hands as it literally switches them off. The Balance Strap is also an excellent tool to help with feeling the stability of the contact and evenness of it.
You should be able to see that the rider's tendency here is to always pull on the inside rein and she is in a lot of trouble when she can't do it! Her body took a while to think about turning the horse from the outside aids and we are still learning to kill the old muscle memory. But she's getting there :)

You can read the full explanation and rider's opinion on & experience with this method once her Case Study goes up on the main website.


Now that the rider can remain less dependent of the reins and maintains more stable pelvis/upper body position she is learning to sit still on fizzy ponies. Canter control through core engagement:


And finally, current video (the second one - indoors).
The outdoor video shows rider on the same horse in August. Notice she is riding without stirrups and it is taking a lot of effort to stay centred in the saddle. If you yourself are a rider with a long upper body I am sure yo...u will sympathise with how much effort it takes to stay upright and strong through your core muscles!

October 23rd Video is one of the latest. Here the rider is starting to learn to feel when the horse is in front of the leg, how to keep the contact elastic & consistent and how via this the horse's balance can be improved.


Did you enjoy participating in the Academy’s Case Study? What did you learn (if anything?)
Which elements of the training did you find useful and why?

Intensive Training Day(s), Video Feedback of each lesson, Written homework and links to articles on the theory chosen to help with particular element of training, Fitness programme/Stretch Exercises/Chiropractic assessment, Was taking the programme motivating? Did you feel like you were more/less focused on tasks & training?

Being a case study has been great. The package is so much more than just a weekly lesson and being given theory to study and video feedback to watch when I can't be riding has helped enormously. The chiropractic assessment was also particularly beneficial as being shown a very small adjustment to my position off horse made a huge difference to my ability to sit better when riding.
The programme was fantastically motivating and made me really want to show improvement at each session.

I will definitely be signing up for the training plans on an ongoing basis. The benefits are enormous and I couldn't imagine just going back to a weekly lesson.

Pauline is now almost ready to move on to the Development Programme! :)



Foundation Programme is all about variety of different riding experiences - Pauline enjoys hacking and cross-country as much as working on more technical aspects of flatwork.

[Pauline's training takes part at HALL-PLACE EQUESTRIAN CENTRE near Reading, Berskhire and EALING RIDING SCHOOL in West London]

If you would like to find out how to ride with Aspire Equestrian Riding Academy on the Foundation Programme please email Wiola ridinginstructor@gmail.com or call: 07791 483 502