Training with Yogi Breisner Part 1

Yesterday I went to Boomerang Stables for a group session with Yogi through British Eventing Training & Education. There were 25-30 people on the ground observing, some coaches and some supporters. Yogi took the time to explain his approaches and how flexibility as well as some dictatorship (where appropriate) are important. I really liked his take on the word 'elite'. For him it's about how far a horse and rider have gone for them - so if they are competing at the top of their game/abilities, even if at 100 or novice, they are elite.

We started the session by putting our stirrups up so that our feet were near the bottom of the saddle! He uses this exercise to develop a riders balance and strength....and boy did I feel it! My bum and thighs were burning and my lower back got quite tired. He wanted us to try and create a gap between our saddles and knees. He advised that by doing this for 10-15 regularly you would soon get strong.

We completed steep Banks and jumped up/down a step from a trot to really help develop the forward leg posture. We were then allowed to lengthen our stirrups back. I had terrible trouble pulling through my stirrup leather especially as Milly was just going sideways with excitement at this point. A coach piped up and told me a way to get the stirrup leather to pull through.....AMAZING! Changed my life! I will post a video of how to do it later this week.

Part 2 will include... - gears - how to use gears for different fences - slipping reins, do I do it too much? - how did my diabetes management go