BHS Training Day

BHS Blog Entry

It was my great honour to be invited to give a training day for the British Horse Society South West Region, in Dorchester, England on the 18th April. The day was open to BHS registered instructors as part of their Continuing Professional Development programme and was held at the very impressive Kingston Maurward Agricultural College.

I have to confess to being a little nervous as to what they would make of me! I am aware of the history of the BHS and understand it is a highly respected and important organisation in the UK. I thought they might think me an upstart from America but I was made to feel more than very welcome and I presented my work with a lecture in the morning, including some audience participation. It was great to see 55+ instructors finding out where their weight is in there feet and shoving each other to mimick the horse’s energy and see the effect on their bodies. After a short break for lunch I taught three very brave young students from the college, one at a time for about 45 minutes each. Taking the principles I had explained in the morning and applying them in the saddle. All three riders and their horses did very well and gave the audience a lot to see. It always fills me up when the horse gives unequivocal evidence that the principles work in action, when the horse visibly improves it’s way of going for all to see.

The feedback from the day was excellent. I think nearly everyone enjoyed themselves and I hope they all got something to take home with them and apply in their every day riding and teaching.

I would like to thank all of those who attended the day and special thank to Julie Garbutt who organised the event and I think perhaps ‘stuck her neck out’ and broke with tradition.

My only gripe was that I didn’t see enough of Dorset. How beautiful it looked and I could smell the sea!! I would dearly love to return here to teach and have more time to explore the coast line and may be even catch a wave!!

The Magic of Breath- Part 1

We take our breath for granted. We breathe in and out without really thinking about it. Thank goodness for that, because if we had to remember to breathe, most of us would not be here. When we hold our breath, the affect on our horse is apparent.
· Your body begins to tense and the tension is transferred to your horse
· Your horse’s head raises two or three inches
· The movement through your horse’s body is restricted
· You cannot maintain fluid movement and you are disconnected from your horse
· When jumping, you cause your horse to be imbalanced in the air and on the landing.
· Prior to a transition, you lose your rhythm and your timing is left to chance

But what if we did think about it, and by becoming aware of our breath and deepening it we could feel our horse change underneath us? No verbal commands, no reins, no spurs, just our breath as the aide. It can happen just like that, and it does seem like magic!

For more information about my work visit www.shawtaichi.com

James