Indoor Training Day - 1st March 2009
By Rachel Williams
I have been involved in endurance all my life, but there is always more to learn, so I went to the Offa’s Dyke group training day to sponge information from those in the know.
The morning map reading session with Peter Friend (We found that Peter’s slides showed Karen Jones’ house!)
The morning started with an informative map reading lesson given by Peter Friend, which tested even the best map readers. The learning was hands on, and I picked up many useful tips. This was followed by a ‘Question Time’ style session with a panel of highly experienced riders – Margaret McKiddie, Liz Taylor and Gill Talbot. The 2 hour session covered everything a rider or crew would ever need to know about vet gates, including the perfect technique in sloshing your horse to the use of pulse monitors. There was plenty to learn and everyone was ready for lunch by the end.
In the afternoon we were fortunate to be given a demonstration on the Alexander Technique by specialist Sally Tottle, who has taught the technique to some of the world’s top riders. For those who aren’t aware, the Alexander Technique helps restore the body’s natural ability to remain balanced by understanding the relationship between the head, neck and back. To start, Sally showed us a model of the human skeleton and got us thinking about the position of our head to our body. Her first demonstration illustrated how to get up from a chair with minimal effort. This had us all rocking on our seat bones!
Now
I will be perfectly honest, I have long known that my posture is not
faultless and have been concerned about the effects this has on my pony,
having spent half my life riding him. So when Sally asked for a
volunteer I was happy to take part. I was asked to sit on a saddle
in my normal riding position, so I proudly got on and sat upright as I
had always done. Sally looked at me with puzzlement and asked if I
always rode in that position? She felt along my back and hips and
explaining that I had much more muscle on the right side of my body.
The audience looked at me in astonishment as they studied my wonky
muscle development. What effect had this had on my pony, or was
his movement and development affecting me? After some gentle
pulling and pushing I suddenly felt light headed and my muscles free.
My body for the first time was in alignment and my muscles could relax.
She then got me sitting on my seat bones, not my nicely padded bottom.
I tried to memorize this new position and the feeling of the awareness
of my spine being reunited to its rightful balance. Sally then got
everyone thinking about the way we walk. She asked everyone to
walk around the room while she advised people on their posture.
It was a very interesting and useful day, which gave everyone plenty of think about. Many thanks to Carolyn Edwards and Gina Harris for organizing the day, and thanks to those who gave talks and were used as guinea pigs.
Rachel Williams
Sally Tottle has specialised in teaching the Alexander Technique to riders for the last 20 years, and has published a number of articles on her work with riders and horses. She has developed her own methods of applying the Technique, which have proved very popular with riders of all levels. She also uses her Alexander hands on horses to enhance their performance. She has private teaching practices in Monmouth and Goodrich.
Bodysense courses have been featured in Horse and Hound, Horse and Rider, Your Horse and Dressage magazines. Courses have attracted clients from all over the world and Sally has even taken Bodysense to Kenya, Australia, Spain and Finland. A Bodysense DVD is also available. For more information check Sally's web site www.bodysenseuk.com.