| Note to Beginners - this holiday is a lovely introduction
to horses and riding. The Innate method of riding will give you the
best start possible to your riding career. |
Note to Advanced/Intermediate Riders - if you are in a rut, or have come
to a standstill with your riding, we will revitalise and invigorate the
whole experience for you. The Innate method will take your riding to
new levels. |
| Note to Men
- Our 3/4 days courses often appeal to men who want to learn to ride, but
not at the conventional one hour weekly riding lesson. |
Over the years, we have encountered many riders of all ages and
ability. It never ceases to give us real pleasure to be able to help the vast
majority of them solve everyday problems with their riding. Our
customers are consistently amazed and grateful to us for the difference we
have made to their riding and horsemanship.
|
Innate Riding is all about creating an enjoyable
and
rewarding riding partnership
between you and your horse |
The understanding partnership between a horse and a human
being does not have to built up over time; a good horseperson gives
confidence and trust to a horse immediately. The horse will respond
in kind. |
The word 'innate' means 'natural' or 'in the mind', hence its use with
regard to Innate Riding which is all about mutual and subtle communication
between a horse and its rider. |
Have you ever experienced the following problems with your
mount whilst out riding?
|
- Nappy
- Scared in traffic
- Won't move forward
- Won't stop
|
These are very common problems which most riders experience most of the
time, and therefore have come to accept them as normal. This is not
the case. |
| These problems do not have to be accepted as normal and here at
Overwater Equestrian, we can teach you how to ride effectively and be at
ease with your horse, and perhaps more importantly for your horse to feel at
ease with you. |
Your riding will be nothing but frustrating and disappointing if you and your horse
are not as one. You will be riding an unhappy
horse. You will be riding with kicks, whips and pulls, Crude
aids that don't work! |
|
| We teach Innate Riding to our
regular customers who come for weekly lessons (some of them drive for two
or three hours just to get here!). The results are brilliant, taking
riders to another level of confidence and understanding with their
horses. And now, we are able to offer holidays to our customers,
giving you the chance to come for a few days at a time. |
Here at Overwater Equestrian, you too have the opportunity to learn the
Innate method of riding. Innate riding applies equally to advanced,
intermediate or beginner riders. The principals can be applied at
any stage, giving enormous confidence to the rider and horse. |
Innate riding is a new concept in teaching, but not in
riding. We can teach you how to communicate with your horse and we
will de-mystify those statements instructors commonly use, such as having
a 'feel' for your horse, or having the horse 'in front of your leg', or
'off your leg', or 'between hand and leg', or 'using your seat'. |
The problems listed above (and all others like them) stem
from a lack of understanding between horse and rider. By opening up
the lines of communication, the horse is able to clearly understand what
we are asking of him and most problems can be resolved easily. |
Our horses are not schooled to accept and obey aids.
They will respond to 'innate aids'. These are the same subtle aids
which a newly broken horse readily accepts ; a dressage rider refines to
get to Grand Prix level; a show jumper uses to keep his horse straight and
forward; a hacker uses to make his horse happy and responsive. |
| Your riding position is very important. Your horse is
sensitive to every subtle movement you make. Therefore, we need to
make sure you are making the right subtle movements, giving a happy
forward-going horse. When we are seated correctly on our horse, we
get free forward movement with the impulsion we all desire, including the
horse! |
Basics |
| Getting back to basics. Being interested in knowing a
little about your horse's behaviour off the ground (ie when you're not
riding), and knowing a little about how you and your horse's bodies work
together when riding, goes a long way to creating a lovely riding
partnership. We will help you understand these basics. |
|
| Your
Holiday at Overwater Equestrian |
| Overwater Equestrian is not like
your everyday riding school. The horses will not be standing ready
and tacked up for you when you drive through the gate.
All riders are responsible for bringing in
the horses, picking feet, grooming and tacking up. This is a
fantastic way to meet your horse, and to be able to handle your horse from
off the ground is as important as the riding.
If you are a Beginner, then this is an
excellent way to get to know your horse (and vice versa) before sitting on
his back. This is also the perfect chance to learn absolutely
anything - you ask the questions. Which brush do I use? How do
I pick his feet? Why won't he pick his feet up? How do I pull his mane?
How do I put his bridle on? How do I make him move over? and so
on.
 |
All this hands-on experience
with a horse creates familiarity and confidence, and is enormously
helpful when taking the relationship further whilst out
riding. |
|
|
