Thursday 1 May 2014

April / May / June 2014

Beautiful ginger squirt won himself four mediums! Fab clinic with Stephen Clarke at the TTT. This little horse just gets better and better!

One of my clients emailed this to me today and I loved it so much I thought I would share it with you. 
"Put together my top 10 reasons why I love lessons with Tracey Lawson - 
1. My lessons are always fun, I love them so much I have to wear a tena.
2. She doesn't just tell me what result she wants, she tells me how to get there. 
3. She always makes me feel I can achieve anything if I trust her and persevere. 
4. She is the only trainer I know who looks at everything, the horse, conformation, shoeing, saddle, the whole package. 
5. She uses amazing metaphors. 
6. She doesn't just look at the individual lesson, she looks at the end goals. 
7. She focuses on solutions not the problems. 
8. She understands the limitations of the rider and looks to find ways around them. 
9. She breaks things down into manageable goals. 
10. She teaches me how to communicate with my horse, rather than shout louder in a language that she doesn't understand."
I, Tracey Lawson soon to be Tracey May (woop woop!) wholeheartedly promise to try to keep every lesson to this standard. Mmmmm, but in order to be able to do that I am going to have to cut down on the amount I teach, so as to ensure I have sufficient energy for everybody. So from August 2014 i will be working a 5 day week Monday - Friday only.
Sorry to the people that can only do weekends :-(






I am currently helping two very talented Event Riders. Both could easily be British Dressage winners as well as BE Riders.
Ladies first - Kate Matthews owns and runs Angel Farm in Chertsey. Already a super rider before she started working with me but i am loving how the horses are all so truly connected now, that when Kate wipes a little perspiration off her nose with her reins one hand, or does one hundred double handed give and retakes, the horses stay completely round in the three bascules - the haunches, the back and therefore the neck - proving the engagement was from behind, not artificially manufactured in front. This also means the horses paces are being enhanced and amplified, not just the frame. This engagement is vital both for a physical physiotherapy point of view and a winning competitor. A horse is either in the correct posture of a bridged back to carry and support the rider, or its in the wrong posture of a hollow back and may or may not have been twiddled down in front. Quite simple the horse ridden with a hollow back will break more easily from carrying the rider in an incorrect carriage and deportment. The engaged horse with a toned and tucked pelvis will have a longer healthier ridden career. The same for us if we keep in the correct posture say for example unloading a hundred straw bales, if you do it in the correct posture to protect the back for a human (bend knees not back) your back will last longer. Simples. From the competitive point of view, the quality of Britain's horses natural paces are continuously improving and to beat our competitors in the dressage section, the horses have to move with lift and swing and throughness and ground cover and jump and elasticity and power and calmness and harmony etc etc etc. That doesn't come without an engaged postural ring from the horse. Twiddled in head just wont cut it any more and your horse is more liable to break. ER NO BRAINER!  Some of Kate's horses she has bred, some she has brought to improve and sell onto a brighter future and some with huge talent for Kate's own competitive career. What a horsewoman.

Natalee Wiggins is also one of my Angels and is really getting the feel for this dressage thingy!
Her seat is getting deeper and more functional, legs are now longer and further back under her seat to bring the back up and a much improved elastic contact. Her horses muscles develop and improve every time i see them! GO NAT!







 Karen and Jazz Merrifield are a fantastic mother and daughter team that i love working with. We really do have some fun on the lessons but underneath our giggles, i know they both take their riding and horses and competitions very seriously, so i set very high goals and expectations. I then explain how and what they need to do to achieve these goals. To which they always deliver!


Adam Harvey is my second Event Rider good enough to do pure Dressage! His BE achievements this year are too numerous to mention. If anyone is looking for a young rider to event their horse then check out Adams website  www.ahhequestrian.com
Adam has international potential, talent and backing, but he is also super with baby horses and just bringing out whatever talent each individual horse has. Horses love working with Adam, he is brave but quick to reward. He wants the horse to be happy and willing as priority over just winning, which is why the horses do exactly that and go win for him!