Review of 2019

This year I have been kept busy as I continued to work with all my clients as well as welcoming some new ones. I said goodbye Jane and her lovely horse Lucy, who is now semi-retired. The work we have done has kept her fit and supple into her mid-twenties and although she is no longer able to have lessons, she still doing some gentle work. 

​The great joy of my work is training and developing new skills for horses and riders. Even as the days become colder and shorter, I still love to go out and teach, wrapped up in thermals and big coats! The range of horses that I teach is always interesting: some of the more advanced partnerships have begun their first steps of piaffe this year, whilst newer riders are mastering the art of riding a perfect circle (which is harder than you may think!). Seeing the relationship between horse and rider develop into good understanding of each other, and building their strength and skills together is one of the most rewarding aspects of what I do.

As the 1st of January approaches and we look forward to setting goals and targets for the new year, it can be enlightening to look back to see how far you have come from the very beginning. A frustrated rider with a horse who couldn’t go around a circle without falling in is now doing shoulder-in, the horse who could only canter on one lead is now cantering on both leads and working towards counter canter and the horse who spooked in every corner now works quietly in the school, offering his rider movements at every opportunity.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and every success with your riding in 2020. Diane
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By the way, if you are following the Monday quotes, you may have noticed I have repeated some previous quotes for December, because somethings cannot be said too often!
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Diane Followell - Training Riders, Transforming Horses