My client, Kathleen, is a low-level eventer. We competed together up until 2019, and our horses live across the barn aisle from each other. When I asked her to help beta test my EquiForm clinic, she jumped right in.
In the group session, I spend about 45-60 minutes going over breathing mechanics, movement mechanics, spine adjustments, and a rider warm-up. Then, the group tacks up and mounts up to integrate the groundwork right into the saddle.
That's the point, after all. Learn how to support and move your body on the ground so you bring your best self to your lessons, your coach, your competitions, and - most importantly - your horse.
Kathleen has an older quarter horse, My Best Kept Secret (barn name - Secret or Papi) who has struggled with Cushings, laminitis, and the side effects of treatments. He's still spunky (especially when I'm tacking up Elsa in front of his stall) but he needs more support from Kathleen as he gets older.
Sound familiar?
So Kathleen joined the EquiForm clinic.
After 90 minutes, she was shocked
Despite years of struggling to engage her core and keep her leg aids consistent, she found clarity and transformation...
What was so remarkable for her?
Kathleen came to the EquiForm clinic with 2 main issues: her hips have uneven strength and she rolls her ankles out, which she felt “makes my whole core go unstable.”
Remember - I spend 45ish minutes with a group. That's not personalized attention. That's not diving in to particular issues. That's a general, broad, sweeping skimming of what I can offer my riders.
Then I make them try it all in the saddle.
It's a lot, but this is why I use breathing & movement biomechanics, and why I only need 90 minutes with my riders to make change.
It happens that quickly. The "Aha!" The "Holy Shit." The "I am SHOCKED."
Don't take my word for it, either.
Read what Kathleen said:
“...What I found out is that when I was actually thinking about my breath and looking for a transition...even as I was thinking about changing my breath and really concentrating on it, my horse was reacting to that change. And I must have had a change in my posture or something like that, because...he stood to attention and said, “You’re gonna ask me something.””
So Secret felt the micro-movements of her muscles as Kathleen began breathing during her ride, and he adjusted accordingly.
Our horses are SO sensitive - sometimes, this is all it takes!
The other thing Kathleen loved, what helped her fix those rolling ankles and find her core to engage, was the foot tripod:
“It's amazing. It shocked me, and it wasn't just at the walk. It was at the trot, and it was at the canter. It was going over the ground poles. I was so stable and so secure, and all it was was just thinking about that tripod. Awesome. Thank you, Ashleigh. Thank you."
Kathleen was shocked by her foot tripod - this powerful foundation most of us have and yet know nothing about.
Friends, I teach breathing & movement biomechanics, spine cues, foot tripod, and more in my EquiForm coaching program.
These are the tools I’ve found riders need in order to ride better.
They start with breathing better, then moving better, and ultimately, riding better.
From the feet up and the diaphragm down.
Check out Kathleen's video below:
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