Natural Horse Company

DREAM HORSE : DREAM RIDER

Still dreaming of having your perfect horse? Suspect your horse dreams of having a better rider? Find out how to make your dreams come true at an Evening Presentation this month.

Speakers will be James Shaw whose unique approach teaches perfect rider bio-mechanics for confidence, collection and performance.

Hannah Dawson will show you her wonderful positive training approach which creates a happy, calm horse, able to learn anything from loading to piaffe.

Download a poster here to put up at your yard, fill a car with friends and take advantage of our special offer: 4 tickets for the price of 3.  Download FLYER 

The evening starts at 7pm on March 31st at the Scotch Corner Hotel, near Darlington (junction of A1 and A66).

Both speakers will be following their talk with weekend workshops at my farm during April. Check out their pages for more details.

I'll be there, getting closer to realising my dreams, and I'd love you to join me!

BUY TICKETS NOW FOR ADVANCE PURCHASE DISCOUNT AND 4 FOR 3 OFFER!!! (Single ticket advance price £10/person. On door price £15/person. Limited seating so advance booking highly recommended. Payment by cheque or card following email reservations)

Baucher says: "Open your Laogong!"

I love getting the last word in: exiting on a killer line with a flick of the imaginary blond tresses. So deathbed sayings fascinate me.

Reading Racinet, talking about the great horseman Baucher, I came across Baucher's deathbed instructions to his friend General L'Hotte:

"Remember well, L'Hotte: always this (and he pressed L'Hotte's hand in his); never that (and he pulled L'Hotte's hand towards his chest)"

Well, maybe L'Hotte had heavy hands so it was important enough to remind him at the last. For me, Baucher, Racinet and co are developing my understanding of what I've been learning with James Shaw for the last few years. And one vital thing is the vexed question of "good hands".

One thing I know is that I don't have them naturally. I have a well built propensity to pull, hold fast, get rigid in the right hand, and a left hand that resembles Elvis's trembling hips, it's so out of control. 

One of the main teachings that James brings from Tai Chi is the understanding and use of energy gates in the body. He goes into this well in his book so look there for more detail. They are areas of the body where we classically hold tension and need to learn to consciously release them and then control them. For riders, the first block is usually at the small of the back, an energy gate known as the Ming Meng. Other typical spots are the back of the neck, known as the Upper Pass and the hands, known as the Laogong. Releasing these areas causes major changes in the horse as they release them and so can collect naturally, without any force or artificial aid. Learning to do it is both simple and hard!

When I open the Laogong in riding the feeling is of pressing into the rein, almost like giving someone a gentle connecting hand squeeze. Roisin softens, drops her head and chews. 

So I reckon Baucher was in touch with his inner Tai Chi master and knew well how to open his Laogong and probably, all his other gates too.

Thanks to Lynne Gerard for permission to use the book  illustration, which she designed. Her website journals the story of the Ravenseyrie Sorraia Mustang Preserve and is really worth visiting.

 

 

More Shaw on Horse Hero!

James Shaw has just finished another tour of the UK teaching courses, lessons and filming for Horse Hero. After showing how Tai Chi can improve your dressage in his lesson with Hannah Biggs, his latest video shows how his Tai Chi groundwork can help you to prepare your body to improve the bend in your horse when riding. Fiona Price, the presenter on Horse Hero, is his subject! Click here to watch it.

If you're insprired to learn these techniques for yourself and your horse you can purchase James Shaw's books and DVDs through us. Please ring 01765 688698 to order.

James Shaw on Horse Hero!

 

Click here to see him work with Grand Prix dressage rider, Hannah Biggs

Here's what Horse Hero have to say about it:

This video has the power to transform your riding! American Tai Chi expert James Shaw offers insights that will trigger some 'light bulb' moments. Working with Grand Prix dressage rider Hannah Biggs and her stallion Weltzin, James explains the root causes of tension and a system for riding effortlessly. He shows Hannah how her breathing controls rhythm and timing and how she can use her seat bones as weight aids. James says "by lowering your centre of gravity, you set the horse up for collection". His main aim is to use the horse's force and shape it, not block it, or use leverage against it. Hannah and Weltzin change before our very eyes. Amazing!

Click here for info about James Shaw in the UK

Click here to visit James Shaw's website for more information and his international programme

James Shaw teaches Bettina Drummond

Sometimes you find someone who you know is the real deal. A teacher who has original material which will take you further than anyone else you've worked with.

One such person is James Shaw. We are about to start our third year of lessons with him and are very excited about the progress we will make this year. We invite you to join us on his UK workshops and find out for yourself how his unique approach can break your equestrian "glass ceiling" and take you to the next level.   

James works with riders at all levels...and we mean ALL levels. You can read a testimonial from Bettina Drummond, one of the world's top riders. Bettina was trained by Nuno Oliveira, the great Portuguese master, and has been working with James for just a short time. If she feels he can help her, then you know he can help you too.

CLICK HERE TO READ what Bettina has to say about working with James.

Riding Lesson with James Shaw

This is a clip from a couple of lessons I had with James in April 09. The horse I'm riding is a young green horse called Wis (many thanks to Viv for letting me ride her) and we're working on allowing her to move in collection. For her to be able to do this without us using force or training aids to hold her there, the rider must be in alignment and true balance, allowing the horse's energy and movement to freely move their spine without bracing against it.

I've been working with James for about 3 years, improving my balance and connection and releasing all those muscles that insist they need to tighten and hold tension when I'm riding to keep me on the back of the horse. This restricts the horses movement and can cause pain in both horse and rider as well as behavioural probelems (my past riding experiences include back, hip and jaw problems in me and my pony and LOTS of bucking. All have gone since working with James). 

Anyway, in this lesson I'm working on releasing my poll so that Wis can release hers and stretch down onto the bit. First, I was allowing her movement to lift me through the spine while staying connected in my seat, before trying to allow it right up into my head. I get it very briefly in the first lesson and it felt AMAZING! It was like this big whoosh shot through my head and I got an incredible release through my jaw, neck and temples. Wis obviously felt it too, as she really stretched and played with her mouth when I go it.

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a fluke and I couldn't recreate that feeling so the second lesson (when it's sunny) is James teaching me how to do it. In the first trot I have it's apparent by Wis's movement that I haven't released my neck as her head is up and she's sticking her nose out. We start off with the physical movement required, then try at walk where you can really see Wis playing around with lifting her back and getting balanced, then getting a frew steps of true collection. Woo!! It progresses to the trot and we get some lovely sustained steps towards the end (at this point James mentions my arms and that is a step too far for my poor full brain and we lose it again but it was fantastic!).

It felt really amazing to feel Wis change so dramatically as I made small adjustments in my own body. The horse HAS to react to us all the time and they mirror us hugely so being aware of the weight in our seatbones and tension in our muscles can really change how your horse moves. An added bonus is the healing you both receive-truly working with the horse releases muscles that have been holding tension for years and I know Wis and I both felt a lot freer around our head and neck after that lesson.

You may need to check out the James Shaw Glossary to understand everything he's saying! Ming mengs and chi whoies??

Hannah