Category: General Blog

1. Introducing my Sponsored Rider...

   Posted on 10:50am Monday 25th Sep 2017

   Introducing my sponsored rider, Sam Giles…

   In June this year I was renewing my membership with Recommended Equestrians, while speaking with Diana, the founder of Recommended, she told me about their partner, LegUp For Talent, which is a sponsorship based programme for grassroots riders who have talent but not necessarily the backing they deserve.

   At first I was a bit sceptical as I have sponsored riders in the past but for various reasons it didn’t work out. However, Diana assured me that the benefits would be far more assured with this programme, so I delved further…

   You can read all about the programme here

   Diana went through the members who were seeking sponsorship and came across Sam, when her name was mentioned I had a distinct feeling it may be fate, I had actually worked with Sam many moons ago when I was working at a riding school nearby… spooky!!

   What had always struck me about Sam was not only her sense of humour, but her will to succeed despite being riddled with rheumatoid arthritis, which has affected her since the age of 4yrs old, being wheelchair bound for a long time, but Sam being Sam wasn’t going to be beaten and proved Doctors wrong and worked in racing, studs, riding schools, showjumping, eventing and livery yards!

   In the paragraph below, Sam introduces herself, with details of her current rides and how she feels about being sponsored:

   “Hi I'm Sam Giles and I am privileged to be Sharon Johnson's sponsored rider. I'm 30 (but if anyone asks please tell them I'm 29!) I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis when I was 4 and it affects most of the joints in my body so i am in constant pain and can find some aspects of riding a bit of a challenge, I did however manage to work in the equine industry for a number of years before the arthritis got worse and have worked in racing, studs, riding schools, showjumping, eventing and livery yards. My current horse is amber a 5yo ex racehorse who I bought as a 2yo straight out of racing, she was working at novice level (dressage) and had just started jumping when she injured herself in the field so when Sharon signed me up as her rider I was unsure if I would ever be able to ride her again however I was riding a young Spanish horse that I was kindly given the ride on by a good friend, poor Sharon probably wondered what an earth she had got herself into as my horse was uncertain and then I discovered I will need more surgery soon so I will be out of action for a few months. Fortunately, sooty has made good progress and amber is back in light work and I have with Sharon's help relocated my core muscles so once my surgery is out of the way we can kick on and get back out to some competitions and hopefully get to the ROR championships! I cannot thank Sharon enough for this opportunity and with Sharon’s extensive knowledge of the equine and human body I'm sure myself and amber will be better than ever.”

    

   As you can see, she is one determined woman, who I felt deserved this opportunity.

   Since signing on the dotted line, we have had several sessions with sooty who is coming along nicely, and recently Amber (who is “affectionately” called Moo(!).)  has returned to work so while Sam is out of action I shall be taking up the reins – pardon the pun(!) – and helping with her return.

    Sam has a page on Facebook which she updates weekly with her goings on, visit it here, and don’t forget to hit the “Like” button on the following pages:

   Sam Giles: Facebook

   Leg up for talent

   Sharon Johnson Equestrian

    

   Below are a few pictures of Sooty and Amber aka Moo!

    

   

   Amber above.

   

    Sooty above, taken at his first ever competition.

    

    

2. Dealing with criticism and gossip mongors

   Posted on 1:51pm Tuesday 9th May 2017

   Dealing with criticism and gossip mongors

    

   Having been involved in equestrianism now for over 35years, and being a professional for over 20, I've been on the receiving end of both positive and negative comments made by people. 

    

   How did these comments affect me and did it have an impact on me as a professional? The simple answer to this is yes and no, on both accounts. 

    

   When I was young and starting out on my own as a trainer, I wanted to be the best, doesn't everyone? I spent a very long time studying other trainers and riders, watching how, why, when they did what they did to achieve what they did, either with their riding or their training, sometimes sitting in on lessons for days on end, notepad and pen taking notes. I think I may have been a pain to some trainers, as I would question (at appropriate moments obviously) why they chose an exercise, or what the response they felt after riding a certain movement, but I was never chastised for it, just a gut feeling of "oh no, she's here again!" But those early days served me well, I gave up my own time to educate myself, which has never failed me.

    

   Why does this have bearing on this blog? Well, having studied the trainers who were getting results with their own horses, and seeing the results their clients were achieving, coupled with studying for, and passing my own exams, I built up a solid foundation of knowledge which I still fall back on all these years later, albeit some methods have changed and as new knowledge is developed those methods are tailored to the here and now, ensuring that training methods I use today are matched to the horse or client in question.

    

    But what about THIS blog??

    

   Ok, so this blog is supposed to be about criticism and gossips yes? Yes, however I think it's important to look at why criticism or gossip happens in the first place, that way it helps you understand why you may have it, sadly, aimed towards you personally.

    

   Over the years I have trained countless riders and horses, and "onlookers" have witnessed a huge variety of methods I used. The problem is, those onlookers had no idea of:

    

   1. Where the horse started out in its training 
   2. How much, or little the rider knew
   3. What the relationship to that particular days training was to the overall training
   4. Where the horse is CURRENTLY in its training
   5. Whether the horse or rider or the combination were having an "off day" if the onlooker witnessed something other than pure harmony, which is obviously highest on the list, but sadly often not the case when that "off day" occurs
   6. What the lesson goals are for that particular days work, e.g. Watching a rider simply stretching their horse when the onlooker "knows" that rider has a competition in a couple of days time and deems the chosen work to be ineffective, yes it did and still does happen(!) 

    

   I could list a few more, but I think you get my drift here?!

    

   So, these "onlookers" have now made an assumption that what I am doing is wrong, therefore they go tell their friend, who tells their friend and so on, and the Chinese whispers grow. Funny how these "onlookers" are never around to see, and spread the news, when the horse goes well or the riders are achieving their goals eh?!! 

    

   Anyway, in the early days it hurt to be honest, I knew what I was doing was right, perhaps not perfect, even now I sometimes think back to riders who had difficulties with certain things and I will be teaching someone going through a similar experience and think oh if only I knew about this method back then, but hey, that's life, knowledge grows with experience, however when I would hear bad things being said I would quite often question my own abilities to do what I loved, and on one occasion was met with some incredibly hurtful criticism and for a short while I didn't teach as it had caused me great distress, however after time to evaluate the comments made, which I still replay every now and again in my head, I knew I couldn't not teach, its what I do (!) and actually it all turned out to be pure jealousy, which is quite often the root cause of criticism anyway. 

    

   Very rarely would you hear anything positive said, and back then you didn't have the likes of twitter or Facebook (actually internet, wow I'm THAT old !) so it was incredibly hard to "promote" yourself. The horses I rode, owned and trained were never world beaters, but they were all I had, and as mentioned, with no way to "promote" myself it was down to good old fashioned hard work and determination to prove myself by training these horses to the very best of mine, and their ability, which could be showcased at competitions, which were few and far between when finances were little and costs high, but I did the best I could.

    

   Leaping forward to now, I don't feel there is any change in people's opinions, in fact now we have the internet, I feel people are now much nastier as they can hide behind their keyboards and slate people in the safety of their home, but I'd say the tongue is still a very destructive thing and Chinese whispers are very much still alive and, sadly, all too familiar. 

    

   So how do I deal with negative criticism? The simple answer is nowadays I listen to it, and think for a moment why those people have said what they have and unless their in any justification for it, I ignore it, mostly it is actually laughable, as I know my training is justifiable, I welcome people to sit in on lessons should they wish, (clients obviously informed and asked first!) or ask questions, either as I did all those years ago, or comment on things I share on my social media pages to gain an insight into what I'm doing and why. 

    

    

   Obviously positive criticism is to be enjoyed, but sadly their is a shortage of positive people in the world, so spreading bad news is far more satisfying for some people, a sad state of affairs really. 

    

   In conclusion, over the years of building knowledge and never allowing myself to stop learning, has meant that I can be positive about criticism, even when it really hurts, and use it to push myself harder to learn more and become a better trainer, and person, from it. Such a shame the gossip mongers don't apply the same principles really...