Rachel Allen - Magallen Equestrian

A beautiful day teaching at Serpentine Horse and Pony club.

Started the day with the tiny tots lessons where everyone progressed with their steering and stopping, and then moved onto 3x intermediate XC lessons where we worked on Trakehners, in and out of the water, dog leg lines and some ditches.

Everyone rode really well and it was a super day of learning

Thanks for having me Serpentine Horse and Pony Club

PERTH!

This week’s BIG talking point: Flatwork > Jumping 🔥

From a coach and riders perspective, developing strong flatwork before introducing jumping is essential because it creates the foundation for everything that happens over fences, and between them!

Flatwork builds the horse’s balance, rhythm, suppleness, and responsiveness to aids that directly influence not only the safety of yourself and your horse, but the tidiness over a fence

When a horse is correctly worked on the flat regularly, they learn how to travel in a consistent rhythm and frame, travelling ‘into the bridle’, making it easier to approach fences in control and with confidence, knowing your horse is between your hand and your leg and that clear communication can be delivered quickly.

You as the rider are also better able to adjust stride length and maintain straightness with without giving mixed aids and causing confusion that you often simply don’t have time to correct in a competition environment.

Without this foundation, jumping often becomes rushed, unbalanced, and unpredictable, and the lines of communication begin to break down. We deactivate the ‘engine’ from the horses hind quarters and any energy escapes out through the forehand if the horse cannot travel into the bridle softly yet consistently.

All to often I hear flatwork branded and boring but there are so many exercises available to you whether it be transitions, lateral movements, serpentines and so forth - all which help down the track when jumping a course.

Don’t cap the scope for improvement with your horse by missing out on the key foundation points first.

No flatwork, no lift off 🚀

📍 Perth

It has been all go here for me for the last few weeks with some huge days, 1000s of kms driven (in this economy 🫠) and plenty of horses seen to be progressing through their ridden work, with coaching clients leaving smiling 😁

I am enjoying a varied life at the moment, predominantly coaching but also riding a little bit of track work and freelance riding too.

I have also spent a considerable amount of time with my nose in a book as I work through my EA coaching accreditation.

As my diary is filling up, please note the only regular availability I have left is on a Friday afternoon…

Watch this space for regular updates, client testimonials and upcoming events 📅