WET, WET, WET AND SOME SNOW

Today is the first day of spring and a proper one! After the sodden land finally drying up from a wet autumn all the way through a long and even wetter winter, we were surprised by Arctic blizzards with tons of snow on the first day of March. Can it get any crazier? Yes, March was not done with us yet, we were in for another blast. I admire how most of my pupils and the rest of the horse world have managed to keep going. I wholeheartedly agree: it has not been easy!

It was therefore a welcome break to sit indoors and watch Maarten van Stek at work on my visit to Holland in January. Very uplifting and motivating and as always I came home with some fresh and inovative ideas. Particularly Maarten's novel way of explaining complex things which makes it all of a sudden very 'uncomplex'.

LUCKY US!

I watched Maarten ride two horses. His wonderful William, who was then just coming back in the groove after a break and has recently done his first Inter II again; inching closer by the day to their Grand Prix debut.

After that Maarten rode a lovely horse belonging to an equally lovely rider who injured her back, which was another joy to watch. Talking to Feline confirmed something that I already knew. How lucky we are to have the chance to get Maarten across the pond for a few days!

Not only is Maarten in great demand as an instructor, he also has recently started to work together with the young and very talented rider Steve van der Woude. It looks like their aspirations to form a solid team which is capable of training horses of all ages and levels in a most thoughtful and caring way.Their philosophy is all about 'slow is good', rather than overlooking what the horse is actually able to give at that moment in its life.

This is also a great opportunity for owners whose horses are recovering from an injury through a thoroughly designed and personalized rehabilitation program.

TWO LEGS, ON THE WALL AND OFF THE WALL...AND A BROOM!

The lesson with Bianca Zinger and her enthusiastic Friesian horse Kay was right up my alley. Not long before that I had had an exchange with Maarten about the often forgotten importance of the outside leg for a blog I wanted to write for Dutch equine magazine the 'Hoefslag'.

'Two legs' and 'on the wall, off the wall' were the expressions that were repeated regularly. With so much information available on social media, often banging on about riding from the inside leg into the outside rein, it is extremely important to be reminded that we also need the outside leg. For too many riders riding on the inside track is challenging because the emphasis is on the inside leg with the fence doing the rest and that is not helpful in the slightest to achieve a balanced horse which moves on 'line zero', another one of Maarten's great expressions.

The broom in order to explain the balance of the horse was so typically inventive for his way of explaining; a real 'Maarten special' and one I hope he will use on his next visit.

MAARTEN IS COMING IN MAY

The day ended with a lovely meal (thank you, Marc!) and so it was time to make a plan. The clinics in the two previous years have been a huge success and so I am only too pleased to organize the third one. The dates are Wednesday May 9th, Thursday May 10th and Saturday May 12th. £80 per session.  Again in the lovely indoor school at Derowennek near Bodmin, owned by Vic Hunt.  You can contact me, Liz Barclay, through this website or through Messenger.

Maarten already put up a post last month and so we are filling up fast!

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Top picture: Maarten with William doing a demo on the big Event Festival in Holland a beautiful sunny day.

Bottom: Bianca Zinger with Indalo-Keimpe, in short Kay.