'This is a serious bit of kit'

In the first weeks of getting Danny I found it hard to ride him, unbelievably it was his flat work that I found difficult, he didn't really listen to me, so automatically I thought I couldn't ride, and I didn't feel worthy of a horse like Danny.

So when I had my next Fit to Ride session at Littleton Manor Equestrian Centre (LMEQ) I decided to take Danny along, there was only one person to snap me out of my current mindset.......

JON PITTS!

Well Jon knows me so well and there is a particular way that I respond to and if you have read my blogs you will know it is a general backside kicking! (Tina also does this well)!

'Stop playing and show me how you can ride him'

' You've been given a great opportunity this is the time to fly or fall'

' You need to get your arse in gear'

These are some of the phrases that Jon said in our training, (quick note to all those thinking of training with Jon, this is my own personal technique and not something he uses generally with other people). Mainly I am so self critical that sometimes that holds me back. I realised that I needed to crack on and take full advantage of this wonderful horse....I need to become more authoritative for a start before I could do anything!

Jon had me thinking and (attempting) to ride like Tina. It worked and Danny responded brilliantly, although when asked to mark our movements, I still marked one of my changes as a 5 and Jon, Mum and Lisa gave it a minimum of an 8 and I needed to the see the video evidence to believe it. (I think they were all a little frustrated at this point).

So it turns out that's all I needed to do was become more authoritative and I am with the other horses so there is no reason why I shouldn't be with Danny.

In addition we worked a lot on sharpening my aids so I was being specific when asking for something and he listens to me straight away and not two strides afterwards.

After this session that was it we had clicked and something clicked in my brain and he is going like a dream!

After the session we went and warmed ourselves up in Matt and Kate's kitchen, they are always such amazing hosts and have offered their support again for 2013 which means so much, actually we completely took over their kitchen, whilst guests were arriving for their engagement party! We got all the plans that Lisa had helped me work on and showed Jon, he gave me a few more pointers and we adjusted a few things and we looked at some realistic goals for Danny. We talked about process goals and I just feel I have such a focus now.

Message to Jon, I know he will read this "The teeth are flossed"!!