After not having a formal lesson for approx. 2yrs I decided that I needed Dressage bootcamp! So I contacted my Rider / Coach / Trainer / Friend Simone Williams at Queenswood Stables in Navan and enlisted her help. Simone has trained with Neil and Cindy Ishoy, Gina Smith, Lisa Wilcox, Cara Whitham, Seigfried Peilicke, Robert Dover and Tommy Serio. She's a Level 3 Coach and has represented Canada in Pan Am games as well as being short listed- among many other accomplishments too numerous to list! But all of that means nothing to me compared to knowing that she is a good person who cares about her horses and her clients. So here I am on lesson #3 of my "Get back in shape" mission and I have to say that I am very impressed with the Coaching and the horses. Animals and Humans are kind and I am getting exactly what I asked for in a very positive and precise way! :) My first two lessons were with Simone and today I rode with Oswaldo Lazzuri as Simone was out of town. What I love most about my lessons is that I see a significant improvement from the beginning of the lesson to the end of it. I'm not saying I am looking pretty yet...but it is feeling better :) Today I was riding Kevin, a 17.2hh Bay with a big bouncy stride! He was perfect to show me exactly how I could improve my balance! I couldn't have asked for a better muscle imbalance and motor pattern evaluation as he made sure every one of my weaknesses showed up through every gait! Thank you Kevin as my physical conditioning programme is now very clear in my mind! I know that if I commit to a specific training programme my riding will improve that much faster and I will prevent injury. The cobwebs are only beginning to clear on my riding skills and as I am traveling to Manitoba next week without any riding time planned, I am going to need to do specific exercises combined with three methods of visualizations to ensure that I come back stronger than my last lesson on Friday. It's great having all of this training knowledge that I can apply to myself and get the results I need! I'm very grateful to all of the riders I have worked with as solving their issues gives me insight into my own! And now that I can finally start training regularly again, I'm excited to get into top shape in the next months :) Today is a good day to make our lives better. Wishing you health, Isabelle