This might be my first update in a little while but fear not I have been working hard behind the scenes for the last couple of months future proofing everything that I can! It certainly is a strange world out there right now and although many of us expected a third lockdown, it would be fair to say that if we looked back to a year ago, we lived in a world where lockdowns didn't exist and masks were for Halloween!
For the team, December was jam packed! Both horses needed to complete their qualifications for regionals and pet plan area festivals, I needed to get back to all of my Clinic venues as we all missed clinics in the November Lockdown, and of course Christmas was in there somewhere too!
Both horses exceeded all expectations finishing qualifications quick Sharpe with personal bests! Dotty completed hers at Elementary with whopping scores of 73 and 74%!! Boris completed his Pet Plan Qualifications at Novice and Elementary finishing on 68% in his second outing at the new level!
I could not have asked any more of the horses over those crazy 10 days! It just goes to show all of the training we did through the summer was worth it and has hopefully set us up for more confident outings going forward.
So what is next? Both horses have had a steady January after a short break over Christmas. This month we are working back up to full fitness and continue to strive to move up a level in the spring. I have also been working on my fitness this lockdown, I started the Couch to 5km programme again in January and I am amazingly still sound and progressing! I have also signed myself up for 12 weeks of Rider Pilates to see me through to the end of March! No excuses for not being able to sit to Boris's trot that's for sure!!
Coaching has had to take a whole new form and I have had to embrace technology to the max to still be able to support my clients through this lockdown. It is such a tricky subject as there are still coaches out there who are coaching, and of course are allowed to.
However I have chosen not to, under the advice of the BHS(who I am insured with), minimising risk and the logistical problems I would face. To be able to teach all of my normal clients I would have to reduce who I can go to in a day and would have to pick who that would be, which I just don't think is fair on anyone! By working remotely I am fully accessible for all of my clients no matter where they are based!
This last month has seen me help people remotely from Cheshire down to the New Forest and many places in between!
Coaching Remotely will never be a replacement for face to face lessons but it absolutely here to stay, going forwards, even out of lockdown I will still be offering remote lessons, the normal video analysis packages and exercise plans. They have proved hugely beneficial to clients, keeping motivation high in such strange time!
"We are all training hard to just get better than we we were, So when the go button is finally pressed we are ready! "
