25/05/2026
The weather was on point.
The venue was beautiful.
The horses were willing and honest.
The riders… obedient. Yes, apparently it can be done. 😂
I absolutely love teaching pole work for muscular strength and postural development, but I suspect this weekend’s clinic will stay one of my favourites for years to come.
The night before, whilst driving between clients, I decided I was bored of all my current grids… so I mentally designed what became “The Tube of Truth Grid.”
Honestly? It worked even better than I hoped.
The entire focus was on straightness through the transition and straightness within the gait itself.
Why does that matter?
Because straight horses can push evenly through both hind limbs, load the body more symmetrically, and transfer power more efficiently through the thoracic sling and topline. Crookedness creates compensation patterns — one shoulder bracing, one hind limb trailing, one side overworking while the other avoids load. Over time, that reduces strength development, limits performance, and increases physical stress throughout the body.
Straightness in transitions is especially important because transitions expose weakness. If a horse cannot stay straight while changing balance, tempo, or stride length, they will often brace, drift, hollow, or overload one limb instead of correctly engaging through the core and hindquarters.
Of course, all of this can absolutely be trained without poles.
However, poles help make the right thing easy.
They allow the rider or handler to actually feel what straight feels like, while also encouraging the horse to organise its body more correctly. The poles provide clear proprioceptive feedback, improve coordination, and help the horse build the strength and stability required to maintain straighter movement more easily in the future.
A huge thank you to Animal Health for coming on board sponsoring the Happy Coach Awards.
Our Happy Coach awards went to:
• The beautifully handled young pony at her very first outing — made even more impressive by being ridden by a young rider with such clarity and confidence.
• The most dramatic improvement award, going to a young rider and her OTTB who transformed from nervous and anxious to confident and forward.
•The most beautifully ridden and executed partnership — the one that genuinely made me want to steal the horse and go do dressage… and those of you that know me know that whilst I absolutely appreciate how important dressage is for the horse’s body, it has never exactly been the phase I’ve found the most fun. But watching this horse and rider work together made me think maybe… just maybe… I could enjoy it too. 😂
• Biggest improvement in strength over six weeks of our rehab program, highlighting the incredible importance of effective groundwork strengthening in an older horse with multiple physical challenges. The commitment from this owner — and the resulting changes in the horse — had me grinning from ear to ear during the groundwork session.
We also had some smaller prizes for:
• Two combinations showing incredibly exciting future potential — some very talented young boys, both little and large.
• Best dressed, with the most delightful colourful matchy-matchy outfit and immaculate turnout.
• And finally, a little “Mr Try Hard” award for the cutest, most honest gelding who reminded me deeply of my spirit animal… our bodies may not always be as supple and powerful as they could be, but gee we’ll give it a go. His try and honesty for his rider absolutely warmed my heart.
All in all, I just want to say thank you to everyone who came.
I don’t know about you… but gosh I had fun. ❤️
Next clinic dates:
📍 Friday 12th PM
📍 Saturday 27th
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