LESSONS WITH  LYNN

We all start our journey by learning to ride somewhere, then maybe we lease a horse, perhaps you have bought a horse or maybe you have started going to shows. You have lessons and you really try hard, but somehow success evades you. Others seem to come home with rosettes. So you call the saddle fitter, buy the best tack, read a book on riding and wonder if perhaps you bought the wrong horse, or perhaps you are just a limited rider. Your self esteem is dented and a shadow is cast over your vision of yourself.

Well, you deserve an honest answer and it is seldom that a horse or rider cannot be helped to improve. Riders need more than riding lessons to make the grade of personal excellence. The same goes for horses.

As a competitive rider myself l know how easily scores slip and trophies are missed, and just how hard it is to stay on top of both the scoreboard and in my personal self. Also, as a qualified personal coach l know how to adjust body balance, posture and symmetry, and how much the rider needs to find body awareness and stability. I encourage developing all aspects of strength in the rider holistically, addressing physical, mental and emotional health.

As a coach l look to be a trainer to the horse as well as a coach to the rider. We are a team of three and l regard myself as part of the effort to reach the rider’s ambitions. I cannot just tell the rider how to ride. I am to participate in the dream and explore all avenues to bring out the best in the horse and rider.

No dream is not worth reaching for, and riders perform so much better when they are not reaching alone!

What Lynn’s students have to say

“Lynn understands the horse-rider interaction and dynamics extremely well.  She is extremely resourceful and knowledgeable about the physiology of horses.  She is a confident coach and she inspires me to improve my riding and own confidence in the saddle.  Lynn never hesitates to share her knowledge freely.  Lessons with Lynn aspires me to ride with honesty, when I do so it is extremely gratifying to see my horse responds so positively to correct schooling. My horse gets stabled in a relaxed, but professional atmosphere at Chikara.  My highly strung Thoroughbred became a calm horse, this is the first yard where he boxes with ease and no intensity.  The grooms are knowledgeable and reliable.  My stable and livery experience is  enormously pleasant and I highly recommend Chikara to anyone looking for a hands-on stable yard, where owner and grooms alike conduct themselves with integrity” –  Marlize

“Lynn is an absolutely amazing instructor with an immense amount of knowledge which she applies during coaching. But results only show with hard work. As amazing as Lynn is she is not there to mess around so if you are willing to put in 100% Lynn will put in 110% in return. I love the Chikara environment. The grooms are awesome with the horses. I love going to the yard as being a pupil going to the yard is a break from the stress of school” – Mañana

“When I watch Lynn teach people younger than me I sometimes think “If only I had Lynn teach me when I was younger, my riding would probably have taken a whole different road”. When I arrived at Chikara, I had been riding for a fair portion of my life, Lynn needed to undo many old habits I had acquired along the way but she did this patiently and I have grown in my riding, in leaps and bounds. If I look back, even just 2 years ago, to where I am now it is a big difference – and the growing is now coming quicker and quicker. Lynn not only teaches you to ride, she teaches you about the horses movement and why they do what they do in the movement you are working on, she also works on the rider as well, for example, your posture. We all learn differently as well, so if you need to be shown visually, that’s okay – she will draw it out in the sand for you! ” – Leanne