BodyMarc FOREARMS + CONTACT for Riders Course

CONTACT, a Saint Graal of Equitation. It's an ethereal, and everchanging sensation of steady connection between the whole body of the rider and the whole body of the horse channeled through the horse's tongue and jaw and riders hands. 

CAN YOU LEARN CONTACT?

Some people firmly believe you cannot learn CONTACT, if you were not born with a natural feel for it. Other people say one can learn it to some extent, and they try to teach people how to achieve it in the same way some people teach others how to paint, or play the piano: using practice, comparisons, visualizations, games and a lot of rules based theory.

FUNNY THING, is that when we look at how the horses are taught contact, we can see that it's done the same way: some horses seem to be BORN WITH IT, and they go effortlessly and perfectly on the bit, whereas for others it's hours of "tears & sweat" to get it right.

HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?

There is an old saying that once you get to know a person, you instantly know, by knowing their character, how their horse would go on the bit.

We find it funny and true.

It's all true because both, the character of the person and their responses to the sudden and unexpected reactions of the horse are HUGELY influenced by the residual tensions in the person's body. 

And vice versa: how the horse goes on the bit, how quickly he loses his balance, and how he responds to the cues of the rider, and his ability to relax onto the contact is influenced by the level of the residual tensions in the horse's body.

In both cases teaching ABOUT CONTACT only one party - a horse or a rider - is like trying to write an essay with a very blunt pencil. You need to have a sharpener and a pencil to start writing, in the same way as you need a relaxed horse and a relaxed forearm of the rider to experience moments of flowing connection. 

Without one or the other, all you will get is the idea that someone out there is indeed having what you dream to achieve, but it's not for you. In the very same way as a person who paints landscapes for a hobby knows that engraving their name in the history of art is not for them, but that indeed there are people out there for whom this will come true.

THE ESSENCE OF ARTISTRY 

Lies in Relaxation. Ability to relax certain parts of the body while doing something to allow the most optimal way of acting is the KEY point of artistry in any field one wishes to excel in. For music performance it's throat, and body of a singer, for martial arts it's the upper body of a boxer, and for sports performance, it's the body of an athlete.

For THE RIDER, the artistry lies in the ability to GIVE THROUGH THE JOINTS and MUSCLES while TAKING REINS and to LEAD THE HORSE without RESTRICTING HIS MOVEMENTS or subjective perception of the space available for him.

I have found that the ways to achieve it practiced in conventional training, are way too based on visualizations, control of the body through fixed or learned positions or limited by the rules of games between the rider and the horse.

Any mental stimulation happening in the body of the rider takes place in his Central Nervous System through an electric current and has a form of tension. The more the rider thinks, visualizes and tries to play with the horse, the less the rider feels his body and how it corresponds with what is happening in the body of the horse.

SOLUTION I PREPARED FOR YOU

Is very simple. In fact, it's so simple that it's almost relieving. It's relieving for many riders who were blaming themselves, their character, or maybe even that they haven't started horse riding early enough or with a good enough trainer, and that therefore they will NEVER GET THE CONTACT RIGHT. 

The solution I prepared for you, is to become fully aware of how the tensions in your hands are connected with your FOREARM muscles and how the forearm muscles tense each time a horse tenses unconsciously his body. 

BodyMarc FOREARMS + CONTACT is an INTENSIVE 8-WEEK COURSE in Releasing Residual Tensions from FOREARMS especially designed for RIDERS

It will open before you the world of EFFORTLESS and NATURAL connection with your horse's mouth, by very simple yet very sophisticated techniques of releasing all the tensions from your hands and forearms. These tensions are THE THING which puts on hold all your visualizations, strong will resolutions, and attempts at the games and educating your horse to be soft and willingfull. 

! Remember that you cannot paint fluidly with the most sophisticated brush if your hand is STIFF !

WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO LEARN:

• You are going to learn about tensions, and how different places in the body tense because of muscle tensions in OTHER AREAS OF THE BODY (your hands may be tense because of another area of tension in your body, and not because of your hands' tensions!),
• You are going to become consciously aware of flexions of the muscles in your forearms, and will learn how to release them,
• You are going to learn how your horse flexes your forearms and why, and how it corresponds with your horse's straightness and level of flexibility in his body,
• You are going to become fully aware of the muscles which move your fingers, writs and are responsible for the mobility of your hand below the elbow,
• You are going to learn how to keep your hands and forearms RELAXED even while feeling weight of your horse on it, you will learn how to cease tensions of your horse without bracing, tensing up, shaking or jerking on the bit.
• You are going to learn how to 
• You are going to learn 3 WORKING TECHNIQUES to release sensations of stiffness, pain, and discomfort from your wrists and hands.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR A RIDER?

• You will learn how to keep the flexion on the reins while keeping joints and muscles open and giving,
• You will learn how to guide the horse by allowing even bigger flexibility in your joints, without dropping the contact out of fear (loose outside rein!), keeping "false/dead hand" suspended above the contact offered by the horse, and without becoming too heavy and restricting on the movements of the horse.

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOUR HORSE?

• Your Horse will get a chance to communicate with you through the FEEL.
• By releasing your forearms and hands you will release a lot of tensions connected with aggression, impatience, and hesitation; the horse will gain a relaxed, and giving partner with whom he can engage into a dialogue.

IS THIS COURSE FOR ME?

• YES, if you are a rider who rides on the bit,
• YES, if you are a bit-less rider who wants to achieve more feel and relaxation based connection between her hands and the head of the horse,
• YES, if your wrists are hurting, and fingers and hands lost their flexibility you can recall from the youth,
• YES, if your ambition is to support your horse to learn about collection, gain straightness, better flexibility through the body and you already acknowledge that all of that is connected with YOU, YOUR BODY, YOUR RELAXATION, but you still feel you miss the GOLDEN BUTTON which unlocks all these places at once (we can tell you, it's the FOREARMS!).
• YES, if your horse has arthritis, refuses to move, lost engagement, or you feel he is not going happily on his own.
• YES, if your horse is heavy on the bit.
• YES, if you tend to tense your hands and keep them in a fixed position during more advanced exercises when your stress level goes up.
• YES, if you dream about this FLUID-LIKE connection which is ever-changing but all the time equally accessible for you and your horse and flows through your bodies like music.
• YES, if you want to enjoy a velvet-like connection with your horse, and better his health, movement, mood, and attitude thanks to the CONTACT.
• YES, if you tried and it hasn't worked for you, and you think you are helpless case who needs to shift to bit-less or stop riding at all.

COURSE FORMULA:

• Recorded AUDIO Theory & Practical Sessions (6 + 6)
• ACCESS TO STUDY SUPPORT GROUP,
• Individual feedback and answers to all your questions,
• Possibility to reach out to the tutor individually,
• COMPANY OF LIKEMINDED PEOPLE, students of the course, who go through the same process, and will share their experiences and progression with you (great way to stay focused and keep your practice going!),

BodyMarc FOREARMS + CONTACT for Riders Course is covers all preparatory exercises and theoretical information necessary for you for obtaining and executing the PERFECT CONTACT with your horse through the means of the reins and connection with the bit. 

COURSE TYPE:

BodyMarc FOREARMS + CONTACT Course is available in two options:

• FOR HORSE & RIDER: consists of >> BodyMarc FOREARMS + CONTACT << course for RIDERS and >> RESIDUAL TENSIONS THERAPY WITH THE BIT << course for the Horse,
• FOR RIDERS: consist of >> BodyMarc FOREARMS + CONTACT << residual tensions release course for riders to be practiced outside of the practice with the horse.