Last week I was thinking about how could I go about starting a lesson program with Plezant. I mean, I have this awesome horse, who has loads of experience as both a lesson horse as well as a show ring career. This was one of the reasons I decided to choose him. The other reasons, well he is just adorable.
But with the winter weather, dark evenings, and lack of time. Getting into the saddle has been a challenge for me. On a side note, if you are planning on bringing a horse home, I would recommend waiting until the weather is a little more friendly than the beginning of winter.
And although I would love to take lessons again, the cost associated with lessons kind of puts that idea out of my head. And riding someone else’s horse is not what I want. I want to ride my own horse, and grow with him.
So I think I have found the perfect solution. Rather, I should say, the perfect solution was given to me not long after I thought about starting lessoning on my own horse at home.
How To Lesson – Without A Trainer
Almost exactly 2 years ago, I started going to a trainer for lessons. This was mainly because I wanted to increase my confidence level so I could ride Ethan. I stopped my lessons when I had to have surgery. And while I had intended on starting again, I didn’t.
I justified why I couldn’t. Time and money were the biggest roadblocks stopping me from returning to my lessons. But then I came up with other excuses. And here I am 2 years later, and still not in a formal lesson program.
I have ridden a lot since my lessons. And I have found my confidence again. So that isn’t a barrier to riding any longer. (Yay!) But the biggest barrier has been time. I never seem to have enough of it.
And like I said earlier, the perfect solution found me.
I was at work checking my e-mail, and I could not believe what my eyes were seeing. Noelle Floyd sent me an e-mail. I think my eyes popped out of my head. But her email could not have come at a more perfect time.
I have been wanting to dedicate myself to getting into the saddle at least once a week right now, while the weather is still unreliable. And then, as the weather gets better, my goal is to ride at least three times a week. I basically want to commit to taking a lesson (without a trainer) once a week.
And what Noelle had offered, fit in perfectly with my plan.
Noelle Floyd Masterclass
You see, I have access to the Noelle Floyd Masterclass membership now, which is VERY exciting!
If you have never heard of the Noelle Floyd Masterclass membership, it is an opportunity for all riders, of all levels to get access to the top riding professionals. Regardless of your level of riding, discipline or financial situation, or even your location, you can grow your education to be the best rider and horse person you can be.
Even if you can’t ride every day, you can still educate yourself!
Each month they release a new masterclass. And each course offers in depth videos (with 10 videos per course so far) and a workbook. You can download the workbook which has exercises from the video classes.
This membership is so awesome. I can’t even tell you how much information is packed into the courses they already have available. And the workbooks are great. They aren’t 5 or even 10 page workbooks either. Nope, the workbooks are a complete companion to accompany the video lessons. The workbooks that I have glanced through so far are over 40 pages. That is a LOT of help!
Right now there are 6 Masterclasses available. And like I said before, a new course comes out every month. I feel a little behind, because I want to do every course. So far I have been working on Anne Kursinski’s course Bringing Out The Best In Your Horse. And I love it!
I decided to start with the Masterclass, because I really want to bond with Plezant, and do everything I can to bring out the best in him, by being the best I can be, for him as well as myself.
And honestly, there is no way I could ever afford to take a live lesson from Anne Kursinski. But by watching the videos, and following along in the workbook, I feel like I am being taught, by her. How cool is that?!?!?!
And not only do you have access to the videos, and the workbook, but they also have a private Facebook group so you can connect with other riders who are also in the group, but something else really special, you can connect with the educator who is providing the monthly Masterclass!
And even though I am a little late to the game, I can go back and review the Q and A session that Anne Kursinski had. I love that aspect of this. It also encourages me to do the class that they are offering for the month, so I can have any questions that I have answered by the instructor. I really hope they have Beezie Madden in a future class! #fangirl
Riding Lessons Without A Trainer
This type of training works for me. I can get up in the morning and while I am enjoying my coffee, I can watch a video (or two) and work through that section of the workbook. Then I can plan for when I am going to be having my lesson time with Plezant. I can go through the course during the week, and then refresh myself to my plan for my ride.
Then after my ride, I can come back to the lessons, and replay it in my head while I go through the video lessons again.
This system may not work for everyone, but it works for me. And I have been watching Anne Kursinski’s lesson all week. So I have a plan of what I want to work on with Plezant in our ride this afternoon.
Just as an example, I want to work with Plezant on transitions. Mainly walk to halt, halt to walk and walk to trot. (Baby steps for now) So I watch the video where she talks about working through transitions, and what I need to do in the saddle to make perfect transitions. This is a baby step to bringing out the best in my horse. And at the same time, when I do it correctly it also build my confidence level. I LOVE having a-ha moments. Those moments are what encourage me in my riding.
So even though I don’t have the trainer here with me, I have the support that I need, even when I am not in the saddle. So far this has helped to give me direction, and goals to progress in my riding as well as the partnership that I have with my horses.
Affordable Equestrian Education
The Noelle Masterclass Membership is an affordable option if you want to improve your riding, but can’t connect with a trainer in your area. And signing up is so easy. You can join on a month by month basis, or you have a choice to do an annual subscription. I like this. Because if you want to give it a try to see if it is a good fit for you, you can try it for a month and see if you like it. After that, if you can see all of the benefits, and want to save a little bit of money you can choose an annual subscription.
In the short amount of time that I have had access to the membership, I am sold. From my perspective, it is really worth it. Even if you do a monthly subscription, it is only $19.99 a month. This is far cheaper than even one riding lesson. And if you sign up for the annual membership, it is $199.00. This is less than I was paying for a month of once a week lessons. To me, it’s worth it.
We all want to make the most of our riding time right? And most of us have our horses for fun, relaxation and enjoyment. And we want to get better, so we can have even more fun with our horses. Isn’t that worth $20.00 a month? I think it is.
If you want to see a snippet of the Masterclasses, or learn more about the Masterclass membership, just click on any of the highlighted text to visit the Noelle Floyd site. It’s really cool.
I can’t wait to see the instructors they have for future classes. Like I said earlier, I would love to learn from Beezie Madden, but I think it would be fun to have instructors like Will Simpson, Boyd Martin, or Tik Maynard. But in the mean time I can take Masterclasses from Archie Cox, Missy Clark, Ian Miller, Tonya Johnston, Annette Paterakis, and of course, Anne Kursinski. And you can too!
Learn With Me
And I don’t want to just push you to sign up for a membership you may or may not use. So to keep myself accountable, as well as to maybe motivate you, I am going to share with you my progress through my membership. I want to put what I’m learning into practice, and document our progress over time.
And while the next few months will be a little challenging, mainly because of the unpredictable weather where I live, I am committing myself to posting at least once a month of how things are going with the Noelle Floyd Masterclass Membership for me and my horses. Well, mainly Plezant, because Frisby is pretty much retired at this point. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be working with him.
I am excited to see where this goes, and be able to look back at the progress Plezant (and Frisby) and I make while doing these Masterclasses! So here’s to long summer days of riding, as well as progress!
The Ultimate Leather Care Kit
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