Upcoming Clinics

Interactive Riding Clinics with Zsuzsu Illes

1&2-Day ReBalance Riding Clinics in Northern California - 2010

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PAST EVENTS

Santa Paula Clinic on May 3/4 "........I enjoyed watching how well you were able to transfer your instruction from one rider to the next, no matter what level or experience they had. I felt that each rider got a lot out of their time with you, and that you used practical easy explanations. A lot of people ride horses including myself, but having the gentle command of their horse that you teach is a beautiful thing! I feel it has made me more consistent and productive as a rider." Stacy Hyatt clinic organiser Teaching Connection

May 7-9 Dr. Gerd Heuschmann Clinic Dr. Heuschmann and Classical Master Charles de Kunffy discussing biomechanics and how the classical approach is THE only way to train a horse.

Cool Clinic May 1/2 "....My horses and I thank you for sharing your talent and wisdom......" J.O.

Saddle Fitting and Flocking for a client March 2010 - Learning more from Andy Sankey, Certified Master Saddler and member of the prestigious Society of Master Saddlers, UK.

2-Day ReBalance Interactive Riding Clinic

Feb. 13-14, 2010 - Cool, CA – American River Ranch, 3320 Highway 49, Cool, CA 95614

January 16-17, 2010 - Cool, CA – American River Ranch

1-Day ReBalance Interactive Riding Clinic

December 12, 2009 - 1-Day Clinic: Cool, CA

December 13, 2009 - 1-Day Clinic: Jackson, CA

December 14 & December 15 - Individual lessons scheduled

Click here for Egypt Clinic info

October 3, 2009 Saddle Fitting Lecture at Horseman's Center in
Apple Valley, CA

October 24 - 25, 2009 Saddle Fitting Lecture at Equine health and
Safety Fair in Acton, CA

Oct 29 - Nov 9, 2009 - ReBalance Riding Clinic and Saddle Fitting sessions in Cairo, Egypt.

August 31 - Sept 1, 2009 - Saddle Fit Clinic in Fallbrook CA

June, 2009 - Riding Clinic

September 12 - 13, 2009 - ReBalance Clinic in Brentwood, CA

ReBalance Clinic in Cool, CA - September 26 – 27, 2009

Note from Saddles That Fit! Mobile, Independent Saddle Fit & Education

Hello,

We hope you are having a great riding Summer!

I want to let you know that the ReBalance Riding clinics with Zsuzsu Illes were so popular this Spring that we are scheduling her back on a regular basis!
Everyone who rode with Zsuzsu is already signed up again, but we still have space for you!
We have scheduled two 2-day clinics in September; one in Brentwood (9/12-13) and one in Cool (9/26-27).

Whether you ride Endurance, Dressage or Western Trail, Zsuzsu's clear and simple direction will help you move towards better communication and unity with your horse. With her expert assistance, you will improve your riding balance, cues and techniques so you and your horse can achieve your riding goals sooner - and much easier!

Nancy rode with Zsuzsu in May. She says: "I've never had anyone else run alongside me at the trot so I could get the correct feel in my body. Zsuzsu is one of the most helpful trainers I have ever ridden with. The changes in me and my horse were tremendous."

The attached PDFs provide all the details for the Two-Day Clinic format as well as Zsuzsu's background. You can visit her website too at: www.rebalancesaddlefitting.com We are sponsoring Balanced Riding Clinics because we see a great unfilled need among our clients. We love working with Zsuzsu because of her easygoing balanced approach to helping riders create a more relaxed and meaningful riding relationship with their horses.

Please call or email if you have any questions. Rider slots will be filled on a first come, first served basis. Auditors are not limited.

Happy Riding,
Susan Hartje
Saddles That Fit! Mobile, Independent Saddle Fit & Education
saddlesthatfit@earthlink.net
www.saddlesthatfit.com
209-245-3789

Why ReBalance clinics?

How can we separate riding from saddles, riders from the principles of balance and saddle fitting from the bigger picture of our riding styles?

Horses move, live, eat and breathe as a whole. There is no separation and no compartmentalisation. Much as we try to organise aspects of horsemanship into different categories to help us learn, we cannot interact with our horses in this fashion. Horses asks us to approach them as a whole and when we do, we learn so much more, our communication is so much more effective and we learn to listen. What better way to enjoy our horses?

ReBalance clinics focus on saddle fit, horse comfort and balance, rider fit and rider comfort and balance. This is a multi tiered process which begins with evaluating saddles, recommending changes, and teaching riders how to better evaluate fit and saddle quality. Then riders move onto learning a better feel for saddle fit while on the horse as well as the feel of balance and harmony while riding for fun and/or performance. Horses are also evaluated for conformation and locomotion habits that contribute to balance or saddle fit issues. It is a common occurrence to see people riding unevenly and horses moving crookedly due to bad saddle fit.

As an avid classicist who espouses no one school of thought nor one style of riding, Zsuzsu’s ultimate focus is on softness, lightness and harmony between horse and rider regardless of breed, discipline or saddle style. Taught and mentored by international clinician, author and judge Charles de Kunffy, a long time instructor for Teaching Teachers of Tomorrow in Surrey, England (ttttrust.com), as well as many other clinicians and master horsemen, Zsuzsu works with participants taking them through classically informed movements and exercises using a novel perspective to release natural balance and allow a new level of understanding between horse and rider.

A one-day clinic format includes an interactive hands-on lecture on saddle fitting that ends with participants having a clear understanding of what defines a good fit and how to assess for it. The lecture is then followed by individual sessions. These sessions involve horse conformation and movement evaluation, a saddle evaluation and saddle fit assessment on the horse at a standstill, with the rider and with the rider taking the horse through all its paces. Recommendations are then given to help resolve saddle fit and balance issues.

The multi-day clinic format includes all of the above PLUS: additional theory sessions on balance, effective aiding and how to go beyond resistance; as well as individual lessons to ReBalance horse and rider. The ReBalance work comes in many different forms; groundwork or riding sessions, longing for horse and/or rider, exercises to strengthen and supple the horse as well as horseless exercises for riders to help with balance, feel and biomechanics.

The following quotes describe brilliantly Zsuzsu’s approach to saddle fit and rider-horse harmony.

"Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It is a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static "snapshots."……. And systems thinking is a sensibility — for the subtle interconnectedness that gives living systems their unique character." Peter Senge

“It is the ability to see the interconnectedness between the different masters, between the different schools, between different equitation styles and between the past and the present that provides us with a unique sense of the truths that lie within all horses…….A search for the subtle interconnections that is the unique character of the truth behind our horses.” Nadja King, Horses For LIFE Publications – horsesforlife.com