Last week, Emily and Washington took part in the final Excel Training of the two year programme. This initiative has been incredibly helpful and has really helped Emily to progress in the last two years, and this final training camp was no different. The two lessons with Emile Faurie were, as usual, nothing less than outstanding: lots of work was done on managing Washington’s talent for collection in the canter and making sure Emily was in control of the speed as well as the turning in the pirouette. The trot also improved remarkably throughout the two sessions through the use of smooth and controlled transitions into and out of the piaffe.
As well as the ridden sessions there was the opportunity to gain advice from top experts in the fields of horse nutrition, veterinary science, sport psychology, and strength and conditioning. All of these ‘extra-curricular activities’ are so helpful for getting the best out of riders and horses, and it was very pleasing that both the vet and nutritionist were very happy with Washington especially as he is now heading into his 18th year!
All in all, the camp was, as always, helpful and informative with plenty of advice for the next few months. When do re-applications open?!