When they say God has a plan, I truly feel this way especially in terms of my equestrian journey. The equestrian journey often seems like an uphill climb and God's plan may look like a game of mouse trap at times, but I'm always thrilled with the people I meet along the way.
One such person is the confident and incomparable capricorn Janice Dulak of Pilates for Dressage. Janice has a background as a professional dancer turned Pilates Master and Dressage coach.
I had the pleasure of meeting Janice on the Horse Talk Show with Louisa Barton and was intrigued about utilizing Pilates strength building exercises to help reach my long term goals of Grand Prix Dressage Stardom. Check out this episode of The Horse Talk Show
Not only did Janice develop Pilates for Dressage riders which resonated with my path, but her farm is only 10 minutes down the road. We've been able to connect on a deeper level discovering we were both hard working capricorn goats with high expectations and even higher goals.
"FEI" Before I die", as Janice would say.
This Winter season, I was thankful for the opportunity to participate in Janice's Pilates for Equestrian's mat class that was hosted at the illustrious World Equestrian Center.
For 8 weeks, myself and a group of dedicated equestrians dawned our mats and magic circles every Monday to challenge ourselves and build strength to better serve our equine partners.
It was an intense 8 week series building core strength and body awareness, often feeling the burn and collapsing in a pile between abdominal burning sets. I'd sometimes joke that my body had sympathy pain before the Pilates even began, knowing that the struggle was going to be real on Monday nights.
Despite the torture and many jokes amongst comrads along the way, it was super impressive seeing how far the class came from the beginning of our pilates journey to the end.
I was personally impressed by Janice's ability to look at my body and identify places of compensation. I have a tendency towards hypermobility in my body which has made me a tricky student for my equestrian mentors over the years. While my hypermobility served me well to stay on horses, it has made it difficult to isolate and strengthen my core.
By the end of our 8 week adventure I noticed a great improvement in my riding. My core is much stronger and the awareness within my own body has allowed me to balance myself better throughout my rides.
The Pilates Mat class will be back at WEC come Fall 2024 but if you want to get a kickstart before then, checkout Janice's site to see her podcast and online Pilates for Dressage riders course.
I for one look forward to seeing how the pilates work will continue to improve my riding.
www.pilatesfordressage.com
PC: Norine English