Come join us for 'Nurtural Days' in Ireland, May 2010!

Zoe & Gerry will arrive at Slieve Aughty Centre on the afternoon of Tuesday May 18th, and leave early Tuesday May 25th.

Come ride with us ... bitless through the Irish countryside;
Watch or help as Gerry Guy nurtures four young horses to first ride - in the Nurtural Bitless Bridle of course;
Enjoy a Bitless Dressage Competition - judged against international competitors.

Join the discussions on Facebook ...

Slieve Aughty Centre in the west of Ireland offers horseback riding holidays, English language instruction, conference and special event facilities, comfortable accommodation, and delicious meals from our organic garden. A memorable experience for beginning and advanced equestrians and non-riders, escape to the beauty and tranquility of the Slieve Aughty mountains in County Galway.

In 1986, when Slieve Aughty became an official riding centre recognised by the Association of Irish Riding Establishments, students were coached in developing a relationship with horses through contact with them. This philosophy pervades instruction today, with games, theory, guidance in groundwork, grooming and general horse handling, and encouragement to understand horses at the heart of everything.

In line with this natural philosophy, when Merel discovered the Nurtural Bitless Bridle it seemed like the perfect fit for the riding centre. So Slieve Aughty Centre became the first riding centre in Europe to use and distribute Nurtural Bitless Bridles

"Currently 11 of our 33 horses are successfully ridden in bitless bridles for everything, including dressage and jumping lessons, trail rides, and cross country. And we arenot just using them on our old, quiet horses. In fact, we have found that the Nurtural Bitless Bridle is equally or more effective for our strongest horses and works extremely well for young, sensitive horses."

Riding Holidays Riding holidays provide a memorable experience for riders of all ages and abilities. Adjacent to more than 2,000 acres offorest, the centre is ideal for quiet treks and trails. Prefer more of a challenge? Test your skill on our diverse cross country course or improve your flatwork and showjumping in the large sand arena.

With over 30 well schooled horses and ponies of all types, including Irish hunters, cobs, Arabs and Connemaras, we have suitable mounts for complete beginners, experienced riders, adults and children.

Muriel, a guest at the centre in 2009, said "I am sending this email to thank you for four great days of riding in Slieve Aughty Equestrian Centre. Both Pearl and Cookie were great. It was a privilege to ride with a bitless bridle, it made the jumping easier as well as I wasn't as afraid of pulling too much on Pearl's mouth. Thank you for giving me back my jumping confidence...I really did find a difference riding with a bitless bridle. Pearl is a great horse anyway but she was happier than any other horse I have ridden - all had bits."

Connect with the folks at Slieve Aughty on Facebook.

Bitless Dressage Competition - judged against international competitors.

Zoe has long been a supporter of Interdressage, an online site that allows riders of all ages and all standards to compete from the convenience of home in monthly online video competitions. All their dressage tests are judged by British Dressage Listed Judges with help and advice from Professional Instructors. Interdressage is the cost effective and convenient way to compete against riders worldwide.
Compete each month for: Fantastic Rosettes Generous Prize Money Superb Achievement Certificates
ENTERING IS EASY- ALL YOU NEED IS: A digital camera to video your test Access to a computer A level area to ride Someone to video your test.

We are thrilled that Karina Hawkridge from Interdressage will be with us on the Nurtural Days weekend.

Karina will present Interdressage and explain "how we run Interdressage and how you ride and video your test and how you submit the video for judging. I will also say a little bit about how it came into being and why we encourage bitless riders and why we also have classes for riders in any bit and any tack. I will also explain why I introduced dressage tests with jumping- all tests have been written by the Interdressage team. I can use one of your riders as a 'guinea pig' and explain what the judge is looking for movement by movement."

"I will also explain about our riding school points league - the new season coincides nicely with our visit as it runs from May 2010 to April 2011 and is open to riding schools from all over the world- this season's league looks like it will be won by our riding school in Corfu- we have a south African school hoping to join the league next times as well as one in Mauritius and south Africa as well as riding schools from all over the UK- so its great that the riding school students can compete 'internationally' from their own school!"

"For the live show, I will bring some rosettes and maybe a trophy for the winner. I will judge it for you. We would still video them all (or those who want videoing) and if anyone would like to actually enter the Interdressage competition in May they can submit their video and pay for their entry in the usual way and will be included in May's online competition via the interdressage website as well."

Can't join us? Try the Interdressage tests anyway!
The tests performed on our Nurtural Days Weekend will be the ones published as the May schedule for Interdressage. Tests can all be downloaded free of charge from the website, available at the end of March. There will be a variety of tests to choose from - from walk and trot all the way up to something more challenging. The entry fee is £10 per test to upload a video.

View an intermediate sample test result from Interdressage

View a beginner sample test result from Interdressage