The Riding Simulator is a fully motorised mechanical horse able to simulate the walk, trot and canter of a real horse. Also equipped with leg and rein sensors giving the rider complete control, although the instructor may choose to work with the sensors inactive until rider co-ordination has been improved.

A training session on Troy can be beneficial to a wide range of people:

• Novice riders
• Nervous riders
• Competition riders
• Children
• Those returning to riding
• Improve stamina & fitness
• Those with their own horses

Novice riders - can be shown how to mount and dismount correctly, how to hold their reins, how to position their legs and how to control their feet in their stirrups. They can then learn how to sit correctly and practise getting their ‘horse’ to walk on and halt using the rider sensors.

They can then progress onto sitting and rising trot – this really does help to fast track their progression when they ride a real horse.

Nervous riders - can be shown relaxation techniques whilst riding a completely safe horse, giving the rider an opportunity to talk to the instructor about their anxieties – without worrying about controlling the horse.

We can work to improve their balance and seat so that they feel more confident when they ride a real horse.

Competition riders - are often sent to Croft End by their own Trainers to work on an area of their position that might be affecting the horses’ performance – they might be sitting a little crookedly and this is being reflected in the horses’ way of going.

The full length mirrors in front and at each side of the simulator allow the riders to concentrate and see for themselves the areas they need to improve. As we all know – when we ride it might not feel the same as it looks!

Children - really enjoy riding the Horse Simulator they can improve their seat, balance and security by doing exercises that might be considered too risky to do on the real horses e.g. riding without reins and circling arms etc. These exercises could be taught with the rider on a lunge but with the horse constantly circling young children might find it hard to balance.

For children that have never ridden before a session on Troy will give them a feel of the movement underneath them they won’t have experienced before. This in turn makes them more confident when they do sit on a real horse.

Those returning to Riding - when returning to riding, quite often the rider knows how they should be sitting, but their body is saying ‘that’s too hard’ the use of Troy helps people to get back into the correct position gradually and the rhythmical movement of his perfect paces will ensure that the conditioning of muscles and soft tissues will be as pain free as possible.

Improving Stamina & Fitness - often when working a horse the rider will tire before the horse, as this happens the rider may become sloppy in their position and less effective – just at the time when their horse is nicely warmed up and ready for work.

By using Troy as a training aid the riders’ general level of fitness can be improved thus making them more able to deal with the demands placed upon them whilst riding.

Those with their own horses - the one horse rider might only ride in the company of others a couple of times a week whilst out hacking and it is easy to fall into bad habits with their position. Without an instructor reminding you to ‘keep your heels down’ or ‘keep you legs back’ your body will naturally move itself to a comfortable position – this might not be the correct position!

A session on Troy will highlight any areas that you need to be concentrated on whilst you are riding to ensure you remain in balance and make life easy for your horse.

Please contact us to discuss the benefits of a session on Troy and how he could help you with your riding on 0161 624 2849.