RIDING SIMULATOR LESSONS
45-minute session with 15-minute post-analysis | £50
The Racewood Dressage Simulator is a highly effective training tool used worldwide by riding instructors, biomechanics specialists, and coaches to help riders improve balance, posture, and feel—without the unpredictability of a live horse. Suitable for riders at all levels, this advanced horse riding simulator allows Natasha Olivant to observe and assess the rider’s symmetry, rein contact, and seat mechanics in a safe, controlled environment.
As part of Natasha’s mobile coaching service, the simulator provides a unique opportunity for precise, feedback-driven learning. It eliminates the variables introduced by live horses—such as behavioral quirks, asymmetry, or compensation—and offers riders a reliable way to isolate and improve their own technique. Used regularly in rider development programs, it has helped fast-track many students’ performance by providing a clearer understanding of how rider biomechanics influence the horse’s way of going.
Whether you're returning to the saddle, preparing for an assessment lesson, or working on specific areas like rising trot, lateral movement, or canter transitions, the simulator gives you the space to focus entirely on your position. It's not just a tool for correction—it's a platform for building confidence, improving coordination, and refining your overall riding effectiveness.
MECHANICAL HORSE LESSONS
WHY USE A HORSE RIDING SIMULATOR?
Simulator lessons are available exclusively at Aylings Garden Centre, Petersfield, where Natasha teaches using the Racewood Dressage Simulator. This advanced technology allows riders to refine balance, coordination and feel in a safe, controlled environment before transferring skills to the saddle.
The Classical Riding Academy simulator studio at Aylings Garden Centre offers a calm and supportive space to build confidence, improve position and enhance communication between horse and rider.
Serving West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire, Natasha offers private horse riding lessons alongside these simulator sessions.
IMPROVE RIDER CONFIDENCE & BALANCE
Unlike traditional riding lessons, the Racewood mechanical horse offers a consistent, controlled environment where rider balance, posture, and aids can be assessed without influence from the horse. It eliminates behavioural variables, making it easier to spot asymmetries and rider habits that affect communication.
From core stability and rising trot transitions to rein pressure and seat alignment, the simulator responds to your input in real time. Natasha will guide you through biomechanical exercises and provide clear, structured feedback to help you ride with more symmetry, softness, and precision.
BOOK A MECHANICAL HORSE LESSON
Simulator training is especially effective for riders experiencing tension, stiffness, or inconsistency in the saddle. Whether you overuse the reins, brace under pressure, or apply conflicting aids, this feedback-based session helps you recognise and release ingrained habits.
It’s a supportive, non-judgemental way to build confidence, improve your riding fitness, and understand the influence your body has on your horse. With clear guidance and immediate response from the simulator, Natasha helps you create more balance, calmness, and clarity in your riding partnership.
HOW RIDING SIMULATORS IMPROVE RIDER INFLUENCE
Horses learn to respond to the rider’s aids—from the seat and legs to the hands and voice—but their performance is equally shaped by physical forces like gravity, balance, and momentum. These mechanical principles affect the horse’s movement and are in turn influenced by the rider’s symmetry, posture, and coordination. This is where a riding simulator becomes invaluable.
The Racewood Dressage Simulator removes variables like horse temperament and asymmetry, allowing the rider’s influence to be seen clearly and without interference. It gives a true picture of your position, balance, and use of aids—and how those elements affect the movement of the horse.
With this unbiased platform, Natasha can help you fine-tune your biomechanics in a safe, controlled setting.
Many riders develop unconscious habits—tightening when nervous, overusing the reins, applying inconsistent leg pressure, or riding from the hand rather than the seat. If your horse is reluctant to go forward, leans on the forehand, resists contact, or shows tension when being tacked up, and there’s no physical reason, your position may be part of the issue. Simulator training helps identify these habits and replace them with calm, effective communication.
Gone are the days of masking problems with stronger bits or harsher aids. These lessons are about addressing root causes—improving how your horse experiences carrying you. The ultimate goal is harmony: a rider who is quiet, balanced, and consistent, and a horse that feels secure, soft, and responsive.
Natasha is fully insured to deliver simulator and private riding lessons across West Sussex, Surrey, and Hampshire. A travel fee applies beyond a 10-mile radius of Charlton, West Sussex.
BHS ACCREDITED
RIDING INSTRUCTOR
NATASHA OLIVANT
With over 20 years of experience, Natasha Olivant is a dedicated equestrienne and a passionate advocate for the art of Classical Dressage. Her teaching reflects a deep respect for tradition, combined with a modern understanding of rider performance and horse welfare.
Based in the South of England, Natasha travels extensively to offer clinics, demonstrations, and tailored coaching. Whether in private or group sessions, she focuses on refining rider biomechanics and posture, helping to unlock noticeable improvements in the horse’s movement and overall way of going.
Natasha’s expertise in equine behaviour and psychology enables her to address a wide range of challenges with insight and care. Her approach nurtures harmonious partnerships, empowering riders to become mindful, progressive, and confident, while their horses thrive as contented and willing partners. Together, they achieve their goals with respect, understanding, and a shared sense of accomplishment.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
SERVICE AREA
Classical Riding Academy simulator lessons are now available at Aylings Garden Centre, giving riders the opportunity to develop skills and confidence in a safe, supportive environment.
Natasha also offers a fully mobile coaching service, travelling from her base in Charlton, West Sussex, to indoor venues and private training spaces across the region—including Chichester, Petersfield, Haslemere, Guildford, and surrounding areas.
BOOKING POLICY
Lessons using the Racewood Dressage Simulator are available Monday to Saturday and are booked directly by email.
Each session is scheduled around your needs, whether as a focused assessment, a standalone simulator lesson, or as part of your ongoing training.
The simulator provides an ideal platform for refining rider position, balance, and feel — at any stage of your riding journey.
CANCELLATION POLICY
If you cancel within 48 hours of your scheduled simulator session, the fee is non-refundable.
Cancellations made with more than 48 hours' notice can be rescheduled within six months of the original booking.
As simulator lessons take place indoors, sessions proceed in all weather conditions, provided access to the venue is safe and available.
