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Centaur Position Perfect

"Riding wear that will help improve your Position"

Patent No 001306021 - 0001

European Community Designed Reg

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       Tel: 07753 225973 or 01926 651657

  Email: sales@centaurpositionperfect.co.uk

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Since 2010 the Centaur team have been working on a range of products which have been specifically designed to help improve the riders position. September 2011 will see the launch of Centaur Position Perfect at this years British Dressage National Championships. Available from September onwards is the Position Perfect clothing range which has been designed by riders and trainers and is a clothing range which specifically focuses on the position of the rider. We are currently working on 2012 products which will be announced shortly.

The Position Perfect clothing range  has been designed to improve your position whilst looking stylish and smart. Position Perfect is an essential tool to help you improve your position. From Centaur Biomechanics; Position Perfect, helps riders see at a glance if they are sitting in the correct and most effective position, a must for all riders and trainers. Can be worn anytime, anywhere during lessons or schooling or just hacking.

How it Works:

Various lines have been placed on the garments which relate to the riders position, visually highlighting crookedness, shoulder drop, straight arms, rib cage shift etc. Like all things in life we do things automatic and become unaware of certain things. When riding we may have a tendency to focus on the horse and maybe when looking at ourselves seeing the same thing over and over again as a result we become unaware of these imbalances, so the idea behind the design is that by changing the image the rider, trainer and friends can immediately see these imbalances and implement exercises to help improve them. It has been proven that by changing the image a person sees can make them more aware and as a result the individual can do something to make corrections.

The Range:

The Position Perfect range consists of winter / summer jackets, leisure shirts, and children’s wear for both men and women.  All fabric is performance fabric and is wind and rain proof. Sizes to fit all and colours to suit all. We also offer a bespoke service, so you can pick any colour garment and have any colour of lines applied or you could even go multi coloured! The garments have been designed to maximise the rider’s position but also designed so the rider looks good and stylish whilst riding.

The Winter Collection

Summer Jackets Coming Spring 2012

Winter Hooded Jackets £65.99 (Pictured)

Black, navy, red and grey jackets with either lime green, florissant yellow, gold  and  pink lines.

However if you have a particular colour pattern we can apply any line colour which you may desire.

Sizes available XS, S, M, L, XL

Women's and Men's

Gold lines on black jacket

Green lines on black jacket

Bright pink lines on black jacket

Bright yellow on navy jacket

Pictures courtesy of Liquorice Marketing

To Order or for advice please call our mail order team

 07753 225973 or 01926 651657

Email: sales@centaurpositionperfect.co.uk

All Major cards accepted

Who is it for:

For riders of all levels who wish to work on their position whilst on their own or during a training session. During the testing stages the position perfect was used riders of all levels. Below are some thoughts of those who have tried the Position Perfect.

Jo Bevis, National Saddle Centre

"I first saw this concept during the testing stages whilst I was fitting saddles at Centaur Training and Livery and have since seen the final product. I have been impressed with the design and its application and see many benefits in helping riders improve their position and ultimately horses way of going, as a saddle fitters we see many issues caused by a lack of straightness in the horse and/or the rider. I think it would be a very useful training tool for the rider to use on their own or during their lesson where the Position Perfect will highlight visually a riders weakness allowing the trainer to assist in improving not only the horse but the rider"

Hayley Colwell & ZIDAANE winner of the Centaur Biomechanics Prelim championship.

The position perfect jacket is a simple but fantastic idea that enables both trainer and rider to highlight any subtle body imbalances. Having worn the jacket my trainer pointed out that my left shoulder is always slightly lower than my right, this is due to a broken collar bone sustained 2 yrs ago, I was unaware that it was affecting my position so much but thanks to the position perfect jacket I am now working to correct this problem .

Nicky Alexandra,

Hi Russell,

Your PP jacket has been quite useful. I put it on a few weeks ago and explained to my instructor what it was all about. He said that it looked smart and he assumed that the stripes were “go faster” stripes!!! I explained that they were there to allow him to see how I was sitting and I had already found them useful when riding in the school and looking at my position in the mirrors.

I had another lesson with him and it was apparent that I needed to turn my body more to the left, in left lead canter. I have a tenancy for my body position to turn slightly to the right and this was confirmed when I came down to see you and the osteopath at Hartpury last week.

My instructor then said to me that he thought the jacket was a good idea. He was able to see my position more clearly and to make sure that he could see the stripes down the front in the same way, when I was on right lead canter and then on left lead. The stripes allowed him to assess my position more easily and to see how it needed to be corrected.

This will help my riding and in turn will stop me hindering the horse too much.

Laura Heron, Dressage Rider

"I tried a position perfect top while schooling my large warm blood. It helped me to focus more on bending my elbows, which in turn helped my horse to be softer and rounder. I used the mirrors in the ménage to check my alignment, and the yellow stripes pinpointed my slight crookedness. It was the first time that I wore clothes that made it easier for me to correct my own position, without a trainer watching"

Stephanie Harrington, Show Jumper Rider

"I found the position perfect to be of great benefit in making me aware of my position all the time whilst I was riding, which is great as sometimes I can be complacent. It was easy to use and very comfy to wear"

Karen Holden,
"As a beginner the Position perfect has really helped me be aware of what I am doing with my position. Especially useful in highlighting areas where I collapse my shoulder and core and what is even better is by improving my position with the use of the top has meant that my horses has been easier to ride and straighter!. Its great value for money as I can use it every day whilst riding on my own or during a lesson. I also found that it brought attention to my position weakness during my lessons which then allowed my trainer to evaluate and provide advice"
 

To Order or for advice please call our mail order team

 07753 225973 or 01926 651657

Email: sales@centaurpositionperfect.co.uk

All Major cards accepted

Rider Analysis

Do you want to improve your riding.....?

then we can help you....

Click here for a readers review in

Horse Magazine Page 1 Page 2 Page 3

Don't just take our word for it - please scroll down and see what our clients have said plus please read the Horse Magazine article along with the quotes made by one of our clients in Horse and Hound.

Benefits of Rider Analysis:

Rider Analysis would be of benefit to riders of all levels from riding club through to Grand Prix across all disciplines. Each session is designed as such to guarantee an improvement in riding and performance. These sessions can help riders go from a riding mark of "6" to an "8".

All sessions are videoed and analysed using Quintic this provides instant visual feedback which in turn provides clarity to both the rider and trainer. Using the instant feedback the rider can see instantly for themselves the differences before and after analysis which in turn helps provides clarity and confidence in that a better position can be achieved and not a distant dream as first perceived.

Motivational, as these sessions are informal and results are gained riders leave the session motivated and clear of what is required to achieve an improvement in riding.

The sessions primarily look at the rider's position in walk, trot, canter and over a fence. The aim of the session is to improve the riders position. This is achieved by a logical process in which the rider can understand and as a result follow which in turn leads to an improvement in position.

One of the key benefits of working with Centaur is that you are working with riders, trainers and regular competitors so we understand the difficulties of riding and as a result have a sympathetic approach to achieving a better position and ability to ride. Russell who carries out the analysis is a UK CC Coach and has competed in both show jumping and dressage see team page.

Process of Rider Analysis: Pictures courtesy of Horse Magazine

Rider Analysis can be carried out on your own horse or on a mechanical horse.

Own Horse £60.00 (£54.00 10% clinic discount)

These sessions are ideal for riders wishing to improve their riding in a tanning environment. All sessions are friendly, fun and informative.

When using your own horse we can travel to you or you can come to our purpose built facility in Morton Morrell. The sessions last 45 minutes to 1 hour. During the session we look at the walk, trot and canter. Whilst mounted we would analyse the footage together and from here work on various exercises which will help improve the riders position. We then compare the before and after images and set a plan for future improvements.

We can travel to clients facility for 1 rider however if you were to organise a clinic or 8 or more riders then as a thanks you we would give you a free session and 10% off all bookings.

After the session riders receive an in-depth illustrated report detailing the findings of the session along with images of before and after. This report is either given on the day or emailed shortly after the session.

Mechanical Horse £170.00

These sessions are ideal for those riders who wish to improve their riding in a clinical environment.

The mechanical horse is located at Hartpury College, Gloucester. These sessons combine both video analysis from Centaur Biomechanics and an Osteopathic assessment from Liz Launder the resident Osteopath. The clinics are designed to identify any physical issues which you may have as a rider and help you to unlock your full potential. We understand that no two riders are the same and not all of us can achieve the "perfect position". We use a combination of osteopathic assessment and video analysis on a riding simulator in order to give you personalised feedback which is instantly applicable to your everyday riding.

Riders leave these sessions with an exercise plan set out by Liz Launder along with an image portfolio of before and after images.

Booking a Session:

To book a private session or a clinic please email info@centaurbiomechanics.co.uk or call 077 88978627.

Clinic offer - 8 riders or more and receive 1 free session plus 10% of all bookings and no travel charge

Background Information:

Centaur Biomechanics was the first to bring the use and application of performance analysis to the attention of riders of all disciplines and ability. The primary reason that Centaur developed methods was owed to the fact that performance analysis was being successfully used in the majority of other sports such as tennis, football, swimming, diving, cricket, running to name just a few as a routine addition to athletes current training programmes. It seemed plausible to think that both horse's and riders could benefit in similar way that other athletes have in the past.

Centaur Biomechanics has developed certain methods similar to those used in other sports, however they have been altered so that they are specific to equestrian sport as a result Centaur Biomechanics has developed various Rider Analysis Products which have several positive effects on riders. Centaur Biomechanics has worked with riders of all levels from riding club through to grand prix and has had some very pleasing results with a 85% rebooking rate after the riders first session. We are so confident that you will benefit from 1 session that if you are not happy with the results we will give you your money back. In 2010 we worked with over 1000 riders and only had to return 1 clients money.

One of the key benefits of Rider Analysis is the ability to have instant visual feed back. It has been proven that instant visual feedback is the most successful tool in improving performance and ability. Centaur Biomechanics  offers instant visual feed back to all riders who take part in either of the Rider Analysis products this is done via all images being projected on to the school wall enabling the rider to see instantly their efforts and performance.

What Our Clients Say...........

Sue Brennan - www.brennan-equestrian.co.uk

Hi Russell,
Thank you so much for a really great day yesterday. The weather was lovely but I was quite cold by the end of the day as I'm sure you were.
Everyone without exception thoroughly enjoyed their session with you and felt immediate benefit from the exercises you worked through with them. All of them have asked me when the next one is going to be, which can only be good for all of us. Perhaps as we discussed we could look at a date in May and hope that we get such fine weather as yesterday.

Penny - VICTA Riding Club

Hi Russell,
So sorry I didn't pick this up before, but am SO pleased with today. Everyone was delighted with their session and all want to book again, so a huge Thank You.
How you manage to teach so many sessions in a day, and the last as good as the first, is amazing. I'll look at the Riding Club calendar and see when we can fix the next date.

Miranda Filmer

I was riding with one stirrup leather a hole longer than the other as I felt like I was slipping to one side. Russell has been helping me for 3 months; and after each session, has given me exercises to do to improve my position. Now, I am sitting more even in the saddle, I have a deeper seat and have become more balanced with the horse. I learnt a lot from these sessions and they have really helped my riding. The improvements I have made have reflected in my results which is really pleasing.

Thanks for all your help

Barbra Delalouight, Ireland

Glad you got back safe; feedback has been excellent and yes we'd definitely like to have you back........Take it as a definite booking and I will let everyone know. You will be pleased to know that Josephine and Aniko especially benefited from you visit; when Markus our German trainer was over last weekend he was more than pleased with their progress and they were able to make real progress. Aniko went as far as shoulder in and counter canter; Jo rode a totally relaxed test on Blue!

Caroline Rake

Dear Russell,

Thank you for your extremely helpful session on Friday.

I have been practising ever since!

Karen @ Sidaistud

Dear Russell

Thank you so much for travelling specially out to me after your Baschurch Clinic. After meeting you at Active Riders Dressage Camp and seeing myself on video, this brought home to me just how bad my position was. I have never had a teacher who specifically targeted your position on the horse and it has helped explain many of the problems I had with the way Annie was going. Your lesson has been inspirational in helping me to change and become a more effective rider. Many thanks and I look forward to our next session.

Rachel Reed – Rider Analysis and Clinic Organiser

"The first postural analysis clinic in October gave me the opportunity to see exactly how I ride and how I could quickly make some improvements to my posture and in turn my horse's way of going.  Russell quickly identified that I lift myself out of the saddle with my right hip and I twist my right shoulder, particularly on the right rein. My left side is much weaker and sometimes doesn't do much at all.  How my poor horse understood my aids before this clinic, I have to wonder!  However, after seeing all of this in slow motion and spending 15 minutes with Russell working on specific areas, my position improved, and my horse was going better too! 

Since then I've been for physio and I've been doing some exercises to help improve the hip balance and strength of my left hip.  7 weeks on from the first clinic we held a clinic at our own yard as I had been so impressed I wanted all my friends and peers to experience it too.  And the improvement was noticeable; right from the first few steps Russell could tell I had been working hard on the problems he'd identified and although not perfect, I am much more aware of my posture and can correct it myself now without having to think about it too much. 

There were 14 on this latest clinic and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it and felt they got so much from it that we have booked for Russell to come back in March for another review. In only a few days word has got out  - we've got 18 places reserved for March already! 

We then plan to get Russell two to three times per year, to continue to help us and our horses continue to improve and work on new challenges that improvement might bring with it. 

The clinics are extremely useful - it's amazing how much you can learn about you and your horse in 30 minutes and how much improvement you can gain; but it doesn't end there - you have to work at it each time you ride. 

Russell is a pleasure to work with and was very sensitive to my rather unsettled horse; he uses visualisation techniques to help you understand what you can do to improve - this is invaluable for when you are back at home with no Russell and no video camera!

 I would recommend this clinic to anyone from any discipline and for any level of horse and rider, from advanced to novice riders and from eventers to pleasure horses."

Peter Bridle

Dear Russell

Thoroughly enjoyed today, thank you. Just what I needed and please can I have some more. I have never had any teacher that really has worked on sorting out my basic position and I know the horse works so much better when I am sitting better. Excellent

Russell Guire is an inspirational teacher. For someone so young he has patience in abundance, so much expert knowledge and knows how to get the very best out of rider and horse. When it all goes right and rider and horse achieve what was desired of them, his enthusiastic praise feels like you have just scored a 10! At the end of each lesson I feel that I have learned a great deal and that I may actually be able to ride after all.

He is someone who obviously enjoys teaching and has the ability to change your riding in one lesson, even one old man of 65 who creaks and groans a bit!!

All of this and the bonus is that he arrives at least 15 mins early!! He does not think that his time is more important than yours as so many "divas" of the equestrian world do.

I can commend him to anyone who wants to improve their riding and their horses way of going.

Peter Bridle (surname is not an April fools jike, its real!!)

Lindsey Robshaw

Russell

It was good to meet you again last Saturday and what a turn out! Many thanks for the images they will act as a good reminder so I'll post them on the tack room wall! The Postural Clinic held at Thornton House Farm on 20 November 2010 has been hailed a great success. News travels fast and both Rachel and myself have already been approached from other riders enquiring about the next one in March 2011. Having attended my first Biomechanics Clinic at Willerby at the beginning of September, I was keen to recommend you to others, how valuable I'd found it and subsequently how much my position had improved........suffice to say my trainer plus my horse have both noticed a big difference! The feedback Rachel and I have received since last Saturday has been extremely positive; everyone found it immensely helpful and many commented on how much they enjoyed your teaching methods - tips which are easy to remember! Suffice to say on behalf of everyone, a big thank you and we're already looking forward to the next one.

Jennifer Messer

Hello Russell

I attended your rider analysis sessions at the Arrow riding centre a couple of weeks ago with my horse Leo, and was asked to give some feedback:

“I really enjoyed the session and felt a big difference in the horse as well as myself. I have been thinking about all of the changes that we made during the session and have been applying them at home when I’m schooling. I found the information and instruction given clear and logical. Being able to instantly see the difference in horse and rider on screen and in slow motion was brilliant and I would love the opportunity to have another session again in the future.”

Jane Rothwell

Hi Russell

This is just wonderful I have now created a separate folder for my lessons with you on my Mac! You are very inspirational and I really appreciate you travelling up to us. I hope injuries to both horses and riders are on the mend and you are looking forward to the summer season.

The combined training competitions are starting next month and I am almost feeling like competing again.

I have done a couple of big hacks up the hills and was pleasantly surprised to find out how fit my horse was he certainly appears to have put on more muscle than I realised.

All the best and hope to see you later in the year

Jane [+Snowman!]

RE: Centaur Biomechanics - Rider analysis AS Posted on British Dressage

Re previous post - just to let you know I went on the Rider Analysis clinic yesterday and was really pleased. This was they same type as the one that Custardsmum went on  and the difference from start to finish was quite incredible, both in my position and my young horse's way of going. I have always struggled to keep my legs still and could see from the video that I was tipping forward too much, but by the end I was sitting upright, shoulders, hips and heels all in line, my legs were much quieter and I actually looked quite elegant! Russell kept it very simple and didn't bombard me with information and I really feel that I will be able to put into practice what he explained quite easily. Being able to actually compare before and after was also very useful. Was very impressed with the whole thing and would highly recommend.

Debbie Beasant- Gainfiled Training and Livery, Oxford

Liz Launder and Russell Guire brought the Centaur Biomechanics equipment to Gainfield in July and a revealing day it was too!  Nine of my regular Training Clients were filmed and Liz put together a detailed profile of each riders ` posture and riding weaknesses. As their trainer it was immensely helpful to see the root cause of some of the problems they were experiencing in the saddle. It has been fascinating to see the riders return with a clear understanding of how to  improve their posture and  from this new position find greater balance- the horses have subsequently  shown improvement too.

Jane Walker Active Rider 2010 – Rider Analysis

Hello Russ, further to your recent attendance at our BD NW and our MKEC horse camp. I wanted to make contact with you about your feedback, which was excellent. Centaur Biomechanics has made these two camps a great success and the business and the service you offer really makes a huge difference to our riders and horses.

Further to your feedback I would like to invite you to return next year – I look forward to working with you again in making our events so memorable.

Best wishes, Jane Walker

Penny Gills - ISIS Riding Group

Regarding the rider analysis video sessions organised at the Unicorn this summer. I found my session very beneficial, even though seeing myself on video was very uncomfortable at times!  However, seeing is believing and it has had a lasting effect. Since then, I still check when schooling, that I haven't "collapsed" and before this session I wasn't even aware of doing so.    I think that every level of rider could benefit from this type of visual help.

Nick Ransford - Feedback from Rider Performance Clinic with Russell and Liz at Hartpury College

Why did you decide to have rider analysis done?

To spot areas of posture I could work on to improve my riding.

Riding is a subtle art. It needs a combination of relaxation and muscle control in the right places together with correct posture and weight distribution. I wanted to pinpoint what I have to do in my body that achieves results like “making the horse rounder”, “going forward” and “submissive in the contact”.

Like gifted artists and musicians, riders who are naturally talented (and many instructors) aren’t always able to explain precisely what to do to produce these effects and how to do it. They can get on virtually any horse and get it moving well without having to think about it and put it into words. I don’t have the opportunity to get good by riding several horses every day, and so need expert coaching and a programme that makes best use of the limited time I have to practice and train.

This is where rider analysis comes in.

What were the main benefits of sessions?

The video feedback showed up my unconscious postural habits and gave me several areas I could work on.

What impressed you most during the session?

1.            Just how revealing the video is. You may have a vague impression that your riding position isn’t all you want it to be, but when you see it on the screen with lines drawn on the computerised images, things become very obvious. Also the ultra slow motion, frame by frame shots were fascinating detail about how the body interacts (or doesn’t) with to the horse’s movement.

2.            Liz was very helpful in telling me what I have to do to get it right. I was given a series of off-horse exercises to do as homework.

What weakness were found and have they now been corrected?

I have a “sway back” with top of the pelvis tilted forward to 1 o’clock and seatbones “out the back door” at 7 o’clock.

I also have a lateral asymmetry where the left shoulder tends to be further forward than the right which makes the horse less able to bend left.

Correction:

• Pilates programme: posture awareness, changing bad posture habits, core muscle strength especially abs, pelvic floor and lower back muscles. Weekly classes with home practice routine.

• Visual feedback when riding: mirrors in the school, people telling me

• General fitness: running 3-4 miles at least 3 times / week.

• Diet and weight management: weighing scales 2-3 times/week, careful re carbs and booze (the latter not easy for me!), loads of fruit and veg.

• Lunge lessons.

How has it helped you long term?

It’s getting there. Lower leg and pelvic position better. Upper body still not quite right. Left shoulder is a constant effort to correct. Abs tension (“up and in”) better, but still get tight in upper thighs and shoulders which tend to “join in”. Need to be able to relax here to follow the movement especially in sitting trot. This is the paradoxical challenge of riding with tone in some parts and relaxation in others.

Lunge lessons very helpful here, particularly without stirrups and reins, eyes shut and doing arm movements (circles etc) to take the mind off what the bottom is doing.

Riding for me has provided the best motivation in the world for keeping my weight down and keeping fit. Also the spin-offs from running (which is addictive) are stress relief, from keeping in trim are the lovely comments from people, and more generally I feel I am holding the clock back on my advancing years.

I still want “that” picture of me and Commodore at a big show one day to put on my mantelpiece when I’m retired!

NJR 27.8.10