Demonstrations

For many years Victoria has demonstrated at various venues and Horse Expos throughout Australia giving people the opportunity to see and understand dressage as they would not have done so before.

Victoria's favourite demonstrations are
1) Dressage Training Demonstration
2) Level Specific Demonstrations
3) Develop your Horse's Core and Coordination

 Victoria initially began her Dressage Training Demonstrations as she was concerned at the lack of riders entering and progressing through the grades in dressage and wished to promote this discipline by dispelling the myth that dressage is boring. Many riders have not had the exposure to world-class horses performing high level movements which are always very breathtaking and inspiring to watch. In addition her love of horses is contagious and her clarity in explaining her training system helps riders understand and enjoy their horses. It gives them a clear insight into the how’s, why’s and when’s of various aspects of dressage.

Some clubs have used these demonstrations at their end of year wind-ups, held them in conjunction with clinics or lectures, or organized special days to increase the awareness in their local community of equestrian sports by inviting local VIP’s, council members, the press and current and potential club sponsors. This can be a very entertaining day, afternoon or evening for these people, especially if combined with a meal or wine and cheese, and in the long run quite beneficial for clubs.

 
The Dressage Training Demonstration lasts approximately one and a half hours and involves 2 or more of Victoria’s team horses. Designed to be interesting it can be tailored to suit the level of the audience and allows time for questions. It begins with a young horse doing basic movements which will be easily identified by all riders. Often in hand work is demonstrated to show the progression from un-mounted work to that under saddle. This is followed by horses doing more difficult exercises as they demonstrate their training towards Grand Prix.

 It is necessary to have a good working surface for this standard of horse and if an overnight stay is required the stables or yards must be safe and suitable for large horses. Depending on the venue and the expected number of spectators a lapel microphone and sounds system may be necessary.

 Depending on location and stabling facilities Victoria may be available to teach or lecture for the remainder of the day or the following day. Contact Victoria to discuss this further.

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Level Specific Demonstrations are shorter in length and are ideal to combine with lessons or a clinic. Victoria discusses the general goals of a particular dressage level, be it Preliminary, Novice, Elementary, Medium, Advanced or FEI and then explains each required movement in great detail. Using her horses she shows 
    how to introduce these movements,
    what to watch out for in training,
    which muscles are taxed by different movements,
    how to tell if your horse is ready and then also
    how to tell if you are on the right path.
To conclude, Victoria  gives great tips and demonstrates test riding.
Level Specific Demonstrations open to the public (as opposed to closed club demonstrations) are occasionally held at Mungo Brae Equestrian Centre.
Contact Victoria or like her Facebook page for more information. Bookings are required.


The demonstration Learn How to Develop Your Horse's Core and Coordination is fantastic for owners of all horses. Using both in-hand and under saddle exercises Victoria explains how important this is and how horses of all ages and levels can benefit immensely from this training. In fact, Victoria religiously does these exercises with her horses from before they are started under saddle  to when they are Grand Prix. Each horse she works has an individual program tailored to them according to their age and level of training. Not every horse does every exercise as some exercises are more relevant to particular horses than to others . By spending time watching Victoria as she works her horses you will gain an incredible amount of knowledge and understanding. 

 
Learn How to Develop Your Horse's Core and Coordination   demonstrations are often held at Victoria's property, Mungo Brae Equestrian Centre in conjunction with some of the In-hand clinics and workshops.

Contact Victoria  or like her Facebook page for more information. Bookings are required.

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Victoria Hamilton Lectures

Victoria is a very enthusiastic presenter who develops a great rapport with her audience. She actively involves people and encourages them to participate in discussions as well as to ask questions. Being a veterinarian and an international dressage competitor who has trained all her horses herself, Victoria has a wealth of knowledge in many areas. Her experience in horse management, training and competing enables her to use first hand experiences and interesting snippets to make it easy for people to remember salient points.

Some examples of lectures that may be suitable for your club are:

1. Preparing for Competitions and Goal Setting
   Are you doing everything possible to prepare for every competition?
   Do you have set goals for each horse for each season?
   Do you reassess these goals mid-year?
   Do you set goals for training as well as for competition?
   In Victoria’s experience many people are not fulfilling their true potential due to lack of correct preparation and planning for competitions. For some competitions planning may take many months or even years.
   In this fascinating lecture Victoria gives many tips that have helped her to international competition success and to always be happy with her and her horses’ progress.


2. Training the Young horse
   This is suitable for people of all disciplines and explains the necessity to correctly develop the horse’s muscular strength and coordination. It also highlights the problems that may occur if one tries to shortcut this important developmental stage.
   Why do some horses progress quicker than others?
   How to know if something is not quite right in the training and what to do about it. Training horses to last. Victoria has a great reputation of training horses to reach their full potential without taxing their bodies in a way that will reduce their competition career. Asaachen is probably her best example who at 18 years of age was still winning at Grand Prix. He was owned by Victoria since a yearling and has performed throughout Australia winning many National and State Championships as well as the Australian Final of the World Dressage Challenge in 2000.


3. Managing the older competition horse
   The value of older horses.
   When should a horse be classed as an older horse?
   What happens with age?
   What body systems are affected that may affect a horse’s competition career?
   How can training schedules be altered to help horses stay at their best or to remain in competition for as long as possible?
   When to retire a horse, change its career or reduce its work load?
   What is available to help older horses continue to perform?
   Victoria’s experience not only as a veterinarian but as a competitor makes her a valuable source of information in this area and it is amazing how much small changes in some of the above can help our beloved horses.


4. Feeding the performance horse and the Nutritional Management of certain diseases.
   Being a veterinarian with a special interest in this area Victoria is an enthusiastic and informative lecturer on this topic. This talk can be tailored for riders of all ages and levels and is suitable for Pony Club riders learning for their certificates to elite riders of all disciplines preparing for major competitions.
   Are you addressing all of your horse’s nutritional needs as well as minimising possible behavioural patterns developing due to boredom.
   Does your horse need help in any particular area such as joints, temperament, muscle health or hormone stabilization?
   How can nutrition be tailored to ensure horses recover quicker from strenuous workouts?
   


5. Travelling horses
   This talk is ideal for all country riders who need to travel their horses more than 5 hours to compete and essential for any rider planning on travelling their horse interstate. If your club is in an area this far from Perth then it would be ideal to organise for your riders to hear this lecture. Victoria has travelled her horses all over Australia on numerous occasions and for this reason and the fact that she is a veterinarian she is one of the most experienced people to lecture on this topic.

    6.   Myofascial Disease - The Hidden Reason behind many poor performance scenarios. More information on this incredibly interesting topic is found on the information page of www.drvictoriahamilton.com.au

    7.   What Comes First?  A very thought provoking discussion about rider and horse crookedness and how inter-related they are in all aspects of horse training. Great fun as well as people become more aware of the effects of moving one part of their body on other parts. Time permitting the discussion also moves to contemplate whether horse crookedness comes from unsoundness or in fact is the underlying cause of it and how we as riders have a responsibility to ensure our horses travel as correctly as possible.



Any of these lectures may be held in conjunction with a Dressage Demonstration or a clinic or can be held on a different day. Some clubs choose to hold lecture nights, free for their own members and then charge for outside people.