My name is Maria Holmström (Pihl) and I am an Academic Art of Riding and human biomechanics nerd. I am a squire and am training with my two horses, Bröta and Mira, cold blood trotter and Danish fredriksborger.
So who am I? In short, an academic training the Academic Art of Riding!
My first contact with the Academic Art of Riding was as theory participant in an introduction clinic. Earlier I had read an article about the AAoR and I felt I wanted to learn more about it. After the introduction clinic I was all in. Academic art of riding was something for me. Unfortunately I had no horse to start training.
In the end of 2008 I bought Bröta and the adventure in the Academic Art of Riding could finally start. I got really interested quite fast and in May 2013 I went for a three month internship to Ekeskog’s Riding Academy on Gotland, to the Bent Branderup trainers Hanna Engström and Celina Harich. Now I could finally learn the academic art of riding from scratch, so I got off the horse and started all over from the ground. What a joy! It was an amazing time and I learnt a lot.
I went home for 7 months and practised and developed what I had learnt and then I went back to Gotland, to stay for another half a year. If my first internship was focused on ground work and longeing, this half a year was focused on riding. During this internship I also bought my second horse, Mira. During autumn 2018 I went as an intern to Bent. To again be allowed into the AAoR-intern-bubble was wonderful and I worked intensively with my seat and the finer details of riding.
Now I am diligently training with my horses and I am also teaching the Academic Art of Riding, to allow more people to experience this fantastic form of art. I am a theory nerd and want to know all little technical details to perfect an exercise. I addition, I work intensely with body awareness, balance and feeling in the training. Since 2018 I am studying movement and body awareness according to the Franklin method®. I believe a solid theoretical foundation, in addition to body awareness in both horse and human, create the best conditions for good training. My goal is to have fun with the horses and to one day become a knight in the AAoR knighthood. In addition, I want to develop my teaching and give my students a good basis to reach their goals..
