Making Circles Easy

The AlignmentHORSE Clinic – 16–19 July 2026 The Cotswolds
with Liz VanRoss, creator of the AlignmentHORSE Approach
Sponsored by Golden Valley Riding Club

Why you and your horse feel stuck — and what to do about it

Liz matching steps with Bonnie at an AlignmentHORSE clinic arranged by Aligned Balanced Connected

If circles are a struggle, if straight lines drift, if your horse feels tense or uncooperative despite your best efforts — you are not alone, and it is very likely not what you think it is.

AlignmentHORSE is an equine biomechanics Approach that works from the inside out. Rather than teaching the rider to control the horse, it educates both horse and rider in the foundations of true athletic movement — the same foundations that make circles genuinely easy, straight lines truly possible, and the partnership you have been seeking actually achievable.

Being a horse does not make a horse an athlete. Just as a person walking to the supermarket moves nothing like a ballet dancer, equine locomotion is not the same as equine athletic locomotion. AlignmentHORSE teaches the education — not just the riding.

Four quadrants. One complete circle.

This clinic is structured as four interconnected sessions — four quadrants that together form a complete learning journey. Each builds on the last. Thursday gives you the why. Friday prepares your brain. Saturday and Sunday transform your body — and your horse.

Thursday 16 July · 6pm · Oddington Village Hall, GL56 0UZ
Free to attend · No horse required · All welcome

An introduction to the AlignmentHORSE Approach — for complete newcomers and existing followers alike.

Thursday evening is where it all begins, with Conversation 1: Harmony — the foundation of the AlignmentHORSE relationship. Harmony is not a technique. It is the starting point: an understanding of why we interact with horses the way we do, what the horse is actually seeking, and what becomes possible when horse and human being are working toward the same goal rather than opposing ones.

Liz will also explore:

  • Why horses struggle with circles and straight lines — and why conventional aids cannot solve the problem
  • The difference between equine locomotion and equine athletic locomotion
  • The building-block structure of the AlignmentHORSE Approach: classroom → gym → classroom → gym
  • What it means to educate a horse rather than simply ride one

Leave Thursday evening understanding why so many common problems are unsolvable with traditional approaches — and knowing exactly what AlignmentHORSE offers instead.

Get directions to the hall here

Friday 17 July · 2–6pm · Oddington Village Hall, GL56 0UZ
Compulsory for all horse-owners attending the weekend · No horse required

Friday afternoon is the WHY before the HOW — and it is the session that makes Saturday and Sunday make sense.

In four hours of discussion, drawing, and experiential exercises, Liz explores how the human brain can work against us when we encounter something new — and how to notice it happening. Cherry-picking, cognitive dissonance, limbic friction, plausible deniability: these are not personality flaws. They are how brains protect themselves from discomfort. Understanding them is the first step to getting past them.

Friday also introduces the three foundational Conversations that participants will see with horses on Saturday and Sunday:

  • Conversation 2 — Alignment: the forelimb and abducting the outside foreleg
  • Conversation 3 — Focus: the hind limb and what “canoeing” really means
  • Conversation 4 — Coordination: the diagonal pair — the secret to circles and straight lines

By 6pm on Friday, you will know what to look for in alignment, what it means, and why it matters. Saturday will not be a mystery — it will be a revelation.

Get directions to the hall here

Saturday 18 July · 9am–5:30pm · The Unicorn Equestrian Centre, GL54 1JZ
Max 9 horse places · Auditors welcome throughout

Saturday is the first full day with horses — and it is unlike any clinic you have attended before.

This is not a series of individual lessons. It is a continuous, immersive group experience. Liz demonstrates in-hand with each horse in turn, explaining precisely what she is doing and why as she goes. Horse-owners experiment under Liz’s guidance. All participants — whether or not they have brought a horse — observe, question, and discuss together throughout the day.

The focus, after reviewing elements of Conversation 1, is Conversations 2, 3, and 4 in-hand: forelimb alignment, hind limb displacement, and coordination of the diagonal pair. Watch how each horse responds as it begins to find the answer. Notice what changes — in the horse’s movement, in its expression, in the quality of the partnership.

Conversations 5 and 6 can only be approached when the horse fully understands 2-4. There are some horses present at the clinic who started learning AlignmentHORSE in April and may be ready now to advance their understanding to the “Verification” and revolutionary “Canter” conversations. Throughout the clinic, Liz’s approach will be guided by the horse.

Experiential exercises for participants are woven into the changeover periods throughout the day, so that what you see with the horses, you also begin to feel in your own body.

Lunch is provided at The Unicorn (£15 per person per meal, booked in advance).

Sunday 19 July · 9am–5:30pm · The Unicorn Equestrian Centre, GL54 1JZ
Max 9 horse places · Auditors welcome throughout

Sunday builds on everything that came before it. The same immersive group format continues — and now the ridden Conversations come into focus.

Liz introduces Conversation 7 — Duet: horse and rider as a combined entity, emotional and physical alignment, and the WHY of ridden work. From there, she demonstrates Conversations 8 (Stability), 9 (Concentration), and 10 (Synchronisation) — the ridden equivalents of the in-hand foundations explored on Saturday.

Whether or not Liz can propose Conversations 11 and 12 with a horse will depend on their own personal development.

Sunday is where the full picture emerges. By 5:30pm, you will leave not just inspired but equipped: with a clear understanding of the three core elements to begin working on at home, in hand and ridden, and with the confidence that comes from having watched — and felt — how the AlignmentHORSE Approach actually works.

Lunch is provided at The Unicorn (£15 per person per meal, booked in advance).

What this clinic will give you

  • A genuine understanding of why circles are hard — and what is actually happening in the horse’s body
  • An introduction to Conversations 1–4 in hand and Conversations 7–10 ridden
  • The ability to begin Conversations 2, 3, and 4 at home — in hand and ridden
  • The three core elements to embed: forelimb alignment, hind limb displacement, diagonal pair coordination
  • The ability to observe your horse’s movement with new eyes — and know what you are seeing
  • Ongoing support through AlignmentHORSE LIVE (included with your ticket — see below)

“Leave with the understanding and the tools to begin teaching your horse — in hand and ridden — the foundations that develop stability and symmetry, make circles easy, straight lines possible, and create the partnership you have been seeking.”

AlignmentHORSE LIVE — your learning continues


Every Monday evening at 7:30pm, Liz VanRoss presents a live AlignmentHORSE session online — interactive, recorded, and fully archived so you can catch up any time.

Your clinic ticket includes free access:

  • Auditors (no horse): 1 month free
  • Horse-owners: 3 months free

AlignmentHORSE LIVE is where the work you begin at the clinic continues — week by week, at home, with Liz.

Join AlignmentHORSE LIVE (opens in a new tab)

Book your place

Spaces are limited. Horse places (Saturday and Sunday) are by application.

Book now at aligned-balanced-connected.com/box-office

For enquiries, drop me an email at katherine@alignmenthorse.co.uk

Attendee accommodation should be booked directly with the Unicorn Equestrian Centre on 01451 832317.


Liz VanRoss logo - creator of AlignmentHorse
AlignmentHORSE: an Approach created by Liz VanRoss
Aligned Balanced Connected logo - UK operations for AlignmentHorse
UK Operation: Aligned Balanced Connected Ltd
Golden Valley Riding Club logo - sponsor of Aligned-Balanced-Connected AlignmentHORSE events
Sponsored by Golden Valley Riding Club