Riding Success Without Stress. Vol. 1

Joni Bentley’s diverse fields of expertise include the Alexander Technique, classical dressage, BHS qualifications, stress management, functional medicine, and singing.

Her original chosen singing career began with the lead role in the rock musical ‘Hair’ at the age of 17. West End musicals were followed by opera, where she excelled as a natural performer until more serious training began. This intense training, with its dry, technical repetition and no room for self-expression, stifled her natural gift and joy for singing. After four years, undiagnosed throat problems ended her career.

Devastated, she turned her love of horses and qualified as a BHSAI. While training for her BHSII, problems resurfaced in a new form: her body refused to perform as her instructors expected. Alexander lessons revealed the root of her problem lay in intense anxiety linked to learning, instilled during her opera training at the music academy. The dry, repetitive exercises and constant warnings about the danger to her throat if her practice was not technically perfect had destroyed her natural confidence. Four years later, fearful of speaking lest she make a mistake, the joy of singing had been lost, and with it, her voice.

Alexander Technique lessons taught her to abandon the pursuit of perfection and embrace the journey and discovery of learning. After three years of full-time training at Fellside Alexander School in Cumbria, her confidence and voice restored, she graduated in 1993 and joined the Alexander Technique International governing body.

Her own experiences with adversity, combined with her equestrian and Alexander knowledge, have enabled Joni to develop a complete holistic training system for both horse and rider. Dry, mechanical training is replaced with an artistry that embraces the spirit and joy of learning and performance. She teaches students at all levels, with Grand Prix riders, FBHSs, and BHSIs among her pupils.