*Disclaimer to this post. I went to go see the USDF Junior/Young Rider Clinic last weekend. It was held at a place called “Eagle Crest Farm” in Howell, NJ. It was $30 to audit. And I am not going to lie…I am a little envious of every single rider that was there and I think it comes across in this post. *
For those of you who have never seen George Williams ride below is a video of him and Rocher at Dressage at Devon in 2005. The music playing in this video is not his music that he used for his musical freestyle. He used Madonna. Youtube let me down though by only having one video of that Kur and the video quality is so poor and he and Rocher were not as in-tune with each other yet. At the end it was one of the best Kur’s I have ever seen. And the coolest thing is that Rocher does not look like a great mover in hand. She demands attention, but she just wasn’t the kind of horse you would stop and say, “I bet that horse is a great mover”. Once George Williams hit the tack though it was an amazing transformation.
I think I was in a little over my head at this clinic. All of the riders were under 22 (hence the junior part) and want to be on Region 1’s North American Young Rider Dressage Team (F.E.I. Quality Tests). Which means the riders were younger then me and infinitely more talented then me. Basically all they worked on today was canter pirouette and half pass. Yesterday was all about trot work and the mediums, but I could only go today so the content just wasn’t that relevant to me. That being said I do now know how to start training canter pirouette if I can ever get that far up in the levels. And I now have several different exercises to get my half pass the way it should be if I ever learn to ride them at all.
Seriously though it was not a total waste of time. I think I learned some good things that can translate to any level. It was not the best, most informative, clinic I have ever been too, but that might just be because the vocabulary that they used was so above my head there were moments I was clueless. Some issues never go away though like using your corners. He made a good point that the dressage arena is a rectangle and not an oval for a reason. As a rider we should really use the corners to our advantage by pushing the horse all the way into them which can help with bend. They also can make a natural road block to work on canter/halts (not that I am working on those yet either, but still).
He was also really big into letting go of a problem. When a horse or rider would make a mistake he would just have them come back to a walk, get there brain and focus back and try it again. Let go of the problems and don’t fight about them. He made it very clear that mistakes need to be corrected and quickly so, but by getting frustrated you are not fixing the original problem just adding to it. If you take a deep breath and try again chances are the horse will do the correct thing. Now all of these horses were very well trained so I doubt the same advice would be given if the horse was clueless, but X isn’t clueless and I like the sentiment.
And every time you try for a movement think that you are going to get the best one ever. Expect a 10 and yet be okay with a 7. Never ask for something and not think that your horse can do it. Even if the horse has no clue what it is doing just assume that it does. That confidence can help the horse try to do its best. When you assume the horse wont do it changes are you are not asking with 100% accuracy? It made me think of all my right lead troubles with Gennyral back before his premature retirement. I would just assuming the lead would be wrong and mentally be ready to do another transition and try again. Maybe a big part of the problem was my lack of confidence in the correctness of his lead. Half-pass and getting the correct lead might not be exactly the same thing, but George Williams enthusiasm and confidence can translate to all riders.
Some observations I made about this set of upper level young riders…
- Black leather clogs are essential footwear for when you are not riding.
- Your parent(s) must buy you a very fancy horse that is already trained to at least Intermediate so you don’t have to worry about a horse not knowing something.
- Pads in the horses shoes are status quo.
- Big spurs and a whip must me used at all times to get the horse more forward. Like every stride. For an hour. Just bam, bam, bam.
- Most riders had parents and/or grooms do all the horse care for them including braiding, tacking, and even cooling down. I saw only 2 who seemed to do the bulk of their horses care, and those two also happened to by my 2 favorites when they rode.
- You don’t actually have to like horses, you just have to want to win and have lots of money.
- And the last one is obvious…You don’t have to ride that well as long as your horse has great gaits. Yay for the 21st century spin dressage scoring. (that one was sarcasm. What happened to dressage meaning training?)
I know that sounds like a really negative list, and some of it is. Call it jealousy because that would more accurately describe the thoughts behind the list. Honestly though, most of the riders were good. Really good. Like knock your socks off could get on any horse and make it look good. They made riding look easy. The only thing that gave the difficulty level away was the sweat pouring off of their faces on a very chilly day. There are a few though that were not so good. They kind of rode and looked like…well, robots. They were just sitting there on the horse, not riding. Those that could ride though could do it well…I think my dressage idol Courtney King (who is not even 30 yet) is going to have to keep an eye on those youngsters behind her because some of them are damn good! The best part of the whole clinic was just how positive it was. George Williams really made every rider feel good in the fact that they have the power to fix the horses problems and they are capable of doing it. That message is universal.
Don’t doubt yourself so much, just try something and if it doesn’t work just try something else. It is only riding a horse after all…not open heart surgery :P.
A Horse and a Half 