Dear Foothills Chapter,
I would like to extend my heartfelt thank you to the Chapter for allowing me to be the Foothills representative at the Amateur Clinic. I felt a little like what I imagine this year's Kentucky Derby winner was feeling on May 2, working hard to exhibit a winning behavior while surrounded by a lot of very knowledgeable people and talented horses. The auditors and participants were an extremely supportive group, empathetic to the challenges I face with my complicated, energetic horse. Our first day was spent entertaining the auditors - not with rude disobedience but with a variety of powerful evasions that made us all laugh at my horse's attempts to change the subject!
By the third day, Jane Weatherwax gave us more complicated exercises to keep my horse's attention. You can imagine my relief when I heard Jane Weatherwax say that it is not necessary to first teach a horse to go long and low only to turn around and teach it to lift up into self carriage. Long and low is not in my horse's universe!
Jane Weatherwax is an excellent instructor with an enormous amount of skill to draw the best out of the rider and horse. The horses were a mixed batch - from mustang to royally bred warmbloods to arab cross - but Jane never criticized or suggested giving up on the horse we were riding, she just caused the ride to get better. Equally refreshing is that Jane was not critical of tack (well, she doesn't prefer the look of figure eight nosebands) and did not blame a saddle for position, though she did comment that some saddles make it easier than others.
A few other thoughts from Jane Weatherwax that I plan to use to improve my riding:
· Think "Why, when and where" before applying aids to the horse.
· There is no reason for a horse to be heavy in your hands - get in, get out
· Don't micromanage the horse
· Allow mistakes, you learn as much from doing wrong as from doing right
· Don't "cheat" on your riding at home, ride correctly - okay to bend this rule a little bit at a show!
Bobby Keville is an excellent organizer. She made sure that horses, participants and auditors had everything we needed. The hospitality refreshments were excellent selection, quality and quantity. Bobby arranged the schedule to allow for very sufficient question and answer sessions during the day.
The only suggestion I would offer is to add a short lecture by Jane Weatherwax at the beginning or middle of each day (not the end, not enough energy). The lecture could be based on topics such as:
· conditioning your horse to school dressage with minimal injury,
· pros and cons of equipment such as half pads, gel pads, double pads; shoe pads;
· USDF rule changes;
· how Jane Weatherwax judges a test;
· Watch a couple of videos from the previous day's clinic with Jane Weatherwax commenting to the group why she asked for an adjustment and if that adjustment was effective (similar to the "L" program).
I also want to thank Tracy and Wes, owners of the Santa Rosa Equestrian Center. They are extraordinary people who have built an extraordinary facility. Who knew we would be riding on the same footing as was used at Hong Kong for the Olympics!!! The horses boarded at SREC look wonderful and content - stalled at night and turned out in irrigated pasture during the day! There are multiple arenas so no overcrowding and the footing is excellent. The boarders were friendly and helpful, evidence of a well run facility.
I plan to audit next year's clinic and hope that many members from the Foothills Chapter attend.
Thank you very much,
Terry Hilst
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