July 6 - 7 I scribed for a judge I hadn't met before at the Rainbow Ridge Ranch Gold Dressage Show. Sandra, who had scribed for me a few years ago, joined us in to audit as she works towards her judge's card. We had a fabulous time together!
July 13 I judged the Alice & Fraser Horse Association English show, watching many new riders get their first tastes of horse-showing in a safe and casual venue.
Dear old Andy was tacked up for a few gentle lessons with a friend who is just back in the saddle after some major surgery. They went together beautifully.
July 13 I judged the Alice & Fraser Horse Association English show, watching many new riders get their first tastes of horse-showing in a safe and casual venue.
Dear old Andy was tacked up for a few gentle lessons with a friend who is just back in the saddle after some major surgery. They went together beautifully.
July 27-28 we hosted a Dressage Clinic with Eddo Hoekstra, a Grand Prix rider from Selwyn, ON. I was well aware of Eddo's great reputation, but hadn't worked with him before. Frankly, I didn’t get his method at first. I rode early on Saturday and finished feeling mystified and skeptical. I sat and watched the afternoon lessons and when one participant was also struggling, I started taking notes as the picture emerged:
"Let the horse move you. Let the horse lift you. Synchronize with your horse.
Sit like you would be standing in a strong wind. Resist the wind in front of you. Resist the wind behind you.
Look 15 minutes ahead on the circle.
Hands together and upright. Seatbones forward. Push the sticks forward (meaning: put your hands towards the horse's mouth without slackening the reins which drops the connection)
Move a few millimeters at a time, so no one can see you. Internal.
You have to start with the intensity of aid that you want the horse to respond to.
Wean yourself off using the leg by touching the shoulder with the stick beforehand.
Lower intensity will change the body position. Higher intensity will change the gait.
Let the intensity leave your body afterwards.
Shorten the reins to elevate the neck, 'push sticks forward' to go rounder, to drop the neck and push the nose forward.
Shrink and expand the horse ie. be aware of your outside and inside diagonal aids.
Seatbone forward when your leg goes back.
The less ground he covers, the more you relax the legs.
Legs at the girth and use lower abs to passage.
Focus on the technique, observe the outcome.
10m circle has the degree of difficulty of shoulder-in. 8m circle has the DOD of haunches-in."
Lessons included rapid transitions with breaks to discuss. 'Chunking' the ride. The horse learns patience.
Eddo wants sensitive, invisible riding. Who doesn’t? The problem was that we thought we were doing that already! Day 1 introduced us to his system, which starts from the halt. Sit correctly and the horse can move from your breath. Move invisibly, and the horse can shift their weight from side to side and front to back. Understand your diagonal aids, and you can package your horse to move in collection, to carry himself in balance. This is a common theme from my recent lesson with Gina. I watched and wrote and thought about it all, and when I sat on Ludi for our second lesson, we spent a few minutes by ourselves giving it all an honest try. I left my spurs in the barn. I sat up, plugged into the saddle, dropped my stirrups, shortened my reins and took a deep breath, thinking ‘walk on’. He hesitated, I tapped his shoulder gently and away we went. I breathed out, lowered my heels and we halted. I breathed in, lifted my abs and we trotted. Eddo helped us turn that into the ideas of piaffe and passage. "You're on fire today!" he said. "I get it Eddo!". He wanted us all to ride with the highest movements in mind.
"Anyone who is good at something once was not.
It is the action, not the intention, that show you what someone's priorities are
Reflect on that."
After the clinician leaves town, what gets left behind? A few days later, I tacked up Ludi and asked John to video, trying to maintain the Dressage Magic flame that Eddo had kindled.
The first photo shows our normal working trot to warm up. With frequent transitions and Eddo's voice in my head, I gather Ludi together in greater collection. He balances himself by lifting his neck and lowering his haunches, which you can see from the outline of his body and relative to the arena boards. In the final picture, he demonstrates the power he can summon with a more ground-covering trot. All from my breath and the whisper of my leg. Dressage Magic, thanks to Eddo!
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