First Show at SPS

We have just held the first show of the season at SPS and the weather
was gorgeous. We had a good turnout and the judge was Leslie O'Neal
Olsen. SPS is set up so that we have two nice warm-up rings, the
indoor and the large outdoor ring so the competitors had plenty of
room to ride before going into the competition ring. The show
started on time and ran well throughout the day. We offered coffee
and fresh donuts in the morning to get the early people jump started
and carrots were on hard to give the horses their treats. A good
time was had by all.

Happiness is...

the first sign of Spring.

Poplar Place Dressage Show

Three members of the barn are going to Poplar Place 13 - 14 March for
the beginning of the 2010 show season. Cynthia Moore with Neptune,
Sally Colocho with Wynalda and Judith Fiorentino with Goliath are
heading down the road and hoping that the snow report really is a
passing weather happening. Sara Williams is going as our groom and
we invite anyone to stop by our snack bar and hang out social area.
You can share in our fun with the three gorgeous horses and hopefully
great rides due to our work through the winter.

Thanks to DBResearch

Members of TVDCTA met at DBResearch on February 23, a change of date
created by our snow the week before. Thanks to DBResearch for
allowing us to meet in their lovely Conference Room and for sharing
their soft drinks to go with our pizza dinner. This meeting was
business for the coming year with the show dates and assigning
responsibility for the various show activities. Check out the TVDCTA
web site for more details.

2009 Adequan/USDF National Convention & Symposium

I attended the convention in Austin, Texas 2 – 4 December 2009 at the
Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas. The convention was on a
shortened schedule of 3 days ending with the Symposium at the Travis
County Exposition Center with Jan Brink on 5 – 6 December.

We had presenters who spoke on these topics: Fabulous Freestyles: Hot
Tips From Top Sources was a panel discussion lead by Terry Ciotti
Gallo with Ann Guptill, Sandy Howard and Tigger Montague; and, I'm
Right. You're Wrong. The Ground Rules of Dispute Resolution
presented by Tom Blackwood who specializes in conflict management and
facilitates corporate strategy sessions. Jane Savoie presented
Finding Emotional Balance and Dr. Hilary Clayton with Balanced Rider-
Balanced Horse, and a Fireside Chat with Lynden Gray and Debbie
MacDonald.

I also attended the Adult Education Council meeting because adult
education has always been a special interest of mine. Charlotte
Bredhal Baker is under contract through March of 2011 and she has
already taught the Region 3, 8 and 5 clinics. I am hearing good
things from attendees and if you can arrange your schedule they are
great to attend as an auditor or a participator if you are selected.
The next closest clinic will be held in Hermosa, Mississippi in March
– you will see contact information in our USDF Connections magazine.

For those of us fortunate enough to stay through the weekend we were
treated to Jan Brink's "Communication: A Two-Way System of
Understanding" with the first riders and horses taking the arena on
Saturday. Jan also gave a lecture Saturday evening during which he
expressed the importance of a signal system that eases the
communication between horse and rider. He says that this
communication is of great importance for all riders – amateurs as
well as professionals – and is something we need to work on every
single day to improve our riding and performance. He stated during
the evening that the rider's goals and the capabilities of horse and
rider must match. That we need to understand that the horse is not a
machine and that the horse does not see the big picture of our
goals. Jan says the ends do not justify the means and that we need
to stay tuned to the talents and trust of our horses. During the
lecture, we got to see Jan's beginnings and now hard he worked to
reach his level of competition and place in the international
dressage community. He also expanded on comments from the day's
instruction to riders and horses which gave us important insights
into his commitment to improving horse and rider performance. We
then got to see the application of his instruction again on Sunday
and were impressed with the improvements made by these participants,
both horse and rider.

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry .....

Get your copy of the February issue of Practical Horseman. There is
a 5 page article by Debbie Rodriguez titled "It's All About
Geometry". Debbie shows how to ride the figure eight in Training
Level Test 3. The article is profusely illustrated with a diagram and
pictures of Debbie with comments on how to do it correctly. It will
be well worth your time.

More Words from Debbie

The thing I love about being a teacher, trainer, judge and active competitor is that the view from one side affects the perception from the other. This week-end as I was teaching Judith at Steel Prize on her seasoned Grand Prix horse, I was reminded that the rider's position is often influenced by the horse's position. Judith was sitting in a very elegant and functional position in the left lead canter and yet when she went right the seat was not centered and supple. And on this day the difference was quite obvious.  So I asked Judith what she was feeling in her position. And the answer was focused around how the horse felt,  not normally the answer that the dressage trainer is looking for (the ones that KNOW that every fault is the fault of the rider). So the end discussion and conversation ended up focusing on the quality and straightness of the right lead canter.  And as the horse's canter showed it's crookedness through the shoulder's it became apparent that it was difficult for the rider to keep  even position. So Monday comes around and I was home schooling a horse for a student (who by the way has difficulty staying positioned in the right lead canter) and I was able to transfer what I had seen over the week-end to really getting this horse straight through the shoulders in the right lead canter and have no doubt that the rider will be able to sit the right canter with a correct position once this straightness is more confirmed. So once again the benefit of taking the same issue from different (teacher, trainer)  perspectives comes in handy to reinforce the solution.

Words from Debbie Rodriguez

Debbie sent me the following to post on the blogspot.  I enjoyed reading the words and hope that you will too.

Many brave souls braved the cold temps to take their rides with me this week-end.  Knowing that once you start trotting around you warm up doesn't make tacking up any easier.

The horses were fresh with the low temps and limited turn out. However this made for some nice energetic rides on horses where that is not the norm. So many riders got a chance to feel the impulsion that comes through when a horse maintains the desire to go forward. It is so much easier when the horse helps keep the energy and the half-halts become  a balancing and organizing aid. It allowed several riders to lighten their driving aids, relax their legs and let the horse come through. Now the challenge will be to keep that feeling over the next week as the horses return to their normal schedule.

One of the fun parts about teaching is when a rider has an "Aha" moment and gets something that you might have been trying to get across for some time. This week-end, one of the riders that often allows her horse to go on the forehand was able to rebalance over and over and really started to feel how even a slight drop down on the forehand affected  the  quality of the movement. Once you can feel what is wrong and what is right in the balance it becomes a lot easier to fix and influence.

   

Happiness is..............

a buddy in a snow storm.  Goliath (on the right) confers with Patches while James and Majestic (on the left) look on.







Picture by Nikki Cecil

Happiness is ........

having a clear spot of water while the rest of the lake is frozen.