Day 2 Saturday January 4th
2014
Rode Display for the first time since arriving in Florida
and he was very stiff and tight. I worked on not pulling on him so that he
didn’t have anything to lean on or get heavy on. I was a bit greedy for it being the first
ride, but hopefully will settle within the next few days.
Our lecture was with Dr. Mitchell who has been the Olympic team vet for years. He spoke about the process of pre-purchase exams. I myself have never had to go through one so I learned a lot. He also talked a little bit about how tendons slowly wear down with repetitive trauma. Proactive care is crucial!
Our lecture was with Dr. Mitchell who has been the Olympic team vet for years. He spoke about the process of pre-purchase exams. I myself have never had to go through one so I learned a lot. He also talked a little bit about how tendons slowly wear down with repetitive trauma. Proactive care is crucial!
That evening we attended a party at Hampton Green for the
Horsemastership clinic and WIT kids.
Day 3 Sunday January 5th,
2014
In our lesson Display was a bit better, still a bit stiff
but a slight more adjustable. Lendon is concerned that I get him too deep
without letting his neck down more. Shoulder-ins were super wobbly today so
hopefully they get more consistent as we get back to work.
Lecture was with Jeremy Steinburg on the training scale, its
meaning and also association to your aids. Some of my notes from the lecture
were quite interesting, I’ll quote some below.
“You can’t make relaxation; it should be the result of good work.”
“You can’t make relaxation; it should be the result of good work.”
“Looseness is the state of a horse’s body. It’s from the
development of energy”
“Collection is taking the scope of the gait and changing its
angle to an uphill balance. Collection is not shortening”
“Our horses should have the grandest reaction to the lightest
aids.”
Day 4
Monday January 6th, 2014
Mondays are our “Day off” from WIT activities. This year I’m
working for Jacqueline Brooks on Mondays. She’s a Canadian Grand Prix rider who
has been to the Olympics multiple times.
In the afternoon I took my boyfriend to West Palm Beach so he could experience the warm Florida water. Maine ocean water never warms up above 50* so we were quite thrilled with 77* water!!
In the afternoon I took my boyfriend to West Palm Beach so he could experience the warm Florida water. Maine ocean water never warms up above 50* so we were quite thrilled with 77* water!!
Day 5
Tuesday January 7th, 2014
I had to drive my boyfriend to the airport this AM (He drove
down with me from Maine, thank God he likes driving!).
An exciting lesson took place today! Display started out really really well, as it went on I could feel him getting more and more wired. I asked a bit too much from him to quickly and he exploded. After a rear and a half and some very impressive leaping maneuvers he managed to get me off. We set him loose in the round pen so that he could get his extra energy out of his system, even after that he was still pretty wound up so we lunged him in till he settled. Then the poor pony got to be turned out all night! :-P
An exciting lesson took place today! Display started out really really well, as it went on I could feel him getting more and more wired. I asked a bit too much from him to quickly and he exploded. After a rear and a half and some very impressive leaping maneuvers he managed to get me off. We set him loose in the round pen so that he could get his extra energy out of his system, even after that he was still pretty wound up so we lunged him in till he settled. Then the poor pony got to be turned out all night! :-P
The lecture
was with Lisa Wallace from Dressage Sport Boots on sales horses. I think out of
all of the WIT 2013 and 2014 lectures this one was my favorites. She explained
every aspect of the sale horse business and gave us some scenarios and asked
how we would manage it. She encouraged
us to sit on EVERY horse we could
because that will give us a huge edge when we go to try or train sales horses.
Some more of my notes:
“ Make sure to disclose what the horse is all about. Good, bad, anything.”
Some more of my notes:
“ Make sure to disclose what the horse is all about. Good, bad, anything.”
“There is
never a horse that is not worthwhile to train or sit on”
“The
American market is truly for Adult Amateurs and JR/YRs”
“Let the
horse sell himself to you. There is always a horse for someone!”
“Don’t feel like its Christmas morning when shopping in Europe.”
“Don’t feel like its Christmas morning when shopping in Europe.”
“If you’ve
told 1 person about a horse or product, you’ve told 20.”
Lisa has
also offered to give EACH WITee (that’s 13 of us in total) a full set of her
amazing Dressage Sport Boots. This is truly amazing and I encourage everyone to
go and look at her website and check them out. Lisa, this is so very generous
of you and Display and I can’t thank you enough!
Day 6 Wednesday January 8th, 2014
Day 6 Wednesday January 8th, 2014
Display got turned out all night but
I still lunged him a bit to make sure he wasn’t wired. He settled after a few
minutes and we went on to our lesson.
Our lesson was pretty good. He was
very light and rideable which was a change from the day before! Half passes were
good, I need to lean into the direction he’s traveling in lateral work.
Also have to remember that even though he’s light and feels super he still needs re-balancing half halts to get him underneath himself and re-balance. Collection does not mean shorten the stride it means contain the power and send it in a more uphill direction.
Our lecture was with Laura King, she is a hypnotist and life coach. Laura will be graciously donating her time to each week to help us master relaxation and the tools necessary for peak performances through self hypnosis. Everyone should check out her book,"The power to win".
Also have to remember that even though he’s light and feels super he still needs re-balancing half halts to get him underneath himself and re-balance. Collection does not mean shorten the stride it means contain the power and send it in a more uphill direction.
Our lecture was with Laura King, she is a hypnotist and life coach. Laura will be graciously donating her time to each week to help us master relaxation and the tools necessary for peak performances through self hypnosis. Everyone should check out her book,"The power to win".
Day 7 Thursday January 9th, 2014
We started out our day with a 7AM abs
workout! I’ll have a six pack by the time I come home, woohoo!
I lunged Display again before I rode
him. We had another super ride today; I could make adjustments and ask for a
bit more and he stayed soft and willing. Now I have to figure out how to leave
him alone and do nothing! I’m starting to get him a bit too round because I’m
so use to him never being quite through enough. So, less curb, poll up, A LOT more
half halts and keeping the canter active, sounds simple enough right?
Lecture was with Lendon on a bunch of different topics, basically just checking in with everyone and making plans. We all discussed showing, Lendon gave me the go ahead to look at Fourth level test 3.
Lecture was with Lendon on a bunch of different topics, basically just checking in with everyone and making plans. We all discussed showing, Lendon gave me the go ahead to look at Fourth level test 3.
Day 8 Friday January 10th, 2014
“Hack day!”
I hand walked Display today,
everything was SOAKED from record rainfall, I didn’t want to chance him
slipping or tearing up the footing.
After that I went back to the house and chilled for a bit, organized and puttered around.
At 2:30 we had a short lecture with Lendon on rider position and necessary aids. Some notes:
“Your upper body belongs to you, lower body belongs to the horse.”
“Elbows should be slightly in front of you so that you have room to make adjustments, both forward and backward.”
“Indirect rein is only used when the inside leg is not active. (half pass for example)”
After that I went back to the house and chilled for a bit, organized and puttered around.
At 2:30 we had a short lecture with Lendon on rider position and necessary aids. Some notes:
“Your upper body belongs to you, lower body belongs to the horse.”
“Elbows should be slightly in front of you so that you have room to make adjustments, both forward and backward.”
“Indirect rein is only used when the inside leg is not active. (half pass for example)”
“Anything you do and keep doing in a rhythm
that is wrong, should not become a way of life.”
Another blog post soon!! Sorry for the delay!
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