First I must say I believe that I have died and gone to heaven. My day started with a lovely ride on Nikki. It was already humid at 7 AM but not quite as hot as days past when it was in the mid 90's and humid! Don't you hate when people say "it's not the heat, it's the humidity"? I lived in Texas for a year where the heat was drier. It IS TO THE HEAT! But I will agree the humidity definitely makes it worse. The bugs were awake early also, judging by the way Suki raced me down the driveway! It was mostly in extended trot but she did break to canter for a few strides. Nikki came to the gate a little less ambitiously but was anxious to get in as well. In spite of her slower journey to the gate Nikki was quite energetic for our morning ride. The sun was behind the clouds the entire time which certainly helped our effort. It was a day for some basic exercises including spiraling in at trot and canter followed by leg yielding out to 20 meters. Nikki was light in my hand for the most part but became a bit heavier as fatigue set in. We pushed beyond that to regain lightness and finished.
The ride was followed by several hours of getting the house (by that I mean laundry and all instructions for Monday and Tuesday) in order then packing and heading out on my five hour drive to New Berlin, NY and Waltzing Horse Farm for the Andreas Hausberger clinic.
I am staying at a small B & B approximately 15 minutes from the farm. The Shamrock and Thistle.
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| The road to the B & B |
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| The view from the porch |
July 21, 2013
I am writing this while sitting on the front porch, wearing a sweatshirt inspired by the view, the lessons learned and new friends.
Day one of the clinic
The first ride was at 7 so an early start was in order. After a good night's sleep and a lovely breakfast I was off to find the farm. I was given directions as the GPS apparently takes seasonal roads which translates to dirt roads. Not to worry, I had no difficulty finding Waltzing Horse Farm (turn left after Amish farm) and quickly found a front row seat for observation.
Ride 1 (I missed the intro on this horse but it looked like a Lipizzaner). The first thing that I noticed is that Andreas is very direct with his teaching. Additionally, I have observed and ridden with a number of "big name" people and some are very impressed with their own importance. Sometimes the audience is that way also. Name dropping, pretending to ask a question but really using it as an opportunity to talk about themselves. None of that going on! How refreshing! So this rider was not sitting quite as deeply as necessary and was standing on her toes in the stirrups. AH: "You are standing on your toes in the stirrups. We take them away now." Of course her seat improved and so did the horse. They worked a lot on transitions within the gaits, and AH required very definite distinction between collected, working and medium. Explanations were clear and concise. Not a large man, Andreas was an imposing figure in the arena, standing quite straight and carrying a long whip to use for encouragement. For some instructors that comment would be in quotation marks, as I have seen many use the whip too aggressively with the riders and horses. He emphasized with many of the riders, but starting with the first one about not "chasing" with the seat, or driving too much. AH followed behind the rider as she walked on the rail and did the "driving" lightly at the hocks with his whip, instructing the rider to only think about position in the saddle and softening with the hands.
Ride 2: danish warmblood 19 years old. The owner has not had the horse very long and previous owner(s) apparently did him no favors. Another theme emerged: quickness of response of the rider. The rider is a professional and clearly had brought him along nicely since his arrival. They worked a bit on connection and again not over driving. AH spoke about"playing" with the hands, but in no way does this mean seesawing as we so frequently observe in riders. He spoke about moving the fingers and the wrists, being sure to give but not throw away the contact. "Respond quicker and faster" said Andreas. They did some work on spiraling in at the canter, leading to half pirouettes. It was a nice segue and worked well for the horse. Andreas lightly tapped the horses hind end in rhythm. The horse responded by maintaining a nice cadence and engaging his hind end. Because the touch was soft and light the horse did not seem bothered by it. Heading to the rail Andreas worked the horse in half steps while lightly tapping the hocks. Each small response was rewarded with a hearty "Good man" and clap on the neck. Bigger responses received sugar cubes as well. The SRS must go through A LOT of dots!
Ride 3: Arabian gelding. Owner had a bit f a bad experience when he took off with her, so she has a bit of anxiety. Wearing a safety vest she explained that the year before at the clinic her horse had been stuck which they had tried to address. Ultimately the horse was diagnosed with gastritis, treated, and improved immensely. I think sometimes we under estimate the physical issues, thinking instead that certain issues are behavioral. I experienced this with Suki....but that's another story for another time, explained more fully in my book. I wondered how Andreas, Chief Rider at the SRS and Director of training would handle a more novice rider with severe anxiety. I have seen lesser instructors become impatient in similar situations. AH was very patient with the rider, working her in walk and trot only. He managed to push her past her comfort zone by having her "play" small with the reins and not constantly squeezing with her legs.
This was another theme that emerged. Legs hanging lightly. Horse does not respond to light squeeze, give a kick. That is not new to me as this is always the goal, and I have always been taught this way. Not that I always do it, per se, but I do try! Keeping the rider at the walk and doing the driving while she focused on her seat and softening the front end. There was a definite improvement by the end of the lesson.
Ride 4: 6 year old Andalusian/Hanoverian cross. AH asked questions about what she had been doing with the horse. She had been doing some in hand work so AH asked the rider to show him what she has been doing. She seemed a bit nervous (who wouldn't be!) so he started to help her. Rider at head, Andreas with whip at hocks. Her job was to keep the horse on the rail and moving forward while he tried to elevate the horse in his back. AH is very patient, always realizing that the horse may not understand but quick to react. He felt that the rider was not responding quickly enough at the front end. It all improved and the rider mounted. Rider has a very nice seat, which Andreas complimented her for immediately. But with that he still felt that she was not responding quickly enough with her aids when necessary. They worked a bit on movement within the gaits: working, medium, collected. When he says medium he means medium. No waffling in between. This helped sharpening of the aids and there was further discussion about playing with the reins by lifting the ring finger. No elbow and arm movement. Once again transformation of horse softly and happily in the contact, up in the back and engaged behind.
Rider 5: Lusitano stallion. Rider said that he does not like in hand work because very mouthy with erson at head. Doing piaffe work, so AH asked to see it. She kept moving quite forward so AH asked if he had misunderstood and she said passage. Rider said no, just starting piaffe and half steps. Well, that's different than schooling piaffe, eh? So once they had that all straightened out AH worked with the horse along the rail, asking for half steps. He seemed a bit tight in the back, but started to relax once he began to understand. AH's patience and constant reward visibly relaxed the horse and he began to respond. The rider has a very nice seat and the horse responded well as they did exercises to adjust gaits and ask the horse to soften through playing. This rider too was over driving and once she stopped, the horse came up in his back under her guidance.
Mid morning we stopped for a break, and Waltzing Horse Farm put out a lovely selection of cheeses for everyone to enjoy. Finally able to shed my sweatshirt, we all settled in for another 3 hours of education.
Next up: POA mare. She was very resistant in the beginning, trying to stick her head in the air. Andreas worked them through numerous transitions to find the connection. To feel what she was doing as a rider, he clasped her hands and asked her to "play" with the reins. Once AH showed the rider what she should be feeling, they walked forward again and the mare showed signs of relaxation and submission.
10 year old girl on hunter pony. Very cute pair. AH was not easy on her in spite of her age and limited understanding of dressage. As with the other riders he patiently explained what he was asking for and through transitions, changes within the gaits the pony dropped her head softly.
Connemara Stallion: a bit tight in the back with lateral work. Long reins tomorrow
Overall I was impressed by the response of horse and rider through careful explanation and useful exercises. AH emphasized the importance of in hand work as well. Do not over drive, soft in the hands, reward often. With my head spinning I headed back to the inn.
Showered and dressed in a sweater, I sat with a glass of wine on the porch. I can't even tell you how long it has been since I have been this relaxed. I even forgot to text Deb to ask about the girls! Instead I worked on the Suki book and enjoyed my surroundings, looking forward to day two.
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