Beth Buekema Clinic 2

I had another clinic with Beth and again the ride went great but she gave me completely opposite techniques and it became quite confusing and difficult again when I went back to lessons with Erin since each were telling me different things. This time the opposite technique was with the walk; Erin has always told me not to push with my hips since it could manufacture his walk but to just let his walk move my hips. Beth told me to exaggerate the movement in my hips to get the better walk. Both wand the same thing...temp and a swinging connected walk but two totally opposite ways of getting it. Both worked but when I use the others technique in front of the other they tell me to do it their way. I find it difficult to be able to learn a whole new technique and then suddenly have to unlearn it and learn a opposite one.
We also worked on parts of my test like figures and transitions which helped a lot, however I don't know if I will ride with Beth again since it has been quite confusing and difficult for me to make progress in my mind with the differing views...

Beth Buekema Clinic

I had as private session with Beth Bukema. This was my second time riding with her, my first time riding with her with Carino. She is the dressage coach at Johnson and Whales University in Rhode Island and is also a dressage judge for many shows in our area.
Carino came out quite nice with a nice loose big trot and listening very well, he was a little curly and not pushing as much into the bridle as I would have liked but he was still good. Also, I actually felt quite good and my position felt quite proper.
After my warm up and she was done with the previous riders I gave her a little background of Carino and I and then we went and did walk and trot for her. She made me shorten my reins quite a bit and hold a lot more on the reins especially the right than I was use to. I know he avoids contact on the right but I have always been taught to push into contact not take with my reins, especially on Carino. She also told me to move my whole wrist as the half halt instead of my fingers which I always have been told not to do. This of course confusing me quite a bit. What she had me do worked, he was straighter and more into the contact,..she said his trot changed quite a bit...which it did but only since he was straighter. My only concerns were that his neck would become too short and he would become "curly" or behind the vertical. These conerns were huge as I worked a year trying to stay away from these things and did not want to revert back to them. I was happy with the ride at the end since he did feel great and we had some wonderful quality work. However, my concerns came up again when I had a lesson with Erin a few days later and she told me to make his neck longer, loosen my reins and not use my whole wrist...
So then the confusion kinda took over...I have kinda tried to bring both techniques into my riding and use both whenever their needed but I find myself to just go right back to how I ride him and push him into the contact. Yes he might be more wiggly, but he is not curled or behind the vertical which is my main concern. I plan to ride with Beth again in a week or two and I plan to voice my opinion on the techniques, hopefully she will understand and we can find a happy medium.

Eric Horgan

Eric came the first week of November. That week marked the 1 year anniversary since I bought Carino. So therefore Carino had been cantering under saddle for 1 year and that was around the time when Carino had his first clinic and it was with Eric. It was a semi private wit Allison on Alladin we rode outside in the big sand ring. Eric completely changed my leg position so I was mostly focusing on that and that change threw me off quite a bit so I did not get as nice quality work as i would have liked. We did a lot of walk canter transition work. The clinic was hard due to the position change but was good since that is what clinics are for. I have been working on getting my leg back and being more in my heels constantly since then and I do believe I have been improving. Still just always have to remind myself of my leg.

Beth Buekema is coming in Jan. If i can afford it and have the time I will try to ride with her. Or I will save money for wehn Jerry and others come.

Danny Warrington Clinic

Had a clinic with Danny Warrington at our home farm Valinor July 20th and 21st.
On Sunday we had the Stadium session. After he watched our warm up he told me I use my seat a little too much. He congratulated me on having a strong seat and being aware of it but that I needed to stay slightly more centered. He then made me and the other girl Allison move our horses away from our leg sideways without moving forward. Carino did this with ease which shocked Danny and he congratulated me on teaching him how to do that so nicely. He then worked with Allison and Cozmo on connection for a while, and then it was my turn. We worked on getting him to lengthen his stride more by closing and opening the trot. Danny then really helped with Carino's tendency to want to over bend to the right and never want to bend to the left and Danny went up to him and played with the reins and said he is lose in the neck but tight in the jaw. Danny then worked with me and instead of me giving little pressure on the left like a pull Danny made me hold the left rein more with my finger and push him into it with my inside leg until he relaxes the jaw and then when I feel him give I give. It was a different technique that I never thought would work but I got instant and drastic results. We did the same at the canter. We then began to jump. We worked over a medium sized cross rail for a while. Taking what i learned with the left rein and applying it to the jumping. I also rode with my hands more consistently pressed into his mane which forced my hands to follow his movement and give more. This really helped me stay with him no matter what. Danny also made me slow him down with pressure of my thigh and of course get more speed or impulsion by my calf. We then started to do three cross rails on an "s" figure. We didn't canter any jump until then so when I started Carino became quick and Danny made me start over. Danny then kept forcing me to breath which did help but I hate when I get told to do so. I know I need to relax more but it just rarely happens. Once Carino and I relized "oh,..its just a little loop of cross rails" we both pulled it together to get claps and thumbs up from Danny.

Cross country was something I was worried about because Carino recently started it. Also, the Saturday before the clinic I took him out in the field and it took us 45 min to be able to trot quietly. So when I was asked to trot of course Carino reared, hopped, buck, bolted and I tensed up. Danny kept making me breath and trying things but he kept bolting and bucking. Danny eventually got on him. When Danny got on he patted his neck very firmly and since Carino was all jazzed he would fly away from the patting. Danny kept doing this until Carino stopped and then did it from both sides. Danny then asked him to canter and Carino did try to give out some bucks. Danny cantered him until Carino stopped in his own and then I got on. He no longer responded to the patting but he did still want to gallop and run and buck but Danny made me gallop him as fast as I could in order for me to realize that I have nothing to be scared of and to see what the worst he could do. Playing around with the galloping did force me to ride through whatever Carino did which made me more confident. We then canterd a log pile up hill a few times and worked on our position and then worked on our position cantering the same jump down hill. Danny liked my position both up and down the fence. We then combined going down over the log pile to a small log that was right passed the peak of a very steep hill so it was more of a drop. It required a good canter, good steering and a good position. Down the log pile was good, steering was good, position was good until Carino bulked up and the down hill bank log. I walked him up to it backed him up, walked him up again then backed him up like Danny said and then trotted it from there with no problem. We then did the exercise backwards so up the bank like log to the log pile. Up hill was quite hard because of how the log was set on the hill. The horse would lose momentum and then you weren't sure if they were going to jump or not. So i had to use a lot of leg but try to stay back going up hill or i would get to far in front of him and the jump would be messy. We did that until it became super easy and once we got it became very easy and smooth. So we would go up and down and up and down those two jumps. We then went to the bank at the top of the field. Carino has jumped up before but has never jumped down off of anything. We had the other pony go in fo4rnt of him and Carino followed. Carino took his front hooves off and at that second I though he was going to go and my body came forward and he leaped right back up on the bank... We tried again but he would do it. I then got off and Danny walked him down it by just holding him and then walked him up and then back down until he got bored. I then got back on and Carino hopped right off with just a slight hesitation. We did it over and over and each time we got better however My position was a little shaky, so Danny said stand/stay over my heals more and sink into them and that made all the difference. I more secure and stable so i felt more confident and then it all became very smooth. We then moved to the water. He was fine going through but Danny then asked us to jump in off the bank, he has only jumped out..I knew Carino was going to be terrified and I got scared... Carino tried and kept thinking about it but then he got really scared when Danny tried to encourage him from behind. He was no longer focused on me but on what was behind him and no matter what I did he would back up. So we cantered through the water and Danny made me "attack" the water and be a little more aggressive I then was suppose to attack the bank which I did but Carino slid and just kept backing up. So Danny got on and after a few minutes got him in and did it over and over until it got boring and Carino just stepped in. Then Danny put me right on, I was still nervous..i think i was nervous that I wouldn't be able to sit to the leap like the girl before me but I would be the one to get wet. However, Carino went right in and it was fine we did it over and over until I was use to it now.
Even though Danny was tough and everything didn't go picture perfect. Many of our problems were solved or on the way to being solved. And well problems shouldn't be easy to fix and isn't' fixing problems what clinics are for?

so far..

So far this year I have done clinics with Eric Horgan, Jerry Schurink and Richard Lamb.

Eric has helped alot expecially last time I rode with him. He expeiremented with different ways to losen Carino's top line and get him pushing to the bridle. Like with poles and making me get off his back for moments to relive tension. Eric also helped with Carino and how he overbends to the right and doesn't bend at all to the left. We worked on leg yields and me not yanking him but giving the left rein and giving small tugs with my fingers to tell him i want you hear and then release. He also helped me think of being loser with my elbows.

Jerry last time worked on getting Carino working on a bigger stride. We started with exercises to get Carino understanding the leg aides. When i move my leg back haunches move out, on a circle at walk and trot. We also did slight turn on the forehand to. Then we worked on shoulder in at the walk in trot. We would only ask for a few stirdes then straighten then asks for some more strides then straighten. "Quality vs. Quantity" Jerry of course made me sit for the majority of the ride which is good but was diffuclt trying to sit to Carino's new big even more bouncy stride. We did exteneding trot which I love but Carino felt like he had to canter to do the difficulty of the long stride but he definitely did open up.

I jumped in the Richard Lamb clinic. Carino was very downhill which is unlike him but when he got down hill I went down with him. My mom said she could tell now how much my shoulders must have been hurting me (which admitting i was complaining about a lot the previous week) because she has never seen me that hunched over jumping before. I guess it was good Carino was like that in a clinic so I had someone to help me though it, but Richard did say somethings that were almost contradicting to what other trainers/clinicians have told me so I got confused/frustrated by that. My mom took some video and when I watched it, it didn't look quite as bad as it felt. But Carino had no refusals, was quite bold and jumped some stuff that was 2'9. Not bad for a horse who started jumping around 5 months ago and has only been cantering under saddle for 7 months.

Videos @:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MissaRissaJ