Previous desire to go has been hindered by the ominous, directly-following finals week, which overlaps. But this year, as a recipient of the Youth Convention Scholarship, I said I can't pass it up! And on I went!
Funded by the Youth Executive Board Silent auction, my scholarship covered my stay in the Renaissance host hotel, my registration, and travel expenses. Without their help, I would have been unable to attend and would have sorely missed the opportunities and education I gained! So, to the interwebs that might reach them, thank you YEB & USDF!
I was able to attend 6 University sessions, which get me credit for my participation in "continuing education". One which was directed at the Youth attendees featured a wonderful presentation by Jane Savoie (who signed my copy of her book That Winning Feeling!) and Hilary Clayton. Jane is a previous Olympian and Dr. Clayton is the leading researcher on Horse and Rider Biomechanics, along with being a DVM at MSU.
Jane & Hilary also gave separate seminars that were open to the entire audience at convention. Jane's work is fabulous with Finding Emotional Balance and Dr. Clayton shared her research with Stabilography and force plate experiments studying postural sway.
Another seminar hosted Ann Guptill, Sandy Howard, and Terri Ciotti-Gallo (Tigger Montague had an emergency, unfortunately!) on Fabulous Freestyles and included video to help attendees gain a better understanding and enthusiasm for producing your own freestyle at any level.
The salute Gala & Awards Banquet was a festive event featuring 6 Olympians in attendance! Including Debbie McDonald on behalf of Brentina, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Also in attendance was Linda Zang, another Hall of Famer, Steffen Peters, Jan Brink, Jane Savoie, and Lendon Grey.
Katie Mauldin was gracious enough to share her family and celebrate with me as she received the award for Adult Amateur Reserve Champion Training Level, earned above her mare Bogota. She helped me celebrate my bronze medal, as well :) Michelle Hawkes, a boarder at Mary's, also received her Bronze! Congrats to all!
Following the Gala were two wonderful days of Symposium at the Travis County Exposition Center, featuring Jan Brink. Jan boasts a wonderful career, highlighted by the recently-retired Briar who was an Internationally-renowed Grand Prix horse. Jan has brought 7 horses to the world circuit of Grand Prix dressage and keeps 39 horses in training at his barn in Sweden. His experience on the world circuit includes 3 Olympic Games, 8 World Cup Finals, 2 World Championships, 4 European Championships, a Win at the CDIO Aachen, and over 200 Grand Prix appearances.
His students for Symposium were mostly aboard young and developing horses. The symposium this year stressed training for the lower levels of the sport as most trainers have the majority of their students under third level. His words of advice were not just training and excercises, but ways in which to communicate with your horse, your student, and how to effectively use the training to get the result.
On Improvement: "Learn to master the three zones of a horse; the stretch, comfort, and panic. Finding the deviations will improve your rate of improvement"
"ONLY remember and remark on the good. You don't give directions to your house and include where not to go."
On the Warmup: "You don't want someone waking you up and pressuring you about work first thing in the morning. Wake up and get your coffee first, then pressure. Same with a horse - use your warmup [effectively]!"
"If I have to warm-up in a rude way (Rollkur, whip, spurs), I'd rather stop and play tennis."
On Grand Prix Movements: "Passage is the result of the work you do in the trot"
"Shorter steps are the embryo to collection."
On Behavior & Applied Training: "Horses do not understand 'tomorrow'. They understand a signal in that moment. [Not that you need to connect movements to make a pretty test.]"
"Don't keep going until you have or create a mistake."
"Abandon the rule that you must have the counter canter before changes. Get your balance in all canters."
On the rider's comfort zone: "Don't be afraid to sweat. You must ask for something to get something"
That is really interesting, the remarks about trot and passage. They're kind of contradictory.
ReplyDeleteShorter steps are just shorter steps. They don't lead to collection. They just lead to short steps. Yes, when a horse IS collected, the steps are shorter. But the horse has to be collected in order to have the shorter, collected steps!
However, technically, yes, the passage is part of the trot continuim. If you start out with a solid working trot, and work up and down the trot scale, you will eventually have a good passage, because it's a two-beat diagonal gait, just like the trot.