Reflection. Reflection is something that I practice regardless of the season.  As a rider, reflection is key to advancing, learning and moving forward.  I don't know about you guys, but after a ride....good or bad...I think about it, a lot!! I think about what worked well, about how successful that shoulder-in was and exactly what I did to achieve it.  I think about how I could have communicated better with my horse to execute a haunches-in more accurately and I especially think about the tips and instruction my trainer gives me to progress in my riding and move along in the right direction.  Reflection. 

Sometimes I take 'reflection' to the next level and write down notes to help me remember everything.  Yep, I have a notebook.....don't judge. Ha Ha Ha
Trainers and coaches have so much insight, so much to say that I would forget half of it unless I wrote it all down...With Doc, I took the time to make notes about all of our lessons and progress. Now that I am working with Ferris, I can reflect on those notes and carry the concepts over to his training :) Therefore, when I am granted an exceptionally awesome training opportunity, I am thankful for my dorky-ness....because this gives me the chance to look back on the comments, exercises and tips I gained through that experience. I can learn from them many times over and not just the first time.

While I am dedicated to working consistently with my current coach, I have recently had the amazing opportunity to clinic with an incredible eventer, Leslie Law. My coach brought him in for a two day clinic a few weeks ago and I was lucky enough to secure a spot with Doc in the Novice/Training group! I was more excited for this opportunity than any Horse Trial this season.  I mean, come on....I was gonna get to ride with the British Eventing Individual GOLD Medalist and team SILVER member! excited much??

While Doc and I packed for the weekend, I was sure to include my little notebook to record all the wise words Leslie was sure to send my way.  I also made plans to stick around for the rest of the lessons that he would be teaching while here, cause watching my other horsey buds and playing the part of a 'rail bird' was sure to contribute to the educational experience as well.

The Novice/Training group

My riding experience was awesome! We had two separate hour and a half lessons over the course of the weekend.  
Leslie was really big on getting the horses to supple up during warm-up...lots of lateral work, leg yields, establishing a rhythm and rewarding the horses for correct execution of each exercise.  My horse tends to fall behind my leg and I have to constantly work to keep him going forward.  Leslie helped me to confirm a forward step without getting ahead of the rhythm...we also worked on keeping him put together on his own....so I didn't have to carry him all the time.  Squeeze, Squeeze with the inside rein and ride him up with my leg...Once we got there I was able to release with my hand, releasing the pressure and showing Doc that 'Yes, there is where you are supposed to be'.  That part was easy...it was the 'staying there' part that took some work.  With a young horse it is hard for them to carry themselves and when I release, the pony says "oh good....time to relax"...hahahaha, not yet Doc-a-roo....alas, he is and did learn to carry himself a little more that day and did even better on day 2! Patience is key and gently reminding him with my leg and hand drove the concepts home....
The jumping sections of the clinic were of course the most fun :) Leslie did a handful of jumping exercises with us to drive home the concept that - you don't need to run a course every single time you jump....you don't even need to own enough jumps to practice an entire course.  If you put together bits and pieces of a stadium course you can get in all the practice you'll ever need.  That way, when you arrive at a competition, you can simply put all the pieces together....smoothly and confidently. Because after all, you have already practiced each piece of the stadium course at home.
This approach was THE BEST!! I only have the option to build 5-6 jumps at a time in my arena at home....so this "break it up" concept spoke true to my situation. 

Day 1 jumping focused mainly on rhythm and steadiness....keeping the horse in a pace and fitting the jumps in appropriately.  PERFECT!! could this lesson have been created especially for me?? ha ha. Well, at least I know I am not the only one who tends to jumble up the rhythm while out in the stadium ring.  Canter poles and placing poles were everywhere....and we were working on keeping our horses in a rhythm that would allow them to step in the center of the spaces between the poles.  My horse has a surprisingly large step, for being rather small, and so I was able to really work on gathering him up...keeping him active and forward....and of course in rhythm.  Occasionally, he would step on one or two of the canter poles...usually the ones toward the end of the line...Leslie explained that this was because I was allowing the canter step to change, fall out of rhythm - to fix this I should keep Doc gathered together with leg and half-halts, focus on having him step in the exact center of each canter pole. 


Canter poles to the vertical exercise. stock photo.
courtesy of www.eventingnation.com
 

Once this concept was understood he then set a vertical at the end of the 5 canter poles. GREEEEEAAAAATTTT exercise...this one really established that necessary rhythm and let the horse work through it, while challenging me to help maintain him.  A wonderful warm up exercise, no matter who you are or what level you ride at.
The next exercise involved a placing pole before and after a single vertical...this is one I hadn't tried much of myself.  I was always nervous about setting up the placing poles..."what if I didn't set them up at the perfect distance?" Leslie assured me that I shouldn't be discouraged, as long as I set them 9-11ft from the vertical the exercise would be appropriate.  Even if I was a hair off on one of the poles, it would encourage my horse to think and react....always good for an eventer, right?? ;)


While this isn't an image from the clinic. It does show the concept of a placing
pole before and after a smaller fence. 
www.horseandhound.co.uk

This exercise was to encourage the horse to jump up and over the vertical, a skill required in stadium to keep the rails in the cups.  Too often, Leslie explained, we allow the horses to gallop across the stadium jumps....as they do in the XC phase....While in XC this is appropriate, the stadium phase demands a different type of execution.  Up and over will ensure the rails stay up themselves. 
After that, we put a few lines together to really reiterate rhythm....test out our accomplishments with the canter/placing poles.

Doc and I over the oxer on our way out of the more demanding bending line

Day 2 focused on some more advanced concepts....bending lines and landing on the "correct" lead.  Again, could this lesson have been created for me and my Doc-a-r-oo...hahaha. Landing on the correct lead is something we have been working on....thanks to the time penalties I got slapped with awhile back for the the simple changes I had to do through a few roll backs on a recent stadium course.  If landing on the correct lead became second nature, I would have that to worry about....and I could focus on the many other things facing me on the stadium course.
I am sure ya'll have done this exercise before....set a small jump at the 12'0clock spot on a circle and canter the fence while on that circle. Think about opening that inside rein and looking in the direction you are going.   This exercise really hit home the concept that horses, like people, can be one-sided....all the horses in my group had an easier time in one direction than the other.  Doc is a lefty :)
Bending lines were the way we completed our clinic experience....another very very common question out on course.  Lesile set a softer bending line followed by a more demanding one. 
This was a great exercise in the basics....establishing the correct pace, jumping the center of each jump, keeping the horse between your leg and hand.....

This clinic experience was really fantastic, a great way to reiterate a few things when it comes to my riding.  Having a new set of eyes evaluate me and my horse was invaluable....yes, there were a heck of a lot of common comments made.  Leslie and my coach agree on the things I need to work on...haha.  good!! At least we are all on the same page...right? The different perspective however, brought with it some new ideas, tips, and exercises to help Doc and I progress along.  Plus, I got to ride with Leslie Law....Mr. Olympics ;)
I enjoyed my lessons and wasn't at all nervous.  I know there are some clinicians out there that are known to make riders cry, talk down to them and even criticize their horses...Leslie did absolutely NONE of this.  He was positive and progressive. He took the time to learn my name and focused on me intently as I rode each exercise....I really felt like he cared about me and my horse.  I honestly don't know why people would pay the big bucks to ride with someone who is going to rip you up one side and down the other for the color of your polo shirt of the type of saddle pad you are using.  Clinics should be fun, positive and a good learning experience.....that is exactly what it was. 
Even now, as I sit here and reflect on my experience I am smiling....another chapter of my horse life, another positive experience, another entry for my little geeky notebook.