Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to ride in the CDS Adult Amateur Clinic at W Farms in Chino Hills. Check out their website; that place is amazing, and their arena is the nicest one I have ever ridden in to be sure. The staff at W Farms is as awesome as their facility. They helped each rider unload their horses and tack, and then helped us park, all the while smiling and chatting. Many thanks to that crew!
I failed at taking pictures, but here is one.
The CDS AA Clinics all follow the same format, but Nicole Bahthal, the Southern Region's organizer, did a particularly nice job. We had a Friday evening meet and greet with Mexican food and margaritas in honor of Cinco de Mayo. Each day, there was coffee and pastries in the morning with boxed lunches from Panera in the afternoon. On Saturday, there was a pause in the clinic for a Kentucky Derby party with wine, mint juleps, and roses. Everything was presented in such a way as to make the riders feel welcomed and relaxed. Thank you, Nicole!
Internet photo of Thunder Snow.
For the clinic itself, Hilda Gurney was the clinician. The one thing that I can say about Hilda's style of teaching is that she is all business and doesn't pull any punches. If you want to see where your weaknesses truly are, schedule a lesson. Apparently, I have many.
Hilda had each rider start out just riding as they normally would so that she could get a feel for our needs. I've ridden with a number of different trainers, so I wasn't nervous riding for Hilda, but I was eager for some constructive feedback. During the first five minutes of the lesson, I heard a lot of positive comments. Hilda really liked Speedy G and said he was a nice mover, well balanced, and happy in his work. She thought we had a solid relationship and that we made a good team.
For the next 30 minutes, I heard a whole lot of criticism that was hard to hear. I twist my body, my aids are unclear, I don't react fast enough, I over react, I am too big for my horse, I am unbalanced, I am not fit enough, and my sitting trot is horrible. This was nothing new, but it was humiliating to hear it over the PA system. Not only did I get to hear it, but so did half of Chino Hills.
As we worked on my shortcomings, Speedy came together quite nicely. The work he gave me was ever so lovely, so Hilda's pokes and prods and jabs must have helped me as Speedy just got better and better. The one thing that I really took home from Saturday's lesson was about my hand position. Speedy loves to be behind the vertical, so Hilda helped me and many other riders address that issue.
She called it "fluffing." When the horse drops his head too low, we should raise our hands and put them closer to together to lift the head back up. When the head gets too high, do the opposite: widen the hands and place them lower. It's the rider's job to monitor where their horse's head is and adjust their hands as needed.
Hilda is a tough instructor, and if your skin is at all thin, it would be better to audit than to ride. Even today, my morale is still pretty low, and I haven't even described Sunday's lesson. Thankfully, my best friend had joined me on the trip, so after the lesson I got an earful of how great we looked and how proud of myself I should be.
Sounds like a wonderfully organized event, and a great opportunity to forge friendships with other AA's in your area!
The best clinicians can be REALLY hard to ride for because they see all the tiny details that others do not. Plus they don't have to cultivate a long term relationship so a lot of times they really lay it all out. The positive thing is that Speedy got better, and even if you had one take-away, it's worth it.
I agree, Jen. My biggest improvements as a rider occurred during the harshest clinic I've ever experienced (having clinic'd a LOT, that's saying something). Not that mean = great, but having someone really hammer home the details is a blessing that is usually appreciated much later.
You're absolutely right, jenj. You've described the clinic pretty much how I saw it.
I was a demo catch rider in a clinic years ago with her. She's a toughy! Brutally honest, but that was ok, since I had to ride a third level test on a horse I had never ridden before. I giggled all the way through it.
You & Speedy looked awesome! Your sitting trot was really good on Sunday! Keep it up, Karen.
Wow! That is tough to hear. I - personally - think you look like just the right size on Speedy - and as far as the other stuff, it's all things that CAN be fixed and are just general things we AA's need to work on anyways. We've got jobs, and lives and and and outside of horses. We would ALL love to be pro's and play with our furry beasties all day, but we're not all cut out to be pro's and that's OK!
I had a trainer once tell me that I should take every bit of information I can from every trainer I meet. Keep the stuff that works and throw the rest away. Same goes for criticism... take what works and what is HELPFUL for your growth and just chuck the rest out of the window.
You make Speedy look big - I'm guessing you're under 5'4"? Or he's 16HH? How dare she make that George Morris-type, irrelevant remark!
I am 5/3 and he's an honest 15'1. "George Morris-type, irrelevant remark!" HAHAHAHAHA - too funny!!!!!!
She actually said that to me. I feel better??????