PrintOn the last day of the year, a diverse group of talented young dressage riders wrapped up a "life-changing experience" at the 2011 Robert Dover Horsemastership Clinic presented by HorseShow.com, part of the Emerging Dressage Athlete Program held December 26-31 in Wellington, Fla.
In the final two days of an intense week of riding instruction and horsemanship education, participants had the opportunity to work with Olympian Courtney King-Dye and U.S. Technical Advisor Anne Gribbons, as well as practice an actual test for FEI O-level judge Gary Rockwell.
While the riders worked with a variety of the sport's best athletes and coaches, who all offered different approaches to dressage training, there were a multitude of remarkably consistent messages in the lessons, including elasticity and responsiveness of the horse; execution and effectiveness of the rider's aids; showmanship in the show ring; and the importance of training ability.
For example, during her lessons, Gribbons built upon the "rubber-band exercise" taught by Robert Dover earlier in the week, adding the component of riding shoulder-fore on a circle to encourage horses to step under even more with their inside hind legs.
"Utilize the shoulder-in on the circle and in transitions—if you take the horse straight, you're at a disadvantage," she explained. "Even transitions to halt can be practiced in shoulder-fore; it's harder for the horse but helps teach them to carry themselves through the transition."
Riders were also asked to test the elasticity and responsiveness of their horses with a multitude of transitions, collections and extensions. "Your whole education will be comprised of a million transitions," said Gribbons. "Create the cadence you want with your seatbones, and it should never change just because you go through a turn or collect or extend. You must keep collection in the extension—don't let them run out from underneath you—and then be able to collect your horse again without them getting frantic. You can use half-halts until your horse is like a butterball, but you have to be able to push them out again."
Throughout the day's sessions, Gribbons was a champion of not only effective equitation, but also smart riding. "You must use discretion with your aids—don't nag! There are only two outcomes to that: the horse gets irritated or tunes you out and goes dead to the aids," she said. "It's all about discipline, precision, quick corrections and very subtle aids. Timing is everything, but be discreet! Don't get fussy with your hands; let them find the connection themselves. Don't start rooting around up there if you have nothing to say; especially with a difficult horse, you'll just make things worse. And be smart—ask (or don't ask) for things like flying changes when they aren't expecting it; this reduces anticipation and makes sure they're paying attention to you. Finally, if you have to fix something, get it done. It's more important to make it correct than to muddle through it just to say you did it. But be sympathetic to your horse. He doesn't have to be perfect, he just has to TRY to do things right."
