[judybigredpony]

You have some seriously GOOD advice...Use it well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[glfprncs]

[QUOTE
Btw, my stadium issue has more to do with people watching me than anything else - that, and the jumps seem so much bigger when they're made of poles and things that fall down. Am I the only one who has this phobia? Give me a Training level sized xc jump any day![/QUOTE]

I 100% understand this! I think my issues started the day I had a REALLY bad fence in stadium and heard the gasping horror of EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. WATCHING.

In time, I learned to rely on what I knew. That said, I would ride horribly in the warm up prior to stadium. In fact, my trainer at the time would say to me in the midst of a horrid warm up, "Nancy, I'm waiting for the popping noise. You know, that noise that is made when you pull your head out of your a##?"

That usually got me riding forward again rather than riding backwards and searching so hard to see a distance. Fortunately, when I got into the ring, I tended to fall back into the good habits that he'd instilled in me...keep the canter foward, wait, don't pull, keep the shoulders up, and the distance will work.

[Divine Comedy]

I think my issues started the day I had a REALLY bad fence in stadium and heard the gasping horror of EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON. WATCHING.

Keep in mind that every single rider has that stadium fence that leaves people gasping on occasion. Hannah Sue Burnett had it in 2009 when she clobbered through the final fence in the Fair Hill CCI** SJ on St. Barths...and she still won! MLM had in the CCI** this year (also at the final fence) with her RF Azarah fence. It does happen on occasion, and while it IS embarrassing, it doesn't mean you are a BAD rider, or not ready for the level you're riding at. It just means you made a mistake. Learn from it and move on, realize that in the future you might make a different mistake that causes a GASP fence, and don't let it rule you.

Of course, the mental game is a tougher battle sometimes! But don't let a single GASP fence ruin the stadium phase for you, because everyone has those on occasion. I can guarantee that even if you don't see the ULR have them at shows, they probably have them once in a while at home.

[Jeannette, formerly ponygyrl]

For others on the fence about signing up for this clinic - my thinking is here we have a nice barn w good footing and easy access off I40 which is dipping their toes into clinic offering. I want them to keep at it! See some of you there, I hope!!

[Divine Comedy]

For those not liking his teaching style over fences...what about his teaching style on the flat? I feel as if his dressage has come a LONG way in the past five years, and he habitually rides horses that I feel might be similar to mine on the flat, tense and nervous in the dressage. (Particularly Neville!) I've actually been very curious about how he teaches dressage (and preferably an actual dressage lesson, not a few minutes of flat before jumping in a clinic!)

[yellowbritches]

For those not liking his teaching style over fences...what about his teaching style on the flat? I feel as if his dressage has come a LONG way in the past five years, and he habitually rides horses that I feel might be similar to mine on the flat, tense and nervous in the dressage. (Particularly Neville!) I've actually been very curious about how he teaches dressage (and preferably an actual dressage lesson, not a few minutes of flat before jumping in a clinic!)

I've never seen him teach any dressage. Most of those clinic/lessons I watched went almost immediately to jumping. There may have been a few minutes of lengthen-shorten-lengthen type stuff, but nothing that could be considered dressage.

Keep in mind his wife is a GP rider and helps school his horses.

[jen-s]

Jeannette--wanna carpool? Or are you taking ponies?

[Carried Away]

A friend of mine who rode in his clinic with me a few weekends ago took a private flat lesson in addition to the jumping groups. She has a hotter type redheaded TB mare, and she was VERY impressed with the progress they made during the session. He also rode the mare to demonstrate what he wanted her to do. She thought it was worth every penny to do the flat lesson.

On the topic of SJ-phobia...I suffer from this too!!! For some reason I just feel that I can ride "at" the XC fences more and my canter/gallop and eye are better out there! You are not alone...

[pegasusmom]

For others on the fence about signing up for this clinic - my thinking is here we have a nice barn w good footing and easy access off I40 which is dipping their toes into clinic offering. I want them to keep at it! See some of you there, I hope!!

Working on Mr. PM. Boyd took his horse from BN through Training, and it would be nice to get some feedback. Plus Mr. PM's weak link is SJ.

[goodmorning]

Boyd's clinics tend to price themselves out of my market, particularly when there are many great ULR/ULT's available for less in my general vicinity. Even better when you can ride with them regularly, year after year.

That being said, I would absolutely go audit. You can always learn something (for better or worse) by watching, and I've heard Boyd can be a hoot. Someone with his experience is sure to leave you with something to ponder

OP: why not skip the CT, find another H/J trainer to lesson with, and head to a schooling or locally rated jumper show? You can do round after round of SJ, the courses are more difficult, and the LL jumper stuff is often found in a ring that might or might not have an audience