We are happy to announce that Eric will be coming to Stone Gate Farm on March 23 - 24 just in time to get you and your horse ready for the early events. If you have not ridden with Eric before be sure to check out the clinic reportfrom last spring.
Below you will find a flyer and registration form or you can register on-line (preferred) by clicking here. If you do not pay on-line you will need to mail a check and sign a waiver before riding.
Jackie
Eric Dierks Clinic ~ March 23 – 24, 2013
Opening Date: Jan 1, 2013 Closing Date: March 19, 2013
Eric is known for
his enthusiasm for teaching and training horses and riders.As an ICP Level 3 instructor and Advanced
Level competitor he has a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience to
share.For more information on Eric go
towww.ericdierks.comParticipants will emerge from this clinic with
improved skills and renewed confidence.
Riders and horses
will be grouped together by level.The first
day will be show jumping. The second
day will be devoted to cross-country schooling, using existing cross-country
fences and taking stadium jumps out to create interesting and challenging
combinations. If the weather isn’t good, the clinic will be moved to a local
indoor..
Auditing is freeto
members of Area 8 Young Rider and Adult Rider Programs, NEOMTA Members and all
members of Pony Club however we request you bring something to share for
lunch.Registration fee is $220 for the
weekend.Stabling is available at
$25/night.
Mail Entries & Checks (payable to
Stone Gate LLC) to:
Jackie
Smith
31407 Schneider Rd.
Hanoverton,
OH 44423
Release:I understand that
this is a high-risk sport and am participating at my own risk.I hereby assume the risk and further do
hereby release and hold harmless the Organizer, Organizing Committee,
employees, volunteers, and the hosts of the event, Dave and Jackie Smith, from
all liability for negligence resulting in accidents, damage, injury, or illness
to myself, my property, including the horse or horses which I will ride in this
clinic.
Signature:________________________________ (Parent / Guardian if under 18)
We're looking forward to the upcoming Mounted Games Clinic with Carroll and Laura Crowl who will be coming all the way up from Lexington, KY to share their expertise and their passion for the sport of Mounted Games.
Below you will find the tentative schedule. The clinic will be jammed packed with information and activities for riders as well as adults.We are requesting that anyone who is coming to the clinic to please fill out the registration form. Click here for the on-line registration form. Please read it carefully and be sure to fill out all the required fields as you cannot 'submit' the form if you have not completed the form. We are requesting a club check made payable to Tri-State Region USPC. Payment can be made the day of the clinic but registration forms need to be received by Wed Jan 2. If we do not have enough participants or if the weather looks crazy, the clinic will be canceled.
The clinic will be held at the VanScoy's lovely 'His Way Farm'. Check out the earlier posts on this blog for
pictures of the facility. Since most of you have not been to VanScoy's before I have made a Google map to help you find your way to the farm. Click here
to view the map before you plug the address into your GPS. If not, you
may find yourself on Teegarden Rd which has a fairly significant hill
with S turns which aren't ideal for horse trailers. If you're driving a car you'll be just fine. Below is a map of the farm which will help you to familiarize yourself with the facility before your arrival. We will be meeting in the lounge to start with and there is a full kitchen for your lunch items.
Keep your fingers crossed for good weather as this clinic will really help you to jump start your Mounted Games program and hopefully get your members interested in participating in the Games Rally. I can be reached via e-mail at jackie@stonegatefarm.org or phone: home 330-222-2089 or cell 330-277-6964.
Jackie
Mounted Games Clinic – Jan 5, 2013
Tentative Schedule:
10:00 Introduction to Mounted
Games - where participants will learn about the equipment, rules, mounts, team and individual
practices
11:00Adults and riders will
be split into 2 groups
·Riders will
work on
odrills
osafety
otechniques
·Adults
will learn how to
olane
judge
oline
Judge
oset
up equipment
orunning
practices and a Games Rally
Pot Luck Lunch with a Power Point and Video Presentations
Well the first clinic held at the Van Scoy's "His Way Farm" was a huge success!! The facility, the lessons, the food and the participants (horses & riders) were fabulous! A big thank you to the Van Scoy family for making everyone feel welcome and sharing their lovely new facility. They went above and beyond by supervising parking, dragging & watering the ring, being the doorman for the horses going in and out of the arena, helping to set the course and setting up the food & cleaning up after. To top it off a comfortable lounge to not only enjoy all the great food for the 'pot luck' lunches (where even use real dishes and silverware) but to watch and listen to the clinic.
As nice as the facility, the food and the hospitality was; it was the instruction from Leigh that really made the clinic a success. Although this was a jumping clinic, a large portion of the clinic was flat work as it pertained to jumping. We worked on shortening and lengthening of the stride at all gaits which also included raised trotting poles and poles on a curve, or the 'wheel'. All the time stressing rhythm, balance and straightness. The pole work then moved to the first gymnastic which was a series of rails that were 9' apart. When we cantered the series of bounces working on the basic 3 (rhythm, balance & straightness) by being an 'active passenger'. What she meant by that was to be in a position to better support the horse to be a problem solver and allowing the horse to think for himself rather than micromanaging. Sometimes it was simply a matter of bringing the shoulders back more, taking a little firmer feel of the reins or simply not abandoning ship when things started to go wrong.
After the horses cantered through the bounce rails we warmed up over a single fence and then went back to the gymnastic where we now trotted in and every other rail was now a small fence to make a series of one strides.
After the gymnastic we went on to another exercise on the centerline with rails to a vertical, one stride to an oxer, 4 strides to a vertical either straight or a bend to the right or left. The "wheel' and raised rails were still a part of the exercise to do flat work between the jumping.
Everything was done in a relaxed fashion and if the horse made a mistake she would say "don't worry, come again the same way (if the rider hadn't made a mistake the first time) and let's see what he learned". The theme came through that if we do our job of presenting the horse to the exercise with the correct rhythm, balance & line with the rider in the correct position the horse will figure it out. Care was taken to set the exercise up for the ability of the horse and rider so as to set the horse up for success. If there was a problem the appropriate changes in the question was made, but more often than not, it was the rider who needed to modify their ride to make the job easier for the horse. We often heard "less is more" but we also heard "work it" to encourage the rider to do what she needed to to get the job done. We all were given homework to go home with.
During the lunch break Leigh gave a very informative Power Point presentation on the "Fundamentals of Course Design". Leigh has participated in forums conducted by course design greats Richard Jeffry and Linda Allen. She echos Richard's beliefs that event horses at various levels don't
ride the same dressage tests or the same cross country tests so they
should not be riding the same show jumping courses! The show jumping
course should reflect what is being asked in the dressage and cross
country tests.
Although none of the participants are aspiring course designers they all learned the basics of course design so they could better set exercises at home. She stressed that the first responsibility was to the horse and to the level of training of the horse. Leigh reminded riders that there has to be a balance of jumping off of
both leads and a balance of jumping lines and combinations with oxer to
vertical or vertical to oxer so as to not be repeating the same
question. She also reminded riders to include a breather fence and that no turns
should be tighter than the arch of a 20 meter circle. After the
presentation Leigh pulled out the dry erase board to lay out a course
for the clinic participants to ride the next day. After the afternoon sessions we set up the course for the 2nd day.
Leigh with her first group of Gabbie, Molly, Kevin & Rachel
Sunday began again with flat work and a plan for warming up for riding the course. Leigh stressed that you should arrive at the warm up early enough to have time for a relaxed warm up where you can work at all 3 gaits with lengthening of the frame and stride. She also had the riders do some of the warm up in the 2 point and reminded the riders that they are also athletes and that they should regularly ride in the 2 point and without stirrups to become a stronger better balanced rider so they not only won't interfere with the horse, but may also be able to assist the horse to perform his best.
Finally before jumping the first fence we rode the entire course without the jumps. The purpose of this exercise was to practice the lines and the turns while maintaining the rhythm, balance and straightness. Before we rode the 'jumpless' course we had to declare if we were going to do lead changes through the trot or flying changes. Leigh stressed that you don't want to be asking for your first change of lead while on the course.
After the risers worked on a few warm up fences being sure to off of both reins, jumped verticals and oxers all with the 'basic 3' the riders rode their courses. It was interesting to see how the courses rode differently simply be riding them in reverse. Each level rode different courses based on the level of the horse. It was interesting to see how a horse who did a 5 stride line in 4 strides actually required quite a bit of leg to do the line in 6 strides because that was what the horse needed to obtain the correct balance in the canter while another horse that needed to be a little steadier down a line achieved that by the rider simply holding his shoulders a little more, not the reins. More often than not it was a tweak in the riders' position that made a big difference in the performance of the horse.
But it wasn't just making physical changes, much of it was a matter of having more focus and riding a 'professional' round. It was very difficult for some to ... how can I say this tactfully? Oh heck no tactful way of saying it ...it was difficult for some riders to keep their mouths shut. Now don't get this wrong, Leigh thinks the voice is a very powerful aid when used to encourage the horse forward or to calm or reassure a horse, but non-stop chatter was distracting to the horse and took focus away from the rider. Again another a-ha moment.
Everyone had a great time and all had homework to work on. We hope to have Leigh back a couple more times throughout the winter months, weather permitting.
The video is Gabbie & Whitchit who were in the Training group doing their second course which was just the reverse of their first course. This group was the only group to do the fence on the short side. The other groups did courses that were more suited for their horses.
Again many thanks to the VanScoy family and to Leigh for a great clinic.
