Fall is the Perfect Clinic Season

 

While travel for clinics is always on the table, the Fall season is a particular favorite of mine for getting out and about and helping out. And we include ourselves in that equation of clinc time, often continuing work on our own education here and abroad at this time of year. Before winter training season begins at our Willowview Hill Farm.

 

Despite the hurricane season being upon us, the Fall weather (particularly in New England) and Europe is beautiful for working horses outside. The pesky flies and bugs have 99% disappeared with the first frosts, and the air is crisp and clean and hopefully remains clear of wild fire smoke. 

But aside from the wonders of the falling leaf season and orange- colored cratered valleys, this time of year makes great sense horse wise to get the training progressed and establish new protocols for winter work.  

 

One of the best things about giving clinics at any time of year is the variety of students and horses that arrive in the ring to participate. At the beginning of Fall most students have finished with busy family life vacationing and prioritizing spending time with children, with the return to school freeing up time and focus. 

The summer show season is behind both horse and rider. And even if they are headed down to Florida or the Carolinas to stay in the saddle then this is a breathing space.

This break in the show program is the perfect opportunity to review the judges' feedback from the season; to bring along a young horse ready for a busy winter season ahead; or to polish up an established horse for the next show season whenever that may be, winter or next Spring. 

If you are not a competitor then it's likely you've been either working on the trails or kicking back training due to hot weather, and taking (hopefully) an opportunity to relax. Fall is a good time to get serious and back on the formal training ladder. 

Late Fall we open up our private yard to a few horses to come in for dressage training board. Our busy clinic season begins to wind down and we are settling in at home to enjoy some quieter time at home and focus on our own horses too. As hubbie and I do all the training ourselves we limit the number of clients on site so each horse and rider can receive maximum attention.   

Horses love the cooler weather as much as we do and feel energized. Mares have experienced their most provocative oestrus season of the year in late August, and are beginning to settle down. Meantime stallion owners aren't concerned with the distractions of mares being in oestrus. Geldings, well geldings are a wonderfully stoic group but even they will also feel more energetic. At Willowview Hill Farm we welcome horses of all breeds and genders.

Paul at work

 

Hubbie and I work together with advanced riders combining our training experience at the same time to teach riders which is quite an unusual set up outside of a symposium style event. The latter being as much geared to auditors as to the riders themselves, and much of which by some trainers is duly rehearsed and rather staged. 

For us, the more basic riders receive a one on one focus usually with Paul conducting 90% of the lesson time. Not everyone can manage the amount of input two of us produce. Especially as my focus is generally more horse oriented and Paul's more directed at the rider, there is a lot for a rider to take in and those most used to taking instruction enjoy it the most. We are quite unique as a training and clinician couple. And it works well - or at least, that's the feedback we get!

 

 

Who Rides Your Horse 

Whatever style or type of riding you do, or whatever clinics you choose to attend there are some caveats. The first and most overriding one in my humble opinion, is a bit the same as which trainer you choose to work with. The minute the trainer takes over all the saddle time with a horse, is the moment you should wonder why you bought the horse in the first place. Did you intend to sponsor the trainer? Paying for everything along the way? 

Ride your own horse and enjoy the training process. With some good ground help, as long as you are a reasonably good rider with an independent (ish) seat working any horse that is walk/trot/canter started should be possible even as an amateur and even if the horse is being brought along ahead of you by a professional.

Clinicians that appreciate a particular horse can sometimes almost insist that they will mount up to 'show you' or the horse or both, the way forward. 

In my experience as a competitor, this often translates to your horse looks particularly fine to ride and they want to have a go. It usually results in much showing off, the horse being pushed into work it is not ready for understanding wise, and the horse being over-ridden. 

As a breeder I have even on occasion thrown renowned advanced riders off a young horse for being aggressive and pressing a horse into confusion with overwhelming asks during the trial ride of the sales horse for purchase. I appreciate why they do it, but in the long run with multiple people trying the young horse it isn't fair on the ultimate buyer to receive a horse home that has been confused in its training.

So, be wary of who you let ride your horse and when. A clinic should not be used to show off a skill set by the clinician. And a good clinician will see what needs doing from the ground to progress both horse and rider together. After all, isn't that what you signed up for? 

Paul and I never ride student's horses in a clinic setting where we are teaching. 

Only if the horse is with us at our farm in training will we mount the horse to work with it and further its education. We then transpose that work to the rider as we go along giving them the keys they need to succeed together in the partnership with their horse. 

Sidebar: People are sometimes confused as to what is involved in training board versus regular horse boarding. The former, which is the only type we offer, involves boarding the horse and taking training sessions on a regular basis. There are plenty of barns around that offer straight boarding and perhaps occasionally host clinicians at the location if they can summon enough riders to pay to play, but regular boarding barns often don't have a professional trainer on site or any daily work help. We are not one of them.  

For us it is important that the rider is committed to the training process and earnestly wants to improve their own talents and/or that they don't want their horse to just be parked somewhere. They want the horse to be educated and trained in a specific riding discipline. 

From time to time we also receive horses for training from breeders and other horse owners that don't want to ride. They seek to have the horse improved and classically trained, perhaps polished for sale as a graduate of their breeding program, or taken to the next levels to advance its career while they themselves are distracted with other important aspects of life, such as a pregnancy or work/career obligation. 

Whatever the reason, working with the horse on a regular basis each week, a minimum of 3 training times a week is our normal request. For this reason we also only accept horses that are started and steady/happy working walk/trot/canter under saddle. 

There are plenty of folks out there that will start your horse for you, and unless we've bred it at WVH and handled it since birth we no longer offer starting services. 

Working Winter Training

 

 

 

 

Choose your clinic schedule wisely. It is better for your horse not to jump around from clinician to clinician if possible. Though fresh eyes are always good and there is always something to be learned equestrian education wise, not following a logical sequence of training particularly in sports like dressage, can be detrimental to the horse understanding the task at hand and actually hinder progress. 

 

Find a clinician you like and gel with and stick with them a bit. Audit other clinicians for fresh information meantime. This way you'll have an idea what you are getting into and what experience you and your horse are likely to have before you sign up.

At our clinics many riders are regular students though they may bring different horses to different clinics, but there are always a fair quantity of new faces too. While at this point our Grand Prix duo combo is known as, "A trainer's trainer," we love working with students across all platforms and disciplines. 

We've even provided clinic slots for gaited breeds like Paso Finos from time to time. Which has been interesting, but not something we typically advocate as an ideal dressage clinic participant. 

We can help anyone garner a better seat and aids, but our focus is truly more dressage oriented at this point in our careers.

Take advantage of this lovely weather and Fall season to get busy and back to basics with your horses. While we embrace winter at our private indoor arena for training our private horses and those of clients too, Fall is the most wonderful time of year for riding inside and outside. 

In this video Paul is schooling lateral work, working on a slight uphill in the field. This is a great a way of tasking the horse with elevating his powerful hind end action and increasing its gymnastic abilities and muscle memory. A bit like schooling piaffe on a soft wet sand beach or in the snow to help strengthen the horse's musculature while keeping its mind fresh and engaged too.

 

Aside from clinic time just getting out and schooling what you have been learning can be time well spent. Riding outside can really refresh and reboot both the horse and rider. And competition tests are not usually held indoors in the U.S.A., so garnering your horse's full attention outside the arena is a good practice for holding it at tension-filled showgrounds.

Paul riding his GP horse Lafite outside. Snaffle bit schooling piaffe and passage.