Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 2...

I didn't take as many notes for day 2. For two reasons...one...I was really late. Apparently an Airman in Craig's command decided it would be awesome to deal large quantities of drugs with many clients in the Active Duty Air Force. He thought it would be super fun to not give up any names of his clients to the authorities so the response was to call in *everyone* on a Saturday morning for a drug test. This meant that I had to wait to go to the clinic until Craig got home so that Logan was supervised at all times. And the second reason, a lot of the exercises were the same, just having a greater response on the horse. Or some exercises used yesterday were used on different horses today.


After your horse has gotten good at doing SI, HI, SI, HI, SI it is good to start adding renvers and half pass on the long side instead on shallow loops. It's more like you're showing an understanding of the idea of half pass and renvers but not actually going all the way there. Then you can do half pass, half pass, half pass, just changing the direction while staying on your shallow loops. This is good prep for canter from the walk and good prep for flying changes.


At trot try asking for shorter/softer steps for three sides of the ring and then letting the horse out to lengthen for one long side.


If it doesn't come easily it probably isn't worth asking for (this was said in reference to a canter transition from the trot that wasn't so great). Also, if you wait too long to make a correction then the correction is too big.


Combine shallow loops with transitions between the walk and the trot (before adding in actual steps of SI/HI).


To work on your collection trot a 10 meter circle, transitioning between walk and trot, just after walking change bend to circle in the other direction (like starting a figure 8) and trot again.

Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 1...Horse 4 and 5...

I didn't take a lot of notes for horse 4...mainly because I was too busy drooling over the amazingly gorgeous black Trakehner mare in the ring. The epitome of dream horse for me. The big thing they did to start was stretchy circles, give with rt hand, drive with rt leg, give with left hand, drive with left leg, and so on, slowly feeding the reins to the horse one side and a little bit at a time.


When doing walk to halt transitions stop your body and wait for the horse to lessen forward movement; if it doesn't in a few steps then use your hands to ask too.


Practice using your seat bones to ask for the walk.


After doing walk-trot-walk transitions ride while thinking of rebalancing for the walk but don't actually walk. This helps to improve the trot tremendously! You can also shift your inside hip forward and ask for the canter during one of these rebalancings.


The next horse they worked on managing the go of the horse without trying to stop it. While they did shallow loops they added in walk/trot transitions on one long side. Then the next long side they would just trot with lengthened strides. After around 3 laps they would change directions.


There will never be spring without swing!


Walk-trot transitions on a circle, ride the horse "slightly in" when walking (without steering though, steering is blocking) after this reverse directions on a new circle through the canter like previous horse.


After the horse has become good at the shallow loops (or maybe more accurately, once the rider is proficient at guiding the horse through shallow loops) then you can do shoulder in, guide back to the wall, haunches in, back to the wall, etc. Very small SI/HI, so the horse doesn't realize it's doing it.

Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 1...Horse 3...

Next up was a super cute Pinto mare. This horse was very helpful in giving me ideas on things to work with when riding Lady. Namely the first exercise, which involved doing a stretchy circle to help the rider find the correct tempo for the horse. You ask the horse to stretch by giving with one rein, then squeezing with that leg, then releasing some with the other rein, using that leg, and alternating sides while doing that until the horse has a nice stretch. Once the horse is stretched down and out it will begin reaching and letting go...and as a result, slowing down to its ideal tempo. Once this happens you can begin taking up contact again but keeping the same tempo. This can be done at the canter as well.


Next they worked on trotting a big circle, asking for a walk while coming into the center of the circle, trotting, walk and come in, and so on. Then after a few iterations of this the horse would change direction out of the circle and canter on a new circle (like beginning a figure 8).


Eddo's method for teaching shoulder in and travers was really simple and actually relaxing for the horse. He instructed the rider to ride shallow loops on the long side of the arena at the walk. Focus on directing the horse, not steering the horse, keeping it as straight as possible in the neck during the exercise and focusing on the outside ear for when you're at on the loop. Then repeat at the trot once you have the hang of it. As the horse progresses at this you can start doing a very, very small shoulder in, then haunches in. The movements are so small that the horse doesn't even realize she is doing it.


Eddo said that after 3 weeks of doing the baby SI and HI the horse would be able to do it for real. Not only do the shallow loops build toward doing SI/HI but also improve the trot as well.


The final thing I wrote down from this ride was that the more you want your horse to come back (aka collect) the more side to side (aka lateral work) you need

Eddo Hoekstra Clinic Notes...Day 1...Horse 1...

Yesterday was the first day of the Eddo Hoekstra clinic. It was a cold, dreary day in Bulverde, TX. The clinic is taking place at Providence Ranch and the facilities are amazing. The large ring where the rides took place was huge with really nice footing that held up to the rain. They also have a dressage ring and a large grass field with jumps in the grass and a dirt track around the outside. Definitely my dream Texas place to board, too bad it's 45 minutes away!


I arrived just as the first horse was finishing up, but I did catch Eddo talking about looking to the right for shoulder in (when tracking right) and looking to the left for the travers, he was having the rider alternate between SI and HI and then riding forward for a few strides. I wanted to audit the clinic due to the fact that I love Walter Zettl and his style of teaching (and horsemanship) and I knew Eddo is a longtime pupil of Walter's. The exercise was very familiar from the Zettl clinic's I've been to in New Jersey and would become very familiar over the next two days.


The next horse was a darling Appaloosa mare with a sweet rider. The start of their ride was spent focusing on the horse and ensuring she was fulfilling her job as the horse in the partnership. To start Eddo had her walk on a loose rein and evaluate if the horse was going with purpose, not hurrying, but with purpose. She wasn't quite there so he had the rider walk on a loose rein and squeeze with the inside leg as the inside hind foot was leaving the ground in order to activate the walk a bit more.


When backing up the leg with the whip he said that if the horse is irritated by the whip on the hindquarters than use it on the shoulder instead. And of course, once you get a response, back off so that the horse knows it fulfilled your wishes. When the horse is more foward then you ask yourself if the horse is moving forward with purpose and relaxed. For the rider that likes to really ride every stride he said "the horse does the walking and trotting and cantering, you do not actually do those things".


One thing he really emphasized for this exercise is that a jog does not coung as a trot. When the horse breaks into a jog while trying to activate the walk it's going from a non-forward walk to a non-forward trot; it's the horse making life easier for herself. So if she breaks into a jog turn that jog into a real trot. Once the horse is moving with more purpose you need to do lots of changes of direction to test if she keeps her sense of purpose.


The more the horse goes with purpose the wasier your job gets. Once the walk was improved they began working on transitions, lots of walk/trot transitions with only a stride or two of walk before trotting again. Basically considering the idea of walking to be a possibility, not a promise.


After that they worked on Turn on the Forehand and Turn on the Haunches at the halt. Eddo said that the nice thing about working on things at the halt is that it lets you know what you're doing too much of and not enough of (for example, if you are asking for TOF and the horse steps backwards, you are using too much hand). Once a few steps were possible from the halt he had the pair start trotting foward, walking, stopping, doing a few steps of TOF, and repeat.


The final exercise was to work on connecting the horse to the seat at a standstill. This was done by at the halt, asking for flexion while squeezing with your seat until the horse chews. Then you can ask for TOF or TOH.

Before I forget...

I wanted to write down what we did on our last ride. It was very, very windy and I almost didn't ride, even after spending a while getting Lady cleaned up, but I decided to try it despite the cold and the wind...and I was glad I did! First of all, Lady has the perfect temperment for a windy day, nothing phases her and she didn't care about *anything*. I think the wind bothered me more than it bothered her.


We started out by walking a few laps around the ring to let her warm up and get synovial fluid flowing in her joints. After the walking we began trotting on a long rein, letting her get even looser and ready to work. She was doing great, foward and energetic and picking up the trot very quickly when I asked. At this point I mostly focused on myself, sitting straight and tall, staying relaxed and not tensing or gripping with anything and most importantly, looking *up*.


After I was satisfied with myself and that Lady was warmed up we started working on the meat of the ride...transitions. My goal was just to do lots of walk-trot transitions (it was a little slick to be cantering). I wanted to get her forward and thinking forward, ready to flow into the trot from the walk and back into a forward walk from the trot. At the same time I stayed super focused on my position and staying relaxed and not blocking her (or nagging her). I wasn't worrying about her frame or how round she was, just maintaining a nice connection and doing our transitions.


In the beginning I did two transitions on each long side of the arena, and the change in Lady was amazing...she took notice, started marching in her walk and smoothly going into the trot when I asked. Her head also came up a bit but she flexed at the poll, without me doing anything to encourage it other than supporting her through the transitions and keeping her forward. We started adding in some large circles and doing transitions on the circles as well.


I always start our rides to the left, because it's my better direction, and it's Lady's better direction. To the right she tends to bend to the outside, from head to tail. I've been working on developing more straightness in this direction and during our last ride discovered that if I ask her for travers to get the correct bend (at least a bend to the inside of the ring instead of the outside) and then leg yield her back over to the wall whe would move straight. We did that a few times and when we circled after doing this exercise she gave me an amazing trot, it felt like we were floating and reminded me of riding Jessie, my Appendix QH gelding. I definitely look forward to creating this trot in future rides.


After the floaty trot we did one more long side where we traversed/leg yielded for straightness and then called it a day. Right now my focus is on ensuring the work we do is as correct as possible, so I stop on a good note and without really drilling what we did home and making her sour or burnt out. One of my favorite things about Lady is how much she enjoys being groomed...it's very gratifying to curry a horse that enjoys it, and lets you know she enjoys it! That was one thing I missed with Sophie, she seemed very standoffish when it came to grooming, other than having her mane brushed and her udder cleaned.


I'll ride again tomorrow, and possibly Wednesday and Thursday since I can't ride on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday due to the Eddo Hoekstra clinic I'm going to be auditing. My plan for tomorrow is more transitions, like every 6 strides transitions, and doing more travers/leg yielding to work on straightness. Once she's straighter I'd like to start introducing shoulderfore, but right now it's much easier to move her hindquarters over to get the start of straightness than her forehand!

Losing It...

I had another lesson today. While warming up I discovered the key to travers. I was playing around while walking and asked Sophie to move her butt over with my outside leg. Presto, haunches over. I tried it again on the next long side and same thing. So when Kim came out I showed her, and she told me that it was a good start, but I needed more bend. So I tried asking her to move her haunches over before we finished the turn (since she was already bent for the turn) and then using my inside leg to ask for bend. Worked like a charm. Suddenly we were doing travers.

So we did that a bit in both directions. Then we worked on shoulder in at the walk, and then trot. Which went ok, but when I prepare my aids to ask for shoulder in Sophie thinks I'm asking her to walk, which was frustrating.

We moved on to work on cantering one direction, which really frustrated me because I was in a not so good mood to begin with, and she kept breaking and flinging her head. The more frustrated I got the worse she got. After that we did some lengthenings, which went *really* well. So well I was able to start focusing on bringing her back to a more collected trot at the end of the lengthening. Then we cantered in the other direction, which was even worse, especially when we tried to go large off of a 20 meter circle. But she got it when we tried it a few more times. We finished up with working on turn on the haunches, which went pretty well. I just need to remember to half halt *every* step, to be able to do it. Granted, it needs a lot of work, we're going to have to work on it a lot, but it's a good start.

I have another lesson Sunday night. It was 15 degrees when I was driving home, it was 25 degrees when I looked at the barn thermometer. I was surprised Kim decided to teach in that weather, but glad, even if I was having trouble keeping my emotions under control.

Half Passing for Dummies...

Today I rode Kupkake. It was soooo much fun. We started out with some shoulder in, where I had to try it at the walk first so that I could get my inside leg far enough forward. Then I was able to do it at the trot. After that we worked on leg yielding, then added some travers and renvers. It was amazing how easy travers and renvers, he was so responsive to my leg.

After that we tried half passing and I started out with his haunches way too far over to the left, it was just hard for me to get it through my head that his nose needed to point toward the goal and then bend from there. But we got it eventually and were soon half passing from the centerline to 3/4 down the side. After that we tried it at the canter and that didn't go as well, but Kim said he isn't confirmed in canter half pass yet, but it was still fun to try.

The last thing we worked on was extended trot. We tried five or six times and one time was really good while the others were just so so (I think one was pretty good, lol). It was a lot of fun though. I found that it's much easier for me to half halt when tracking left, probably because I'm right handed. I also noticed that I was a lot more tired today, but I think that's due to the 8 miles I did yesterday.

So, that was my lesson. I have another on Kupkake Friday morning. Hopefully we'll be able to pick up close to where we left off (ie, that it won't take me so long to get my inside leg far enough forward to give him something to bend around). Today I didn't ride Sophie, we just worked on showmanship for a little while and I gave her a good brushing/fly spraying after my lesson.

Silver linings...

Yesterday I went to the barn to see Sophie. Still no saddle but we've been bonding through grooming and mane braiding. I misremembered when Kim said the farrier was coming and by the luck of fate pulled into the drive as the farrier was working on Sophie's feet. So I was able to give him a check and watch him in action (as well as Sophie's behavior). She was a very good girl, even standing in the other barn, where she's never been before. She is a conundrum, sometimes she adapts to new situations without batting an eye and other times she has a meltdown as if the world is coming to an end. I'm very glad that getting feet done was not a meltdown situation though. Her feet look great though, I just hope she makes it to the next shoeing without losing a shoe.

I hung around at the barn for a while, talking to Kim, brushing/braiding/fly spraying Sophie, and just as I was getting ready to leave Hayley asked if I wanted to ride her horse that night. At first I was going to pass but remembered I had a pair of breeches in the trailer and of course my boots/helmet are always in the trailer. So I agreed to ride Hayleys horse and it was awesome, because it turned into a full blown lesson with Kim on a Third Level horse.

He was kind of lazy to my leg because he's used to spurs, was testing me, and my legs are much weaker right now than they were last fall, but we did pretty well together. I even managed to sit his trot pretty well, which Kim said is very hard for people to do on their first ride with him. One of the hardest things to adjust to was collecting him enough for his level. I kept trying to do a training level frame with him and not asking him to be up enough. But I muddled through.

We did a couple of neat exercises. After I got the aids down for walk/trot/canter/bend/etc we worked on shoulder in and travers down the long side. Then we worked on cantering a 10-meter circle where Kim pointed out that I had to think about moving the shoulders over to really get the circle size down, which makes sense as that's the feeling I had with Jessie when we were almost pirouetting in the past.

After I got the hang of cantering a 10-meter circle we had a short break and then worked on a new exercise. Trotting down the long side, first half doing shoulder in, then a 10-meter circle at the middle letter, then travers down the rest of the long side, repeat at the next long side. We did that a bunch of times in both directions and then started working on half pass!

First we started working on just half pass from the quarter line which proved pretty difficult for me. So then we started with going across the centerline and asking for shoulder in and then haunches in on the diagonal line. That worked a bit better, but what really helped was trotting down the long side, doing a turn so that we were on the quarterline and then half passing back toward the long wall. That got us the best results, but mainly the last few steps toward the wall. It was still fun though and a great learning experience.

Saturday morning...

Saturday Morning-Exercises to Create a More Responsive Dressage Horse
Horse 1-Haflinger gelding (from yesterday)

Warm Up
-practice transitions within the gaits, should get bigger through just a squeeze
-to shorten-play the bit, bend, use some sideways, don't just pull back

Exercise
medium trot down long side
walk
walk pirouette
medium trot
repeat

Horse 2-not sure on this horse's breed, it was new

Improving the Trot
This horse had a nice, but flat trot, it wasn't very impressive
-horses with a flat trot are often improved through work at the canter
-use haunches in then shoulder in on a circle. Maintain contact with the outside leg to keep the horse on the shoulder in, not haunches out.
-then big canter/small canter; keep inside leg on to keep him from finding the inside rein

Contact
It's up to you to keep the contact, even if the horse loses the contact and bounces the mouth on the bit when refinding it it's still abrasive to him (whether it's his "fault" or yours)--you need to keep the contact steady no matter what.

Shoulder In
Sometimes when schooling you need to start with dishonest bend and try to make it honest (referring to more bend in the neck than is correct).

Other
-the horse's back needs to be warmed up through lateral work prior to using a big kick to ask for more
-"slap" a tight horse with the leg(s) because nudging gives the horse something to brace against
-an exercise she had this rider do was take the leg off and after the horse wasn't anticipating a kick when the leg was removed it suddenly turned bouncy and springy. It was very cool to watch, Courtney told the rider that she could stop and the rider kept going, wanting to enjoy the new trot she'd just found. It was really neat to watch the progression to that point in just a 30 minute lesson.

Saturday Afternoon-Getting the Most Out of Your Dressage Test: Tips to Help You Showcase Your Horse to Your Best Advantage
Horse 1-Danish Gelding from the day before

General
-work on things you *can* improve. For example, Courtney said that Idocus will never get an 8 on extended trot so she focuses more on the things that she can get 9's on than trying to fix something that is already so hard for him.
-pick up the stride *at* that letter, not when the hindquarters are at it; so ask a stride earlier; work it out at home how long it will take

Medium Trots on the Diagonal
Turn like a steamship (with little bend) in the corner when approaching the diagonal so that the horse comes onto the diagonal straight and ready to go, you lose precious time when you have to straighten the horse on the diagonal and then ask for medium trot.

Horse 2-Dutch Mare from the day before

Flying Changes
If the horse changes on its own without you asking for it, stop, pick up the correct lead, volte, and try again.

Miscellaneous
-really perfect going from halt to trot, it's a silly place to lose points in a test
-practice standing in the halt
-make transitions between gaits very clear (medium to collected, etc)

Collected to Medium Canter Tips
-be bold! Make sure the horse respects half halts; when collecting give as you collect so that you have something to take again
-if shoulder fore is lost then you won't have control over the outside rein to respond to a half halt

"It's not going to happen better in the show ring than it does at home"

Horse 3-Oldenburg from the day before

Miscellaneous
Whenever you're in schooling don't be committed to the movement, be committed to doing it right.

Beating Nerves (response to a question from the audience)
When going to a horse show ride to show off your horse; it's not a rider show, so just do your best to show off your horse...don't worry about others judging you and thinking badly of you.

Friday Afternoon

Friday Afternoon-Using Dressage Movements to Improve the Horse Rather than Focusing on the Dressage Movements Themselves
Horse 1-Haflinger Gelding

This horse was the 3rd level horse, he was adorable and very nice, but very tense in the neck and tight across the back (he looked very flat at the beginning of the ride). The rider usually rode with a longer rein than Courtney wanted to see, but improved a lot between the first day and the second day in that aspect.

Warming up the Tight Horse
-stretching out won't help loosen the horse's back; the horse needs to stretch *down* (long and low)
-to warm up, extra bend the horse's neck to the inside, then bend to the outside, and repeat as needed, this is a great loosening exercise
-take the horse in round and deep for a few strides because then stretching out feels good (this was the only horse Courtney suggested this for, and they only did it once or twice the whole weekend, and it wasn't nose to the chest deep--just a bit behind the vertical)
-deep doesn't stretch the back; it can be a temporary fix for getting the horse to stretch (after the few strides of deep)
-volte and haunches in help with a stiff horse
-if the horse is strong when picking up the bit push it sideways
-counterbending is good to make sure the horse is supple (on a circle)

Suppling
-trot around the arena and volte (8-10 m circle) at every letter
-inside rein bobbing is a good sign (off the inner rein)
-can do this exercise with any horse (15 m circles if a young horse)

Haunches In
-continue to play the bit throughout
-if you ride each movement thinking of making the next one better you're going to train the horse; if you ride it thinking about this movement the horse will train you
-you have to set your standards high the first time, the horse will never improve if you keep doing it and don't say "Wait, this is what I don't like"
-it's natural for a non-supple horse to go faster at the haunches in; it's easier to go faster than it is to bend
-when cantering-have extra bend before you stop; if horse rushes then walk, put haunches in at walk; then canter again and try it

Suppling
-big canter then smaller canter, push horse to the outside as you go smaller
-best thing to do when collecting the horse is stay soft and supple
-keep playing the bit, give a little, bend a little, take a little, big half halt, etc--play the whole time

"Mistakes are going to happen, fix them! Don't avoid mistakes, train the horse."

Horse 2-Oldenburg Gelding

Haunches In
-difficult to get more bend once you're already in the Haunches In
-start out with too much bend if anything
-keep inside leg on the horse in order to keep the horse bending
-normally if the rider has to pull the inside rein over across the neck it means the inside leg isn't doing its job

Half Pass
-haunches leading stifles the movement; puts weight on the front legs
-sideways, then straight while doing shoulder fore, then sideways again
-outside rein has to push the shoulders over if horse leads with haunches, seen especially in horses super sensitive to the outside leg and moves the haunches over
-horse's angle should be same whether half passing or shoulder ining-don't push haunches to the outside

Flying Changes
-you learn what you practice, do not practice it wrong
-make each change better, jump through each change
-don't shorten the stride leading to each change