This clinic report is a bit different than previous ones: this is a compilation of several riders’ thoughts on the Colleen Rutledge holiday clinic.
Photo by Bill Theyer
I just spent the last week at the Holiday Clinics that were provided by Colleen Rutledge. The passion that Colleen has for her horses and her sport came through loud and clear in each session on each of the 4 days of the clinic. No matter if you signed up for one day or all four, every rider learned something as did the auditors.
The sessions were held over 4 days, December 26, 27, 29 ,and 30th, 2011. The first session of each day was Beginner Novice, followed by an hour break before the Novice session with another hour break before the Training session. There were over 40 riders signed up with some sessions having a wait list. Colleen had planned on riding some of her horses in between the sessions. I am not sure how many of her horses she actually got to ride but I know she did spend a good deal of her break time finishing up with riders, talking to participants, lots of one on one time!
Each rider was evaluated individually and the differences were notable from the beginning of the session to the end. Colleen’s gift to see the position of the rider and the way it is affecting the horse is uncanny. More impressive is the way she helps the rider adjust their position to better aid the horse in doing its job.
Each session Colleen did something different, at each level. If a participant rode every day, and several did, there was a different approach to the end goal. Improve the position of the rider in order to enable the horse to do its best job.
If you haven’t had a chance to ride with Colleen or follow her story, I suggest you log on to her website, www.colleenrutledgeeventing.com. She will be holding more clinics in the near future. Riders of all levels can benefit from her experience and enthusiasm for the sport.
Leanne Denneno
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here are some of my thoughts I shared with Colleen – “I am just starting to get Hank out and increase both of our knowledge and experiences, your Beginner Novice level clinic was perfect. Your way of instructing is very comfortable and to-the-point making it easy for me to apply your suggestions. Thank you.” I am hoping to be able to participate in Colleen’s next clinic.
Judy
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Colleen Rutledge Clinic:
The clinic was a really excellent learning experience for both young and adult riders alike. Colleen was able to identify immediately the strengths and weaknesses in each horse/rider combination and to give the appropriate instructions to work to improve and/or correct these. She did not let anything go for granted and worked from the basics on up through more sophisticated approaches. She taught me how to trust my horse more and to let him learn to make mistakes and correct these on his own, so that he could build confidence. She taught me how doing less on my horse’s back really was equivalent to riding better, as the whole point over a jump is to be in balance and not to interfere with the horse’s movement. She encouraged us all to work on our position at home even though this is boring, as developing a good base is essential to good riding. Very positive experience.
Sherry Stephenson (Eventer, BN and Novice, Member Adult Rider Association Area II)
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Photo by Bill Theyer
