Photo via Kristine Burgess
The Junior Development Rider program has been going on in Minnesota for about 10 years, and was the brainchild of Kathy and Fred Hund. It started as a bridge between those not finding what they wanted in Pony Club, but not yet Young Riders material. Fred and Kathy went in knowing that they wanted to build this bridge for the kids in Minnesota, and they did an amazing job.
A huge thank you to Kathy and Fred for sitting down and chatting with me.
The mission of the program was to get the participants to preliminary level eventing. The idea turned into four clinics throughout the summer. They were held at various venues in Minnesota with riding and horsemanship based sessions.
Photo via Emily Kelly
Not wanting to step on any local trainer’s toes, they went with Holly Hudspeth as the clinician. Holly grew up on the west side of the Twin Cities, but had relocated to North Carolina. “Holly cared about the program”, Kathy said. Holly taught mounted sessions and reviewed necessary horsemanship topics such as studs, cooling out, the 10 minute box, etc.
Holly wasn’t the only clinician, however. The third clinic, usually in July, boasted a “guest” clinician. First it was Jim Graham, and later Phillip Dutton. The kids would ride with Holly and do semi-privates with the visiting clinician.
Photo via Emily Kelly
The participants were required to keep a notebook of what they learned that day whether it was in their mounted or unmounted lesson. They were also given homework by Holly to master before the next clinic date. These notebooks were monumental in helping the kids to understand the ideas being taught and the discipline to implement them back at home. Jim would read each JDRPers notebook with the student individually and make corrections or notes, or reemphasize a key point.
Photo via Emily Kelly
The program has since evolved. When Becky Holder moved to Minnesota, it was fiscally easier to have Becky teach the clinics to save on the airfare for flying Holly in. Holly still came in and subbed on some weekends when Becky had a conflict. Kathy said, “Becky has such an amazing eye”, in reference to how Becky was as a clinician for the kids.
Now, JDRP still has four sessions a year, all with Becky as the clinician. Becky’s emphasis is to create good riders from the beginning. She emphasizes that she doesn’t want an elitest program. She takes riders and groups of all levels, and the current levels of JDRP are BBN-P. In the past, she’s had kids that were learning their diagonals and canter leads in her clinics. She must be doing something right since this year, 17 of the 20 participants are returning JDRPers.
Everyone is welcome to come and audit the clinics. Holly even encouraged the JDRPers local trainers to come and watch to create a cohesive environment for the teaching the students.
Fred and Kathy’s favorite memory, as well as many JDRPers that year, is a special night at the Hund’s Glacial Ridge Farm. After a day full of lessons and activities, the kids got on their horses bareback and galloped into the sunset.
Photo via Emily Kelly
So, how did they make this all work? (For those of you thinking about such a monstrous undertaking for your area.)
Fred and Kathy worked with their local GMO, Central States Dressage and Eventing Association (CSDEA). The CSDEA sponsored money for 5 years, and Fred got a feed company to sponsor additional money for five years, bringing the total to $5000/year for five years. This helped deter the cost, and make it affordable for families. Stabling was included for each clinic to ensure that the students could fully participate in the mounted and unmounted sessions as well as jump crew and cheer on the other groups. This greatly maximized the bonding of the group.
To get the initial participants for the first year, the Hunds called the USPC and asked for the mailing addresses of all the clubs within the region from North Dakota to Chicago to Missouri. They mailed out postcards to all the kids and went from there. The clinic filled up and they had kids coming from all over, and even a waitlist.
To ensure fair entry for the forthcoming years, there was a “Re-up” plan developed. Those that had participated the previous year AND volunteered for CSDEA in some way were offered the luxury of sending in their application the day before opening date.
The organizers have changed several times since Fred and Kathy started JDRP. Currently, it is run by Lianne Burgess and Linda Wilke. It is their first year running it, and with this year’s experience behind them, they are looking forward to an even better JDRP next year.
Photo via Emily Kelly
The last JDRP was August 20&21 at Schweiss Magister Equitem Stables in Hector, MN.
Go JDRP.
