Brooke Schafer sent us this excellent clinic report from Karen O’Connor’s first clinic since her rotational fall at Morven Park last fall. It’s fantastic to see Karen back teaching clinics again. She’s well loved at Holly Hill Farm in Benton, La., where she taught this clinic. Remember that all reader submissions are eligible for the Omega Alpha Reader Submission of the Month! Send submissions to [email protected].
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Julie Norman and Consensus jump into the water with Karen O'Connor teaching in the background. All photos by Brooke Schafer.
From Brooke:
This week, Holly Hill Farm in Benton, La., hosted a spring break two-day clinic with Karen O’Connor. This was Karen’s first clinic back since her fall nearly five months ago, and, in her words, she claimed she wouldn’t have started back anywhere else but Holly Hill. She has been coming to Holly Hill twice a year to give clinics for nearly 20 years. Karen was in great shape, and the Holly Hill group was excited to see her back!
Tuesday of the clinic consisted of stadium jumping, while Wednesday was spent out on the cross-country course. On Tuesday, Karen set up exercises that would help horse and rider focus on distances and riding straight. She emphasized the concept of “a pair of hands for one mouth,” saying that the horse only has one mouth and the rider needs to ride with their hands together, not each hand separately.
She also said it was important that as riders we learn to “do more and have it look like less,” so that we were more in tune with our horse’s every move. She stated that we needed to “be proactive not reactive” and emphasized correct position in our upper bodies and lower leg. Exercises consisted of two jumps that were three strides apart and then collecting the horse’s canter to create four strides between the jumps to promote accuracy.
Karen also set up a bounce exercise consisting of six bounces to help improve the horse’s footwork and the rider’s position. Cross-country exercises focused on speed, impulsion, position and pushing riders beyond their normal comfort level. Karen pushed each rider to ride accurately and encourage the horse to jump from the base of the jump, not simply fly across the exercise. Overall, it was a great clinic with talented horses and riders, and we were so happy to have Karen back!
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- Paige Hewlett and One Step Closer
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- Julie Norman and Consensus
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- Julie Norman and Consensus
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- Sydney Conley-Elliott, Julie Norman and Brooke Schafer
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- Erin Deyo and Brutus Maximus
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- Ashley Hays and Northern Lights
