I want to extend a huge Eventing Nation thank you to Max for her training session reports. They have been fabulous to read and extremely informative. David is off to England for the weekend to teach our US riders who like bad food and driving on the wrong side of the road. Thanks for writing this Max and thank you for reading!
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Photo via Joanie Morris
From Max:
THAT’S A WRAP!!
All horses and riders are on their way home from an outstanding week at Meredyth South. Everyone has goals and homework, and the enthusiasm is contagious.
Over the last few days all the riders have had a chance to have a one on one meeting with David to discuss short term and long term goals, their program, strengths, weaknesses and answer all questions.
On Thursday, all the riders preformed a dressage test, either the CCI** or CCI*** (Caitlin did the CCI**** test), for David and their peers. They would discuss the test and then work on parts that needed work. They continued to work on straightness and accuracy to get the extra points. David stressed that horses can’t always go their best on the day, so all points need to be grabbed wherever possible.
Randy Powlak, farrier for the OCET and Team Canada, stopped in to talk about feet, shoes, and shoeing. He taught everyone how to pull a shoe off correctly. Being able to do this right is very important when you have a horse with a sprung or twisted shoe so the foot isn’t too “chewed up” when the farrier has to put the shoe back on. He also showed them how to put the shoe back on – Caitlin Silliman took on the task – she was a bit tentative at first, but got braver and finished swinging like a champ.
Dr. Jill Copenhagen also came and talked to the group. She started the talk discussing basic anatomy. She then talked about what to look for when you are jogging your horse; how it strikes the ground, how it moves its hips, etc. The group had short Q and A session too.
Friday brought CROSS COUNTRY… way more fun than circles.
The beginning of the lesson started with the fundamentals of cross-country. David explained that there are 3 positions for cross-country riding: galloping position, preparation position, and jumping position. All the riders practiced these positions on horseback standing still before doing it at the canter.
David also talked about “types of canters” – what type of canter you have is determined by the face of the jump (rolltop, plank, brush), what is after the jump (ditch, turn, water, drop), and the terrain (hill, off camber, flat).
Everyone started with basic warm up of a single fence – and they practiced determining how far out did they need to be before they needed to change their canter – 10 strides, 8 strides, 5 strides? Making the time isn’t necessarily how fast you go, but how little you slow down. They jumped the single jump uphill and downhill.
Then they went onto cantering the mounds – watching the change of balance of the horse and how they should change their balance – then the mounds to a corner.
It was off to the bank next – where they spent a great deal of time. The footwork involved and the exercises that can be created with a bank are invaluable.
They carried the principles on to a coffin and the water complex – I’s dotted and T’s crossed – the horses are ready for a run.
One thing is certain: the horses have earned a day off. The riders have been inspired to keep learning and asking. The week has been game changing for these people – they have made great friends with each other, have established a working relationship with David, and they are now ready for much more to come this spring.
