Yes, that's me. Teaching away. Who knows what I'm saying! Photo by Luke Fattorini
Throughout the past few years, I have ridden in quite a few clinics with a lot of different instructors. Each one handled the clinic experience a bit differently, and it was always interesting to see each person’s teaching style. Now, I am an up and coming professional, myself, so I am on the other side of the fence in some cases. I have taught about five clinics so far in the past 2 years or so, and I love it! It has been quite a challenge to step up to the plate of being a clinician. However, because I am based in a place that is a bit off the grid, as far as eventing goes, it is difficult for me to find a lot of local students. Teaching clinics has become something that allows me to teach (which I thoroughly enjoy!) and start to get my name out there on a bigger scale.
I have read a lot of the EN posts of clinics in the past. I thought it would be interesting to have a post from the other side of the coin. I just taught a clinic at the BEAUTIFUL Lemaliza Farm in Mercersburg, PA. Lemaliza is owned by Craig Rockwell, and it is managed by Louise Webster. The facility is still under construction, but the state of the art indoor arena is finished and up and running. It is a huge, airy arena with footing by Attwood Equestrian Surfaces. Even in the heat, the arena stayed cool with a lovely breeze. The clinic was sponsored by Snider’s Elevator (who is an amazing sponsor of mine) who provided goodie bags for everyone (how often does that happen?!?!) and a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to their store!! (so very generous of them!!) I think the clinic was a great hit!
Teaching clinics, to me, is a lot harder than teaching your normal students. You are presented, in many cases, with people and horses that you have never met, and you are expected to hone in on their issues quickly and make progress in 2 days (sometimes less) time. No pressure!! Lucky for me, I have a small following in the PA area (I’m originally from there and went to college there), so I did have some repeat students. However, even with the repeats, there had been a good deal of time since I saw them last. It is difficult to leave someone in one place, and then see them a year or more later, and adjust to where they have progressed. However, I am always up for a challenge, and I enjoy teaching immensely, so I find the whole experience a lot of fun.
Elaine Ohler on her lovely mare, Pyrite Beauty, warming up for the gridwork. Photo by Luke Fattorini
For this clinic, I had chosen to offer gridwork on the first day and SJ courses on the second. The biggest things that I see lacking in most people’s horses are suppleness and adjustability. Because one is usually presented with all types of horses and riders for clinics, it can sometimes be difficult to come up with exercises that will be rideable and beneficial for everyone involved.
Elaine and Py going through the grid. Photo by Luke Fattorini
For Day One, I made a grid that was made with all verticals. It was a bounce, one stride, two stride, one stride, bounce with the distances set to trot in. My goal was to take a horse from a shorter stride and let them lengthen a bit and then shortening at the end. The rider would have to have a supple horse entering the grid to be sure to make all of the distances as they went through. If the horse got tight and against their hand in the beginning, they were not going to make the distances at the end. Everyone warmed up thinking about riding the horse with a lot of bend and throughness, so that they could translate that into suppleness and adjustability through the grid. I had varying degrees of rider abilities and varying degrees of horse abilities, and the grid rode really well for everyone. You could see each horse really figuring things out as they went through the grid. This also gave the rider’s time to really work on their position. Everyone was thrilled with their horses by the end and excited to take that knowledge into the next day for SJ courses.
Amanda Harmon and Judy working through the grid. Judy is a green horse and we added ground poles to help her with the striding. Photo by Luke Fattorini
Day Two brought a course full of varying distances and bending lines. I wanted people to use the adjustability and suppleness that they had learned the day before. Lemaliza has some great coops and brush fillers, so it was a lot of fun making the courses a bit lookier for the horses. I was very impressed with how well everyone carried over their skills from the day before. Again, everyone really seemed happy with their progress in their lessons.
As the clinician, I was THRILLED with how well all of the horses and riders absorbed the concepts and put them into action. I had a few young horses with experienced riders, and it is so much fun to watch the horses learn and figure things out. For instance, I had one rider tell me that her young Cleveland/TB cross mare was very clumsy and not careful at all. As I watched the horse go, I realized that the horse was not clumsy at all, she just needed her rider to be patient a bit longer to the fence and let her figure things out. By the end of the weekend, the mare was jumping like a champ. For all of us, it is always so nice to have an eye on the ground to see the things that we sometimes can not feel. Even if it is just for a weekend, getting those things to work on can really get us focused back on what we want to accomplish. For myself, I know that the longer I go without a lesson, the harder it can sometimes be to really stay focused on “what’s next.” Clinics can be a great way to hear new ways of doing the old things.
It is important as the student to be open minded and listen to what the clinician is saying. Sometimes, it may sound different from what you are used to, but it may just be a different way of saying it. As a clinician, it is important for me to listen to what my students are saying. Even though I am the “pro” with the eyes on the ground, they know their horse a lot better than I do. I think with knowledge from the rider about the horse (sometimes, they can feel things that we can not see), and the input of the instructor, clinics can be a great way to improve one’s riding in a short time. I am excited for the next one!
Emily Izer (right) was the lucky winner of the Snider's Elevator gift certificate, seen here receiving it from assistant store manager, Louise Webster (yes, she manages Lemaliza too!!)
