Helen Casteel is the Sponsorship Coordinator at Waredaca in Laytonsville, Md, and kindly sent us a report from a clinic with David O’Connor at Waredaca last week. Helen writes, “We had great horses and riders come ou,t as well as a steady stream of auditors. David is an amazing communicator and everyone came away with a clear understanding of his philosophy as a horseman, trainer, and USA Chef d’Equipe.” Many thanks to Helen for sharing this clinic experience! If you have a report to share, send it to [email protected].”
From Helen:
Last Tuesday started out gloomy and wet, but that didn’t discourage riders and auditors from coming to Waredaca’s Expert Day with David O’Connor. The Day was divided into three groups: novice, training and prelim, with each group show jumping in the morning and going cross country in the afternoon. At lunch, all riders and auditors gathered with David, who gave a short lecture about what he believes creates a successful cross-country rider.
Each groups’ exercises for the ring work were remarkably simple in concept but at times difficult to execute. Everyone started out having to trot and then canter over a pole on a circle. When David thought the group was ready, the pole became a vertical. David was very strict and constantly asked each rider to maintain his or her line and stay in a forward seat. After each rider cantered over the pole/jump individually, he asked if they stayed on their circle the entire time. In the beginning, the answer was typically, “No.” David told each group to “make sure you are making very specific decisions,” stressing that being detail-oriented will build muscle memory, creating a foundation for themselves and their horses as exercises become more difficult.
Lindsay Kelley in the prelim group. Photo by Sarah Gonzalez
When he thought a group was ready to move on, the exercise became a seven-stride line starting with a vertical to an oxer and, for the training and prelim groups, a course starting with the seven-stride line, a right-hand turn to a vertical, six strides to an oxer, a left-hand turn to another vertical, then seven strides back to the last vertical. David did not let up on making sure riders had to land on their circle and maintain their rhythm. Riders that cantered around on the incorrect lead, didn’t make their distances, allowed their horses to rush or get behind their leg were always made aware of their mistakes and asked to repeat the exercise until they were successful.
David made a number of statements that all riders, not just eventers, should always keep in mind:
• “Seat dictates the length of the stride. Leg determines the energy.”
• On why show jumping can be difficult: “Everything happens fast; riders don’t notice speed and direction have changed.”
• If your horse deviates from the ride you’re giving him: “Did you notice, did you do something about it, did it change?”
• “Direction, speed, rhythm, balance. Those are your responsibility.”
• “As an event rider, the answer to everything is ‘put your leg on.’”
Lunch was shortened since David was so thorough with each group, but he spent a few minutes talking about cross-country riding. He said that well-ridden cross-country rides should be ‘boring,’ and educated riders barely move, specifically noting that Andrew Nicholson and William Fox-Pitt are practically immobile on their horses.
Training group XC canter. Photo by Victoria Walters
The rain had pushed out by the time novice kicked off the afternoon cross-country session. Each group started out cantering in a circle around David while practicing different types of cross country seats. He noted that he hears coaches telling their students to put their leg in a certain place, but nothing about the seat. The rider has to adjust their seat with their leg to be the most effective.
All groups warmed up over a single fence, then moved to cantering up and down a mound. First, the riders were just going up and down over a pole at the top of the mound. Then the pole became a small vertical, and then a slightly larger vertical. Then the riders went up over the vertical and back down over a novice log also on top of the mound. As the novice group finished the mound portion, David said that riding up and down a mound with smallish jumps is more educational cross-country training for a young horse than just jumping a bunch of portables. “A horse will tackle the mound seven different ways, and none of them are wrong,” he said.
Steph Butts in the training group. Photo by Gretchen Butts.
Next came the bank and water. At this point, horses and riders in all groups were keyed in. Everyone started by walking and trotting through the water to let the horses know what was next. Then riders cantered individually through the water, over a pole at the edge of the water, two strides to the up bank and one stride to a pole. When everyone completed successfully, riders then went back down over the pole, down the bank, over the pole and into the water. Like the mound, both poles became verticals as each pair became proficient.
The novice group finished their day at the water, but training and prelim riders moved to the bank complex. At this point, horses and riders were really keyed in and rode aggressively up and down the bank. Similar to the other exercises, David added a pole (this time a bounce) on top of the bank. The pole became a vertical, and each pair sailed through the combination.
Ryan Keefe in the novice goup. Photo by Sarah Gonzalez.
It’s worth noting that with all groups and all exercises, David continued to stress riders staying on their line and maintaining their rhythm. Every once in a while, he would ask a rider if they stayed on their circle and there usually was a heavy pause, followed by a “Nope” or an enthusiastic “Yes!” It was a long day but very fun and very educational. A few riders told David it was the best clinic they’ve ever done, and it was certainly one of the best clinics I’ve ever audited. Go Eventing!
David with the novice group. Photo by Helen Casteel.
