Dressage lesson with Allison
After a great week the Camp has drawn to a close. Four of the riders will compete tomorrow at the Sporting Days Horse Trials, two in the Novice, two in the Beginner Novice. A fifth will compete next weekend at Pine Top in the Preliminary.
From my perspective as a coach and teacher, it was a great week. Starting Monday with Abigail Lufkin addressing the mental game of riding and competing provided a perfect touchstone throughout every lesson. At the end of the day we have to match our mental skills with our physical skills. In my experience this is poorly understood by amateurs and professionals alike. All too often I hear negative self talk when positive self talk would be so much more constructive.
At the beginning of the week Allison Springer, who shared the teaching with me, and I evaluated each of the riders. We then decided to either weight the individual’s lessons towards the dressage or the jumping, though every rider did quite a bit of both. Allison taught dressage each day. I taught the jumping each day and took everyone to Gibbes Farm for a cross-country school on Thursday. Friday provided one last chance to get everyone tuned up before the event. For those that were jumping this meant a walking a newly set show jumping course, warming up like we were at a horse show, and jumping a round. We then talked about how to improve the round and did it a second time. I call this “playing horse show.” It’s a great way to put our skills to the test while simulating the competition experience.
Dr. Christiana Ober and Katylou Gray brought their extensive knowledge of vet care and equine massage to the camp, and by the weekend it was even warm again. All horsemanship aside, however, I expect that I’m not alone in thinking that with the camp over, I’m going to miss Sarah’s breakfasts every morning the most!