Jan and Richard
Happy New Year! I love this time of year because I’ve just been with my family, skiing and visiting with my nieces and nephews, and celebrating my Dad’s 80th with the whole family. They always inspire me in conversations about their lives and and jobs. Everyone in my family is a teacher of some sort—three generations--and spending time with them makes me a better teacher.
This year in particular, Tom and I skied a lot with my brother, Richard, who often doesn’t have the time off because he’s an emergency room physician and trauma doctor who has to cover shifts during the holidays. He also teaches residents at the hospital, plus was a ski instructor for five years before going to medical school, so he’s actually an amazing teacher and Tom and I benefitted from his wealth of knowledge. It was actually quite funny because the first day Richard was helping me, he said, “Jan, you look like you’re riding dressage going down the mountain. You need a more athletic jumping stance, and you need to blend your aids and incorporate the steps we’ve been going over: hips down the hill, turn your skis and bend your knees, make sure you go with your skis, and don’t be so rigid! Feel like you’re on a horse cantering a bank—up, one stride, jump off—let yourself go and adapt to the motion of the horse and use your ability to let your body go with the motion. Blend your aids so you look like it all works together." The result was the best skiing I’ve ever had, whether dropping in on double black or cruising on a blue. After that, I was inspired to add that philosophy and feeling of blending my aids in my riding and teaching, and I couldn’t wait to get home.
Sidebar: My brother rode horses until he was twelve, but he hasn’t ridden much since, so it’s amazing he came up with a way to help by relating my skiing to my riding. I’m inspired to be a better teacher and rider and am on my way to Wellington for a while. I’m going to ride some for Katie and Henri Prudent and ride dressage with Sallie Spenard. I’ll be showing during the week at WEF and Global with two of Anita Antucci’s young horses and Sunday through Tuesday will continue to head home to Virginia or to teaching clinics in Alabama and Aiken.
This year in particular, Tom and I skied a lot with my brother, Richard, who often doesn’t have the time off because he’s an emergency room physician and trauma doctor who has to cover shifts during the holidays. He also teaches residents at the hospital, plus was a ski instructor for five years before going to medical school, so he’s actually an amazing teacher and Tom and I benefitted from his wealth of knowledge. It was actually quite funny because the first day Richard was helping me, he said, “Jan, you look like you’re riding dressage going down the mountain. You need a more athletic jumping stance, and you need to blend your aids and incorporate the steps we’ve been going over: hips down the hill, turn your skis and bend your knees, make sure you go with your skis, and don’t be so rigid! Feel like you’re on a horse cantering a bank—up, one stride, jump off—let yourself go and adapt to the motion of the horse and use your ability to let your body go with the motion. Blend your aids so you look like it all works together." The result was the best skiing I’ve ever had, whether dropping in on double black or cruising on a blue. After that, I was inspired to add that philosophy and feeling of blending my aids in my riding and teaching, and I couldn’t wait to get home.
Sidebar: My brother rode horses until he was twelve, but he hasn’t ridden much since, so it’s amazing he came up with a way to help by relating my skiing to my riding. I’m inspired to be a better teacher and rider and am on my way to Wellington for a while. I’m going to ride some for Katie and Henri Prudent and ride dressage with Sallie Spenard. I’ll be showing during the week at WEF and Global with two of Anita Antucci’s young horses and Sunday through Tuesday will continue to head home to Virginia or to teaching clinics in Alabama and Aiken.
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