Surefire Eventing
  • HOME
  • SUREFIRE EVENTING
    • JAN BYYNY
    • SUREFIRE EVENT TEAM >
      • HORSES
      • SUPPORT
  • LESSONS AND CLINICS
  • SALES
  • BLOG
  • SUPPORT THE TEAM
    • SPONSORSHIP
  • CONTACT

William Fox-Pitt Clinic

11/26/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Kate Samuals photo
Winter has officially arrived in Virginia; luckily for us we don’t have snow yet. I had a real highlight this November--riding with William Fox-Pitt at a clinic at the Morningside Training Farm. Kaylin Dines kindly offered me Why Not to ride because JR’s still on break. I found William’s training philosophy to be a lot like mine, which was encouraging.

He had a couple key points that really hit home for me. Some of them are things I knew but needed to be reminded of.

First, always have a plan for what you want to do with your horse. Be strict about your plan without adding tension.

Second, William pointed out that while we always strive for a clean round in show jumping or on cross-country, we don’t practice getting a clean round in the dressage ring enough. Point taken. He stressed that the walk is something that no one practices enough, it’s completely underrated, yet counts for one-third of our test marks.

Picture
Kate Samuels photo
He also reminded us to practice having a sense of calm while warming up, which will eventually instill a sense of calm in all our riding, whether we’re warming up for jumping or doing a dressage test. Remember to breath out.

When things go wrong, use more leg. Do more rising trot. Your contact should always be definite, teaching your horse to take the weight of the rein.

I trot jumps fairly often, but am taking William’s advise to add walking at jumps to help teach my horses to look for the jump.

Picture
Kate Samuels photo.
Incorporating William’s points into my riding and training is a great way to start the winter months. They add to my own riding and give me things to teach other riders. Thank you Morningside Training Farm for hosting and Kelly Gage for organizing the clinic.

Coming up, I’ve got a couple clinics to teach and will be attending the annual meeting in Cincinnati at the beginning of December. I’m taking a quick trip to Colorado at Christmas to ski with family, and then will be heading down to Aiken on the 4th of January. Until my next update, keep warm!

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

Website by Bright Horse Communications