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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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