This weekend I rode in the Gerd Heuschmann clinic located at Wacky Nut Farm on BainbridgeIsland. It was like a mini vacation since I was able to spend 4 solid days riding my horse and mingling with equestrian professionals; top riders, veterinarians, saddle makers, massage therapists, instructors, judges and amateurs like myself.
It was a privilege to ride with a trainer of such high caliber. I was one of 8 riders in the clinic.
On Thursday from 5-9pm he gave a lecture which covered the topics in his book Tug of War - Classical vs. "Modern" Dressage. Then from 9am - 6pm Friday through Sunday he worked with the riders to demonstrate the techniques he talked about in the lecture. At first Gerd would watch us warm up our horse to see the way we rode how the horse moved. Then he would get on our horse and train them for about 20-30 minutes and demonstrate how to improve the horse's gaits by having them engage their hind ends more which resulted in a raised back and a neck position that was relaxed. He was able to change horses from leg movers to back movers.
The first day of riding I was very nervous especially since I was riding in front of 50+ other equestrian professionals who were auditing the clinic. But what I gained from the experience was definitely worth the hundreds of dollars I invested to be there. I learned how to better connect with my horse by not using my hands as much but rather to concentrate on my seat. Old habits are hard to break, so it was difficult for me to relax and let go with my hands and carry the horse more with my legs and seat. When I did though, it felt so amazing! My horse felt like he was floating and free beneath me. I could truly feel his back raised higher beneath me after Gerd rode him and his hind legs reaching and stretching more underneath himself.
I'm still trying to sort out some of the things that I learned over the course of this clinic as not everything he said was positive or jelled with my personal riding philosophy. But at least I have the 4 hour lecture video from Thursday night and a 2.5 hour video of me riding on Friday and Sunday to refer to.
The week after the clinic I gave Ben two days off to recover from all the hard work he put forth. But I guess that wasn't enough because when I showed up to ride him on Wednesday he had hurt the bulb of his heel pretty bad by over-reaching so I had to give him the rest of the week off as well. During that week of no riding I must have watched the videos 4 times each, trying to let everything that Gerd said sink in. There were many negative things he said to me about my style of riding which at first really hurt me and crushed my confidence as a rider. After reviewing them and applying what he taught me has lead to a whole new level of self-discovery and is allowing me to be in better tune with my body and my horse's body as I ride. So I've decided criticism can be a good thing, if we make it a learning process and try to honestly correct our mistakes and try out other's suggestions. If we are forever stuck in our old ways, we'll never be able to learn and progress. If it doesn't hurt, then we aren't trying hard enough! Why not try something new out and if you see positive results, then great! It's always worth a try! Remember to be teachable we must be truly humble first!
