News

July 28th 2003
well a lot happens in a week. My mother has gone touring the romantic road, and my good friend Lindy Wright has arrived to help me. Lindy and I have been friends since school. She is a very accomplished dressage rider, and it is amazing that she has given so freely of her time and that her family have supported this. Projects like this are only possible with the co-operation and support of many people, and this also enriches the experience. It is relationships with people that really bring meaning to our lives, I think, and human beings seem to innately search for meaning.
Monday we went at 5am to the DOKR, venue for the Bundeschampionate, to play horse show. I was disappointed how nervous I got just thinking about the world champs. Of course when I am nervous I take a flexed posture and end up leaning forward on the horse where I can't influence him so well. We went home disappointed, although Susanne seemed pleased that Pzazz was so tuned in when we rode a test in the main arena.  
  Then in the afternoon we went to Holland to meet Pzazz's breeder. We had coffee and cake, and admired his horses. He also bred an approved stallion who is with Anky. His name is Redford and he is 5yo. He was rightly very proud of his breeding programme. We managed to get home with many deviations from the shortest route, and learned that it is difficult to get petrol after hours if you're not on the main routes. But we didn't run out so that was ok.
Tuesday we achieved a quantum leap breakthrough in my understanding of the contact, and I had him so through and connected that I could hardly believe it myself as it felt so fantastic. We started with stretching down into the contact. He must take the rein forward and stretch the trapezius muscle so that it becomes wider in front of the shoulder. I can look at the muscle and see it wider. I must have the feeling that as he stretches into the contact actively he lifts the wither to my hands.
  Now my hands are stiller, and my seat is more upright we worked on the transitions, within the paces and walk/trot and trot canter. We have always done this, but on Tuesday we did it with impulsion, a certain ground speed, not demanding instant responses necessarily (at times I can get too rough and cause him to lose his balance, but wanting him to be sharp, tuned in). The key word was determination. The transitions had to be sharp but smooth, elastic and frequent. Trot, 1, 2. Walk, 1, 2. Trot, 1, 2. Walk, 1, 2, etc. When he got a little resistant to this I sent him forward in medium trot around the arena with tiny transitions back to just less than medium, then up to extended trot. Luckily Susanne approved of this. Most of the work was on the circle where the inside leg is engaged a little. Shoulder fore position is used to keep the straightness at times. The inside rein must stay soft (small relaxations of the fingers in a closed fist) so as not to restrict the inside hind leg from stepping up under himself. Boy that was great. Now we just have to be able to achieve that every time I ride!
Thursday we did a show. A very relaxed, pretty setting (plenty of time to breathe out). It felt a bit unreal going up the centre line thinking “I am really riding a test in Germany”. My strategy is just to enjoy it. Pzazz is great and we belong here. I am an experienced competitor (if not an experienced dressage test rider) and I am finding I can draw on my jumping experiences to problem solve. The bell rings; breathe out, heels down (that's important in jumping to stabilize the legs) now becomes breathe out, sit like a princess, stretch up, down, ride in one piece. And do you know what? I reckon I can do this!
Andrew and Manuela Mclean came to Susanne's and we had a very stimulating discussion or three, interspersed with some riding, teaching and a lot of laughs. In Australia we don't have such an organised way of riding and training, but we have some really creative thinkers such as Richard Weis and Andrew, who have so much to offer in the cross pollination of thinking about riding. This could be one of the strengths for us to leapfrog to some international improvement.
I have always been a great fan of Andrew, as he takes some well known science and applies it to horses, and expands on this. We as riders tend to be conservative people, and believe in the old teaching. But we are modern, and our understanding that the classical trainers were right can be more sophisticated if we are open to the truth about horses that is known from science (I think some of that is the title of Andrew's new book).
There is more to tell. I joined a gym, we went to a show and saw some lovely youngsters, etc but I have to go and do some real work.

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