Emerging Dressage Athlete Clinic

Upon completion of the Emerging Dressage Athlete Program Clinic with olympian Lendon Gray, we were thankful to have had the opportunity to ride and participate in the lectures of the weekend. The very generous Tempel Farms in Gurnee, Illinois donated their beautiful facility for the event where youth riders under 21 from within Region Two joined. Riders from age 8 to 20 were present, schooling intro level to Grand Prix. It was an opportunity for riders and auditors to experience the development of riders and horses of all levels, ages, and breeds. 

Throughout the clinic, Lendon stressed the importance of having choices while riding. Developing a communication with the horse so that he wants to cooperate, giving the rider the ability to do anything. She described dressage as a means of making the horse better through therapy, no matter the breed or age.

For the riders and auditors involved, Lendon encouraged participation, allowing for a fun, interactive learning experience. Participants were able to learn about the gaits of the horse, the aids used while riding, and effective warm ups. Then the comparison was made to see how the theories applied to the actual application.

The Gaits of the Horse

While lecturing on the gaits of the horse, she had participants describe the gaits. The canter, which has three beats begins with the outside hind leg, then the outside front and inside hind leg as a pair, and completes its third beat with the outside hind and inside front leg. Knowing this allows for increased understanding of the aids, such as the use of the outside leg of the rider to initiate the canter. The trot, which has two beats, was discussed to have diagonal pairs. This knowledge is important when training at all levels, and is it is important to maintain diagonal pairs was the horse achieves the most collected versions of trot: piaffe and passage. The last gait, the walk, is often under ridden and spoken about, although Lendon suggested that all riders take time to achieve a forward, matching 4 beat walk with the horse stretching into the contact. The strides of the walk (if starting with the left hind) are left hind, left front, right hind, right front. Again, knowing when each foot is coming off the ground is useful in having accurate timing while riding.

Aids

It was a nice refresher for all participants to go over the basic aids while riding. It was quickly established that two direct reins mean stop, and two legs at the girth mean go, however Lendon explained the importance of knowing how to influence the horse using the leg, rein, and seat.

While watching lessons, the participants were asked to watch as riders performed movements, and observe the aids (or sometimes lack thereof) that were being used. For example, during the shoulder in, we watched to see that the rider had the inside leg at the girth for bend and engagement of the inside hind leg, that the outside leg was behind the girth to contain the outside hind leg and prevent the shoulder in from becoming a leg yield, and that the rider was not using an indirect outside rein to pull the shoulders of the horse to the inside.

Warm Ups

Lendon also stressed variety in our warm-ups, encouraging the execution of many transitions within and throughout gaits and change of directions. These are the moments that set the tone for the ride and it is important to get the horse interested, engaged, supple and relaxed. She made the point that a rider should strive to have the horse relaxed in his work by having an effective warm up.

Lendon challenged riders to ride outside their comfort zone to improve. If nothing changes, there will not be improvement. One prime example that happened continuously was when a rider applied their leg or half-halted and there was no reaction from the horse. When this happened, riders were instructed to release the aid and apply a stronger one to encourage a response from the horse that would be followed by a praise of voice of pat on the neck. She emphasized the importance of not nagging the horse, but communicating clearly without a grey zone.

Lectures

Tempel Lippizans

During lunch, we had the opportunity to watch a demonstration from the Tempel Lippizans on training the piaffe and passage to their horses and their training program. Following the methods of the Spanish Riding School, the farm breeds Lippizans and trains them to the top levels of dressage while working with the traditional in hand work of the school, including the capriole and the levade.

The trainers explained that the most important thing is that the horse learns to be comfortable in the work and builds a connection with the trainers. Then, they have the desire to express themselves willingly, not by force. The horses are for short periods with frequent rewards, seen when the trainers working in hand would often stop the horse to praise them with a pat, voice, and a cube of sugar.

While demonstrating piaffe in hand and under saddle, the instructors stressed that the horse learns to become confident to carry himself and be light. One trainer explained that the rider should have the ability to lightly feel the horse’s mouth and allow him to move in an effortless, confident way.

The collaboration amongst the trainers at the farm critical to enhance the training of the horses. They observe the horses at liberty as youngsters to see which horse will have potential in different areas of work, such as the airs above the ground, and talk about the future and training that will best fit the individual horse.

Photographer John Borys

The second day of the clinic photographer John Borys shared his love for photography and how he has began a career in equine photography.
John was introduced to equine photography while visiting Tempel Farms with a photo club from Chicago. He began sharing his photos of the Tempel Lipizzans with the Program Director who saw his potential but told him he had a long way to go if he wanted to learn “the right way to capture a dressage horse”.  John began studying other photographers and meeting with the staff at Tempel every week to learn what correct dressage movements looked like and what “moments” the riders wanted capture.  Soon he was attending Horse Shows at Silverwood Farm in Wisconsin and became exposed to many different riders and horses and fell in love with Dressage. His work began to be shared on Facebook and he got his first gig shooting a Dressage Clinic taught by Olympian Jan Brink. From there things started to take off.

John explained his favorite part of taking photos is meeting the riders and horses and getting to know them personally so he can get the best pictures he can. Knowing the clients has allowed him to get unique candid shots and a more comfortable face in front of the camera. He also developed some very special friendships with many wonderful people.  Most every one of which has helped him along the way with a bit of advice or encouragement from time to time.  John emphasized the importance of treating everyone respect and listening to others as being crucial to building relationships, getting to know your clients, and seeing their connection with their horses. From his dedication he has become the official dressage photographer at Silverwood Farms and lead photographer at Tempel Farms. Additionally he has worked with Horses Daily and Mary Phelps, and will be the official dressage photographer at Lamplight Equestrian Center in 2016.