The Gifted Fund

Debra Haber

USDF Region 5

A Gifted Week at Horseshoe Springs

I would like to thank The Dressage Foundation, Carol Lavell and The Gifted Fund Committee for awarding me this opportunity. My horse, Armani, and I traveled to Horseshoe Springs to spend the week training with Kim Yacobucci on Sunday January 8, 2006. Armani is my new Prix St. Georges Dutch warmblood schoolmaster and all ready, my friend. During the drive, I reviewed our goals for the week. We planned to focus on changes, beginning pirouette work, our lateral work and the collection required for third and fourth level. We were planning to successfully show third and fourth level in 2006 while schooling PSG. I was very excited about the week ahead. Because I work full time as a nurse manager, I had never had a week to just focus on my riding.

 

We arrived about 1:00 PM at Horseshoe Springs and were met by Kathy Gibson, the barn manager. She showed us our stall for the week and made sure we had everything that we needed. I settled Armani in, made sure he was comfortable, and then went to find my home for the week.

Monday morning, Kim had me begin my ride by getting Armani straight into the bridle at the walk. She emphasized the importance of him marching forward in the walk to an honest connection in the bridle explaining how that would impact our trot and canter work. We moved into our trot work, established the forward, and then began some lateral work to supple him. Kim made sure that I kept Armani moving forward in the lateral work because he tends to slow down in the exercises. The next thing we did was to time the half halts so that Armani maintained his balance in all the exercises. We finished our session Monday with some changes over the centerline on short diagonals. Once again, Kim had me focus primarily on keeping Armani forward and having him change on my aids. At the end of the day Monday, I knew some significant things had just taken place and that my focus was changing. At that point, I really could not have put it into words. I felt that I would understand what was happening as the week unfolded. After our lesson, I just spent some time with Armani, just grooming him and hanging out with him. He is quite a clown and really loves to play. We had a fun afternoon.

Tuesday I arrived early and watched several lessons before my own. It was really helpful for me to see other horses and riders working on the same things that Armani and I were working on. Prior to riding Armani, Kim had me ride her third level Oldenburg, Don Diego. The lesson on Diego was about half halts and collecting the canter from my seat. Diego was perfect for this lesson because he gave very clear feedback. Once I discovered those deep core muscles that stabilize the pelvis, it was really amazing. Kim had me canter less in my seat by accessing those muscles and stabilizing my pelvis. The result was that Diego became more collected in his canter. All of sudden "from your seat" took on new meaning. Next, Kim had me ride an Intermediare 1 Dutch warmblood, Jamelone. Jamelone is owned by Sue Leutwyler and currently leased by Kim's assistant trainer, Bobbie McKee. Riding Jamelone was to help me learn pirouette work. We spent a few minutes at walk, trot, and canter to establish forward and review the half halt. On a small canter circle, Kim had me collect him from my seat to clearly feel the pirouette canter. Adding in half halts brought him around in a pirouette. What an amazing feeling, but even more amazing was that the pirouette itself was simple. The difficult part was being sure to keep him in front of my leg, to collect my seat, to half halt and release, and to keep my body quiet so that I would not interfere with him. The pirouette was completely dependent on the basics just taken to a higher level. As I prepared Armani for our lesson, it occurred to me that I had never ridden three horses in the same day. What a wonderful day!! As I began warming Armani up, Kim commented that my seat was quieter today. Armani was also more forward as we began. It was all beginning to make a bit more sense. Kim had us go through third level test one with the focus on suppleness while maintaining the forward. After our lesson, I gave Armani a bath so that we could body clip him in preparation for a show the following week.

Wednesday, I watched Kim teach several lessons and then had my lesson on Armani. Right away, we focused on getting him in front of my leg, supple and straight. Once we had that, everything else was really simple. It became very clear just how critical it is to always start with the basics and to remember the basics during all the exercises. We then went through our half pass and changes of fours, threes and twos. As long as I remembered to keep Armani in front of my leg, supple and straight, these exercises were simple. If he got behind my leg or crooked, the exercises became very difficult or impossible. I think I began to really understand the purpose and design of the levels. Each level really does build upon the preceding work and if done correctly, it is a logical progression in the training.

Thursday turned out to be my best riding day ever. Kim started me on Ranier, a third level Oldenburg, owned by Cindy Hitchcock. We established forward, did suppling with some lateral work, and then went on to some changes. Next, I was lucky enough to ride Gianina, a Grand Prix Oldenburg, owned by Barbara Foster. Kim had us do some walk, trot, canter and extended trot. Then the biggest surprise of all, she had us end with some piaffe. My third ride on Thursday was on Jamelone again to continue working on pirouettes. I was able to feel each stride of the pirouette. My understanding was definitely increasing. Then I had my lesson on Armani. He was nicely forward right away so we went to our canter work. After Kim had me establish the pirouette canter, we worked on half pirouettes. Kim really emphasized the idea of riding from half halt to half halt to balance my horse. We discussed feeling the balance and then half halting to maintain that balance. It became clear to me that I am responsible for keeping my horse balanced so that he is able to do his job. I think Thursday was a real breakthrough day. It made sense now. It really is about the basics with every horse and at every level. After my lessons, Armani got to finish his spa session. He was body clipped, had his mane shortened and thinned and his tail banged. He loved every minute of the attention.

Friday morning we had our final lesson. That lesson was really a review of the week. Kim had me show her Armani's walk marching into the bridle, his forward in front of the leg trot, and his wonderful collected canter. Then we reviewed the things that had really stood out to me from the week. Here they are:
1. Half halt and let go.
2. In the half halt, I must keep the driving aids on.
3. I must release and allow my horse to carry himself.
4. The horse must always be in front of my leg.
5. Ride with a collecting seat.
6. Recognize when he is balanced and then re-balance him as needed.
7. The energy must always come from behind, over the back to the bridle.

I believe that we met and actually exceeded our goals for the week. We worked on changes, pirouette work, lateral work and the collection for third and fourth level. I also left with a much better understanding of the half halt, some of the variations of the half halt, the purpose of the half halt and why it is so difficult for trainers to teach the half halt. Being allowed to ride a variety of horses in addition to my own was really good for me. I was able to understand that the principles of the basics apply to all of the horses that I ride. I was also able to feel a little more confident in myself as a rider because I was able to ride different types of horses and make adjustments with in the basics that worked with each of them. I know that this week was much more than I could have dreamt of and certainly much more than I can put into words for this article. The week was truly a very special gift. I believe that studying with Kim made significant changes in my riding and prepared me to compete at third level this spring. I think we created a solid foundation for schooling fourth level and Prix St. Georges as well.

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