The Gifted Fund

Lee Ann Alf

USDF Region 9

A Gifted Week With Scotch and Progress

My plan for using this grant was to spend a week with Lurena Bell-Stanley in Willis, Texas, with whom I've trained for 18 years. With her help and encouragement, I have trained 2 horses to FEI level. I am schooling my current horse, Scotch Blend, at third-fourth level. Scotch is a Clydesdale/Arab cross and is not a "natural" dressage horse. He could be a little more self-motivated but is very trainable. My short-term goal and training plan includes working on tempi changes, pirouettes, and sharpening transitions within gaits.

I will endeavor to become more accurate and precise in the movements. My regular schooling does not demand as much from me as under instruction and I tend to be slower and looser. Working with my trainer will stimulate me to be better and quicker. Working at a "higher than normal" level for a more extended period will help develop the habit so it will be the "normal" level. Aside from 3-4 clinics per year with Lurena, most of my work is "ride by the seat of my pants" and self-taught. I hope to be able to become proficient enough during the week of concentrated instruction to be able to show a Fourth/Prix St. George Level test in 2006, which is my mid-term goal. My long-term goal is to eventually get to Grand Prix with enough quality to earn our USDF Gold Medal (I still like to dream and I believe this one is "do-able")

The training trip occurred in Mid-March. We trailered down and had a short lesson on the first day. Scotch trailered well and was ready to work after an hour or two of turnout. We worked on loosening and suppling with a "pole-bending" exercise moving his shoulders left and right with me staying in the center of the saddle and not throwing myself into the movement. We then did lengthening at the trot stretching him down then bringing him up without collecting. I felt like he "dove" down into the lengthening and "had" to collect to come up at first but by keeping the same big trot and bringing his neck up and down, this really loosened and lifted his shoulders.

Gaits: We worked on developing the quality of the canter and trot. They need to be "uphill" at our level. No leaning down or balancing a little on the reins even if that meant putting him almost above the bit at times. Wow! The little horse can really go and really wasn't above the bit! Scotch is not a "first-level horse" anymore but is training to be an "FEI horse". Ride him that way and develop the quality. Think the same with the medium and extended gaits. He must lift into them and not lean a little into them. The mirrors helped here also. I could see the straightness riding towards them. Sometimes we would lose engagement by not being quite straight and this was visible. What was expected of Scotch as normal at the end of the week was quite a bit more engaged than how he started at the beginning. We also did a little "attitude adjusting" with mediums. Scotch was reminded that mediums don't necessarily end at the end of the diagonal or long side. They might go around the short sides also. They end when I collect, not when he thinks they should. Poor Scotch-he still thinks we're wrong about this!

Half-Pass: Mirrors are wonderful things! They really helped my half-passing and developing the feel of getting the hind leg to really step under. My normal half-pass was okay but lacking just a tiny bit of engagement that I could see in the mirrors. It wasn't hard to get a little bit more and start insisting on that. Lurena wanted me to insist on the suppleness and activity right at the beginning even if it wasn't pretty-get it over with and don't beg all the way across. This worked well because we would start out active and keep it up instead of having just the last part good. She also told me to not slow down and get careful but to fly across and this will also help develop activity.

Flying Changes: Our right-to-left change comes through pretty well but the left-to-right gets crooked and croup-high often being late or square behind. We worked on straightness because of this. When Scotch started to back off before or after a change, we went forward in a medium and this forwardness really helped keep him straight. Keeping my hands together actually keeps him straighter also (no room to wobble between wide hands). Our big "light-bulb" moment came when Lurena told me to hold with my left (new outside) elbow, shoulder, and seatbone and not let Scotch take it away from me. Scotch could not change to the right when he couldn't get me adjusted but Lurena made me hold firm. Scotch finally got the change. It was a long time after I asked for it and it wasn't real pretty but it was clean and very through behind. With repetition, Scotch got better and it became easier. Through the week, I could start feeling the good changes. They were almost like "climbing" with his hind legs coming under and lifting his front end up. I believe in our training at home, the actual flying change became the goal and I would work to get the change whether it was clean or not so now the goal is to do a "correct" change and make that the habit. Later in the week, Lurena asked me to do five 3-tempis across the diagonal. We failed. We ran out of room because he was too forward and I did 4-tempis because I couldn't get him ready quick enough for 3-tempis. Lurena said to keep the collection so I wouldn't run out of room. This wasn't easy but it worked mostly. The left-to-right changes (hard way) were 3-tempi but the right-to-left (easy way) were 4-tempi-go figure! As with everything else, these were better by the end of the week.

Pirouettes: Our first exercise was on the long diagonal. We would canter on the diagonal, half-pirouette after X, and canter back along the diagonal, half-pirouette, and so on. I tried to do it all at once and Scotch struggled-too big, lost gait, etc. We were instructed to develop the "pirouette canter" (very collected) before X, then begin the turn after X. I had a hard time staying straight on the diagonal in the "pirouette canter" (wanted to wobble and fall in or out). I was also told to look over my shoulder into the turn, this would help me ride Scotch around. I also had to remind myself to stay relaxed in my hips and ride him around from there also. We have lots to work on at home but they were getting better through the week.

Half-steps, piaffe, passage: We worked on half-steps towards piaffe through the week. If he didn't bubble up promptly to my leg and a tap of the whip, Lurena had me tap-tap-tap stronger to get a prompt reaction. Since we were asking for piaffe from the walk, my walk has to be "piaffe ready". I shouldn't have to change everything to get ready to piaffe. This attitude carries on to all transitions. Scotch is catching on here and likes to baby-piaffe. Since I don't really feel a natural passage in Scotch, I asked what I could do to start preparing for this. Lurena suggested that we might train passage as a "trick" with Scotch since he seems to be very trainable. The idea is to start a Spanish walk where he will lift and almost strike out with a foreleg on cue, then develop this cue into the trot where he will "fling" a foreleg out on cue while trotting. This might give him the idea of passage. This might not be classical but I think we can develop Scotch's version of passage.

I believe my goal was met during the training trip. I have been home for about two weeks and have been able to continue on with the program. I have actually gotten better at several things. The 4-tempis have been getting better and more reliable as have the 3-tempis. I have been able to do several very nice feeling 2-tempis. One day, when Scotch was a little "high", we did four 1-tempis (on purpose) so I think we might have "got it, by Jove". I would like to thank the Dressage Foundation for allowing me to have this opportunity to train and to Carol Lavell for suggesting that donations in Gifted's name be used as a grant for Adult Amateur riders. I also want to thank Lurena Bell-Stanley for working with me and Scotch (neither of us classical but both trainable). I am trying to plan another training trip in the fall without the Grant. I still have my income tax refund coming and I am going to try to squirrel it away for my next training adventure.

Lee Ann Alf
2005 Gifted Grant Recipient
USDF Region 9