The Gifted Fund
Lori Johnstone
USDF Region 7To The Dressage Foundation,
I was the Region 7 recipient of the Gifted scholarship and I chose to ride with Hilda Gurney. I brought 2 horses, which I was not originally planning but it meant I had 9 lessons in 5 days! My older horse “Gracie” a 15 year Half-Arabian, Half-Trakehner who had been showing 1st and 2nd Level last year, was the original horse I had planned to bring but Hilda had suggested that I bring both horses. “Raven” is an 8 year old Shagya/Holsteiner cross who was shown @ training level last year and has had right canter issues as well as “spookiness” problems, so I had some concerns about how he would handle the situation –but I was game to try so off to Moorpark we went.
The weather was warm that week but not as hot as my home 3 hours away. My trip there Sunday evening was uneventful, but my trailer needed a new jack and my truck a new tail light before the end of the week! So I just knew things had to go well with my lessons! Gracie was fine but Raven was crawling out of skin while I was walking him in the dressage court. The court is a bit frightening in that there are trees all around and the horses can’t see but they can hear all that’s happening around them. I stayed at a little cottage down the road so I settled in with eager anticipation of what tomorrow would bring.
Monday A.M. I started by watching some lessons with Hilda. Just sitting, listening and watching all the other riders was very helpful. I watched the patterns that she systematically used. Every horse had to start from the beginning of the warm up to use its back correctly or no further work could be done. This was the start of every ride regardless of its current level. Hilda went over the rein aids while I watched. First the fingers are used, then if more is needed the wrists are used and lastly if necessary, the elbows. As the horse advances the rein aids become necessary to maintain the frame, with the seat and legs doing the rest. I also was able to see horses worked in hand piaffe and passage-- starting young because of the time frame it takes to develop them for Grand Prix. Finally in the afternoon I rode Gracie for the first time. I lunged her first and then started my lesson as the others I had watched. Her trot work was good, Hilda said it was a 3rd level trot, but the canter was training level. My reins were too long in the canter so that I could not balance Gracie correctly for collection. By shortening my reins and getting her poll in a higher position her canter improved. She was breaking a bit in the canter and Hilda told me I needed to do more canter work with her--stressing the importance of not breaking in the gaits so that the horse could learn half-halts. I went through shoulder in to travers and then to half-pass, and I thought to myself “Cool, I’m half-passing with Hilda. Life is good!”
Raven was also lunged before I rode. Hilda watched him canter, and there was no lateral canter when she observed his gaits. Lahua, Hilda’s assistant offered to ride Raven in the court first for me, so given his history I was happy for the offer. She managed him nicely so on I went. Again we started systematically with the same warm up and Hilda could see that straightness was a big issue for Raven. The mirrors were very helpful to look up and see what I did not always feel. He started to have more problems with the canter rhythm when he was too bent to the right. In general Hilda told me that the head should not be bent more than the width of the horse. I finished my first day fairly elated that Hilda had some good things to say about my abilities and that she liked both horses and that they were suitable for me. A good start!
The next day I rode Gracie we did more of the same and then I worked turns on the haunches, which I did not demonstrate well. Hilda told me if it feels easy then it probably isn’t right. She had me walk to half-pass to turns on the haunches, step by step. Gracie had a tendency to turn around the middle like a pinwheel. We then worked canter circles with half-halts on the centerline. Both horses had some difficulty with this. So Hilda explained I needed to work on lengthening and shortening the stride. Raven became more relaxed as the week progressed, so we could do more work including half-pass trot and a few half-pass canter steps. Again, Hilda’s comment was that I needed more canter work on Raven as well as lots of mileage!
Our canter work did improve as the week progressed. Also I heard many comments about my aids--they needed to be clear and soft. I had the tendency to give unclear aids and when the horse did not respond to them I would get “louder”. Hilda explained that the horses start to anticipate and get anxious when the aids get harsh. She had me riding half-pass right to get the right canter lead when I was struggling. I also had the opportunity to ride in different saddles that she thought might fit me well. It was great to hear “you sit better already” with just a different saddle! I have been riding in the same saddle since I started riding dressage so it was like driving in a Cadillac after getting out of an old VW bug! So I now knew I needed to move the new saddle fund ahead of the new refrigerator fund in my budget! After all my 20 year old refrigerator still works!
Friday came fast and I had my last lesson with Hilda in the A.M. after watching her work several horses in the wee hours of the morning. She took the time to explain what she was doing with the horses while she was riding and how that compared to what I was experiencing, so I could better visualize what I was attempting to do. I rode Raven for my last session and it was in the A.M. so the shadows were all new to him. So there was more real life dressage! This is what I get to ride at a horse show! Which was good for me and Raven to work through. When he tried to shy at first Hilda had me walk and keep him on the track and not let him move inside. When that wasn’t working well she had me stay off the track around the quarter line. “If it’s not working don’t keep doing the same thing!” Hmmmm, where have I heard that before! Pulling my hands up when this was all going on wasn’t helping either, so I became aware of what my contribution to the situation was as well. Hilda ended my lesson with some encouraging words as well as my next few months of homework. I hoped to myself that I could come back and do this again soon.
It was a great time of just being immersed in an environment without daily distractions. I had envisioned my riding and my horses’ abilities to be more advanced by the time I got to go to Keenridge but life happens as it does to everyone and alas my time to ride became limited. I listed my training goals as developing skills to ride at 3rd level and improving the quality of my aids. So even though my horse and I were not ready to be working flying changes, I feel my goals were met and the experience was invaluable. I would like to thank everyone involved at the Dressage Foundation who made this all possible, especially Carol Lavell for her generosity, my family for surviving without me for a week, and Hilda Gurney and everyone at Keenridge who made this such a great and profitable week!
Sincerely, Lori Johnstone
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