Christine Dickenson (Region 1)

Photo by Terri Wetzel - Wetzel Equine Photography

In January, Qhuo Vadis and I arrived at Pierre & Samantha St. Jacques' North Star Farm in Orefield, PA for our week of Gifted Grant training. I was very excited and while I knew we were in good hands, I was also a little apprehensive... what were the  expectations of being on training board and could I live up to them? Right from the start, Sam reassured me - I was there to learn and have fun! Pierre is a trainer that I have worked with on an ongoing basis and he had trained my horse as a 3-year old, so the fact that he knew both the horse and me helped put me at ease and allowed us to hit the ground running. Both Pierre and Sam are very low-key people, everyone at North Star made me feel welcome and the horse settled in well, so we were off to a good start.

One of our goals for the week was aimed at increasing Qhuo's back and hind end strength so that he could begin to develop the carrying power required for collection, and to learn and practice exercises to develop that strength. We were fortunate that the horse seemed both physically and mentally ready to make this step forward. While my horse is a nice mover, his hind end was not engaged and he was not as responsive to the forward driving aids as I would have wished. We used a combination of techniques during the week, one of which was Pierre riding first and me getting on, and at other times, me riding the horse with Pierre's instruction.

I learned that it is both a physical and mental challenge to create the expectation that the horse will work over his back with an engaged hind end, giving you a connection into your hand. Another goal was for me to work on the timing of my aids, and being able to have Pierre give me both verbal and visual cues that we can use when we return to our home stable was very helpful. A third goal of mine was to learn how to work the horse more efficiently, when to work through an issue and what is enough work through that day. Once we had walked for 5-10 minutes, it was time to trot, and the horse was to trot through from the first step in warm-up. Our work sessions were usually less than 30 minutes long. When there were moments of miscommunication, Pierre was able to let me know what was going on, help me identify what needed to be clearer in my aids, and we then practiced with more clear communication. Over the course of the week, Qhuo began to be the same forward-moving horse when I rode as he was after Pierre worked him.

One of the things that I learned from Pierre was that his training philosophy involves training for the ideal horse many years down the road. This involved introducing the horse to new concepts (like brief half-steps at the trot), rewarding him for his effort, then riding forward and going on to a familiar exercise. I recognize that I need to learn to ride every step, and this was made clear with some of Pierre's exercises, particularly when he had us trotting over 5 gradually-widening cavaletti on the centerline, making a 10m turn and leg-yielding back to the centerline where we trotted back over the cavaletti and turned in the opposite direction and repeated the exercise. Having the horse securely on the outside aids became a necessity to be able to complete this exercise! Timing the use of my forward driving aids so that I applied them as the horse's hind leg began to move forward was one of the skills we worked to develop. I learned that because the legs move in diagonal pairs at the trot, use a forward aid on the inside when the outside front leg is most back, just before the inside hind leg moves forward. We always finished the day's work with an exercise that the horse found enjoyable.

My initial feelings of apprehension vanished quickly and my excitement continued through the week of learning and hard work. This week of intensive training gave me a glimpse of what our future may hold, and it was exhilarating to see and feel what we were able to learn! I was amazed at the progress both Qhuo and I made during the week of the Gifted Grant, and I am very grateful to The Dressage Foundation for this opportunity.