Teresa Crater: 2017 Region 1 Gifted Recipient

I applied in the Fall of 2017 for The Gifted Fund grant. My horse, Uther Pendragon, and I are working at Prix St. Georges. Uther Pendragon (Uno) is a seventeen-year-old Dutch Warmblood. I purchased him at three years old and backed him myself. Before Uno, I had not ridden past First Level. Uno and I worked our way up the levels together. In general, our canter pirouettes have been mediocre at best; I was always anxious going into them which translated tension to the horse. A single change was okay, and I could do three changes consecutively, but when the changes had to be a fixed number of strides apart we were weaving from side to side by the time I was asking for the third change. I decided that if I was going to succeed and earn my Silver Medal, I needed to be able to focus intensely over several days on the issues. I submitted for TDF’s Gifted grant to ride with Mrs. Rebecca (Becky) Langwost-Barlow in Preston, Maryland, and I received it!

We spent most of the first lesson fixing me. My shoulders needed to be down and back and my elbows needed to be at the points of my hip. My reins were too short and I was pulling back to keep the contact. Becky stressed to me the need to make the horse move out and down towards the bit to get his hind legs engaged. Every time she asked me to put my leg on him, his neck shortened and rose up and he sped up. Every time he did this my first reaction was to pull back on the reins to keep contact. It was quite the eye opener. If I did not pull back to get contact, he just raced around the ring. I was frustrated, but Becky was patient and kept me going. 

The next day we were back at it. We started out the same way as the previous day. I kept the reins a bit longer and asked Uno to move out to the bit. He had to understand that when my legs go, on he needs to be more round and not brace in his neck. In the canter, I was also leaning instead of sitting squarely on my horse. Becky stressed my position and told me that I needed to sit evenly on both sides of my horse and to keep him squarely underneath me. Another thing she pointed out to me was that I was not getting the bend throughout his body. He should turn in front of me. 

I watched the videos from the previous days. I felt like a rag doll during the lessons, but the videos showed a different picture. Looking at the videos, I was able to see how Uno responded when I was able to get my body to cooperate and sit squarely with my shoulders down and back and NOT pulling on the reins. The third day I finally had a breakthrough. I finally felt the sweet feeling of my horse connecting his hind leg to the reins. It was the most incredible feeling. Of course I lost it almost immediately, but over the course of the lesson, I was able to reproduce it. This lesson ended with us working on figure eights – a ten-meter canter changing into a twenty-meter counter canter. We were still working on my position. Every time I forgot about how I was sitting, Uno would break to a trot.   

We went home for a week to digest what we had done. The following week, Uno and I went back for two more lessons. The lessons started the same but I was able to control my body a little better this time. The emphasis was on keeping my horse as “table top” as possible and keeping the shoulders in front of his hips. We went back to bending throughout his body. I really became aware how much of we did was a result of how I was using my body. I realized that I did not have to pull back on the reins when I put my legs on and that my horse would become more round and step to the bit, but it took an incredible amount of core strength to hold it. The feeling was wonderful. The quality of his gaits improved and he was relaxed. We spent a week fixing me, but it was worth it. The last day we worked on pirouettes. It was so hard not to revert to my bad habits, but my position, I really do believe, made an incredible difference and I felt my horse really engage his hind end and come around. Back home, I realized how much this also with his changes. Since addressing my position and seat, Uno’s changes have become straighter and relaxed as well.

It has not been perfect since. But what I learned more than anything is how important it is for me to be consistent and correct. I spend most of my time in the saddle concentrating on sitting correctly on my horse and giving him a place to go into the bridle. When I ride from my seat and core he is a completely different being. I truly believe having the time to really focus on my horse and riding has made a difference.

I continue to be amazed at how much there is still to learn. The lessons with Becky were not easy, but what I took away from them has proven to be worth all the effort. I have always told my children, “Nothing that is worth it ever comes without equal the amount of work to earn it.” What I gained from working with Becky was worth it.     

Uther Pendragon and I came down centerline in May at Dressage at the Meadow and earned our USDF Silver Medal. This experience has been wonderful and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.