Karin Andra (Region 3)

I feel lucky to have been a recipient of The Dressage Foundation’s Carol Lavell Gifted Grant for Region 3. Finding the time to lesson on a regular basis has been a challenge as I work full time and have a 5-acre farm to keep up. I train with Anna Marek in Reddick, Florida. She has been helping me train my horse SS Sambuca for about two years. Her farm is about a two hour drive from my house, that’s just one way! Due to the distance, I am usually only able to lesson about once a month. Having the ability to leave work and farm chores behind for a whole week to focus on my riding was a rare opportunity.

Monday morning, I loaded Sam onto the trailer to begin our week. Upon arrival to the farm I settled Sam into his stall and was able to watch Anna give several lessons before it was my turn. Our training goals for the week were to improve our lateral work and to sharpen up our flying changes, as I have just moved up to Fourth Level. Anna wanted to start with suppleness to improve our lateral work. As part of our warm up, we practiced keeping Sam in front of my leg. He tends to get dull to the leg aid so Anna had us work transitions within the gaits as well as upward and downward. Next, we used a suppling exercise to get Sam to relax his neck and improve flexion. I started with shoulder in then went into half pass and ended in leg yield. These constant changes in bend really helped Sam to relax the base of his neck.

Tuesday was a lazy day for me as Anna was gone for the morning taking lessons with her trainer, Anne Gribbons. I was able to sleep in and spend some time in Ocala shopping at the tack stores. I arrived at the farm in the early afternoon. Sam was enjoying the day too, as he had a large grassy field for turnout. In the afternoon we continued with suppling exercises. Our half passes were finally improving. One of the benefits of having several lessons in a row was the ability to focus on only one or two issues each ride, as opposed to once a month. With lessons so far apart, we are trying to work on as many things as possible.

I arrived at the farm early on Wednesday so I could watch Anna ride. She rides up to 10 horses a day from green youngsters to FEI level. It was interesting to see how forward she rides even the green horses, teaching them early to stay in front of the leg aids. It was a fun lesson day as we started work on flying changes. Sam does lovely changes when asked correctly. I tend to allow him to get flat at the canter and this will sometimes cause him to be late behind. Anna wanted to improve his activity at the collected canter to get those clean expressive changes. We started on a 20 meter circle in collected canter, then asked for a very collected canter for a few strides. This gave me a good feel for the canter I need during changes. We then worked changes and holding that canter on a straight line. I was also excited that Sam’s breeder, Teri Vincent, was able to come and watch my lesson. She takes a keen interest in her babies and has followed Sam’s career closely. Teri had not seen Sam in a year and was happy to see how far along he has come.

Thursday arrived quickly, and I was so sad to think the week is almost over. Thursday morning, I was able to watch Anna ride her upper level horse as she readies him for their upcoming CDI in Wellington. As I watched her put him through his paces, I realized how important it is for a horse to be on the aids. The movements come quicker during the test as you move up the levels. Today we continued with the collected work and started to put things all together. Practicing half pass and leg yield at canter with some changes thrown in.

Friday came and it was sad for me to think the week is over. I was worried that the weather was going to be hot, but it was in the 30s for my lesson! Sam started out a little fresh but soon we both warmed up. Friday was the day to put everything we learned together. The highlights for me were to have Sam in a lovely pirouette canter while remaining soft and supple in the bridle. Self-carriage is a lovely feeling! We did so well that Anna was able to start us on some half steps by the end of the ride.

I now must keep up with my homework, as it will be a few weeks before my next lesson. I was especially happy with how well Sam handled all the work, he seemed to thrive on it. I am excited to get out and show at Fourth Level, my goal this year is to get my first two scores towards my silver medal. It has been such an education watching someone of Anna’s caliber ride and train. I learned just as much watching as I did riding. I encourage others to apply for this grant, the process can take some time, but it is well worth it no matter what level your riding ability is.

Thank you to Anna Marek for her guidance not just during this week but over the last two years. I also want to thank all those that wrote such lovely letters of recommendation for me, so that I could receive this grant. Of course, a big thanks to The Dressage Foundation for supporting us adult amateurs with this grant.