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Patty Keim: 2017 Gifted Recipient, Region 2

In Search of the “Perfect” Canter by Patty Keim

We all know what it’s like to go to the barn and think that we are going to work on “THIS movement” or “THAT movement” in our ride that day because we need to make improvements or get a better understanding of aids for the movement. Right? And, we all know that 5 minutes after we mount and start our ride, our plans for the day sometimes go right out the window and we end up working on something totally different.    

Well, I’ll be honest and tell you that it happens to me all the time! So, I’m not sure why I thought I would be able to follow the specific training plan I wrote for the 2017 Dressage Foundation Gifted Memorial Grant that I was fortunate enough to receive this year. In my plan, during an intense week of lessons with my current trainer Kristin Stein, I wrote that I wanted to work on achieving canter half passes with more collection and bend, straighter flying lead changes, and more suppleness and throughness in canter pirouettes. These were good, solid, achievable goals in my mind, but as it turned out these were probably not the best way in which to think about or articulate what I was trying to achieve and improve upon. More on that later.

Let me start with a little background. I currently compete at the PSG Level and I also compete a Fourth Level Freestyle so the movements in my training plan are key to success for me. My partner in crime is Java Joe. He’s a 15-yr. old half Percheron half Thoroughbred – affectionately nick named “Hunka Chunka” (since he’s a big guy at 17.2 and about 1600lbs) and he’s been my partner for 9 years now. We know each other very well.

As my week of training was approaching in late May, I was so excited to be on vacation from work so that I could spend every day on the farm. I was anxious to get started so that I could achieve my goals.  During my week I took daily lessons, I did lunge lessons to work on my seat, I audited training rides and I videoed as much as I could. Here’s a short summary of the highlights of my week and how it all unfolded:

  • On Monday, I rode Java in a lesson with Kristin and I thought we would warm up and then get right to work on my goals. Instead we worked on getting him deeper, more over his back, achieving true half halts, staying in my outside rein in the canter while not letting him sneak out through his outside shoulder, and keeping my outside elbow at my side. We also did some suppling exercises at the canter using leg yields. By the time we finished with the exercises, an hour had gone by and we were done. Note that there was no work on canter half pass, or changes or pirouettes.
  • Tuesday, I had another lesson on Java. We again focused on suppling exercises which included big sweeping leg yields at the trot and canter. We also did an exercise across the diagonals of the arena where we started in leg yield, change to half pass and then back to leg yield. This exercise was to ensure that I could control Java’s shoulders and his haunches independently and put them wherever I want them. Kristin videoed many parts of this lesson and we reviewed the video afterwards, which was extremely helpful. Note that we did a little bit of canter half pass work.
  • Wednesday, I was thrilled to be able to audit a training ride where Betsy Rebar Sell, owner of Shade Tree farm where I board, agreed to school Java. Kristin sat with me and we talked about the entire ride from exercises in warm up to finishing up with full pirouette work. I took tons of video clips on my iPad so that I could see (and replay later) the quality of the gaits she achieved, the exercises she did to achieve them, and the execution of various movements. The “ah-ha” moment for me while watching Betsy ride, was how patient she was with Java and how she never settled for less than what she was asking for. Until she achieved the quality of the gait she was in, she did not try to “do anything with it” - no half passes, no flying lead changes, no pirouettes. Near the end of the ride, when the quality gait was there with some consistency, she did a series of movements for me to watch and video. It was quite stunning to watch what my Java Joe could achieve when he had the “perfect” canter.
  • Thursday, Java got a much-needed day off and I got the opportunity to ride two other horses in the barn in lessons. I rode the First Level horse, “Patriot,” owned by fellow boarder Leslie Hoffman. I also rode Betsy’s very special PSG horse “Doktor House.” I had not ridden any other horse in a long time, so this was a great opportunity that was much appreciated! Both horses are very different from Java and it was fantastic to be able to experience them and compare and contrast them to him. At the core of it all, in these lessons, I worked on the basics that are so key to achieving quality gates. Both lessons were applicable to my lessons and training with Java.
  • Friday I was back on Java in a lesson and the goal was to work on the same things that I saw Betsy work on during her ride on him on Wednesday. While Betsy and Kristin collectively talked me through my ride, Kristin videoed me so that I would be able to compare Betsy’s ride to mine with respect to warm up exercises, suppling exercises and quality of his canter and self-carriage. When I achieved a good quality canter I did work on some half pass, flying changes and half pirouettes. Yup, my training week would be coming to an end soon and in my mind, we were just starting to work on my written training plan and goals.
  • Saturday and Sunday, I had 2 more lessons with Kristin on Java to finish my week of training and it was more of those critical basics. We always started with warm up walking work that included leg yields and shoulder-ins. Warm up trot work included big sweeping leg yields, shoulder-ins and haunches-ins. In canter work, I had to ensure he was straight, sitting, under himself and had the self-carriage I was looking for. For short periods of time I found that elusive “perfect” canter” and so I was able to work on my goals of more bend in the canter half pass (especially to the left which is the challenging side for Java), straighter changes (key here was to have a very collected and very active hind end so he could jump under himself versus swinging) and more through and supple pirouettes (I needed Java deep in my outside rein and more in front of my leg during the collection).

To try to summarize my week of training I would say I walked away with these key learnings:

  • I’ll probably be seeking the “perfect” canter for the rest of my riding days. When you find it, you want more! When you lose it you want it back! With it, you can do any movement well and it’s an amazing feeling. While I didn’t directly achieve my training plan goals as originally stated, I did improve the movements I targeted, due to work I did during the week on the quality of Java’s canter. I felt I had a VERY successful week and I was thrilled with the results.
  • Foundational things like straightness, throughness, suppleness and self-carriage are the keys to the kingdom.
  • Java is a “young” FEI horse and the sitting and collected work is very hard for him – he needs a lot of positive encouragement and many small breaks during our training sessions. He is building strength in every session so that he can better carry himself. I must be more patient, yet more demanding with him.
  • I should appreciate what I have more than I do sometimes. It’s easy to complain or get caught up in the little things when your ride does not go the way you planned for it to go. I have an amazing partner in Java Joe and I am more grateful for him than ever. He tries hard for me and that’s all I should be asking for - I’m very lucky to be his Mom.

Finally, I want to say thank you again to The Dressage Foundation’s Gifted Fund Committee and to Carol Lavell and all donors who made this scholarship possible for Adult Amateurs like me. I am proud to represent the Adult Amateurs in Region 2 and I encourage anyone reading this report to learn more about what The Dressage Foundation is all about and their amazing support of our dressage community.