July 21 – 25 Christian Bachinger Spanish riding School Clinic
Attended by Jill Murray and Cody.
I was privileged
to receive a DVCTA scholarship to attend the Christian Bachinger Clinic the week
of July 21, 2010.
This is an annual USDF accredited clinic held at
Melanie and Tom Adam’s Four Winds Farm,
The clinic advertised that Herr Bachinger would share his love of classical horsemanship at each rider’s pace and that the clinic would be designed with the rider in mind. The clinic would provide a very detailed and comprehensive training program tailor made for each rider and that Herr Bachinger would work with horses and riders of all levels. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it really was truth in advertising and I had a delightful experience that will stay with me for a very long time. In fact, I cannot wait to go again and take 2 horses next year and do the full 5 days.
Being a complete dummy when it comes to what classical dressage is versus competitive dressage, I had no preconceived notions or prejudices before I went. The dressage I have learned has always been from people who compete and train horses for competition. I provisionally call myself a second level rider having only taken one horse to that level and not sure how well I did that! My 12 year old Nokota, Cody, is not competitive at recognized shows at second level and I agonized over the winter as to what to do. Though showing above first level didn’t seem to be in the cards for him, we had learned the trot and canter half pass, I had found my core and I understand a bit more how self carriage is supposed to feel. Cody can do bits and pieces of second and third level so I finally decided he would be my teacher. He did not have to show to be fun for me and could still have a job to do for many years to come.
When I heard about this clinic I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to learn about the SRS horse training and rider instruction technique and philosophy that has been in use successfully for centuries. The DVCTA scholarship made it possible for me to get a farm sitter, stay at a hotel and do 3 days of the clinic. This turned out to be fortuitous as Cody and I got better and better as the 3 days passed working through the program Christian developed for us. It gave me the time to really understand the program and see the improvement each day. If I had just gone for 1 or 2 days I would not have gotten my light bulb moment on the third day.
A little bit about the venue and Clinic overall and then I will talk about my riding experience.
Melanie Adams put on a great clinic that was very auditor friendly. It was more of an event rather then just a clinic with it being a full 5 days. Everyone there was included in all activities, including lunch, raffles, silent auction and lectures. Right after lunch everyday there was a presentation or lecture. Equichord came and did a freestyle demo, there was Yoga for riders, a driving demo, Reikki, micro chipping and how to fit a full bridle and start a horse in one for the first time. We all stayed at a very nice Hampton Inn 20 minutes away. Stabling was quite nice, each stall had a fan and included daily stall cleaning and morning feeding. The air conditioned lounge was a popular place in the high 90 degree heat that weekend! Melanie kept us well hydrated with a never ending supply of water and Gatorade, and a wine and cheese party on Sunday!
I expected
to see Lipizzans there and I was not disappointed with 5 there that weekend
including Melanie Adam’s lovely stallion Pluto Matina. Very cool horses!
But there were all breeds there from Quarter horse,
Thb/Perch cross, Thbred, Dutch, and
Christian was very accessible for conversations every day and readily answered questions from the auditors during rides. He was happy to discuss anything about the SRS. We got a good inside understanding of what it is like to live that life day in and day out. He told a very funny story of how his father grudgingly gave in to having a chiropractor come in to look at one of the horses that had stopped jumping the Courbette. When someone asked Christian why he is with the SRS, his whole face lit up and he said it is because of the horses, he loves the horses. This was certainly evident during the 3 days I was there. For every ride he greeted each horse with a sugar cube and a rub on the forehead and a pat on the neck and at the end of each ride he did the same and he would say to the horse, good horse, well done. Then he would discuss the ride with the rider.
And now for my riding experience.
I have never been good with clinics. I get overwhelmed with the experience, and poor Cody the giant is truly the alternate alternative when it comes to being a horse doing dressage. The only clinics I will go to are Silva Martin or Bob Orton. I got there early on Friday so that I could watch Christian teach before my ride and get an idea what to expect. Not knowing what to expect from an SRS clinician, I was pleasantly surprised…no…change that to thrilled that I did not hear him say anything or see him ask a rider to do something I had not already done with Cody before. His accent was easy to understand and since he was wearing a microphone he was easy to hear. And he had a great sense of humor. I also quickly learned the 4 degrees of his assessment of how things were going. That’s okay, that’s good, that’s nice, that’s very nice Ya?
Christian spent 10 minutes talking with me about my riding experience, what Cody can do and what his issues are. He explained to me that the SRS approach does not work for every horse or rider but that over the next 3 days he would work with us to see where he could help to change our daily work routine so that Cody would be more ride able. Each session was 45 minutes long.
We started out at the walk and he made a few changes to my position. Chin up, drop my shoulder blades and drape my leg with a deep heel. Once we started the trot he had me ride with a much shorter rein then I ever had before. He could see right away how hard it was to sit Cody’s trot and how inflexible his back was. He had us do a lot of shoulder in on the wall, qtr lines and center line going deep into the corners of the indoor. Then walk to trot transitions on the circle. I have never done so much shoulder in in my life! But I had a more flexible horse and I could finally sit the trot with more of my core engaged. Once that was accomplished he taught me a progression of movements to prepare for the trot half pass. The SRS does not use the leg yield…ever…half pass only. This progression were things I know but in a different sequence for a specific purpose. On the long side shoulder in and at B or E a 10 meter circle bringing his haunches into the circle slightly and then shoulder in again out of the circle go deep into the corner make the turn on the center line and ask for half pass, look where I am going, with outside half halts sit very straight and tall. This was all repeated on both sides until I had progressed from that’s okay to, That’s very nice, Ya? After a walk break it was canter work. He wanted him to be more through his back again so we did much canter, walk canter transitions and collected, to working canter until he was satisfied he was carrying himself better behind. The interesting exercise he gave us was to canter on a 20 meter circle and change rein through the circle with a walk transition. Yikes! But after a few repetitions I had a very uphill canter.
On Saturday, Christian started out repeating everything we did the first day but Cody and I did not need to do as many repetitions to get a “that’s nice!” . I got more corrections on my position and where I carried my hands. My second ride was all about ingraining the work program into us and understanding how it was helping Cody’s flexibility. He also worked with me on turn on the haunches. Since Cody is so wide, I can never stop him from stepping out. As I approached the corner of the indoor, he had me do shoulder in and as I got into the corner he asked me to move Cody’s haunches deep into the corner and then close my outside aids and ask him to come around on his haunches. Once I got over my paranoia of being that close to the wall it was okay. The wall and the corner contained his hind end so he couldn’t evade and step out. After several repetitions of that it got better on a straight line across the indoor, but I never got more then a “that’s okay”…oh well more home work to do! For canter work Saturday it was preparing for and doing the canter half pass. Take him deep into the corners and do shoulder fore into 2 ten meter circles down the long side, up the center line shoulder fore and then ask for the half pass with a change of lead through the walk at the wall. We got a “nice horse, that’s very nice Ya? A couple of times and Cody felt fabulous.
Sunday was a totally different ride. Cody came into the indoor all full of vim and vigor and energy. He was bright eyed and bush tailed! Again it was back through the same progression of work though the canter half pass. We spent some time with collected to medium trot and canter working to build the energy. Now Cody has never, ever given me a true medium let alone an extended trot or canter in his life, but that day he did give me a true medium trot and canter. Through out the ride his back was soft and flexible and he was going deeper into the corners. The last thing we did which was new was to show Cody and I the beginning of teaching the canter pirouette. On the 20 meter circle with Christian in the center we did the slowest canter we could with walk trot transitions then I spiraled in the canter as far as I could where Cody could keep cantering around Christian and with Christian asking us to also have haunches in no less. Now if you had told me on Friday morning I would be cantering an 8 meter circle on this horse on Sunday afternoon I would have said you were crazy, but Cody did it quite easily! We did that once each direction and we got a “that’s very nice, that’s quite good!
What I learned from this experience is the amount of time you need to stay in the moment with no other goal in mind other than for the horse to achieve his best in that moment. Also, that I need to push both of us to do more repetitions of exercises and movements in my rides. The other thing I learned was to stick with a riding plan and be patient. If he struggles, stop and go back through the serious of movements that led up to the struggle to find out where the flaw is. If he still struggles then only go as far as he does things well and don’t press him as it takes as long as it takes. At 12, Cody is a young horse in SRS terms and in 2 – 3 yrs Christian feels that our current struggles will be behind us.
Having 3 days to watch Christian use his methods in different ways with 8 horses each day helped me really see what was happening and how the horses improved. Thank you DVCTA for making it possible for me to be able to do 3 full days. It has changed my riding exponentially as a result and I am very excited about Cody’s new flexibility. He qualified for BLM at First Level and I am going to try Second Level again on BLM weekend. This time last year I wouldn’t have felt comfortable trying a recognized show at second level but I do now!