Young Rider Graduate Program Day Two

My report from the USEF/USDF Young Rider Graduate Program Day Two.

After a intense and inspiring first day, we were all back for the second day of the Young Rider Graduate Program. We started off the day with Christoph Hess. Mr. Hess is the director of Training for the German Olympic Committee for Equestrian Sports and an FEI "I" judge for Dressage and Eventing. He is a really nice guy, I would ride with him in a clinic in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity. He had more of a socratic method to his lecture, which he began with the question what is an ideal rider?
A hard question to answer, but it brought up several themes for discussion:

• A good rider must have patience.
• "Between the small tour and the grand prix you have to walk through the rocky mountains without your shoes on." 
• "Learn with your eyes". Take the time to watch other riders and pay attention to how they work their horses and what is successful.
• "How do you act with success and disappointment?" 
• Regarding downward transitions, "Start the trot, don't finish the canter."
• Transitions and attention to detail are what makes for a successful riders. Since I brought up para-dressage tests, Christoph talked about his experiences with para riders, and noted how light para riders have to be and that riders should not use strength to accomplish the movements, it does not make for a good picture. If you have really good transitions and really pay attention to the small details, the small tour will come easily, don't get caught up in the drama of things like tempis and pirouettes, if you have the transitions the rest will come. 
• If there is a fault, look to the rider first.
• Learn different ways of riding, jumping and knowing other kinds of riding can help your dressage.
• Being flexible in your body is what makes you look still.
• A rider is always a beginner.

After Christoph, Debbie McDonald came and spoke. She is currently the USEF Developing Dressage Coach for the able bodied High Performance riders. I've worked with Debbie in the past and I consider her to be a mentor, she has an amazing eye and is very good at finding ways for he students to be successful. A lot of the questions the participants had were technical about the developing program, but this translates across the board:

• Warm up is more educational than the show ring, the process is what sets your success.
• Don't put too many expectations on the horse.
• Think in different directions.
• Treat everyone like they can be your next sponsor.

The next speaker was Kathy Connelly. Her topic was on the USDF Instructor Certification Program, again there was a lot of technical information about the program but speaking with regards on how to be a good instructor:

• Have a mission statement.
• Ride your weakness to a top level and keep it there.
• Have a code of ethics.
• Always preserve the horse and rider's dignity. 
• Have a good mentor.

To dovetail Kathy, we had Bill Warren and Bill McMullin come in to discuss the "L" program. I have my scores for the "L" program and hope to start it soon. They discussed the nuts and bolts of the program. One interesting fact that I found is that it takes a minimum of twelve years to become an FEI judge. I was also able to ask a question that I have been turning over in my head for awhile, it is challenging as a para rider to enter national classes and even though the judge is a "R" or higher more often than not you are the first para test they have judged, and you can't feel confident that the scoring is going to be close to what the judges at the CPEDIs will give you. One of the Bill's (you will have to forgive me, I can't remember which one) said that eventually they would like to move towards a special certification to judge para classes like they are moving towards with the young horse tests. I doubt this will happen anytime soon, but I am of two minds about this. I like the idea of having judges that are educated in the tests scoring them, but I don't know how many would bother getting certified, which might limit opportunities to show those classes at the smaller shows I do at home. It's all hypothetical for now, but it will be interesting to see where this goes down the road.

Pam Goodrich was next up, her topic was training opportunities in the United States. Pam is a trainer at the barn I am staying at in Florida, and Carino is being cared for by her staff. I like watching Pam teach a great deal, she is very passionate and her eye is very sharp. She is also alway pushing her students to think critically about the cause and effect of their actions on the horse. These are some of Pam's thoughts on training that resonated with me:

• Your teaching skills have to be broader than just teaching horses.
• You have to keep personal goals but you also have to support yourself.
• Read the USEF rulebook and know the definitions they provide.
• Take the time to observe other riders. 
• Hone your skills.
• Competing is important because you are what you do, and if you are not a good competitor than coach people at shows.
• Plan for long term goals.
• Never take a loan on horse!
• Know when you need to move on.
• Knowing what not to do is important as knowing what to do.
• When you take a clinic do as your told and always listen, you can always stop but don't write off the advice.
• The broken horses are your best teachers.
• There are systems of training, different systems work for different horses, like people with religion some people only need the promise of heaven and some people need the threat of hell everyday. 
• Take the opportunity, don't wait for someone to give it to you. 
• If you compete against the same people in your area all the time it can give you a false sense of where you stand.

Lastly to pair with Pam's talk, Michael Baristone came in to give a talk on training opportunities in Europe. His talk was less about how to get over to Europe as one might imagine, but it was more about how there is no longer a great need to go over to Europe and we should take advantage of the opportunities we have here, these are some of the points he made:

• We have to make our own horses and riders and not rely on Europe.
• All riders in Europe have the same problems that we do over here.
• You need long term exposure to someone who is really good.
• Europe should be viewed as a life experience opportunity and not as much under the lens of training.
• Anyone who doesn't have anything to hide should let you observe them.

The experience over these two days was great. It was so nice to bond with people my own age that share the same passion that I do. It was also great to see the same themes repeated by so many well respected people in different ways. The level of consensus is reassuring that there is a path if you want to pursue this sport to the highest levels, and there is no need to reinvent the wheel.