Carole Grant Clinic July 29 - July 30, 2013

I decided to ride in a Carole Grant clinic even though I had never met her before as she has a great reputation.  But of course I was a little nervous as my advanced horse is very sensitive and can get overwhelmed at times. Thank you Michelle Markquart and River Bluff for hosting this clinic!

On the first day it became apparent to me that I had compromised the relative straightness of my horse in the base of her neck.  I had done this in favor of having a good frame.  While this works somewhat - it does cause problems with upper level collection.  The other piece that became very clear on the first day was that pushing the horse on beat 2 of the canter really helps the horse put their croup lower. 

On the second day of the clinic we reviewed relative straightness but also looked at the individual movements a little more.  We worked on the rein back and how to eliminate any bracing in the horse.  Carole had me ask for the rein back and if bracing occurred, I was supposed to ask for a turn on the forhand.  This really did work to relax her and helped the rein back. 

We also worked on a pattern for individual flying changes to make them straighter.  (Straight flying changes are not always easy on a really flexible horse.)  The pattern was shoulder-for to Half Pass to shoulder for to flying change.  It became obvious very quickly that the changes were straight and easy for her this way.

We also took a look at the four tempis and the problem I have with them.  The problem is that Bacara likes doing changes so much that she gets excited in between the changes.  So oddly we would do a change and then a 10 meter circle and then back on the diagonal and then another change and then another circle and then another change etc. . .  It seems that the tempi changes are not the issue it is the canter in between them that needs to be really rideable.   The message was ride the possibilities.  In other words anything should be possible for your horse the next stride, when that happens, the canter is really easy to ride.

The other significant change I saw in my horse was the quality of her medium trot.  The pattern chosen to improve the medium trot was half pass to medium trot.  The half helps with better engagement and then the medium trot benefited from it.  The reach in the front end of the horse was significantly improved.

The other piece that really helped was an adjustment to the curb bit on the double bridle.  I was very concerned about having the snaffle bit and the curb cross and I guess I over compensated.  With the curb two holes higher, Bacara was very steady in the bridle and less bracey.

Wow, I would do this again!  There was so much information packed into two days, I had to write it down so I did not forget anything!