The clinic ran over two days and each session was approximately two hours. Day number one
was spent in the jumper ring practicing cross-country technique over stadium fences and day number two was spent in the field transferring the newly learned skills to a cross-country course. Despite the freezing cold weather
Lucinda seemed happier then ever to be here and she demonstrated this by showing her dedication to each horse and rider combination. Lucinda started off on the first day by finding out about us and what we had done with our horses
show and schooling wise. Everyone introduced themselves and the clinic began! Lucinda had multiple exercises placed out around the large jumper ring. These exercises consisted of arrowheads, skinnys, some small
oxers, a vertical, and a helicopter. She spent some time watching the riders trot their horses over these exercises just to see exactly how each horse reacted when asked to jump something out of the ordinary that they may not see
on a regular basis. Then all the riders were called into the centre to discuss the objective of the clinic. This was to set the horse up properly to jump anything placed in front of them and then to let them to their jobs without
interfering. She explained the importance of building a partnership between horse and rider that will be safe and effective on a cross-country course. The riders guided their horses through a series of low fences at the walk.
The aim was to get the horse to produce a nice, rounded jump with the back end following through properly over the fence. It was also supposed to pop the rider out of the tack and get them a little left behind. This is so that if
you are on cross-country and get into a sticky situation, you will be able to sit deep and ride through it more confidently. At first, many riders found their horses just stepping over the fences or slopping their way over not
really paying attention to the aids. This is where Lucinda introduced the "tube" affect. She explained that she wanted the riders to create energy from the horses behind with their legs, and then package it up with a firm but quiet
hand to create impulsion. She wanted it to be imagined so that the horse's body was like a long tube that you had to squeeze the toothpaste out of.
The next exercise the riders did was the "reins on the buckle." The
horses trotted and cantered through the same jumps but with the reins slipped to the buckle and the riders practiced picking up slack by riding with their hands up and their upper body slightly behind the vertical. Lucinda
explained that it was not supposed to look pretty, she wanted to see how ugly everyone could possibly make themselves look. We practiced over many skinnys, and wow were they ever skinny. Although they were small in height, some of
them measured only 3"6 wide. This taught everyone how to ride the horses from behind more accurately. It was explained that since cross-country courses are becoming more and more technical, it is critical that a horse lands after a
jump immediately waiting for the next aids to be given. After each jump, we were instructed to pull our horses up to a halt right away without shortening up the reins. If the horses did not respond immediately Lucinda would say "I
want to see his teeth on the floor if he doesn't listen to you!" It is unexplainable how important it is for a horse to be paying full attention at all times during a cross country course.
Once all the horses worked through this
exercise successfully, the big jumps were set up! Two wide corners and one large oxer were set up around the edge of the ring. The first time through, we cantered through the two corners in a more collected stride and then let them
naturally open up to the oxer and then gallop all the way around the ring to the oxer again. The rider's job was simply to balance their mount and stay out of the way while the horse picked the spot of take-of. The result was the
horse naturally backing its self off to find the perfect distance. It is amazing how nice things turn out when we do less! Sadly day one had come to an end but everyone had tons of fun and had gained plenty of useful skills to
store in their pockets.
The next day everyone met up again in the jumper ring and Lucinda explained to the groups what they were going to work on. The plan was to transfer the newly acquired skills from the day before
out onto the cross-country course. Some new exercises were set up in the ring for warm-up. There were two jumps set up at unmeasured distances away form a drop, one on the left and one on the right. As you rode off the bank you had
ride up over a roll top and then listen to whether Lucinda said "right" or "left". You then you had to ride the appropriate bending line. This was tricky because not only did the horse have to be paying full attention to its rider,
but the rider must land thinking as well because there was no room for error. Depending on the horses stride size and how the rider rode, the number of strides in the broken line varied.
Then everyone ventured off
down into the cross-country field. There were many different types of jumps placed all over the field that were calling our names. Lucinda gave us the opportunity to jump around over anything we wanted (with in reason) giving
us a chance to practice our "tubes". I must say that for me that was the best part of the clinic. It was really neat just being able to go around and try out any jump you wanted. So then the real cross-country schooling
began. Lucinda set up one of her super small skinnys at the edge of the water, another skinny on top of the step, and three blue barrels were lined up along the waters edge on the opposite side.
