Doug Payne Clinic – Dressage (Part 2)

As I watched the first few dressage lessons I immediately saw a common theme.

Doug started right out with the basics.

1. Straightness

Doug showing what happens when you ask for forward without being straight.
2. Forward

Bad Eventer & WonderPony
3. Steady Connection.

Doug gave everyone hands on demos on how the contact should feel. Probably one of the most useful things a top instructor can do for us mere mortals. This gives you a real feel of how it SHOULD feel.

He gave a fantastic demo on why your horse needs to be straight. Here it is again in case you missed Part 1. Doug is showing why your horse needs to be straight before it can be forward. He explained if they are crooked and you send them forward they are in a perpetual state of “falling”, which is where the running off/heavy on the forehand/rushing problems tend to stem from.

Straightness was also one of the first things he addressed with each horse. Most of the horses turned out to be quite one sided and many riders ended up having to use the same set of aids in both directions to obtain straightness. (example: right leg & right rein to push the shoulders left & straighten the neck while going right as well as left.)

I was excited because the main thing that I wanted to work on in my dressage lesson was straightness! My guy is pretty fancy and has so many buttons that he tends to spin around like a top. He LOVES the old intermediate test where you do haunches in and then shoulder in down the long side. He tends to OFFER haunches and then shoulders on any straight line……. which leads to some very “creative” movements.

Doug immediately recognized that my fancy pony had “trained me not to ride him”.

He gave me an exercise which started out with a leg yield at the canter asking for counter bend, then trot and continue the leg yield.

Here is where I get to admit that……..apparently………… I’ve never understood what counter bend was………….

With a riding career of more than a few <cough> decades, I have found that roughly every 3 to 4 years I come to realize………….

………that I still have NO IDEA what I’m doing.

This was another one of those times………

Doug used a dressage whip to demonstrate bend and counter bend, and said to think about the head and tail staying in the same place and the rest of the body changing the bend between them.

That would be different than just bending the neck to the outside, because the horse can still keep the body bent the other way. Here’s my note!

Yeah………I’m the one always riding around at clinics with a notebook.

This was a Craig Johnson clinic.

What surprised me was how many people asked me WHY I was taking notes………..

 

Here’s my public service announcement for other Bad Eventers out there. Don’t miss these kinds of opportunities!!!! Watch the other lessons. Listen. Video. Take notes. Ask questions. You can still have a fun social weekend and maximize your learning. When a super star  and class act like Doug Payne comes to town, DON’T MISS OUT.
End of public service announcement.

Each lesson reinforced the theme of the day…….straightness, forward and steady contact, with Doug hopping on several horses for a tune up. The changes he made in the horses were amazing with the quality of their gates immediately going up several notches. It was a fantastic example of how “when you ride them properly, they get more beautiful.”

Here’s my favorite quote of the day, “His head is bouncing around because his butt isn’t in gear. It’s like the speedometer in your car. If the needle is bouncing around you don’t fix it by moving the needle, you fix it by stepping on the accelerator.”

 

 

====================================================================

New Colors on BadEventer gear added BY REQUEST! Get your Bad Eventer gear, shirts & other swag at www.Cafepress.com/BadEventer
 

Share with:


4 thoughts on “Doug Payne Clinic – Dressage (Part 2)

  1. Austen Gage

    Oh yes! That bit about riding a one sided horse with the same aids in both directions rings very true for me. My horse and I might do straight dressage now, but that doesn't mean he's magically a master of straightness! 🙂

    Looooove the PSA about note taking. I'm also an obsessive note taker at clinics. There is so much to pick up on!

  2. Equine Snob

    I'm a note-taker, too! I even took notes in ballet class (much to the confusion of my fellow dancers).
    I also love that bit about fixing it by stepping on the accelerator! Forward is never the wrong answer!
    I absolutely love those notes of yours! I'd bet they are incredibly insightful.

Comments are closed.