I’m here in Ocala, at the Parelli Playground. Its very beautiful. It s quite refreshing to look in the meadow and see individuals with their horses, working and playing on their own or in small groups with their horses. In one corner, someone is working on trailer loading, another is lunging, another is riding a lovely canter through the trees another is chasing a calf. Some are in chaps and cowboy boots and other are in their breeches and tall riding boots. Its so eclectic. I really like that. Was is the same though is that EVERYONE is enjoying their horses and themselves.

I think we get overly focused on the result in the sport of Dressage. We forget to have fun. We forget to create a relationship with our horse. Isn’t this supposed to be the beauty, the fun? If our horses dont meet our needs right away, we tend to send them away or move on. There is surely always situations, where this really is best for horse and rider, but its refreshing to know, that if WE DID TAKE THE TIME, there ARE solutions to fix confusion that usually causes behavioral problems.

More to come as I return and have time to ponder it all.

Catherine teaching Jessica Miller

Ten riders each day all levels, Catherine brought her A game! Personally ive been riding Dressage for only 7 years, but I have struggled and struggled with developing my seat, I tend to be VERY stiff. For two days, we worked on my seat. That’s it. That was worth it. Was it that she did something revolutionary….no, but she did make some hugely effective changes that I can visually see and feel that makes my seat completely different, comfortable and rideable. My horse loves me for it too. My own stiffness was causing him to be stiff too. How can he move freely if Im not moving freely with him? He cannot. I hate to simplify it as im about to do, but this is what sticks in my mind and gets me to continue to ride as she taught me:

• Allow my leg to hang in a more forward position, meaning, dont think thigh hanging straight down from hip, think bent thigh forward into bend knee and lower calf straight down, NOT BENT BACK, to create the ear, elbow, heel alignment. Catherine’s view is that this is not natural and actually hurts the body and does not allow your hips and pelvis to swing.
• DONT push your heels down, to relearn, think toes down, YES TOES DOWN, it honestly is what allows my leg to relax and not grip….ultimately you want your foot to rest relaxed and flat on the stirrup bar, slight pressure on the ball of the foot, but, thinking heel down, or toe up, made my leg have tension….try this and you will see!
• Get rid of the vision of the GP dressage rider who sits elegant, still and silent. Think “It’s ok for me to bounce a little with the swing of my horses movement, forward and back, not up and down. It’s ok for my relaxed thigh to occassionally lift upward, like an Indian, its all ok. Focus on the tucked seatbone and visualize your large western belt buckle moving up and down, which will happen if your swinging your pelvis forward and back.
• And if your really serious and want to commit to getting a decent seat finally….ride without stirrups 100% of the time! ( for at least a month, PERIOD) I am

The last thing I want to mention is the saddle. Most of our saddles these days have thigh blocks or knee rolls that make it hard for us to sit naturally, as mentioned above, with the knee more bent and forward. They are made to give us that straight thigh, long leg look. Catherine uses a Stubben, with zero roll or block. I rode in it for two days and it was REALLY hard, but it allowed me to sit correctly, comfortably and made me have balance (otherwise I would have fallen right off) and learn to RIDE!

Anyone with hip, leg or back problems, should REALLY try this…I have a femoral necrosis from a femur break and lose all feeling in my leg when in the super straight thigh position and this has made a HUGE difference for me. Im using my saddle that does has some thigh block but its forward enough that I can bend my knee and thigh and replicate the feel as much as possible.

One more thing…..the horses moved SO MUCH BETTER, when the riders could MOVE with them….something to think about!

Dressage Training Online Founder Helps Launch Website for Reiners
By: Newsroom Associate
Last Modified: 11/23/2010 1:06:03 PM

Photo: DressageTrainingOnline.com founder Reisa Bonetti has helped found a similar website especially for reining fans. The new website, Reining Training Online.com, will launch in November. Trainer Jordan Larson (pictured) is one of the trainers who will be participating in the reining website. (Photo courtesy of Dressage Training Online.)

Alamo, CA (November 23, 2010) – Dressage enthusiasts around the world have spent the last three years benefitting from the world’s premier online training resource, DressageTrainingOnline.com (DTO), featuring a vast array of training videos. Now reining enthusiasts will have a similar website, ReiningTrainingOnline.com, which will be dedicated to the sport of reining and feature a video library and virtual training.

Reisa Bonetti, founder of DressageTrainingOnline.com, is assisting with the launch of the ReiningTrainingOnline.com (RTO) website through the parent company Enthusiast Training Online.com. “ReiningTrainingOnline.com consists of George Kiss, Martha Torkington, Lorie Sapergia and Cody Sapergia, and will launch in November of 2010,” Bonetti said. “Reining, which is enjoying its first year as an Olympic discipline, is in a prime position of growth and development.”

ReiningTrainingOnline.com hopes to assist reiners by becoming an integral part of the community and allowing amateurs and professionals alike to gain further understanding of the sport, learn key skills and fine tune their riding to grow in their competitive quests. “The ReiningTrainingOnline team brings 22 years of collective reining experience to the table in addition to a top competitor in the reigning community as a key partner,” Bonetti said. “I see this team as being in a superior position for creating a really valuable tool that will become a critical factor in furthering the sport.”

Bonetti, who founded EnthusiastTrainingOnline.com and DressageTrainingOnline.com, said she plans to work closely with the RTO team to ensure that they reach as many enthusiasts in the reining community across the globe as DTO has. “DTO has had over 23,000 unique members from 32 different countries. Not a day goes by where a member does not communicate with us about how valuable our training video library has been to them and who they ‘virtually’ train with and why,” Bonetti said. “We are sure RTO will have the same success as reining is going through an incredible growth phase, especially outside of the USA. The website is superior in that it brings top talent in the reining world to the community, and not just a single talented individual. We don’t all learn or communicate the same, so having a variety of experts explaining the same thing proves to be a more effective tool and gives members the chance to watch, listen and learn from someone who communicates as they do.”

Brian Bendele, Manager of Reining Horse Sports Foundation, is excited about the educational resource of Reining Training Online.com. “As an educational partner, the goal is to educate participants and promote the sport world-wide,” Bendele said.

Thanks to the new website, reiners all over the world now have access to top trainers and education material. For more information, including educational partnerships, visit Reining Training Online at www.ReiningTrainingOnline.com.  For the latest training videos, subscribe to the newsletter, www.ReiningTrainingOnline.com/newsletter/.

For additional information regarding the creation of a niche community video based educational website, visit www.EnthusiastTrainingOnline.com. For information regarding global Dressage training, visit www.DressageTrainingOnline.com.

Returned with our troop last week from tour, wow, it was a whirlwind and packed with powerful, insipiring education and tools. Attached are a few pictures, I will let the participants tell you what it was all about in their own words, watch for their posts in the next few days!

German FN, private tour and industry discussion.

Westphalian State Stud

Reisa with Dr. Ulf Moller

PSI

Scott having a go at driving my bus!!

Susan Pape, Bundeschampionate

Ingo Pape and Scott Hassler, play by play for us in the stands

Michael Klimke training for us at his farm

German tradition needing to be brought to America! Everyone should sip well deserved champagne after such a ride!

Peter Holler, German FEI Judge, educating our eye!

Group pic outside of our fabulous tour at the Westphalian State Stud. It was like going to Disneyland!

Three weeks of training 2 x per week, has completely turned us around. Jody had us re-learn everything! Sounds boring and cumbersome, but it is quite fantastic, a bit different and actually happens quickly. Halt, turns, new specific aid for canter, aid for long relaxed walk versus active collected walk. The whole basis for the training is simplicity. Anything with leg means go. Reins side to side open or shut, or mixed, is a turn aid, an on, off aid with a single leg on the side means lateral. Fixing the most basic of things each ride before even daring to move on to whatever is next. Jody largely follows the AEBC (Australian Equine Behavior Center) methods of Andrew McLean who takes alot from the French System of Riding.

As I write this, I think about the lesson learned. The significance is really not that finally, after a year, I can get a reliable canter depart anywhere anytime (soooooo remedial, but soooooo real), the lesson is that IF we are patient, have perseverance and are open minded, you will eventually succeed. If I apply that theory to anything in life, it continues to hold true.

I cant wait for tomorrow….to go for a ride, of course!

Reisa