Barn Weather Link
 Ange's BLOGSPOT!Join SFD on FACEBOOK
Visit our Sponsors!
|
ShowingSHOW JOURNAL : Region 1 Jr/YR Team Championship 2007
This year our team is sponsored by French Creek Dressage Association, and we had our first “official” team practice on Monday, May 28, 2007. Preparing riders for competition is much different than teaching dressage lessons. Each of the three team members is actively in a lesson program, and competes regularly, so I wanted to use the team practices to teach them how to show off their horses well in the dressage patterns. To that end, I wanted them to really understand and evaluate each test movement separately. To meet this goal, I divided practice into three parts. First, we began in front of the DVD player, watching the training level warm up and training 3 and 4 on The Winning Edge. In that video, Christopher Hickey briefly explains the goals of training level, and demonstrates how he prepares for the test. Then, as he rides the test, Besty Berrey assigns scores to each movement. We discussed if we agreed or disagreed with her numbers. Armed with this information, we headed out for the second part of practice. We measured out a full-size arena in McKinley Hunt’s outdoor arena, then rode our tests. After spending the winter in our tiny indoor, it seemed quite large. We video taped the view from C. With the video in hand, we headed back to the TV to watch the rides and score them ourselves. Unfortunately, we ran out of time before we watched and scored everyone. The following weekend, the team rode at Warwick Hill’s Dressage Schooling show. Compared to Monday’s rides, all three riders were more organized and accurate. The rides were again caught on tape, to be reviewed with test sheets at our next practice, scheduled for June 11 at McKinley Hunt. – Ange Bean, Coach |
