What should I expect? I’m planning on wearing tall boots, an EIS shirt, and tan ts with my horse in a plain white pad and a half pad plus leather girth and martingale. My horse goes in a happy mouth Dr. Bristol and literally will not go in anything else. We have tried every bit under the sun, and everything else produces an awful strung out horse. Should I expect to be told to switch bits? I hack in spurs and a crop, but I jump with neither or just a crop. Should I get used to jumping with spurs?
I’m only doing the 2’6" section, so I’m not that worried about the exercises since most of the people doing it are pony kids and juniors or green horses, but what are some things to expect?
Your gonna have a blast. Your attire and tack are just fine. You will not be asked to change. Melanie gives great clinics and you will be begging for the next clinic. She does exercises no one even thinks of. Have a great time!
I can still hear Melanie’s voice even though I cliniced with her several years ago. “Make the simple things hard and the hard things will be simple.” “It’s not practice makes perfect; it’s perfect practice makes perfect.”
So, the jumps will probably be small, but expect the courses to be hard.
Do not pat your horse. You can rub your horse, but do not pat him. Melanie pointed out that no mare ever whacked her foal on the neck for good behavior or encouragement.
Have a great time and be sure to write notes after your ride.
Melanie gives a fantastic clinic 
I do remember her saying she like bits with two joints so you won’t have to worry about that!
Ummmm…that comes off as something you did not intend, I think. To me and others “Juniors” means serious 3’6" ers, did you mean them or garden variety kids? Kind of sounds like you think you are overqualified for your group.
I would not exactly worry but MST does not treat all riders the same in the same section. If she thinks you can do more? She will ask and expect you to do more even if the rails stay put. Don’t expect to be allowed to coast a bit below your ability level.
She also HATES excuses or explanations for poor performance or the horse not being broke to the aids. Tends to be right about identifying holes in training. Just say “yes ma’am” and take what works for you home…and remember she tends to be right.
[QUOTE=findeight;7100291]
Ummmm…that comes off as something you did not intend, I think. To me and others “Juniors” means serious 3’6" ers, did you mean them or garden variety kids? Kind of sounds like you think you are overqualified for your group.
I would not exactly worry but MST does not treat all riders the same in the same section. If she thinks you can do more? She will ask and expect you to do more even if the rails stay put. Don’t expect to be allowed to coast a bit below your ability level.
She also HATES excuses or explanations for poor performance or the horse not being broke to the aids. Tends to be right about identifying holes in training. Just say “yes ma’am” and take what works for you home…and remember she tends to be right.[/QUOTE]
No oh my gosh, typo: juniors on green horses as in juniors in age not division. I’m definitely not over qualified, if anything I’m a little underqualified since I only school 2’9"-3’ on a regular basis and will most definitely be a little starstruck by an Olympian.
Do not show up without a crop. You can hand it to someone to hold if it turns out to be a problem, but Melanie says “you never jump without a stick”.
I echo what others have said, for the most part. She is not going to criticize you for your turnout or your tack. She is kind and funny but she takes your riding seriously.
Also do a little homework and know how many miles per hour there are in a working trot and working canter. If she asks that (often does) and you know, she’ll like that.
No matter what trouble you might have with an exercise, persevere until you finish it; she says “I like riders that get things done”.
Be ready for lots of ground poles in your flatwork, set at distances to be trotted or cantered through. If you do not do those at home, set some and practice them. Also, if you’ve never ridden a bounce, practice that (under your own trainer’s supervision). She incorporates that often, but not always at the 2’-6" level.
If your clinic is two days, be sure to ride both days; this is a cumulative experience. After each day she will ask what you are taking away with you in terms of things to work on at home.
Watch all the sessions in addition to the one you are riding in. You will learn a lot ringside, too. And report back to us when it’s over.
It’s a 3 day clinic, one flatwork and two jumping.
Ditto what everyone has said already. Sounds like your turnout & gear will be fine. Def start with spurs & a stick; if it doesn’t work you can always dump them. I had to jump off in the one I did to pull spurs & the martingale (BIG borrowed horse & my martingale didn’t fit), but I had smaller spurs back on the next day and just left the martingale off (it was obvious by then the horse didn’t really need it).
As far as performance, just keep your mouth shut, your mind open, pay attention and follow directions. The only folks I saw her get irked at were the “space cadets” that I wanted to yank off their ponies b/c they were wasting everyone’s time. Have fun! My friend and I still talk about that clinic!
I rode with her and enjoyed it. My horse, not as much. The exercises are very challenging so be ready for that. Work your leg yields. Make sure your horse is adjustable. We did a lot of canter into a line, break to a trot, pick the canter back out, jump out of the line and halt. BE SURE YOU FINISH! The halt is the period at the end of the sentence. My gelding was pretty ticked off by the end of the weekend so he would do a lot of head shaking and acting up. I’d wait for him to settle before walking off even if another rider had begun the course and just avoided them on the way out.
She likes OBEDIENCE above all else in a horse. My horse likes to take over (because I sometimes don’t make choices) and so he was far from her weekend favorite. FOLLOW what she says. She asked one girl straight out “are you willfully disobeying my direction or are you just not even bothering to try?” And when they continued she just stopped coaching them.
Lastly her big thing was ‘ride the horse you have at that moment.’ While you may plan a certain course in your mind, things happen and adjust.
I have a playlist on my YouTube account of her clinics. I can try to figure out how to send them to you if you want. Practice some of her exercises at home. Be prepared for what she’ll ask. It won’t be easy!
3 days of clinic! You lucky girl! it should be great. Yes, the leg yields! She had us come off the left lead and jump a fence at about 3’ 3" set close to the rail, then leg yield at the canter 4 strides laterally over to another fence, jump it straight on, and then leg yield back to the right, 4 strides laterally (maintaining the left lead), to jump another fence set in a straight line with the first one!
She has also had us put in 8 strides, then 7, then 6 and then gallop balls-to-the-wall to get 5, all in the same line.
In another clinic she set up parallel courses in one ring and we jumped in tandem to see how carefully we could regulate our rides to maintain sychronization with our co-rider.
Then there was the “wheel of fortune” where she bascially made a circle of jumps with an “X” in the middle, we had to jump into and out of the circle, in all kinds of crazy patterns, that she called out to us without our knowing what was coming. It really kept your eye up and made you sit up tall and look around your turn.
She may not do such innovative stuff with you but the point is to be ready, willing and open-minded about trying things. I still do the exercise with the leg-yielding from jump-to-jump but I mostly do it with ground poles. Great for the eye and for keeping your horse straight and holding the correct lead. Same thing with the wheel of fortune, but again, using ground poles. Take notes and remember what you can bring back to your riding program to work on after the clinic is over. Then implement it at a level that makes sense for you to keep working on daily. Much of what she works on can be done just as easily with poles as with jumps, and may in fact be even tougher. But as Melanie always says “make the easy things hard, and the hard things will be easy”. I quote her almost weekly on that, at my barn.
222orchids: wheel of fortune? :lol: we called it the circle of doom!
Yep, OP, have your horse REALLY tuned up to your aids before you go. You’re gonna want them! I got to take my trainer’s wonder horse b/c mine was hurt but I’d even worked on getting him more tuned up in the weeks before.
Mine’s back in action now and I’m jealous you get to ride with her: I’d LOVE to take him to another clinic with her!
