Your clinics!!
Missy clinic
I will be bringing both of my cameras to Missyâs clinic. We will have still and video on dvds. I have to practice with them this week as I havenât wanted to use them for a long time. You will have to coach me on up loading to CotH, and I have learn to edit, too.
Tad Coffin is coming tomorrow with his demo saddles. I hope that his design will fit us. He may be working on a demo for Invite, too. for the clinic. The journeyman saddlers are going to come to the clinic to fit the ontyte stirrups for who ever wants to try them. I am looking forward to hearing what Missyâs thoughts are on tack to help the riders.
Liz Olszyk, who is my instructor, is coming to learn more. she has a masterâs in sports psychology in addition to having made 3 horses from scratch through gran prix. I will pass on whatever new word pictures that lead to the AHA! moments.
I am excited about this opportunity and anxious that my mares and I donât have enough training/endurance/whatever that will be expected. Thatâs why I need the mental help not to fry my brain and be unable to think enough to learn. I try tooo hard and I am tooo hard on myself. Intellectually, I know that Missy will be warm and friendly and not be expecting me to ride the way I did in 1984. But I havenât let go of that expectation for myself. I think the movement and I still expect my body to do it. Unreasonable, right? I wouldnât expect anyone else to do it.
So how about some encouragement, pleaseâŠ
[QUOTE=whicker;4360655]
I will be bringing both of my cameras to Missyâs clinic. We will have still and video on dvds. I have to practice with them this week as I havenât wanted to use them for a long time. You will have to coach me on up loading to CotH, and I have learn to edit, too.
Tad Coffin is coming tomorrow with his demo saddles. I hope that his design will fit us. He may be working on a demo for Invite, too. for the clinic. The journeyman saddlers are going to come to the clinic to fit the ontyte stirrups for who ever wants to try them. I am looking forward to hearing what Missyâs thoughts are on tack to help the riders.
Liz Olszyk, who is my instructor, is coming to learn more. she has a masterâs in sports psychology in addition to having made 3 horses from scratch through gran prix. I will pass on whatever new word pictures that lead to the AHA! moments.
I am excited about this opportunity and anxious that my mares and I donât have enough training/endurance/whatever that will be expected. Thatâs why I need the mental help not to fry my brain and be unable to think enough to learn. I try tooo hard and I am tooo hard on myself. Intellectually, I know that Missy will be warm and friendly and not be expecting me to ride the way I did in 1984. But I havenât let go of that expectation for myself. I think the movement and I still expect my body to do it. Unreasonable, right? I wouldnât expect anyone else to do it.
So how about some encouragement, pleaseâŠ[/QUOTE]
Whicker you are so empathetic with everybody but yourself. You have changed my life. You need to focus some of that empathy on you. You accomplished what many people can only imagine accomplishing. You have the knowledge and just need to have someone help you retrain your body to use that knowledge properly. I am hard on myself, too. Fortunately, I have my blue yoga ball also known as Alfred. He walks, trots, canters and has all of his lateral movements. Right now Alfred and I are working on flying changes. I realize this all sounds humerous, but I do actually attempt to use proper aids on my ball and hope the will be there when Iâm on a horse. Stop beating on yourself. Treat yourself as kindly as you treat me!!!
We are going to have an unbelievable time at the Missy clinic. We are going to have FUN and to learn whatever we can. Fun is the most important thing!!!
[QUOTE=whicker;4360655]
I will be bringing both of my cameras to Missyâs clinic. We will have still and video on dvds. I have to practice with them this week as I havenât wanted to use them for a long time. You will have to coach me on up loading to CotH, and I have learn to edit, too.
Tad Coffin is coming tomorrow with his demo saddles. I hope that his design will fit us. He may be working on a demo for Invite, too. for the clinic. The journeyman saddlers are going to come to the clinic to fit the ontyte stirrups for who ever wants to try them. I am looking forward to hearing what Missyâs thoughts are on tack to help the riders.
Liz Olszyk, who is my instructor, is coming to learn more. she has a masterâs in sports psychology in addition to having made 3 horses from scratch through gran prix. I will pass on whatever new word pictures that lead to the AHA! moments.
I am excited about this opportunity and anxious that my mares and I donât have enough training/endurance/whatever that will be expected. Thatâs why I need the mental help not to fry my brain and be unable to think enough to learn. I try tooo hard and I am tooo hard on myself. Intellectually, I know that Missy will be warm and friendly and not be expecting me to ride the way I did in 1984. But I havenât let go of that expectation for myself. I think the movement and I still expect my body to do it. Unreasonable, right? I wouldnât expect anyone else to do it.
So how about some encouragement, pleaseâŠ[/QUOTE]
Good luck Whicker have a fabulous time look forward to hearing what you thought. By the way where is the clinic being held?
Whicker, I hope this cheers you up:
(1) I used to figure skate - it was a placeholder for riding, which I could not afford as a post doctoral fellow in Boston on a $15K/yr NIH fellowship. But I was at MIT and they had a FREE ice rink. That is how I started. I took lessons with someone who also coached young girls who were ârealâ contenders. I went to the Skating Club of Boston, was doing school figures, trying so damn hard, and finally my coach grabbed me by the shoulders, shook me to make me come out of my focus, and said, âWILL YOU RELAX!!!â And I stared at her blankly, and said, in all seriousness and sincerity, âI understand that I am an adult, that if I was going to get anywhere I should have started two decades ago, that I should be happy I can enjoy the sportâŠbut DONâT YOU UNDERSTAND??? I KEEP THINKING THE FEBRUARY OLYMPICS ARE ONLY A FEW MONTHS AWAY!!!â At which point her jaw dropped, and then she started laughing hysterically. And she called over her kiddie skaters, the ones with real talent and ability, and made me repeat to them what I had just said to her. She then said to them, " This is how YOU should be thinking!!!" We actually had to stop the lesson as she couldnât look at me without dissolving into laughter.
(2) Some time later I was going to a competition. I thought I had the most incredible practice - nailed every jump, every spin, and I was fast, fast, fast and I had flow! One of the other competitorsâ mothers (because everyone else was a tween or so, except for the wanna be me!) had taped everybodyâs practice, and we watched it that evening. I was convinced when mine came on that there was something wrong with the speed - I was so slow, so cumbersomeâŠno. It was me. And I turned to my coach, and blurted out, âHow come you donât throw up when you watch me skate?â
So. I had the focus, I had the drive, I did not have the body, nor the talent, nor the wherewithal. I tell you this NOT to imply that all you have is focus, but to let you know how incredible easy it is to not only be too hard on yourself, but to lose perspective as well!
The difference is - you have a partner in all this - your horse. Remember EllieandWertherâs comments? Remember the high level rider with asthma (sorry - blanking out on the name!!) whose horse knew when she was having an attack and who would just trot on over to her instructor because the horse knew the rider was in trouble? You arenât alone in your endeavors. Focus on making your horse look and move beautifully. THAT you can do!!!
I know you are going to have the most incredible experience. You have made a generous gift to Invite, there is fabulous kharma surrounding you!
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind
Thank you for the encouragement!
The mental part of riding is such a big aspect of it. I need the âbeginnerâs mindâ in order to absorb as much new information as possible. I have found this book to distill much of the training I recieved during the Jack Le Goff era, plus the current brain research.
Thinking Body, Dancing Mind: Taosports for Extraordinary Performance in Athletics, Business, and Life by Chungliang Al Huang and Jerry Lynch.
When I broke my back, this book kept me going and having hope that I could come back. It has helped me to learn the techniques to flow like water around the obstacles in my stream channel.
As DressageGeek has said, I am thinking too far ahead of myself. I need to remind myself the eventorâs rule, âjump the fence in front of you, in the direction of the next one.â As a rider, I canât go to the WEG next year. Last December, that was a possibility.
Now I am working with my own green horses and my body is changing with each stem cell procedure. I have to create my tack changes and change the training and cues for Wren and Ruby. I have appreciated so much the suggestions that you all have given me.
When I am with my horses, I soft focus and tune to their needs in the present. I will support them in their learning and I will stay with them in the moment. It is easier for me to partner than it is to be just the individual.
It is in the non-riding ramp up time that I stall walk and worry.
Regal Grace,
What a beautiful name! Is there a story behind it?
Missyâs clinic is at SRGâs farm in Mt. Airy, Md. SRG said there will be more opportunities to clinic with her if this one goes well. This is the first one, and it came about because of this thread. I am so excited about it!
I think Missy will need some TLC after Burghley, too. She made some wise decisions, but it is hard to do it and not feel low afterwards.
Upward and OnwardâŠ
Itâs my maresâŠ
[QUOTE=whicker;4362837]
Regal Grace,
What a beautiful name! Is there a story behind it?
Missyâs clinic is at SRGâs farm in Mt. Airy, Md. SRG said there will be more opportunities to clinic with her if this one goes well. This is the first one, and it came about because of this thread. I am so excited about it!
I think Missy will need some TLC after Burghley, too. She made some wise decisions, but it is hard to do it and not feel low afterwards.
Upward and OnwardâŠ[/QUOTE]
âŠname. Not terribly original as far as COTH Alter name goes. I was not crazy about the name my TB mare raced under. Her barn name was Gracie so I thought up a show name that would incorporate her barn name. I remember Karen OâConnor had a horse called Regal Scot so I thought the âRegalâ fit nicely with âGraceââŠâŠhence the name. She passed through a number of hands and the next stop was New Holland. The owner had enough of her and wanted to unload her fast and the shipper that was supposed to bring her to NH was delayed. So I bought her cheap with the plans to send her to a TRF center be retrained and adopted out. I even filled out the paper work and there was a spot open in MD. It was impulsive on my part but I had seen so many sad horse situations not working out, I threw caution to the wind. When I told my bosses of the crazy thing I did and showed them a picture of her, they begged me not to send her away and give her chance. I gave them all the reasons why it was not practical to have a horse (expensive to board in the area I live, my parents were in poor health, I work long hours, etc). One of my bosses felt so strongly about me keeping her and giving her a chance that he paid her board for few months and said if I still did not want her at least I gave it a try. It must have been meant to be, I bought her on the day of the Belmont Stakes and as they say the rest is history ; )
As for the clinic in Maryland itâs too far from where I live. I had planned to go watch the Para Equestrian training session in Gladstone NJ in July that Missy was going to be at. When I called the USET in Gladstone to reconfirm that weekend, I was told it was cancelled due to lack of applications which is a real shame. When I mentioned awhile back on COTH BB that their was going to the Para session at Gladstone a number of posters sent me PMâs that sang Missyâs praises left and right and that should definitely check it out. I donât know her personally. Iâve seen her a number of times at the Rolex 3 Day event and a few horse trials in Area 1. When Iâve watched her during the warm-ups/competition she is very kind and sympathetic rider and her dressage with CD is really beautiful which is why I wanted to see how she teaches her students (disabled and able bodied). Itâs just too far money and time wise to ship my horse to MD or PA but I would be more than happy to pay to audit a clinic she was giving and if she ever came to NJ (like Hunterdon County) or someplace in the NY Metro area I could probably manage ship my horse in.
Totally guessing why Missy is feeling down about Burghley is that the dressage test did not go as planned given it is one of her and CDâs strengths. The gale force winds on Day One of Dressage at Burghley were no ones friends that day and most of the riders (including the top ones) had a very tough time with their horses.
I certainly donât know what itâs like to be in âher bootsâ or how to minimize the disappointment of Burghley. When you see her, tell her how much we admire her as a horsewomen, sending lots of TLC and many hugs and look forward to seeing her and Critical Decision compete again.
If you have not already come across it, you can listen to the interviews Missy gave re: the Para Equestrian program along with Becca Hart (the rider the NeverTime wrote about for her article in Practical Horseman) on Horse Radio network from your pc.
Look forward Whicker to what you thought of your experience at the clinic. I am sure you will learn lots and it will build your confidence. But remember to have fun too!
Take care
Love the link to Beccaâs interview! For those interested, it starts about 15 minutes into the show. She is an amazing rider and an even better person.
Thanks for the link to radio interview with Becca! My barn owner was her coach for awhile, so I feel sort of âlinkedâ to her!
Regal Grace,
Where are you located? I will ask Missy about doing a clinic there. How about pm- ing me with your wish list?
I had a lesson!
I have the great fortune of being friendly with a wonderful and knowledgeable amatuer rider who is going pro. I asked her for advice on where to go for a couple lessons to get my confidence up. This has been difficult as I do not own a suitable horse. Kristen (ammy going pro) boards at a barn with several hunter/jumper school horses. The barn owner allowed Kristen to use one of the h/j horses to give me a lesson. It made my day. Kristen made me feel so good about myself. I was able to get this hunter mare to connect and give me a good walk and trot. I left the barn beaming.
I think the best part of the lesson was that Kristen thinks outside of the box. She did not pressure me to fix my âbrokenâ body parts. We worked to have the mare adjust and get connected with the aids I was capable of giving. I did not receive a single negative comment. My lesson was so refreshing and uplifting. I wish all of you who are struggling could have a lesson as positive as the one I had today.
Kristen knew my legs couldnât squeeze, so we used voice, whip, and seat. Never once did she tell me to use more leg!!! Rather then tell me how much better it would be if I could use X, Y, or Z body parts, I was commended for how well I used the body parts I could use. The greatest compliment was when she told me no one would ever be able to tell I was handicapped when I was riding.
I hope all of you can have a lesson as fun as mine!
BEAMING for you!!!
Thank you
[QUOTE=DressageGeek âRibbon Hoâ;4368632]
BEAMING for you!!![/QUOTE]
I really appreciate your thoughts. Today just made me feel so darn normal and really good about myself!!! It is such a good feeling 
Hurrah for Kristen!! :D:D
Please tell her we are all so happy that she is sharing what she has learned! I hope that you will encourage her to join us on the forum.
I am BEAMING for you, too! 
It feels so good when you think the movement and it happens. Keep those endrophins coming!
It was just awesome!!! Kristen is down to earth and can look past the things we cannot fix. I canât wait for my next lesson with her
Hurrah for all of Us! we have a forum!
Beth will be up and posting soon. She expects to be coming home tonight.
I would love to find a trainer
When I quit riding as asked by doctors I had been riding since age 8. I have been riding again now for a bit more than a yr. I do okay, most who see me ride think I have had lessons. I have not. I have learned on my own. Learned a lot from an unruly shetland many yrs ago.
When I started back riding I became very interested in learning basic dressage and felt it would be very good for my mare as well. But the thought of doing something for me finally, after raising my family, was very exciting.
I decided that it might be good to learn with someone who had an understanding of the spine, my disease, and the differences in what I can and canât do. I hvae to ride quite long legged and sometimes need to lean one way or another because of pain. I usually am riding with a numb right leg too.
So, I contacted the only TR center around here and it is still over an hour away. This presents a problem in itself as nothing bothers me more than riding in a car,nothing. But I was very wanting to try. I could not take more than one or two lesssons a month due to financial restraints. Well, I very quickly became very disappointed. They had me fill out 12 pages of info and medical record releases. After viewing my records and MRI they told me that some ppl just plain should not be on horses and I was one of those ppl. Well, I AM going to ride anyhow, so wouldnât it be better to be doing it with instruction? Im afraid I donât get it. They tell me I will be in a wheelchair at some point but no one can tell me just when. Apparently the more I do the qucker I will get there and this is partly why they want me to do nothing. But, no one is doing this mopping and sweeping etc, that I am not supposed to do so why should I not ride as well. I refuse to mop my way to this inevitable wheelchair. Isnât there someone who will let me ride and learn with them? Any ideas? Is it this way with all programs?
Waning Moon, Welcome!
Hi Waning Moon,
No, not all therapy programs are the same. Not all trainers are the same, either. The forum is so new that everyday brings new people with new talents and interests. You will be seeing more information as we get a chance to network. This is a friendly, caring place.
For now, check the suggestions of the riding centers on the forum for the national organizations. Post private messages to the people who have the sort of knowledge that you seek. The therapy horse threads have given me some leads. Equineartworks, for example, may have some ideas for you.
I canât tell from your description of what physically is difficult for you, so it is hard to tell what sort of situation would fit you. I do know the feeling of frustration of not being able to ride and not finding a sympathetic spot to ride.
I can ride independently, so I may have different requirements for a trainer and what kind of riding I can do. I am also searching, and I do post about my own experiences. I will be going to the Maine clinic to learn more, and I will post whatever I learn that I think will be useful to the rest of us.
Hang in there! It will get better!
Waning Moon
Waning Moon, pm me.
I may be able to give you some thoughts about the things I do to be more comfortable in the saddle. It sounds like you have a horse and the use of your legs. The numb leg is something that is pretty popular on this forum. Check the thread about MS and disc problems, it might be useful.
That mop could be ridden, too. I used to ride a broom or the family dog when I didnât have a horse. The dog wasnât so hot. It kept laying down:eek:
