CDS Southern AA Clinic with Melissa Creswick
The CDS Southern AA Clinic with Melissa Creswick was held April 8-10 at Stern Training Stables in Riverside. Morgan Gelbart represented L.A. Chapter.
Thank you so much for sending me as a representative for the LA Chapter this past weekend. As I told Glenda in an email, this clinic was such a blessing in my life and training right now, and I feel so lucky to have been chosen to attend. This is the first "real" clinic experience I have had, and I can't wait for the next one! I'm hooked. I learned so much and I loved spending time with like-minded horse women, learning and sharing about the love of our lives, dressage and our dressage horses.
One training tip that really helped me was when Melissa clarified the amount of angle I need to use with my horse in shoulder-in and then she took the time to put my horse in position so I could see what the correct angle looked like from the saddle. Also to help me use the outside rein while practicing shoulder-in, she had me cross my reins over the horse's neck (usually a big no-no) such that both hands and reins were held on the inside of the horse's neck thereby putting slack in the inside rein and still allowing for use of the outside rein.
There were a bunch of other tips, tricks, and exercises I took notes on and will include in my horse's work, but the shoulder-in was something I have been really struggling with on my own, and I was happy to get the clarification and my questions answered so I could start practicing more correctly. Thank you again for sponsoring my sessions. I learned a lot, made some new friends, got some awesome pictures and video of me riding my horse, and maybe most importantly, deepened my bond and partnership with my beautiful dressage horse "Pants."
