Sorry for the delay on this write-up - things have been incredibly busy here, trying to squeeze in as many sessions with Cara before she left for the South Island yesterday!
The clinic was absolutely amazing! We started off with a seminar going over the theories and methodologies of Equitation Science with Andrew. I have to say the penny dropped quite a few times during the seminar about lots of different things I didn't quite grasp beforehand. We've dabbled in a bit of McLean in the past and I had a lesson with Manuela McLean last year, but I must admit some if the ideas and methods had me a bit puzzled. I can confidently say that after the clinic weekend, I'm totally on board and can fully understand the reasoning behind everything we're doing, and also (maybe the best part) how the groundwork we're doing relates directly to the work I do in the saddle. It really is like a lightbulb has gone "PING!" and I totally understand it all. Yay!!!
Then it was time to saddle up for our demo ride with Chelsea and Ridge. Andrew did a bit of groudwork with Tech first, then the plan was for Becky to ride the first half of the demo as a warm up for Tech, and I would ride the second half. However, Andrew was working on a lot of really important aspects of Tech's responses while Becky was on board, and before we knew it the hour was up!
I was lucky enough to have a one-on-one session with Manu for half an hour after the demo which was absolutely amazing. We worked on refining some of my aids and getting Tech more responsive to me and boy did we get it! It honestly felt fantastic - he felt so "with me" and I felt so confident that he was listening and we were riding in a true partnership. Manu also adjusted my position very slightly and viola - more improvements to Tech's paces. It's amazing how much my position is affecting Tech's paces and it's something I'm really working on now, and making sure my ground crew are hot on it and ready to pick me up on it when I fall back into old habits! :)
On Sunday Becky and I shared a private lesson with Andrew, and we worked more on the aspects that Manu worked on/installed with us the previous day. We also got to watch all the other lessons on that day and glean all the information and tips we could from Andrew in action. It really was an awesome weekend.
Since we've been home, Cara has been working hard with me and my crew to make sure we're all on the same page and have a good idea what we need to be doing with Tech, both on the ground and in the saddle. I have to say I'm really loving the methods and I can see a huge improvement already. Tech is already making progress and responding to it really well so I am incredibly excited about how far we can go through the winter. Our first winter outing is the Tauranga Dressage Group winter practice day at the beginning of July, so that will be a great opportunity to put all our training into practice in a very new (and usually exciting!) environment. I just hope this wet and cold weather doesn't stick around for too long - it's not nice riding outside when you can't feel your fingers!