For those of you who attended the Robert Dover Clinic on December 2^nd and 3^rd at Station Lane Stables, I think you witnessed the best clinic ever!  For those of you who missed the Robert Dover Clinic, you missed the best clinic ever! 

Robert is a very good instructor and over the two days all 10 riders showed marked improvement and their horses were all going much better with clearer aids being applied, no whips being allowed and riders being encouraged to “see” the visual picture they wanted in their brain and then riding according to that image.  There were riders and horses of all ages and stages but similar exercises were used for all horses and riders as it was all about how responsive the horse was to the riders aids and how effective the half halts were.  He repeated over and over that every rider was always just one half-halt away from perfection!

He made sure that both the riders and the auditors understood what he was after and used many analogies outside of the equestrian world to demonstrate his points.  He used parallels with skiing, bows and arrows, dancing and old-fashioned radios [one rider was giving their horse very fuzzy aids [he used the analogy of the dials on old radios that produced alot of static between stations], rather than clear aids [like the digital buttons we now press to go from one clear radio station to another!].  There was a lot of clarity and simplicity in his teaching and that is what he was looking for in his riders!

Bonny and Pikardi were in top form for the two days and did amazing work under Robert’s guidance.  You couldn’t help but appreciate that Bonny and Pikardi are a true partnership and in the last little while have moved up to become a truly international pair.   It was a great opportunity for many to see them working one last time before they head off to Florida to continue training with Robert. 

And just remember, we are all just one half halt away from perfection – I plan to go to sleep with that on my brain every night now!!! Maybe then it will reflect in my riding as well!!

 

A big big thanks goes to all at Station Lane for hosting this clinic – everything about the venue was just perfect and all the hardwork that you had put in ahead of and during the clinic was noticed and greatly appreciated.  Also thanks to Shelagh Hohm and Leanne Binetruy for running the clinic – it ran like clockwork and you didn’t miss a thing.