This past week I got to do a two day clinic with Christine Traurig. It was extremely helpful and it really brought some of me and Chance's issue's into light. I would like to share some of the great tips I got.

February 4 - First Day
On the first day we worked a lot on Chance's frame and the quickness of his hindquarters. He needed to have quicker, higher steps and not just run through my hands. Once we got the right engagement he was able to come into my hands from back to front. She also reminded me to keep the poll the highest point and push him out in front of me and not get sucked back. Then we did a lot of transitions and circles to work on balance and bend. The transitions tested the efectiveness of my aids and the circles helped get the correct bend around the rib cage and not crooked in the neck. The next issue we worked on was straightness. First she asked me to do shoulder fore and really emphasized the difference between the shoulder fore and shoulder-in. I needed to get him more into the outside rein and moving of my inside leg. Next we worked on the shoulder-in and keeping the same consistent angle the whole time. We got a walk break and then started on the canter. We did the same transitions and circles as in the trot. She had me work a lot on the rythm and tempo of the gait. When doing the canter-walk-canter transitions, she told me to think of landing an airplane. The back end has to come down and under before the front end comes down. Then we did some counter canter and worked on the suppleness of his frame. Being able to change the bend from inside to outside would become very important for the flying changes. We finished up with some forward and back and then stopped for the day.

February 5 - Second Day
During the warm-up of the second day Christine explained to me how to slowly bring the horses frame up as the work progresses. We worked through the same excercises as the day before and I could already feel the difference of the straightness and suppleness. We worked on his quick response off my leg again and also the collected trot. We really pushed him to step under behind and start adding more cadence. She then had me work on the collected walk and described the difference between the collected and medium walk. Chance needed to have shorter, quicker strides and we struggled on leaving out the over-step. In the end I could feel his hind legs coming under more quickly and his front legs stepping higher. Then we worked on the canter. She started with his collection and we worked to improve the quickness of the hind legs. Then we worked on more straightness with the shoulder fore. Next we did some more counter canter and this time she had me ask for the flying change. With his improved canter he was able to come through behind without swinging his hindquarters. After a few more clean changes, we finished for the day.

It was a great clinic and I'm excited to try my new riding tools in the future. I really feel the lessons helped with his gaits and espescially his flying changes. We have a show in two weeks and I can't wait to see if this improved our results. If you are looking for a clinician, try Christine Traurig, she's amazing!