dancinghorse | Clinic report, Rock the First

Let's see how coherent this gets. I'm semicomatose, with sizzling brain cells. Also, I'm a living reenactment of "Stop Making Sense."

Probably best to do this as a trip report. With neep.

I left early Tuesday morning--did all the barn chores, got sorted out, and parentals came to take me to the airport. Flight went without a hitch; I met

whitezinnia at the car rental, where she had just arrived, and we got our car and headed down to Waxahachie. Got our room, sorted that out, headed over to the venue, Proud Meadows, to catch up with the rest of the clinic committee and a bunch of the riders who had come in a day early to get their horses settled.

Proud Meadows is a wonderful place. It's posh without pretension--the barns are functional rather than flashy; no stained glass and chandeliers, just solid, horse-friendly, user-friendly facilities. There's a big outdoor driving track, a cross-country course, and trails in the woods; and acres of paddocks full of boarders (all breeds), Friesians, Andalusians, and a Lipp or two. The arena is a really nice one. You go into the office and lounge (full of equine art including a huge painting of Desche aka Bana Conversano), then out past the French doors is a concrete deck with bistro tables, and the covered arena. Big fans for spectators, shadecloths shielding the open walls between the struts, and lights for riding at night. There's a sound system (which murphy-ed out occasionally but mostly worked), a fridge for the cold drinks, and plenty of room to sit and watch. Plus, next to the lounge, a guest suite for your clinician and his driver.

I had met my horse for the week before--he was the one shipped to me last fall before evaluations--but I'd never ridden him. His owner, S, had him and her new stallion all settled in when I got there. We sorted out last-minute clinic details, signed in as many of the riders as were there, then saddled up the horse (Siglavy Darla aka Day Star [don't ask]).

By that time our clinician had arrived from Maryland where he'd been teaching over the weekend. Which meant I had the gentle experience of riding a new horse for the first time under the eye of a rider from the Spanish Riding School. Eeep. H kindly didn't say anything, which was good because I was trying to ride the horse with instructions not to do various things I would normally do, plus the saddle didn't work very well for him. Plus while he was being longed (very differently than I do it) beforehand, it was rodeo time. This caused the by then fairly large audience of PM staff and our riders as well as H the clinician, to count off the eight seconds once I was on. But DS is a sweet boy and quite pleasant once you're on him, even if you're struggling with various issues.

We got some things figured out, by which time it was late and we were hungry, so we grabbed dinner and then fell into bed.

Next morning was official day one of the clinic. I rode days two, three, and four, so day one was observe the teacher, help with setup, and watch the first rides. I left at noon to hit the wi-fi and work, but had a nice overview of the riders. They were all dedicated and they all left the arena wringing wet and smiling.

H's English is good though not totally fluent, but I get the impression he teaches intuitively anyway, with few words, but each one exactly the right one. He also uses a lot of body language. We decided we needed flash cards and a wave through the audience at key points: "More Forward," "Lean Back," and "Move the Bit" being the main ones. Also, "More Bend" and "Soopah! Do it again!" With a side bet on "Piss Off" which when de-accentuated comes out to "Be Soft."

It was a great atmosphere, though it was bloody damn hot even with the big oscillating fans. The a/c was down in the guesthouse and lounge, so the only place to go for relief was S's trailer, which had a small unit. We ducked in there when we were ready to boil. Although I hated to stop watching lessons, I wasn't sorry to retreat to the motel room and get work done in air-conditioned comfort. I left a lot of cheerful and perspiring people, whom I would see later on in the evening, when we had our group dinner with H at the Fire Mountain Grill--a chain of buffet restaurants with excellent (and varied) food and a room out back for groups. Most of the riders met with H and a good number of auditors for a good time and good food--then broke up early because the next morning's lessons began at 6:30.

More to come, see next rock.