such a short amount of time. After such a
great time everyone wanted her to come
back this year so in June once again she
was able make the long trek to Maine for
another three day clinic. Her calm and
patient demeanor really makes her clinics
fun and educational. Before the weekend
was over we had already asked her to
come back in the fall; and we will all be
working really hard to practice what we
learned so when she does come back she
will know that her Maine students take
her seriously and want her to be proud of
our accomplishments.
Below are some comments from two
of this year’s participants:
At this year’s clinic we were a small
group of five individuals, varying in abilities, styles of riding and most importantly
different breeds of horses, and all very eager to learn from Ms. Jennie. Because as
we all know, “Dressage” is the foundation
for all forms of equestrian sports. The
pyramid of training; rhythm, relaxation,
contact, impulsion, straightness and
eventually collection are what builds suppleness and agility that makes our equine
partner the fine tuned athlete they are.
We had three full days of training with
Ms. Jennie. We rode and we watched others ride and all listened intently on Ms.
Jennie’s instructions as she worked with
each one of us individually and gave us
tools to progress forward. She has a great
16 • Walking On
talent for being able to read her students
and their equine partner, and quickly
addresses their problems and training
needs. We had many lively conversations
concerning the equine left brain and right
brain and where the horse prefers to be.
We were given exercises such as leg yields,
shoulder in and pivot’s to bring our partner out of their right brain and into their
calm left brain, which is a much better
state to be in for learning. Leg yields had
just become my best friend and the immediate key to putting my really right
brained equine partner into his left brain.
I had always used the circle, but there are
times the cir