> By Cynthia > > Mark Rashid Clinic, Duluth, MN
Frances and Dan My daughter Frances rode our 3 year old Dan in the third slot of the day. Dan is a foundation quarter horse and Mark asked if he was part draft. Dan is an easy keeper in the same pen as Duke so Mark asked about feed again. Dan had 6 weeks of professional training in the fall of his 2-year-old year and 7 weeks this past spring. Frances has ridden him 5 or 6 times this summer. This is a normal pattern for our horses. Frances wanted to work on his "rushing". Mark redefined this as "going away mentally" or "losing his mind". They went to work on transitions. The walk trot transition was "kind of jerky". Mark had her inventory her cues in order. They were: 1.pick up reins 2. Cluck 3. Shift weight 4. Squeeze. She tried it again and he again rushed into his trot. Mark said that Dan was not thinking about it, was just jumping into it, had been pushed through this. Dan is trying to jump away from the pressure, rushes through it, has no softness and no real understanding of the cues. Mark suggested that Frances back off of all the cues and just "think about going faster" then have the horse tell us what the right cues are. All this time Frances and Dan have been trotting. She asked for and got a nice downward transition. Frances started to get a nice trot transition by just "thinking about going faster". The horse began to soften. It was an exercise in subtleties, having the horse teach us the difference between the right cue and the wrong one. He posed the question to the audience, "how do you get a soft transition quicker?". By applying the same soft cue more quickly and giving the horse "intention". Then Mark had Frances "think" Dan through the trot/canter transition by "helping him through the long trot to the canter". The transition was beautiful. They continued to work on soft transitions for the remainder of the session. Dan continued to show some worry but was going quite nicely by the end. Frances and Dan day 2 Frances entered the arena and walked Dan around. Mark asked her for a transition to the trot and they did it. He asked her how she felt about that transition and she said that Dan wasn't paying attention to her. Mark asked if she was sure. She said, how can a horse be gawking off over the fence and still be paying attention to me. Mark said "how can a horse do such a smooth transition and NOT be paying attention." He emphasized again that we need to be noticing what the horse is giving us instead of what he is not. "Don't look at the thing that isn't quite right, look at the things that are right. When a question is asked, say the good things first. Mark continually uses the phrases, "I don't know", "Lets think about it" or "lets experiment" to move on with the learning. They worked on the timing of the release, even to the point of having Frances get off and work with Mark on the ground. Again it was the language and approach that Mark impressed me with. "I don't know", "Yes you do", "do it again". Always assume that the horse will do it again. They then began to work on turns on the forehand. It went well so they stopped. Frances and Dan day 3 on day four of the clinic. We had been comparing Dan's hip movements to Nick's on Saturday when we noticed that Dan's hips are uneven. We dicided to give him a day off in hopes that he would not be too sore to ride today. During the warm up period Dan has a lot of energy today and a little fear. He is shying at a few things. After giving him a few minutes to adjust to the outdoor arena Mark and Frances begin to review her transition work. They make an effort to make it smooth and soft. Mark comments that Frances seems a little groggy today and she tells him that she took a 12 hour antihistamine this morning and she feels groggy. Mark says that he has no doubt that she can work through a fear reaction from Dan today if she needed to but that since he looks a little jumpy today maybe they should work on lateral stuff. So they begin work on the turn on the forehand and Dan gets it right off. Then they begin to work the turn on the haunches. Dan tries but teeters from his front to his back creating a helicopter type turn rather than a turn on the haunches. They keep working on it. Finally he can go from a turn on the forehand to a turn on the haunches and walk forward smoothly. Dan starts to throw his head a little. Mark points out that Dan is throwing his head because he is frustrated rather than thinking about the problem that he should be solving. He tells Frances to just tip Dan's head to fix it. They get a sidepass. Mark is asked by the audience about how to start a sidepass over an object, the way it is in most trail classes. Mark suggests starting with just a line or a mark on the ground. Break down the objective into little steps and acomplish each step one at a time. (continued)
