I will try not to be overly sappy here, but Sig just helped me finally realize a little dream of mine. After several years and twice having to cancel out of the annual Market Street clinic, I finally got to ride with Anne Kursinski.
And Sig was, of course, absolutely perfect.
To set the stage, I've long admired Anne's style and she's been on my "bucket list" of clinicians for a long time. I first tried to clinic with her in 2016, but Soon took a bad step a few days before the clinic and I pulled out to be safe. The following year, well....Yeah. Soon had his colic surgery, hospital battle, and later was put down all around the time frame of the clinic. So this time of year is naturally a sad one for me, but now I have a very happy set of memories to cherish.
A friend of the farm regularly hosts Anne for clinics and thankfully a barnmate and I were able to secure slots in the baby 2'6" session all weekend. Sig's been going so well both on the flat and over fences lately that I wasn't sweating or concerned about whether or not we were prepared. Which is good, because I had just the shittiest week leading up to the clinic (not horse related). My truck had to go into the shop, and thankfully Ashley was amazing and was able to haul us both this weekend to help out. Plus work stress and my back being bad the last couple of weeks...I almost wanted to cancel and I absolutely told Ash to bring her riding stuff to the clinic in case she needed to hop on Sig in my place because I was in too much pain to ride.
Suffice it to say I was in "whatever" mode going up to this and didn't have the bandwidth to stress about not having done any no-stirrup work lately....
We had the first session at 9am both days. Day one was mainly flatwork and some gymnastics. Flatwork was lengthening/shortening strides and a mix of regular and no-stirrup work to get a closer, deeper connection in the seat. We also did turn-on-the-forehand off the left and right reins, and I was so, so grateful that Sig and I have made lateral work a regular part of our flatwork routines. He honestly did give some of the most obedient lateral work of the whole session, which made me very proud of him. Gymnastics was a simple one-to-one combination with emphasis on straightness and forward, light hands with a short (!!) rein. Video clips below from throughout the session:
Day two was a refresh of the flatwork concepts, more no-stirrup work, and leg yields off each rein at the walk and trot. Jumping consisted of a course, varying stride lengths in a bending line from easy five strides to a bolder, more direct four, long approaches off diagonals, and the famous counting out loud. Anne explained how counting up from one prevents backward riding (rather than down from a set number, ie. guess when you're eight strides out and count down, which tends to encourage riders to pull/wait to make the number happen rather than riding the actual pace/distance) and helps promote rhythm.
Overall Sig was really, really perfect for being the young horse in the
group. He got loads of compliments from Anne (lots of "goods!" and
"excellent!" and "very obedient"...even some "very adorable!" comments)
about his talent, rideability, and how quickly he picked up on things. I'm proud to say I was also complimented frequently and I walked out of the clinic knowing that we were both very polished and prepared. Anne even said that he "had a God-given talent [for jumping]," and coming from her that really means something.
My takeaway was the shorter rein both on the flat and over fences. I objected to the knot in the reins, but it did help forcefully demonstrate that such a short rein is both possible and useful. Sig was still forward and soft, and I was able to maintain a more natural auto release rather than the down-to-the-side release I tend to fall into when my reins are longer. I am going to try to keep the shorter reins moving forward. We also insisted on obedience to the leg, and while Sig was generally awesome, every time he was slow to react I got after him with the stick and that was complimented by the clinician. I don't fuck around when it comes to clinics and getting going. He only needed one or two reminders and he was a tired baby, but he played along perfectly and was absolutely foot perfect after the minor corrections.
I am so completely proud of Siggers for how professional and perfect he was all weekend. This came off a horribly sad and stressful week and I could not be happier today to have Sig and my farm family. There were lots of smiles, lots of laughs, lots of horsey hugs and (social-distanced) high fives with my team. But I'm most excited about Sig. He was a total professional the ENTIRE weekend. He learned quickly, was totally quiet and soft, and was just the best partner for me for this adventure. I already can't wait for other clinics and more learning and growing with him. I am so excited for our future and so grateful to be writing chapters like this in our story. Thank you, Brother, for your wonderful gifts.
