Jeneen & Stanley go to camp!
2011 Dressage Development Camp
Jeneen & Stanley had fun at the third annual Dressage Development Camp held July 4 - 7th at PineRidge Equine Park in Oakbank, MB. Here's Jeneen's recap of the days events!
Dressage Camp 2011
3 days of Dressage, meeting new friends, reacquainting with old friends, excellent food and overall a great time! That would be how I sum up my time at the Dressage Camp 2011. Stanley and I had attended in 2010, it was so much fun I had to do it again this year! This year I was the only West Wind rider attending, but I knew I wouldn’t be ‘alone’, everyone at camp was so friendly.
We had the privilege of working with 3 great clinicians this year, Joanna Crilly, John McPherson and Roz Moskovits. I did my rides with Joanna and John but was able to sit with Roz on show day in an ‘Educate your Eye’ format and critique the rides.
We trailered in on the Monday and got settled, did the some visiting and then sat down to a steak dinner...the horses...well they had hay and grain. That night we had our first theory session. A great talk by Carolyn Kutchyera of Backstretch Equine/Canine massage. They had painted Megan Nunn’s horse Guinness to show the major muscle groups. Carolyn talked about how the muscles work together and provided some information on stretches.
Tuesday and Wednesday we had 2 rides per day with the clinicians. This year we rode in groups of 2 and worked out great, we had enough time to work on key areas of Dressage, of course focused on the training scale! In between the rides we were welcome to observe the other rides and learn from watching.
Tuesday night we had an demo session with Elaine Banfield on lateral work. Her and 3 other riders, including her daughter on a Western horse, ran through the gamut of lateral movements starting with the basics up to travers and renvers. She talked about proper progression, common pitfalls and training tips. She is an excellent teacher!
Thursday was show day...well not really a show but we were given about 20 minutes to ride our Dressage test, which was judged as if it was an actual show...Joanna and John are both rated judges! We got immediate feedback and if we wanted to we could ride the test a second time or work on areas that needed some refinement! A great opportunity to find out what judges are looking for!
Overall the 3+ days was a great experience, a lot of hard work but in the end worth every moment it! Looking forward to next year already!
Congrats Jeneen & Stanley for furthering your riding education and training and having fun in the process!
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For more information about Dressage Winnipeg and these camps visit: