Boyd Martin Clinic
by Karen Clark Rubin
I was pleased to attend a clinic with Boyd Martin with help of a DVCTA scholarship the week between Christmas and New Years in Unionville.
The clinic was sponsored by the Cheshire Pony Club and I organized it.
Boyd started each session by speaking with individual riders about their horses age and level of experience. The groups were organized by experience of the horse and rider and split with adults riding together and kids in their own groups. Flatwork started each group and there was an emphasis on rider position and how it affects the aids. The horses were asked to go forward, back and bend. The riders were given tips on how to achieve this and we discussed why it is important to do these things. Boyd kept things fun for all and we started with grid work after the flat. There was an exercise at one end of the arena of rails on the ground in a curve. This was with a bounce distance for more experienced pairs and a one stride for less experienced. The rails were raised to X’s then verticals. Gradually we added a fence and a bending line to the exercise. Another exercise that day was riding a two fence combo with a forward or waiting entrance to achieve a four or five stride distance between the two fences. There was finally a grid in the center of the arena that we started as an X. Concentration for the group was having the right line, jumping in the middle and staying straight after the fence.
The second day was course walk with Boyd going over each step and what he would be thinking, what he would be asking, where he would be looking and why. There was shorter session of flatwork then we started jumping and gradually adding fences and finally jumping the course. The preparation paid off and everyone had a great time. It was a solid learning experience for all.
Unfortunately I have an old back injury and my youngster tripped in the curved fence exercise and triggered it. I was able to complete most of day one then Boyd did the final grid. I was only able to do the warm up on day two and my daughter finished it on my young horse. I was disappointed to not be able to finish but my horse was a star and I was thrilled with him.
Thank you DVCTA for the support in attending the clinic.
Sincerely,
Karen Clark Rubin