Top 5 Takeaways from Janet Foy’s clinic Oct 14-15, 2017

October 26, 2017

ADA’s Education Chair, Sarah Lindsten, organized this clinic featuring Janet Foy. As an FEI 5* Judge, USEF “S” Dressage Judge, USEF Sport Horse “R” Breeding Judge and USDF L-Faculty member, Janet’s resume is long and comprehensive and could certainly be an article on its own! She’s also the author of two books: Dressage For The Not-So-Perfect Horse and Dressage Q&A, which she offered for purchase and autographed during and after each clinic day.

 

Throughout the clinic, Janet shared her knowledge about the future of dressage, her training and judging philosophies and her knowledge of horse conformation. She answered audience questions at every available opportunity and made the experience a wonderful horse-rider-audience-clinician interaction. For each of the eight horse and rider teams, she observed a dressage test or the warmup for a test and then worked with the riders to improve test scores and overall training.

 

Breaking down two days of insights and training into a top 5 list is very difficult. But here are my top 5 takeaways:

 

1. Every movement has 5 pieces:

Preparation

Half-halt (inside hind comes up to the outside rein)

Aid

Movement

Finish

 

Janet says she’d rather see preparation than kick and pull. She explained that a half-halt is the perfect combination of driving, bending and connecting to the outside rein. There is a different half-halt for every movement. The final part of the half-halt is the outside rein.

 

An example of riding a movement, such as the shoulder-in is as follows: test the bend, half-halt (inside leg to outside rein). Use the inside rein to bring the shoulders right. Use the inside leg to keep the horse on the track. Then finish the movement by straightening before the bend in the corner.

 

2. Janet’s judging Q, B, E, M methodology to arrive at a score and comment for each box:

 

Q = Quality (quality of the gaits)

 

B = Basics (training scale)

 

E = Essence/Criteria (what is the horse supposed to be doing)

 

M = Modifier (accuracy)

 

3.  Ride the pendulum.

If you don’t develop the transitions, the horse will be flat and downhill. So get it done! The horse may need to transition slowly to stay engaged. Fast transitions make the horse sharp. Janet says, “Don’t make the transitions instantaneous until Grand Prix.”

 

There is no gray area for the walk. Ride either a free walk or on-the-bit walk; otherwise, you’ll ruin the walk. To pick up the reins from a free walk, bend to the inside and leg-yield into the outside rein, then pick up the reins into the medium walk.

 

Forward, supple, half-halt, give – no matter what movement.

 

The collected trot must be powerful and expressive. It has a faster tempo. A sample mantra is: collect, forward – MORE forward, shoulder-in, collect. Ride the “expensive” trot, not the “affordable” trot.

 

Another mantra for a younger horse is to ride the following trots in succession: “boring trot,” “big trot,” “slower than boring trot,” “working trot,” and another “big trot.” Then repeat. Use shoulder-fore to collect the trot.

 

In a lengthen trot if the horse breaks from the trot into a canter, ask for a GALLOP and then come back to the trot again in the corner. If the horse really shows effort, bring him back right away and pat him.

 

Think about all the canters you need. It’s okay for the canter to be slower when the horse is not yet strong enough. Try to put more weight on the inside hind. Get the horse under and sit, then gradually go forward so that she stays uphill.

 

In the lengthened canter, really GO. Pretend that coyotes are chasing you!

 

Ride medium canter for 3-5 strides, then come back to a collected canter and release.  If the horse is tense you must be able to create the reason to release. If you can’t release, then do a transition.

 

4. If there’s a problem, ask yourself where it is. You have these options: two legs, two seat bones, two hands. The problem isn’t in the movement itself. One of your aids is either unclear or being ignored.

 

When a problem arose in a tempi change, Janet said, “The problem wasn’t the change. It’s no use schooling more changes. The horse was not listening to the rider’s right leg. As trainers, we need to address that, not the change itself. This is the difference between being a rider and being a trainer.”

 

The solution to a problem lies in one or more of the following aids:

 

The inside leg – the active leg, gas pedal and rhythm stick.

 

The inside rein – the bending and directional rein.

 

The outside leg – controls the caboose when used behind the girth. We want to stretch the ribcage but not lose or let the haunches escape.

 

The outside rein – controls the speed. It tells the horse where we want the neck. The outside rein is the final part of the half-halt.

 

5. Janet’s favorite training schedule:

 

Sunday – off

 

Monday – check the aids, stretch, supple, ride transitions

 

Tuesday – pendulum exercises in the trot and canter, 3-4 minutes of intensive work, then a stretchy circle or walk

 

Wednesday – comfort zone gaits, shoulder-in, haunches-in, half-pass, comfort zone canter, more bending, more sideways

 

Thursday – pendulum exercises

 

Friday – put it all together, corners, small steps, long side forward, then the “new trot” into a movement

 

Saturday – trail ride or hack

 

 

In closing, the horses and riders could not have provided a more well-rounded and fun learning experience for us all.  A huge THANK YOU to each team. Janet shared a wealth of information and showed us clear building blocks. She demonstrated a consistent approach to training, used exercises to build expression in the horse, worked through problems or “training opportunities” and gave good advice on improving test scores. She reminded us that it takes 5,000 repetitions to form a habit, so let’s make it a good one!