“…if you have in your mind that it’s going to be a Grand Prix horse, then you know at the very beginning, if you accept some problems such as crooked- ness and lack of reaction, then they are not going to make it.”


test. Stephen said that even though this test was not an easy one he liked it because “it asks the right questions.” He had Jennifer ask Ramiro to carry even more weight on the hind legs during their canter pirouettes. To do this, he suggested several exercises to improve pirouettes including using invisible shoulder-fore to go into a pirouette and when the centerline is reached start the collection so the canter is almost in place. Next in the ring was another fancy bay, the mare


Donna Carina 6 with her owner/rider Christina Vinios. They performed the FEI Prix St. Georges test for Stephen while he offered comments on the test. After their test, he worked with them on developing more self carriage and quicker reaction time to the rider’s aids. One exercise he used with them was to work on a circle at the trot and ask the mare to go forward quickly then come back immediately when asked. They did the same exercise at the canter as well. Finally he worked with Christina to slow the canter to almost stepping in place to introduce a few steps of canter pirouette. The second day Stephen had this pair demonstrate leg


in 2007. D’Re has done all of the mare’s training herself with the help of her coach Lilo Fore in weekly lessons. She and Sarumba have shown Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I and are schooling all of the Grand Prix movements. She explained how she came to be a part of the confer-


ence while offering her coach some good natured ribbing. “I was chosen by Lilo to go to Florida. I was in a lesson with her on January 7 when she asked me if I would fly to Florida to ride with one of her dearest friends. I said, ‘Sure!’ and flew out the following Thursday. Lilo told me that he was a lovely man and very strict. I thought to myself, ‘Great, I do strict all day with you (Lilo), no problem!’” D’Re said that Stephen focused mainly on lateral move-


ments at the trot in their lessons both days. “Mr. Clarke gave me a fantastic exercise involving shoulders and different ‘gears’ in the half passes. He had me begin a long diagonal half pass, then straighten her keeping the shoulders on the long diagonal while crossing X, then resume the half pass on the second half of the diagonal. He said if I had to adjust her shoulders in any way to make her straight while crossing X, then my original half pass was not correct because I was not leading with her shoulders. This is a great way to check in with your half passes on a regular basis as well as in a warm up at a show. My favorite exercise was when he had me do the same long diagonal half pass and again, while crossing over X, he had me bring her back a bit maintaining the half pass this time and then he had me put my legs on and go. The result was magnificent! Sarumba’s legs were crossing everywhere!” Sixth in the lineup was Jennifer Baumert riding her lovely bay gelding Ramiro in the USEF Developing Prix St. Georges


yields, explaining this is a very important exercise. He said that in leg yields you do not want an actual bend in the horse, only a tiny bit of flexion, and commented that he would not work on any other lateral work until the leg yield could be performed without any bend. Next he asked Chris- tina and Donna Carina to do shoulder-in and travers and finally canter work, all with Stephen’s favored “little gear changes” of longer, shorter and quicker steps at each gait. The final horse and rider pair each day was Noel Williams


riding the red bay gelding Sir Velo, who is early in his Grand Prix career. Noel is a USDF silver medalist, a USDF L program graduate with distinction and a North American Junior Young Rider Championships medalist. Stephen said Sir Velo was quite a promising horse, but needed encouragement to open up his frame more and seek contact. He also noted that this was a totally different issue than other horses in the clinic. He had Noel raise Sir Velo’s head and told her that he was not allowed to go any lower. He also had her put her reins in her left hand and work on a circle. After that they worked on shoulder-in to half pass and trot to piaffe on a circle.


RAVE REVIEWS Riders and auditors came away from the two-day learning opportunity with a renewed appreciation for proper use of the basics and inspired to apply the training tips to their riding, training, coaching and judging. “Stephen’s good nature and sense of humor kept it fun.


Even with between 200-300 people watching, he made it fun, and it wasn’t the least bit intimidating! I would most defi- nitely recommend him to other riders,” Claire said. D’Re echoed that sentiment, saying, “Mr. Clarke’s strong


points are apparent. He is kind, humorous, forgiving and a technical genius. His exercises are spot on in any movement. I believe that if a rider is serious and wants to do right by their horse in all aspects, Stephen Clarke is your man!”


Warmbloods Today 25


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