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Reflections on a Master Class


Two dressage pros who rode with gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin last February share the benefits of their experiences.


By Charlene Strickland


step beyond a clinic, riding in a master class is a unique opportunity to join the elite as one learns from a master. One such master is Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin CBE. Charlotte rose to stardom riding the fabulous KWPN gelding Valegro (Negro x Gerschwin), earning the individual championships at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, the World Equestrian Games


A in


2014, the FEI World Cup in 2015 and two Euro- pean championships. Professionals Rebecca Rigdon and Lehua Custer were two of three riders who rode in the master class at the West Coast Dressage Festival on February 16, 2018 in Del Mar, California. Each rose to the challenge, especially difficult in an imposing arena packed with 3,500 enthusiastic


spectators, at night under the lights. Rebecca and her husband David Blake run their training business at Ad Astra Stables in Encinitas, California. Rebecca rode her stunning imported KWPN mare Iquem (Charmeur x Moreno). Since the class, the pair has earned exceptional scores in Five-Year-Old tests, and Iquem was invited to represent the United States at the 2018 World Young Horse Championships in dressage in the Netherlands. She’s also in the top three in the USEF Young Horse Dressage National Championships’ Five-Year-Old Division. Lehua is based at the Los Angeles Equestrian


Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro winning the 2015 World Cup Final in Las Vegas.


Center in Burbank, California. She trains and shows F. J. Ramzes (Juventus x Rampal). The eight- year-old KWPN gelding is U.S.-bred by Cornell University. In 2017, the pair won the open Third Level championship at the U.S. Dressage Finals in Lexington, Kentucky. We followed up with Rebecca and Lehua to discuss their reflections on the advice they received from Charlotte. Here you’ll find a blend of the advice they received during the class and their thoughts on it now that several months have passed.


REBECCA RIGDON AND IQUEM


Charlotte: Put your hand forward in the rein. More, so I can see. Now the horse is in self carriage. I can see that Rebecca is not holding the horse on the bit. The horse is holding herself in self carriage. That’s


what we want. It’s important to do these little tests. Is she balanced by herself? See if you can bring the poll a little bit higher. Not too much impulsion. Slow her down a little bit. Bring her bum down, the front up. Don’t chase her. Just sit quiet.


32 September/October 2018 Teach the horse to bend through the corners. Bend, and


see a corner of the inside eye without the poll dropping. Keep the poll up so she rebalances. It’s really important that you ride with a forward, think-


ing hand. The hand goes toward the horse’s mouth. If your hand is back, you pull the neck in to the horse’s chest. The horse needs the neck to balance. Trot to walk is a downward transition. We still want to


see forward, rather than the horse slowing down. Trot, walk, trot. You can see she reacts very well. Think about her hind leg stepping forward under her


All photos by Charlene Strickland


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