Dressage Training Articles
by Shannon Dueck
International Grand Prix trainer and competitor Shannon Dueck is a Pan Am Games Individual Silver Medalist, and has competed at both WEG and the World Cup Final. She has trained with Bert Rutten of the Netherlands, Kathy Connelly, Lars Peterson, Hubertus Schmidt, Robert Dover, Wolfram Wittig, and most recently Carl Hester in Great Britain.
Finishing the Single Flying Change…. Sort of
Continuing on from last month’s article on starting the flying change, I decided to put my thoughts down about how to improve the quality of the changes. A good flying change is much more that switching canter leads. A good change has energy, balance, and throughness for expression. A great change is also completely straight, uphill and big. Once my horse understands the preparation, timing and execution of a single flying change, my priority will be on improving all of these qualities. Instead of focusing on the flying changes, I will work on improving the canter and taking these improvements into the changes. In light of this my next couple of articles will be on continuing to enhance the canter, after that I will revisit the flying changes as a movement. Read More…
Lungeing – How to Use it as a Training Tool
I love writing these articles, but coming up with a topic is hard for me. I asked around last week at the horse show for topics, and someone suggested lungeing. (longeing, lungeing – you say tomatoe…..)
I had just finished teaching a lesson where a very talented mare was being silly, and the rider was lungeing the mare rather ineffectively in an attempt to calm her. So, instead of teaching a riding lesson I used part of my time to assist with the lungeing, and it really helped the ride be positive. In light of that, I thought is might be an entirely appropriate topic. Read More…
Training with Carl Hester – Summer of 2011
I have been asked to expound on my experience this summer training with Carl Hester in Great Britain. If you are unfamiliar with Carl, he just got over 80% in the GP at the CDI5* in Hickstead with the lovely stallion Uthopia – and deserved it. His student Charlotte got over 77% with Valegro at the same show. These are remarkable scores that reflect the quality of training here. Read More…
What I learned in Great Britain Part 2
Last month I gave an overview of my time in England at Carl Hester’s gorgeous yard, and this month I thought I could impart more specific tidbits about horse care that I learned over in the Old Country. Yes, they do speak the same language over there, but even the King’s English can be very different than our American version. Just check out a menu and it becomes quite clear: Bubbles and Squeak??? Bangers and Mash??? Huh?
The stable management can be different too. Read More…