The Valarie Siemer Clinic by Elizabeth Measures (posted May 12, 2010) The Valarie Siemer Clinic sponsored by the Morgan Horse Club of Nova Scotia at Porter’s Equine Centre in Stewiacke, on the weekend of April 24th and 25th 2010, and open to all breeds, was an opportunity not to be missed for riders and drivers of all disciplines to finesse their skills and readiness for the upcoming show season. Valarie Siemer has extensive experience training horses, from starting youngsters through post-accident retraining. She has trained all types of breeds, including Quarter Horses, Thoroughbreds, Saddlebreds, Tennessee Walkers, and Appoloosas. At West Coast Morgans, in Odessa, Florida she trains horses from youngsters in hand to driving and under saddle. She and her clients have taken numerous top awards in all disciplines from saddle seat, pleasure driving, hunt seat, carriage, dressage, western, and trail. Returning to Nova Scotia for the second year in succession, Siemer reflected on last year’s clinic at Porter’s Equine Centre and on exactly how and where each student had been successful and where they had been experiencing difficulties: She was delighted to find that all her returning students had improved and developed over the past year. For new students, such as myself, it was an opportunity to engage with a new perspective on what I was doing and what I needed to do to achieve my goals for the year as well as to get valuable feedback on my harness fitting and cart.
There were several notable themes that ran through all of the forty five minute private sessions regardless of discipline. Of paramount importance was the ethos that “less is more” when it comes to contact with the bit. Use only as much contact as you need to get the job done was an oft repeated phrase during the weekend. What this psychology translates to in terms of the rider or driver is an emphasis on the position of the rider or driver, both for the upper and lower body as well as the hands. Correct positioning allowing the horse to engage its hind quarters more effectively and consequently the ability to carry itself rather than to lean on the bit. The spin off from this correction of rider or driver position was remarkable in the way it gave more control while at the same time allowing a softening so that the horse began to move with more power and yet with less contact. This process was evident in all the sessions but as a driver I was especially impressed with the session for Gordon Young and his thirteen year old Morgan mare Etincele L'Erable Blanc. The extension that Gordon achieved with his mare was a delight to watch as she collected herself on the corners and then translated the increased energy into elevation along the rail. The second theme of the clinic which is in part linked to the idea that less is more was the teaching of verbal commands: Cueing is important for two reasons; it allows the horse the option to perform a task with the minimum contact needed for the job: Ask the horse by a verbal command then reinforce with other aids if required. It may also provide a signal for readiness for the aids to be applied by a rider in a command such as “canter” or for a more subtle differentiation of pace or energy, such as “step” for a driving horse when more extension is wanted at the walk or trot. The impact of these strategies was to produce a horse and rider or driver that were both relaxed and yet in all cases the horse was using its hind quarters much more effectively. In my own sessions with a young four year old Morgan, Langcrest Dan De, I found my horse responded beautifully to the greater precision of using more verbal commands than I had previously been doing. This was especially noticeable at the walk where I was now getting much more extension than I was used to; with the greater impulsion I found I needed to do less with my hands. The command was not just “walk” but rather almost a continuous dialogue with the horse: Constantly asking and on occasion reinforcing with the gentle use of the whip to get the horse to understand that a “walk” command means walk, we achieved first an active walk and then to get the lengthening of the stride the command became “walk –walk-step!” Each repetition of the command reinforced the activity with the verbal cue, with the occasional reinforcement from the whip. In auditing the other participants’ sessions I noticed that Valerie made her intentions explicitly clear to the horse. When a command was given the horse was not allowed simply to drift through various phases of nearly obeying but rather brought back constantly to the task and asked quietly to repeat the command again. The clarity of either the rider’s or the driver’s intention was therefore paramount in the successful accomplishment of the command. Nuancing the verbal commands was successfully used by Herman Berfelo with his 10 year old mare Corina Holly to achieve a slow trot. The horse was asked to “jog” for a transition from a walk into a trot and then the command “slow” repeatedly used to control the tempo and develop the cadence. Similarly the “slow” command was used by Herman to slow into the transition to a walk. Single word commands are better than two word commands, explains Siemer, so I had to rethink some of the commands that I had been using in order to get a vocabulary set where all the words sounded sufficiently different. The three carriage driving trot gaits each had a separate command, as did the command to either increase speed or slow down speed in the trot. I chose to keep the basics of those commands that I had been using prior to the clinic making subtle changes; the three gaits were now commands of “trot” for slow or collected trot, “work” for working trot and “road” for road trot. “T-e—e-rot with a lowering intonation on the latter syllable now became the command to reduce speed into the walk transition. These commands were similar but more effective than the two word commands I had been using. The change from “working trot” to “work” provided a much better command, more easily comprehended by my horse, more instantaneous to issue for the rider. The emphasis by Siemer on “seamless” transitions was a direct result of the verbal cueing. The rider or driver now had a vocabulary set to use in the show ring that enabled the horse to move through both upward and downward transitions with a smoothness but also with an immediacy that would be difficult to achieve using only contact with the bit and leg aids. Thus when a command is given in the show ring “all canter” or “all walk” the horse that has already been taught to listen for the appropriate verbal cueing has the ability to perform the task apparently “effortlessly” and the transitions becomes “seamless!” Valarie Siemer commented at the end of the clinic that these kinds of clinic sessions were great opportunities to harness the energy of a new experience and to step up to the plate to produce a personal best performance pre show season. I might have thought that she meant this only for the riders and drivers attending were it not for the profound “happiness” displayed by my horse as I put him back in his stall after both sessions: The muscles in his neck were completely relaxed and his display of affection to me remarkable. So it seems that these techniques produce a happy horse too! For information on future clinics and events sponsored by the MHCNS visit the MHCNS website, www.nsmorgans.org or to contact Valarie Siemer at her training facility in Odessa. Florida, see www.westcoastmorgans.com. |
| Club Fundraising Initiative (posted April 10, 2010) The MHCNS has just started a new fundraising initiative on Ebay.ca! Used riding and driving equipment, clothing and books are now being listed for sale on www.ebay.ca . We currently have about ten great items listed on which bidding has already started so act quickly and join in the fun! The items can be found at the following page link under “morgan_horse_nova_scotia” http://shop.ebay.ca/morgan_horse_nova_scotia/m.html?_dmd=1&_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1 There will be plenty more items to follow so keep checking back on the link to see our newest auction items! This is a great way for club members and friends to buy very good used items. They will all have been inspected and carefully checked. You will find a photograph and description of each auction item together with all measurements posted on Ebay. We will ship items to the US and Canada or items can be picked up in Stewiacke to eliminate the S&H charges. So please have a look at the sale and tell your friends about this. The monies raised from the auction sales will go towards the promotion of the Morgan breed in Nova Scotia. We hope that all our club members will support this new fundraising initiative and also donate items for sale. We are grateful for all donations but request that they are clean and in good condition and most importantly that all items of equipment are safe to use! For further information please contact Elizabeth Measures by email morganhorse@rogers.com or phone at 1-888-728-2424. |
Rules Change (posted March 1, 2010) Equine Canada Rule Changes, effective January 1, 2010 CHAPTER 58 - MORGAN WESTERN PLEASURE SECTION 4. Hackamores (Bosals) are permitted in any class on a junior horse four years-old and under. A junior horse may be switched back and forth from a bridle to a hackamore. |
My Trip to the Massachusetts Morgan Horse Show and Morgan Grand Nationals
At center ring there was a huge wedding cake on display. The size and detail was amazing. I can only imagine the hard work and effort put into this cake. The size of this display made it almost impossible for the judges to view the entire ring at once. This was a bonus because if you needed to make any corrections in your ride, behind the cake was the place to try and make it happen. The experience taught me how hard one person must work to take a victory lap in a show that big. I assumed I would be nervous from the time we arrived at the fair grounds, but the nerves didn't really kick in until I was in the warm- up ring outside the coliseum. Once in the show ring I did my best to not let my nerves interfere and focus on my ride. Although I didn't leave with a blue ribbon, I feel the experience will help me prepare for next years event if I am fortunate enough to participate. The level of experience at these shows was outstanding. I found it incredible to watch everyone's technique and different ways of doing things. Some of the ideas and contraptions the trainers came up with, to fit their particular horse's way of learning, showed a lot of creativity. The lead line classes were so cute, some of the riders were no more than three or four years old. I'm sure some of the competitors in my classes probably got their start at a very early age as well. I consider my self lucky to be able to compete against them. |
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