CHARLOTTE DUJARDIN MASTERCLASS
NICOLA MALEY: ASTEK GALAHAD (L5) Straight away she (Charlotte) put me at ease. She is very bubbly and natural. One of the main things that really hit home for me from my lesson was the “forward” that I need and the "uphill and round!! Don’t let him come down to go round”. And how an “ok transition is NOT ok..... it has to be a forward transition Every Time”. She had some very good exercises that I will definitely be using to help train the canter pirouette. The main exercise is half pass to the centre line then proceed down entre line shoulder fore, then half circle 10 metre in quarters in then half pass to the centre line again. Then as you get better at it you start to make the circle smaller. But most of all we just need to have more of everything, and be stricter on myself in every way. She also told my 5yr and 7yr daughters that while she wasn’t here that they should stand out with me and teach. I now have to budding Charlotte’s to watch me ride. Things can only improve!!!!
SOPHIE DE CLIFFORD: BL ALAMO (L4) Knowing Charlotte quite well, I was prepared for a pretty full on lesson! Elmo can get quite hot and being so short coupled, he can hold himself when he gets excited or nervous. The lesson focused on the importance of self-carriage and riding forward whilst maintaining the uphill balance and softness over the topline. Having ridden some of Charlotte’s horses, I know just
how light, sensitive and responsive she expects the horses to be!
TESSA VAN BRUGGEN: FORTUNATO (GRAND PRIX)
When I rode a terrible canter-walk transition, Charlotte reminded me of the importance of repetitions and that mistakes should be corrected promptly. This teaches the horse that the only way is the correct way. We have to be so self-disciplined and focused on every moment that we are in the saddle. She also emphasized the importance of straightness. She explained that for a horse to be straight, he has to have his head and neck in front of his chest.
The major thing that has stuck with me after the lesson is that Charlotte kept drilling into me the importance of riding forward into each movement and not allowing the horse to get behind the leg. I have been told this before and have read this in many books, but I really felt the result of "ride forward" in her masterclass.
Elmo is currently learning his sequence changes. We rode these on the wall to help keep the straightness. When we made a mistake, Charlotte didn’t make an issue of it, we just kept going, pointing out that the more you make an issue of it, the tenser the horse becomes, and then the changes become a problem. It was a great refresher and fun to show Charlotte my current team of horses during her quick visit. I feel privileged to have been a part of it!
IMAGES 1. Diane Wallace - KP Dexter 2. Chelsea Callaghan - Sisters II Etta J 3. Melissa Galloway - Windermere JObei W 4. The audience at Taranaki 5. Charlotte Dujardin inspiring her NZL fans 6. The Canterbury audience of which many have travelled from both ends of the island. 7. Renee Etherington - BL All By Chance
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FEBRUARY 2017 | DRESSAGENZ BULLETIN | 21