Hello all! I have been meaning for months to sit down and
write about my EAP experience. With all this time passed I have had so much
time to reflect and apply the things I learned at EAP. I hope this belated post
will give even more insight of the effects post EAP.
Where do I even begin? The week of EAP met many of my
expectations but I was also surprised with the level of riding and difficulty
we as riders were called to. The clinic
hosted by Centenary College was lead by Karen Healey. I did not have the opportunity
to ride at a very high level at a young age. I have never ridden in a large EQ
barn, watching girls win the Maclay finals or going to big shows every weekend.
As much as I wish I had those experiences early on… I didn’t. EAP was an eye
opener to that side of the show world. It was a privilege to ride with students of top
trainers. Not only their talent was shown but their incredible horses were a treat to watch and learn from as well! This was one
of the most exciting parts of this experience. I don’t have the opportunity to
compare myself to top riders and it was fantastic to compare myself to students riding with top trainers every week. We
began the week with a simple (not so simple) collecting extending pole
exercise. As the week progressed so did the difficulty. Day two we began
jumping and jumped every day following. One of the other main points I took
away from the clinic was perfectionism. I naturally like to be a perfectionist…
but not consistently. Karen drilled into my mind that my consistency was
lacking I can still hear in the back of my head Karen telling me to “Do it
again!” she was hard on me to not ride something perfect once but over and over
again. This is something I struggle with and I came home much stronger than
when the week began.
As far as the barn management that seemed to be the easy
part of the day. We had more of a round table like discussion with Nanci
Snyder. Again I loved being able to hear
how top trainers care for their horses and was surprised at some of the
simplicity that goes on in the farms. Complicated is not always better, old
school is the way to go in many circumstance.
We also had the opportunity to tour the Unites States Equestrian Team Headquarters at Gladstone NJ! I was jaw dropped drooling over all of the trophy's and team apparel through Gladstone. These pictures do not do it justice but here are just a few!
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| Mclain Wards Jacket from Bejing Olympics!!!!!! |
I did not get the opportunity to move on to EAP nationals but I am thankful for the experience I was given.
Since EAP I have a hunger for learning more and continuing my education in this sport. Three weeks ago I made a trip to Cazenovia NY and sat in a chilly arena to audit a
Candice King Clinic. I was blown away by the knowledge of Candice and
her ability to explain things in simple practical ways. I highly recommend
riding with her any chance you get or auditing her clinics. She is amazing! Although I wish I had a horse at the clinic and could have ridden with Candice, I learned a significant ammount just by watching and taking notes. I took many of the things Candice talked about home with me and tried them on my horses at home! I believe auditing is under appreciated in this sport and is a fantastic way to learn even if you aren't on the back of a horse. It is now on mu bucket list to ride with Candice one day but I took a lot away from simply being on the bleachers for once.
In other news I would like to congratulate Lollypop Farm on the addition of their indoor arena! I had the privileged of taking part in their ribbon cutting ceremony a few weeks ago. I am excited to see the effects of having a place to train theses horses in the coming months and years. For the full story click on the link:http://www.twcnews.com/nys/rochester/news/2016/10/27/lollypop-farm-perinton-equine-training-rehab-center-horses.html
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