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(N.B. This article was originally published in the NCDCTA Newsletter and is republished here with permission.)
Jennifer Baumert Clinic: Teaching All Levels of Riders through
Positive and Effective Communication
USDF Gold, Silver and Bronze Medalist Jennifer Baumert gave a dressage clinic at Lisa Gorsuch's Goose
Crossing Farm on May 17 and 18th, 2008. The well attended clinic was organized by Leslie Lytton and Tracy Walling
of Lighten Up Dressage. Jennifer Baumert of Cloverlea Dressage is a USDF Certified Instructor and Trainer through Fourth Level. She has trained with Conrad Schumacher and Henk van Bergen. Jennifer has recently relocated to Columbus, North Carolina and is the resident trainer at Cross Creek Farm .
The horses and riders at the clinic ranged from training level to schooling Grand Prix. Jennifer was able to relate to all the riders and created exercises to improve and assist each of them. Jennifer did not hesitate to ride the horses if she felt that it would help her understand the issues that the riders were facing and create a plan to address them. She focused on the quality of the gait and the straightness and suppleness of the horse through the jaw, throatlatch and base of the neck. Additional matters of importance was the focus of the quality of the connection as it related to the rider's ability to ride the horse more connected from behind. No matter what the training level of the horse, she emphasized that the rider must maintain control of the shoulders.
Lateral Work: Jen used lateral work to help enable the horse to work more underneath himself. She had Lisa Butterfield and Burturi work a half pass to leg yield to half pass with the goal being to maintain control of the shoulders and increase the bend. Next she had her trot along a diagonal, half pass to the quarter line, medium trot to the next quarter line, then half pass to the corner. The shoulders should stay on the diagonal line the entire time. Jen emphasized that the shoulders face where you are going and not to overbend the neck and lose the outside shoulder. Again, the quality of the gait improved with the medium gait in the center of the lateral line. The connection from the hind end to the shoulders was refreshed in the medium gait.
Canter Work: The counter canter was a favorite exercise in the clinic. When the horse was in a counter canter on the left lead, the shoulders should go to the left. Jen encouraged all to ask "are you in counter canter, or are you cantering on the wrong lead?" The idea for improving the canter work was to affect the horse in balance, rather than out of balance. Another exercise which she introduced for an advanced horse was to canter three two tempi changes of lead, then continue in the regular canter and finish with three more two tempi changes on either the long side or the diagonal. The goal of this exercise was to improve the quality of the gait.
Effectiveness of Rider: Jen was able to help make a hunter convert to dressage riding more comfortable with her horse and the new riding position. If the horse tries to go too far down, the rider can keep their elbows heavier and their hip open, so the horse pulls into their hip, back and seat, rather than pull the rider out of the saddle. This makes the rider stronger in the back and seat. For an effective half halt, the rider should point their knees down and think that they are kneeling into the saddle. The rider should not lean back or squeeze the horse to stabilize themselves,however, at the same time the leg must close, especially the upper part of the leg, in order to strengthen the core. To improve the horse, the rider should take the moments when the horse is most in good balance and make him responsive.
Throughout the clinic, Jen stayed upbeat, positive and approachable. She cheerfully took questions from the auditors and took time to ensure that the rider clearly understood each exercise. By the end of the weekend, the auditors and riders felt a real rapport with Jen, as if she had been in our area for years, rather than just a few weeks. For more information on future clinics with Jennifer Baumert in Huntersville, please visit www.lightenupdressage.com.
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