Note to self: The Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared” applies to many things. When teaching a WD clinic be prepared for anything!
This week’s blog comes from Vancouver Washington on the Columbia River where the “Discover Western Dressage” clinic is being held as a fundraiser for Silver Buckle Ranch. The Buckle is a non-profit youth ranch that houses Clark County’s disabled riding program. It is a pleasure to be here and to know that the clinic proceeds will be used to help fund such a special program. Thank you Silver Buckle for hosting at your beautiful facility!
As more and more people get involved with western dressage, there are more and more clinics offered all over the nation. Each time I go to a new clinic venue, I am reminded that even when you think you have everything covered, you don’t. Every organizer, every barn, every group of riders is a fresh opportunity to learn, to be flexible, to be creative, to think critically and to produce a valuable learning experience for everyone, sometimes in spite of the conditions you arrive to find.
Some clinics are so well organized and run so smoothly we are able to set a standard for all the rest. As teachers, trainers and instructors, it is always important to remember that we are there for the participants. We have a responsibility to the riders we see to deliver our material even when things are a little shaky. If we arrive and are met with blank faces when we ask “Where is the dressage arena?” we have to be so diplomatic when the response is something like “You need a different one than the one we got?” Ummmm, well there isn’t one actually, but they scheduled a western dressage clinic so we have to produce one. In that case some planks from out behind the barn held up with some garden stakes, and put up inside the arena they had worked out just fine to create the court we needed. Everyone learned more about western dressage than they knew before and a sense of camaraderie was built as everyone pitched in to accomplish what was needed. Luckily I arrived a day early to set up, whew!
It is such an important exercise in humility and in gratitude when these kinds of experiences happen. I am constantly humbled by how well a project can come together when people work together to achieve a common goal. Every venue has come with its own wonderful assets, from its footing to the weather to its people and horses. Each has also come with unique sets of problems, unique solutions, and invariably, the glue is a group of individuals determined to produce a western dressage clinic. Flexibility is the name of the game and, when combined with a little graciousness, amazing things can come out of seeming disasters. No clubhouse for the educational sessions? Put up the AV equipment in the arena. Oooops! Guess who dropped her flash drive in the sand… don’t tell my husband I used it in the machine after that. No arena letters? Notebook paper and indelible markers did the trick. Dressage arena loan fell through the night before? Used landscape timbers donated for use by and returned to a local hardware store. No judges table for the Ride-A-Test day? Used a big barrel and two barstools from the hosts kitchen.
I got a great hint from the organizer of the first WD clinic I did. Make a list, she said, of all the things you know you need and send it to the organizer well before the clinic. Thank you Maria! It has become my own checklist as well as a guideline for hosts. I have also learned to take my own AV equipment whenever possible and to make sure that all the AV materials work in the machines…. before I get to the venue, in fact, before I leave home. Makes the presentations go so much more smoothly! Take extra materials because people WILL lose what you give them and you can accommodate late registrants as well. Above all, have a good line of communication with your hosts. They can’t know what they don’t know and unless you tell them what you need to produce your event, you can’t expect them to. Clinicians, arrive on time or better early, be prepared, apologize often, be gracious, be flexible, creative when necessary, be humble, be kind and be effective with your teaching. Hosts, be ready for your guests, arrange restroom services (please), be curious, be helpful, be accommodating, cooperative and interested. Above all, work together to produce western dressage clinics and events that are safe, fun learning experiences for everyone.
Thank you all for your listening and have a wonderful WD clinic and show season!
I welcome your input regarding anything you have read in this blog, your rescue horse’s story as well as your western dressage story at [email protected].
For more information about Western Dressage, to read articles, explore the 2013 Rulebooks, see the current tests, or start your free basic membership visit North American Western Dressage, Cowboy Dressage, IPHDA, or Western Dressage Association of America online and look for them on Facebook.
Michelle Binder-Zolezzi is the founder of the Relational Riding Academy. Relational Riding is a program that utilizes dressage as fundamental training for all horses performing in all disciplines. She has been an ARIA certified Instructor since 1989. She is currently working on her second book “Relational Riding: A Horsemanship Tutorial,” and has completed work on two professional video productions, “Any Horse, Any Rider: Relational Riding: A Universal Foundation” and "Understand Riding From the Ground Up."