Masterclass with Belinda Trussell.

Today I went to the barn to watch a Masterclass with Belinda Trussell . Lindsey Partridge of Harmony Horsemanship was also part of the Masterclass. Lindsey is someone who Belinda has gone to for help with some of her more sensitive horses.

Veann Leps and Fiora

Fiora and Veann were the first horse and rider.

Veann and Fiora were the first horse and rider. This was Fioras fist time she has been off her home farm so for a 7 year old horse that can be something that can make a horse anxious. They worked with Lindsey Partridge first.

Lindsey told us how when a horse gets anxious there is an adrenaline rush.And she said:”We don’t want that!” So it was important to give the horse confidence in the new enriovrment with a lot of people watching that was also something this horse was not used to.

Lindsay told us if our horse spooked it was important not to reprimand them. And not to add our own emotions to the situation. She asked Veann to walk Fiora in a circle and then stop and ask her if she was ok. She emphasized it was important to listen to your horse. “Trust comes from small steps.We must be carefull not to hold tension in our selves. ” Fiora settled well with the work that Lindsey gave to Veann to do with the mare.

Next Belinda gave Veann a lesson.”Every moment is a training moment” Belinda said. “You must pay attention to every stride. “Close Fiora with your leg, then give , then and ask for small steps forward. “Belinda also told Veann that her leg needed to be on the sides of the mare more .”It’s important to be clear in your language to the horse.”After some work Belinda suggested giving the mare a break. “It’s important to give breaks if you are teaching something new. Just 30 seconds or 1 minute to take the pressure off and reward the horse’s efforts. Belinda also reminded Veann to ride with short reins and to relax her elbows and forearms Also to use a circle to bring her back to a slower trot or canter and for downward transitions.She also asked Veann to close her knees and ask Fiora to sit more if she was pulling down in the contact.

Jill Stedman and Hullabalou

The next horse and rider were Jill Stedmen and Hullabalou who is known as Lincoln at his home barn. He is 11 years old and has only been doing dressage for a year having had a previous career as a show hunter.

Lindsey Partridge worked with Jill and Lincoln. “Negative thoughts can become a reality,”Lindsey said “so say the things you are seeing out loud“(ie red jacket on the door blue and white pole on the ground) to keep you in the here and now. However Lindsey also told Jill that “you cannot build confidence if you don’t worry.” The worry is a foundation stone in the process but we must be aware of negativity in our worries and get rid of it . She came out with some props: an umbrella that she opened and closed She had Jill trot round her in a circle as she did this and told Jill to watch Lincoln’s ears if they stayed turned to Jill his focus was still with Jill but she had to be ready if they went to Lindsey. She then came up behind Lincoln opening and closing the umbrella. If he reacted they would have to repeat what had got his focus until he was confident . But Lincoln was not worried by the umbrella.Nor was he worried about the long wand with ribbons on the end of it which Lindsey waved around him.I thought that perhaps this was because as show hunter he has been out and about at shows and he knew that these things were not going to harm him.

Belinda worked with Jill and Lincoln on canter work. Belinda told Jill to use more leg to get him into a better frame.

Belinda Trussell and Quincy

Quincy is a 6 year old mare, owned by Suzy Zucker, who has been competing successfully in the FEI 6 Year old classes this summer. Lindsay Partridge did some interesing work with this young mare. Belinda wanted Quincy to have confidence at the show and not be frightened by things like applause. Lindsey said that since we had a large audience in the arena this was a prefect time to work on that.

To start she had Belinda walk to the other end of the arena and halt with Quincy’s back to us. Then we could applaud.Quincy did not seem to mind this. Then Lindsey had the move to the center of the arena and halt, still with Quincy’s back to us. Finally they came to within 30 or so feet of the audience an Quincy still handled it well.

Then Belinda rode Quincy talking to us on her mic as she rode. There was one thing she said that made me think. “Simplicity is what brings the ‘fancy’. She then demonstrated how she was working to make Quincy’s trot more ‘fancy’. She also showed us how she was working on the canter and flying changes. She told us the tempi changes were not confirmed and attempts to do them were sometimes a “hot mess”.

She then came across the diagonal and showed us a couple of lovely changes. She also said that if she felt tenison in the walk she would leg yield to give the mare something else to think about before she asked for the canter.

Justin Ridgewell and Hermes

Hermes is an 8 year old black gelding who is very tall at 18hh.Justin did the same exercise as Quincy at the three places in the arena but he did have a bit of a reaction to the applause. Lindsey stood near enough to see if he blinked his eyes at the start of the applause. The first few times we clapped his head sprang up and he blinked but after the the third time he did put is head up but did not blink. Justin told Lindsey Hermes was a very sensitive horse and Lindsey said it was important to get him to relax.

When they worked with Belinda she told Justin it would help him to watch video of him riding as she felt he was leaning a bit behind the vertical and was driving him from his seat. Belinda felt this made him pull more in the contact. She said:”Whenever you feel too much in your hand it means he’s not balanced behind. Belinda told Justin he had 10 gears in his aides. #1 would just be a whisper. She also told Justin that in the canter pirouettes he must feel he had an extended canter available. She also told him that since Hermes was offering unasked for flying changes to the right Justin must give with the right rein.

Belinda Trussell and Diamanten Dave

Belinda has done work before with Dave and Lindsey Partridge. Belinda knows he is a very sensitive horse and needs confidence. Lindsey asked us not to applaud for Dave as that would be too much for him. But she had some other games to play with Dave .She brought out some brightly colored cones and threw them about as Belinda walked Dave around the arena.She threw them in front of him and behind him .

Then she told Belinda she was going out of the big arena door and would throw the cones back in. Belinda told the audience that only a year ago no one could open the doors of their cars in the parking lot outside the arena if she was riding Dave. I remember this phase well. Lindsey went out and threw in the cones. Dave did not seem to mind! Then Lindsey went behind a smalldoor in the kick boards a ducked down so she could not be seen. Then she would pop up and say “Hello” and duck down again. She asked Belinda to ride Dave closer to where she was hiding and when Dave trotted by she would pop up and say “Hello”. Dave took it all in stride. Amazing really when I think back to a year ago and how spooky he used to be.In the photo below you can just see Lindsey popping up to say hello.

One of the things that Belinda has used at shows with Dave is to ride him in S shaped circles. This keeps his attention on Belinda in the warm up ring and has contributed to his success in the Small Tour classes he showed in while in Forida last winter.Belinda mentioned this to Lindsey and I assumed this meant she had got this S circle from Lindsey. Belinda also told us she feels Dave will be a Grand Prix horse in the future and she has started to work on the Passage with him .

Belinda also told us she likes to train pirouettes by riding 6 meter voltes. When doing this she can notice anything like the horse falling to the outside or to the inside.

It was a wonderful day with much to be learned!