California Dressage Society
San Diego Chapter
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Letter from Jasmine Kall, Winner of CDS-San Diego's Lottery for the Adult Amateur Clinic with Debbie McDonald
Photos by Janice Krall
Recently, I have been stumbling along in my horseback riding with no real goal or direction. This last year, I showed Second Leve,l but did not see that much progression and I seemed to be fighting with my horse.
When I entered the San Diego Chapter drawing for the Adult Amateur Clinic with Debbie McDonald, I never expected to win.
My mom, who does the scoring at the chapter shows, heard the good news from Kate Shuster, I did not believe them. I thought I would have heard about it. Later, Kate confirmed that she saw my name pulled from the hat! So I made some phone calls, and when I learned this was indeed true, I was excited and thrilled, and then I panicked--I had not been riding much. Between school, work, rain (and more rain), and my other sports I had simply not focused on riding.
I had a few months notice, so I pooled together enough money to take a few lessons from two different trainers AND Donna Richardson's Pay-it-Forward clinic. By the time the clinic arrived, I felt less scared of making a fool of myself and headed off with my head held high.
The first day was a mad rush--off to work, and then home, where my mother had packed up and prepared as much as she could so we arrived in plenty of time. With the wonderful hospitality of Tom and Kathy Pavlich at Shadow Ridge Equestrian Center, we unloaded and unpacked, and then I got to ride in the indoor arena where the clinic would be held. Prankster, my 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding, settled a bit and loosened quickly.
We got to know each other that night. We were a very diverse group. Some were beginners, some had ridden Prix St. Georges. There were Arabs, ex-jupers, young horses, old horses, short horses and tall horses (18.5 hands!). Some had ridden all their lives and others for only six months. It promised to be an interesting clinic.
Each rider had his or her own problems and issues. First, Debbie showed us how to work WITH our horses and not against them. Some of us needed to work on the connection of the inside leg to the outside rein, while others worked mostly on position so that we allowed our horse to move corrctly. I worked on connection to the outside rein. We worked on flexions and elasticity in the stride.
The second day, the horses settled into the routine and riders knew what to expect. Each of us worked on what we'd done the day before, to cement it into our heads, and we learned a few new things. One rider got a lounge lesson. That night, we got to see an Olympic rider delicately tackle her Jackapoo terrier and some wonderful dancing.
The third day, we had a wonderful time, as we saw the progression of the weekend. The horses were moving softly and happily, and the riders were quiet, more relaxed and showed signs of understanding the goals set forth by Debbie over the weekend.
Overall CDS gave a very educational clinic to some riders who might not ever get the opportunity otherwise. Debbie showed great diversity in her coaching ability and tact in handling the different issues that came up, and Kathy Pavlich showed great warmth to all who came to Shadow Ridge. Thank you to the San Diego Chapter of CDS for giving me this opportunity and to all who took the time to make it such a special occasion.
Jasmine Kall
San Diego Chapter