Jock makes his way around the London Olympic course last year
On the 23 and 24th of January Junior and Young Riders from the Lower and Central North Island traveled to the National Equestrian center in Taupo for a clinic with Jock Paget, who was a member of the Kiwi bronze medal winning team in London.
The first day consisted of a series of exercises designed to test the adjustability of our horse’s stride and the lines we rode. For many of us, this meant riding in a way we were not accustomed to and made us practice what we were not so good at! I found this exercise very useful as it forced me to ride my horse more forward in order to reach the desired number of strides, while others found they had to adjust to a slightly more controlled stride length. Some riders may have struggled with this to begin with but by the end of the lesson all of the groups were able to change the number of strides they fitted in each line every time they rode.
It's important to take time to chat about what you are learning
On the second day Jock set a course for us all, which we then walked, forming a plan on striding between each line. For me, this was very useful as I discovered I had been walking my courses slightly wrong for all these years! We each then rode the course, sticking to our plan and afterwards evaluated it with Jock looking at what we could have done better, and how we could adjust our plan to suit our horses. For those who found the course too easy, strides were added and taken away down some of the more difficult lines. By the end of the lessons, everyone was very happy with their rounds and pleased with the adjustability of their horses.
Overall it was a very successful camp with everyone gaining a lot from Jock’s teaching. We were very privileged to have such an experienced coach to take these lessons, with a lot of his teaching relating back to the schooling he does on his own horses. Also, a huge thank you to Jean Johnstone who organized the logistics of the camps, things wouldn’t have run as smoothly without her. Finally thank you to Eventing New Zealand for supporting this camp by subsidising lessons.
Article and clinic photo: Nicole Lansdown
