O Canada - January Training Sessions
The new High Performance Committee as well as Christine Peters and I have been hard at work preparing for our first official Training Sessions of 2010. Well, I thought there would be sessions but, as it turns out, because the season actually begins quite a bit later on the west coast, there will only be one WEG declared rider in Southern California when I am out there January 9th and 10th. With that in mind, Dressage Canada will pay for that rider’s entrance in my private clinic at Dove Hollow Farm, and we will reschedule a time when the other riders are all there.
ON the other hand, one week later on January 16th and 17th, the training session at Stillpoint Farm in Wellington will be jam-packed with declared combinations. A minimum of 13 to 14 rides a day are going to keep me extremely busy from early morning until the sun sets, but I have to say I am very excited to see all the east coast Canadian talent in one place.
I have already been working privately with some of the riders and horses who arrived early in Florida and, let me tell you, they have really made great progress. My plan is to tailor training and competitive strageigies for each combination along with their personal trainers if they have them, so as to ensure that every single rider feels absolutely confident that they are being supported by me and Dressage Canada to the fullest extent possible.
Besides training sessions, this will entail a series of mock or schooling shows using friends who are top judges to score our riders’ tests and keep track of each combination’s improvements during the winter. I will leave no stone unturned in my quest to produce an extremely well prepared squad with depth in the number of combinations which can score over 70% consistently. Trust me, when you’ve been around the block as many times as I have, you can tune in pretty quickly to what is necessary to put the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle in the right place. If that sounds over- confident it is par for the course. I’ve been called that along with a lot of other names for decades, but I also know that a huge part of my success has been because I have a high degree of confidence while still, most of the time at least, seeing the situation realistically.
At the end of the day, I have enormous faith in many of our Canadian combinations - far more that I honestly thought I would have a few months ago before I took the job. I am, as they say in ski terms, stoked and am pretty sure the riders are equally excited to get underway with the Florida and California show seasons.
Just one more thing, Canadian riders - I am asking that you guys and ladies work and spend time together like a team. I want to feel that you are truly there for each-other, to pump each-other up and do what you can to build a very high morale within our group. I know that you will all be competing ultimately for 4 spots on the team, but when you are not riding down that centre-line, I expect everyone to root for and cheer the other on. When one of us does well, we all do better, and the best way we can show that is by heart-felt encouragement and mutual support. As I promised, I will put 150% into helping to create a medal winning team, but it will require 100% from everyone else involved and that includes being there to help and support each-other in any way we can. With this mindset, I promise Canada will be a force to reckon with!
Cheers!
RD
