RAAC Part 1

I am writing this at 5:00 a.m., so forgive the lack of quality and the typos!

A few weeks ago, it looked as though some of my Ventura friends were going to be attending the Regional Adult Amateur Competition (RAAC), including Chemaine Hurtado, my occasional dressage trainer. Unfortunately, it didn't work out for them to come. I was a bit disappointed as I was really looking forward to a lesson on Friday night.

A different dressage friend, VG, did make it to RAAC, and she brought her trainer, Peggy Klump. Peggy was a California Dressage Society president, currently serves on the CDS board, and is a well-respected trainer. I asked VG privately if Peggy would be willing to give me an unscheduled lesson, and when she said she thought so, I asked, and the next thing I knew, I was getting some coaching after all.

VG on Clooney, her German Riding Pony (left) getting coached while Peggy schools another client's horse.

Peggy was also schooling her three clients and their horses that evening so I sat around to watch that series of lessons first. I found it amazing that Peggy could coach VG while riding S's horse and also be talking to S about what her horse was doing. This was after schooling R's Arabian, Orion. The woman has more energy than I've ever seen!

VG rides First and Second Level right now, quite successfully, but is moving to Third and Fourth for next season. That little German Riding Pony can bust a move! VG won one of her RAAC classes and scored in the 70s for a second place in her other RAAC class while also earning high score for all Novice RAAC entries. Pretty darned good!

Peggy was grinning from ear to ear the whole time she schooled this lovely mare.

Peggy is a boisterous, loud, high energy instructor. She's quick to point out what's not going right, several times I heard, WHERE are you going? as I lost Speedy's shoulder and drifted wide of B or E, but she's also immediate in her praise and very supportive of her students. I had ridden with her before so I knew that I would enjoy the lesson.

She gave me a lot of information, but the two things that I kept in mind during the show were her tips on improving my geometry (LOOK WHERE YOU"RE GOING!), and the idea of soft hands. This one was huge. 

I hold a lot of tension in my wrists, so Peggy pointed it out and showed me what a soft hand can feel like. She actually grabbed my hands and tugged and pulled so that I could feel what was happening in Speedy's mouth. Her analogy was to think of a dental hygienist. Would I want her knocking on my mouth or using even pressure? Speedy responded immediately when I released the tension, which was enough of a motivator for me to begin implementation of soft hands ASAP.

Throughout all four tests, that soundtrack played repeatedly in the background of my mind … soft hands, soft hands, soft hands. 

He's a total keeper!

If you're a Facebook friend, you already know how the weekend went for us. If you want to know ahead of time, go ahead and check out my Show Results 2014 link, but I'm going to wait until tomorrow to tell you how Saturday's classes went. In the meantime, here's a photo of the cool goodie bag and treats that all of the RAAC participants received followed by some pictures of the grounds.

Plus, there was a wine and cheese happy hour followed by an all you can eat pizza dinner on Saturday evening.

Show barns

Not a great photo, but the covered arena is really pretty. It's lined with rose bushes on the back side.

The River View arena