paul belasik clinic write up

[Claire]

From Saturday - didn't go back on Sunday as we hadn't booked for it

What a nice man.

He regularly stopped to explain the theory of what he was saying to the rider.

He had a remote mic, so we could all hear what he was saying, which made it a much better experience all round.

I got a lot out of it, and took some notes, so distilled – and of course, this is only what I got out of it, others might have thought other points more important.

Hands up - keep neck up by raising the hands.  We all all regularly told to keep hands down, but if you look at the top riders, they are up.  PB once did some research and found that most top riders have their hands about 6” above the pommel, not the 4 – 5 we are normally told.

With a young horse, rhythm is very important and the horse has to find a balanced cadence – aim for the same quality on a young horse as you would on an older horse, otherwise you won’t get it later.  You need to teach the horse so his back his stronger and equal behind as in front.  I specifically asked when he would start asking the youngster for a higher frame, given that we are all generally told to look for a lower “novice” frame – he said, from early start, as otherwise, how is the horse going to be able to do it once you do ask later?

On transitions – be sure the horse stays with the contact, keep the uphill in the step.  On trot/halt transitions, push up in back and use the back to nail the halt.  The halt must be instant – take a shorter rein and ensure he accepts the contact, don’t let his head go down into the transition down or up.

On a slightly stress horse (the one in question looked pretty calm, but owner/rider said he had a bit of history, and the owner/rider hadn’t expected to be riding the clinic at all!)  - the more the horse has to step out, the more it has to relax and breathe.  Push for more impulsion to assist in relaxation, push the horse out to the hand.

On pirouettes (for those getting that far!  I could only dream…) don’t train pirouette with small steps, that will come with time.  The Pirouette comes from the horse jumping over behind, not from front bend, and the horse should feel stiff back to front.  The movement feels a lot bigger than it looks.

On position:  sit up straight, he likes lines down sleeves so he can see what the arm is doing!  Do not get pulled forward  - he showed how that was possible if you weren’t straight, with the benefit of a guinea pig and a lungeline.  To get the arm/hand position right – hold arms up and out as if you were holding a big beach ball, then put the hands down – ensures that your chest/shoulders are right.  Feel as though hand attached to back.  Grip with thighs and drape lower leg, not grip with calf – pointed out that the SRS riders who say they don’t grip with thigh are in fact incorrect, they have just forgotten that that is what they do ….


and finally, on Totilas' trot:

"horse hollow in back disunited totally unnatural - it is quite incorrect"

[Naiad]

He does clinics in Calgary, Canada about 2x a year (where I live). Do you recommend the clinic overall? I could either audit or one day haul Amigo there. Wishful thinking, since I am not out of the woods yet with the hock issue.

I did audit one of his clinics about 3 years ago so don't remember a lot (I was very new to dressage back then), but I did find him extremely personable and encouraging to the horses and riders. He did seem a nice man. 

[Claire]

yes i would.  but audit before you take horse, i would think

[Heather]

Did you see him ride?

[Claire]

Did you see him ride?

no he wasn't there to ride, he was there to teach, and did so very effectively; riders and horses improved.

[bertie_m]

Did you see him ride?

No, well, he didn't on the Saturday. He may have on the Sunday, I wouldn't have thought so but we weren't there.

It was a very informative clinic. All the riders and horses improved during their sessions. Most of the suggestions that he made were subtle things but they made such big differences.

He spoke about rider position, and how it affected the horses movement, about why we want certain movements from the horse (and rider). All theory was explained in several different ways. The demonstration with the lunge line and the guinea pig (that was me) was very simple and yet was fundamental to getting people to carry themselves properly. The ease with which he pulled me over when demonstrating how not to carry your shoulders  (no mean feat in itself, I'm built like a tank!) and all because of a little stoop!

All in all, I would certainly recommend people to go and see for themselves. Even if you ultimately decide not to follow that route, there are always things to learn.  


eta ... Claire got there first 

[issywizz]

I think you could give yourself some fairly major problems following some of that 
Grip with the thighs? 
Hold the young horses head up? 
GP riders have their hands higher because the horse has raised his head and neck,it shouldnt be the other way around and you certainly wouldnt expect a 4 yr old to move with his head aned neck in a GP frame 
Thanks for the write up though.

[bertie_m]

To answer some of the questions ...

GP riders have their hands higher because the horse has raised his head and neck,it shouldn't be the other way around and you certainly wouldn't expect a 4 yr old to move with his head and neck in a GP frame  

The head and neck of the horses weren't in a GP frame. The were just more 'up' than they were before. He was very careful to add that all he wanted was for them to be more up in front to help lift the shoulders, otherwise the faster they are asked to go, the more they dive down onto their shoulders.

Hold the young horses head up?  

The horses heads were not held in a frame, they were encouraged to be a little higher only, in furtherance of lightening the shoulders. Again, these things are relative to what the horses were like before.

Grip with the thighs?  

This was replied in answer to a question about which part of the legs are in contact/pressure. He didn't want people to grip with the calf.

As with all these instances, the choice of words and the nuances and body language of the speaker are very important. I certainly did not come away with the impression that he wanted people to clamp the thighs on, nor to have a green horses head in a GP frame.


eta ... again, beaten by Claire ... must learn to type faster :P

[Claire]

Grip with the thighs? 

because gripping with the knees and calves pushes you out of the saddle.  if you analyse, there's an unconscious gripping, not full force of course ... not the only person to have suggested that to me

Hold the young horses head up? 

i possibly didn't explain fully.  essentially, aiming for your horse to carry his head higher, sooner than we might otherwise think,

GP riders have their hands higher because the horse has raised his head and neck,it shouldnt be the other way around

but which comes first?  i gather, the suggestion is that raising the hands (or at least, not having them as low as a lot of us are taught, below the 4 or 5 " that heather recommends) does not encourage a horse to lift his head and if he keeps his head low he is plough in onto the forehand/into the ground.

you certainly wouldn't expect a 4 yr old to move with his head and neck in a GP frame 

he didn't suggest that one would do that; only that one would want to encourage him into a higher frame than the lower novice position that we seem to be told to have them in for a longer time than is necessary...

Thanks for the write up though.

no problem

[issywizz]

That makes more sense thanks.
I still disagree with gripping with the thighs though    but neither would I advocate gripping with the knee or calf .

[Mandeigh]

   Thanks for the write up Claire.

[Heather]

I went to the first ever clinic Paul did over here and there was a lot to like in his teaching. But I was very disappointed in his riding- he rode a friend's Lipizzaner unusually tall one for the breed, and having ridden this horse, I can say that he is like a cushion to sit on. It shocked me that Paul bounced stiffly in the saddle. Two weeks later, a friend sent me a video of a clinic he had taken in CA that she attended. On a big moving warmblood, his backside left the saddle 6 inches, and he was hanging onto the reins to balance. He also went round the school three times on the wrong diagonal. I was very disappointed to say the least.

I loved his books in general, but absolutely did not agree with his teaching of the seat, same when I watched him teach it at the CRC 10th anniversary, I saw no improvement in the riders at all. He also advocated bouncing in the saddle in sitting trot.  He wanted the rider to rise to the trot locking and unlocking the knee so that you could see the head going up and down- no forwards and back, of the pelvis, all up and down, the exact opposite of what I teach and Anja and others that I really respect.

I just didnt get it at all.

[issywizz]

Explains why he wants to grip on then 

[Heather]

I remember a chiropractor who was with Suzie N-P at the CRC 10th anniversary do, having a real go at Paul about advocating bouncing on the back of the horse! I thought it was going to excalate into a real scrap!

[issywizz]

Shame I missed it