Dressage Mentor Reunion!

The second Dressage Mentor Reunion is going on RIGHT now and we’re having a blast!
We have had so many different activities already!…yummy dinner at the fancy, shmancy Players club, “survivor-type” challenges (The first place winner won a position analysis with Ruth Poulsen), demo rides, Jim Masterson and his Masterson technique, pain relief with Isabelle Aube, and a leg wrapping demo.

Today the Dressage Mentor Reunion starts at the horse show where I’ll critique the rides through headsets! Then on to more lessons, position analysis, EQui-Chi with Kris Garrett, and Thermography demo.

Sunday, we’re back at the horse show to critiques both rides and warm-ups. Then off to my farm for two more lessons (One with an Olympian who I’ve taught since she was a kid!), and then a saddle fitting demo with Jochen Schleese,

We’re having a blast at the Dressage Mentor Reunion in this 75 degree, sunny , Florida weather!!!!!!

Jane Savoie’s Happy Horse Tip #6-Improve Your Seat in the Canter

Happy Horse Tip #6-Improve Your Seat in the Canter

Think about how your seat moves when you’re cantering. Notice how your hip angles open and close. Start with your upper body on the vertical, and then open your hip angles and let your upper body rock a bit BEHIND the vertical. Then come back up to the vertical with shoulder over hip over heel.

Visualize arrows extending down from your seatbones. Whichever way those arrows are pointed, is the direction you’re sending the hind legs. If you lean forward and close your hip angles, you push the hind legs out the back door.

If your upper body is on the vertical and you rock behind the vertical, you open your hip angles. As a result the imaginary arrows extended down from your seatbones point forward. You’re saying to your horse’s hind legs, “Come along, come along, go with, go with.”

A Horse That Goes Forward To Light Leg Aids is a Happy Horse

Happy Horse Tip #5
Make sure your horse reacts to light leg aids. Your goal is to “whisper” with your aids and have your horse “shout” his response—Not the other way around!
To check that your horse reacts to light leg aids:
• Close both legs and see if he immediately responds with a surge from behind as if he’s going to do a lengthening.
• If he doesn’t, correct him by tapping with the whip or bumping with your legs to send him forward. (The intensity of the correction depends on the sensitivity of your horse.)
• Then slow down, and RETEST. Ask for the lengthening again with an aid as light as a mosquito bite. (Remember, your horse can feel a fly on his side so he can feel very light aids IF you train him to react to them.)

The key here is to RETEST. Otherwise you’re just teaching your horse to go forward to the “correction” not from the light leg aid.

For more tips for training a Happy Horse, go to: www.janesavoie.com/happyhorse

Happy Horse Tip #4

Happy Horse Tip #4:
If your horse gets nervous in the walk, here’s a tip that might help him.

Think about how relaxed you sit when you’re finished with your work. So, if you’re walking, and you feel like your horse is going to get tense or jig, sit in the same relaxed way. Say to yourself, “We’re done. We’re finished. Work is over.”

Inhale. Exhale. And dissolve into your horse’s back. If you sit with less positive tension or tone in your body, your horse can feel you relax and will mirror that.

Elastic Contact with Your Horse’s Mouth in the Canter

Happy Horse Tip #3 In the canter, your horse telescopes his neck forward and back in the same way he does in the walk. You need to follow with your arms in the canter. If you don’t, your horse can’t use his neck as balancing rod. So, he struggles, gives up, and falls into the trot. He’s not being bad. You’re just putting him in a position where it’s very difficult for him to continue to canter.

Imagine that when you pick up the reins, your arms don’t belong to you anymore. They’re an extension of the rein, and they belong to your horse.

Here’s an exercise to help give you the feeling of an elastic contact in the canter. You can even practice this exercise in the halt first to get some muscle memory.
• Get up into a two-point position.
• Pretend you’re a jockey galloping down a track with your hands pushing your horse’s neck forward every stride.
• While doing that, notice how your elbows open and close with every stride.
• Then sit back down, and keep your elbows opening and closing in the same way.

For more info on the Happy Horse Course, go to: www.janesavoie.com/happyhorse/

Happy Horse Tip #2-The Lateral Walk

If your horse’s walk tends to be lateral, try one of these two things:
1. Slow the tempo down. Just be sure your horse stays reactive to light driving aids in the slower walk. He shouldn’t get lazy or fall behind your leg.
2. Step slightly sideways. That will break up the legs on the same side so he can step more deliberately with each leg. With a young horse, do a bit of leg yielding. If your horse has more education, do shoulder-fore or shoulder-in.

This tip is excerpted from The Happy Horse Course. For more info on how to train a happy horse, go to: www.janesavoie.com/happyhorse/

How To Freshen Your Horse’s Walk

Happy Horse Tip #1: Here’s a great exercise called “breathing the legs” that you can use to freshen your horse’s walk.

Try this exercise at home first. You might be surprised by the reaction you get. So you don’t want to do it for the first time at a horse show.

• Take your legs off your horse’s sides.
• Move them back an inch or two.
• Place them back on his sides lightly.

This tip is excerpted from The Happy Horse Course. For more info on how to train a happy horse, go to: www.janesavoie.com/happyhorse/

Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie’s New EQ Equisense Training Center Features Innovative Technology

Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie’s New EQ Equisense Training Center Features Innovative Technology
by Karin Glassman
Innovation. Dressage Training. Two seemingly incongruous concepts. Principles of classical dressage remain founded upon principles that trace back to Xenophon in 400 B.C. However, in 2010, Jane Savoie
succeeded in revolutionizing dressage by merging cutting-edge 21st century technology with traditional
dressage training and teaching methodology.

At the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Jane Savoie’s company EQ-Equisense, Inc. debuted EQ SmartTack to wide acclaim. Followed by an additional six months of extensive field-testing, this innovative product continues to receive unanimous praise. Rider after rider – whether 15 or 50 years old, whether a professional or pleasure rider, whether a dressage aficionado, foxhunter, western reiner, or paraequestrian- is astonished at the subtle yet effective position, balance, and muscle memory changes that can be attained in a mere 15-minute demonstration evaluation. Imagine the potential for achievement with access to EQ technology on a regular basis!

EQ SmartTack is saddlery that is retrofitted with strategically placed sensors in the seat, flaps, stirrups, and reins. The EQ SmartTack saddle transmits precise information about your balance, symmetry, leg pressure and positioning, enabling your instructor to “see” below the surface. Sensors embedded in the
EQ SmartTack stirrups provide additional essential information to let you know if the stirrups are correctly weighted for the exercise being performed. EQ SmartTack reins provide instant feedback about the quality of your connection with the horse’s mouth via sensors embedded within the reins. Armed with this
information, you can correct uneven rein pressure and develop a more consistent, elastic contact.

Sensory data is transmitted wirelessly to an iPad or iMac computer for instantaneous viewing and
interpretation by your instructor. By providing a virtual magnifying glass to examine heretoforeimperceptible
elements of a student’s balance, position, and cues, corrections are immediate and
accurate. This remarkable system skyrockets a student’s learning curve while also making learning fun.
The EQ SmartTack system is designed for use on a real horse during an actual training session. It can also be used on the “Equicizer”, for warming up, for instructional purposes, for riding during inclement weather, or just for fun and fitness in any indoor setting. The Equicizer is a safe, mechanical horse that is operated by the same muscles employed while riding. This simulated riding experience, combined with precise sensory data relayed by the EQ proprietary software, and augmented by specific “buzz words”
provided by the EQ instructor to trigger new muscle memories, results in remarkable immediate and
sustained performance improvement.

After 35 years as a dressage instructor, Jane Savoie’s recognition of the unique challenges faced by riders and instructors was the genesis of EQ-Equisense, Inc. It is often those subtle yet visibly imperceptible imbalances in a rider’s position or use of the aids that exert significant detrimental effects upon
performance. Riders can also be frustrated by their lack of natural “feel”, resulting in confusion about how
to use their bodies to effectively communicate with their horse. Similarly, instructors struggle with how to
teach “feel”, or kinesthetic awareness.

Jane joined forces with Peter E. Raymond, President of Human Condition, LLC, and a leading innovator
in immersive simulation technology that recreates physical experiences through a digital medium.
The EQ SmartTack products were developed with the assistance of Dr. Hilary Clayton at the renowned McPhail Equine Performance Center at Michigan State University, where she has developed sophisticated technology to study equine and equestrian biomechanics.

In June 2011, EQ Equisense, Inc. will be premiering the very first EQ Certified Training Center by Jane Savoie at Mistover Farm in Pawling, NY, a state-of-the-art horse boarding and training facility on 160 beautiful rolling acres, conveniently located within a one-hour drive from New York City. EQ Certified
Training Centers by Jane Savoie feature EQ SmartTack and the most up-to-date EQ software installations, specially trained EQ instructors, and meet rigorous standards for horse management and training. For more information about EQ SmartTack and EQ Certified Training Centers by Jane Savoie, or to join the EQ community, go to www.eqtrained.com.

Dressage Trainer Jane Savoie and Human Condition’s Peter Raymond Unite to Create EQ Equisense SmartTack

Dressage trainer Jane Savoie and Peter Raymond, President of Human Condition LLC, joined forces at EQ-Equisense to create the world’s first SmartTack for Equestrians.

After extensive research and development, Savoie and Raymond announced today that their revolutionary new product EQ-Equisense SmartTack is now available for purchase by dressage centers and universities.

Savoie saw the need for a system like SmartTack because she recognized the unique challenges facing riding instructors and students—the ability to teach and learn that elusive quality called “feel”.

Jane explains that, “Subtle imbalances in a rider’s position are not always clearly visible to the human eye. Yet they clearly have a negative impact on riding and training. Plus, riders get frustrated by their lack of natural “feel” which results in unbalanced and crooked bodies as well as confusion about how to use aids correctly. EQ SmartTack addresses both of these issues.”

Raymond, a leading innovator in immersive simulation technology describes EQ SmartTack as, “tack retrofitted with sensors in the seat, flaps, stirrups, and reins. The sensory data is transmitted wirelessly to an iPad or Apple computer for instantaneous interpretation. Data may also be captured for later review and analysis.

The most exciting aspect of SmartTack, however, is that it is designed not only for static position analysis but also for use while actually riding your own horse. The system gives an instructor instantaneous feedback about a rider’s position and pressure in the saddle and on the reins while riding.

By providing a “magnifying glass” to examine often imperceptible elements of a student’s balance, position, and use of the aids, corrections are immediate and accurate. This system skyrockets a student’s learning curve while also making learning fun.”

Supported by solid research conducted by Dr. Hilary Clayton at the McPhail Equine Performance Center at Michigan State University, the EQ SmartTack System merges cutting-edge technology with proven teaching and training methodology.

To learn more about how you can bring Jane Savoie and Peter Raymond’s EQ-Equisense SmartTack to your dressage facility or university, go to www.eqtrained.com.

Experiencing the Jane Savoie Clinic as a Demo Rider At Northwest Horse Expo

I have been working with Jane Savoie for 2 years now, via her video analysis of me
riding my horses on her Dressage Mentor website. But I had never met her
in person before.

Therefore I would like to thank ODS for the opportunity to be a demo rider at
the Northwest Horse Expo this year! I was also lucky enough to be able to take off
from work to be able to watch the other 2 clinics that I was not a demo rider in!

I probably enjoyed Saturday the most, as besides her lateral work clinic, she also
gave a very motivational speech about choosing to be happy vs.sad. The main
messages were not to allow negative people to bring you down and that anything
you set your mind to, you can achieve!

Also exciting- her Equisense SmartTack that senses exactly what mistakes the
rider is making both in position and use of the aids! (www.eqtrained.com)

I was so proud of Hindrik during this past weekend and think both he and I
learned a lot. He is usually tense around large audiences and I always have
my hands full with him at shows, but that ‘nervousness’ is also what makes
him a great horse and super responsive to light aids, once he’s warmed up!

On Saturday I rode him in the warm up arena with Mules knocking jumps over
right next to him, and all kinds of riders carrying flags and western
riders zipping all around him. I was so proud of him in that he could
remain focused on me, and stay rhythmic and relaxed! After those rides,
I will NEVER complain about any warm ups at dressage shows again!!!
I was hopeful that after those warm up rides, the Jane clinic would be a piece
of cake!

However, the large audience, loud noise, and new arena made him spook and
adopt a bolting type posture when we first walked in. Jane took good care
of us though, and instructed us to do one of her “relaxation” suppling
exercises. She realized I had to keep him moving and let us keep walking
and as she explained things, and she also asked the audience not to clap
and to do “silent applause” instead.

We got a lot out of being in this clinic, as it was probably the largest
audience Hindrik has been exposed to so far, and he ended up handling
it really well! The audience got to see how a really hot horse can be
calmed down and handled by suppling so it could be a good experience for the horse.

Sue Zoltner

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