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| Quirky trotting over cavalettis,in the Masterclass. |
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| Susannah Clarke(part owner of Quirky)And Ingrid Klimke,after one af the best Masterclasses ever.. |
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| Ingrid Teaching in the Masterclass. |
Dressage with the Stars 2011
Dressage with the Stars this year saw two Hill Cottage riders on the shortlist for the Dressage masterclass. Charlotte with Dunkerque (“Quirky”) and Kylie with Isle of Desire (“Bridie”) were hence fortunate enough to train with the very successful international competitior and coach, Ingrid Klimke.
Ingrid liked to work firstly on establishing a deep stretch across the back, encouraging the horses forward and down, and reaching into the contact. Ingrid also favoured the use of small cavaletti during training, perhaps due to her eventing background. Charlotte used them with Quirky in the warm up, as well as towards the end of the session. Ingrid explained that the cavaletti helped the horses to loosen up and stretch their muscles. The result of this could be felt as well as seen.
Ingrid then moved on to more collected work, always pushing the horses forward in between the collection. Ingrid worked with Kylie to ensure Bridie’s poll remained the highest point, as her tendency was to overbend. Theyachieved this using a soft inside rein, whilst maintaining a short outside rein, and the use of the forward push if Bridie tried to lower the poll.
Charlotte and Quirky were a popular combination in the masterclass, receiving regular applause from the audience. Quirky was very obliging, and the pair were able to show a diverse range of movements, and in between show the stretch and relaxation Ingrid asked for.
Kylie and Bridie competed in the 4-year-old class on Thursday. Despite taking the atmosphere easily in her stride the previous day, young Bridie was a little overwhelmed with the audience. The judges gave Bridie a decent 7.3 for general impression, however the inclusion of the confirmation score in the 4-year-old class didn’t work to Bridie’s advantage! The pair finished on a score of 6.68, placing =23rd from 38 combinations.