And we now have videos from the clinic with Jimmy Wofford :)

[BunnyDog]

The boys were grand on Wednesday in their clinic rides with Jimmy. For those who recall from me describing this last year, Jimmy has been a trainer of mine since 1994. As in 25 years of riding under the same watchful eyes. Though I can only grab a lesson once a month now I am proud to have pleased him with my horses and my riding after ALL the years.

Cudo continues to be on fire. He is a bit transformed from last year. He's settled down a bit and is not being the orangutan to school at home that he was in 2018. He's riding a lot closer to what he's like at a show. It's really a nice change because we can (FINALLY) practice things that we would do on course at a show and my position can finally get some time as well.

Chad is going through a bit of a punk rocker moment. At issue is his desire to just go get on with jumping and attempting to pull me into the fence, or flipping his head up in the process. Likewise I am not feeling like I can soften the hold on the bit when he does this, and yes I know I can and I SHOULD! We've swapped out from the french link eggbutt to a thin loose ring that Cudo is loving. I am thinking that's not the right bit either. But at this point I am looking at a few weeks of 100+ transitions per ride with him. Which, let's face it, all good young horses need lots of transition work.

Enjoy the videos:

Em

 

[TPO]

Your boys are lovely. Chad is definitely keen! What a stunning indoor too and the legendary Jim Wofford too

 

[Goldenstar]

Both looking great .
Beautiful school just love it .

 

[Ambers Echo]

Wow that is a long time to be under 1 instructor! Had not heard of him so have just had a look via google and sounds like you are in great hands! Love the videos. Can I ask why he is happy for your horse to break to the trot? Not that he ever did! But Amber is very onward bound towards a fence and if you try and check her she breaks. So you get a fast flat canter or a trot both of which are easier for her than a more collected canter. I am always being told not to let her break but to half halt with leg on to engage her back end while collecting her more. So I was just curious about a different approach to a lock on and launch type horse.

 

[D66]

I love seeing your videos, both horses look great. Have you checked Chad for wolf teeth? Could be a cause for the head flicking.

 

[hobo]

Great videos both look like they enjoy their jumping and have plenty of scope just a bit of refining to do. Good tip from D66 to check for wolf teeth.

 

[BunnyDog]

I love seeing your videos, both horses look great. Have you checked Chad for wolf teeth? Could be a cause for the head flicking.

Yes. He was done in January and will have a recheck in May because he is young and growing. But he's in good shape currently.

Em

 

[BunnyDog]

Wow that is a long time to be under 1 instructor! Had not heard of him so have just had a look via google and sounds like you are in great hands! Love the videos. Can I ask why he is happy for your horse to break to the trot? Not that he ever did! But Amber is very onward bound towards a fence and if you try and check her she breaks. So you get a fast flat canter or a trot both of which are easier for her than a more collected canter. I am always being told not to let her break but to half halt with leg on to engage her back end while collecting her more. So I was just curious about a different approach to a lock on and launch type horse.

His point was to take my heel off him, be softer (as possible) with my hands and basically not feed into his forward desires. By me being relaxed and supporting him without chasing back to canter if he broke he was able to work through his enthusiasm as his own decision. And once things were no longer new and I didn't add to it, he could relax and come to the fences more quietly.

He will have to canter courses in the future, but the goal is to encourage it as a relaxing task full of enjoyment and not a stressor rife with anxiety. In this way he can mode forward enjoying jumping.

Em

 

[PaddyMonty]

I don't say this often but I LIKE your instructor
Horses aren't bad either

 

[Asha]

He will have to canter courses in the future, but the goal is to encourage it as a relaxing task full of enjoyment and not a stressor rife with anxiety. In this way he can mode forward enjoying jumping.

Em

Love this, I see waaayyy to many horses being driven into the jumps at speed, very uncomfortable viewing.

I love Chads jump and attitude, he just wants to do the job. One of mine was a bit like him with the bit, I had a chat with a bitting company and they recommended this ; https://www.horsebitbank.com/trust-soft-flexi-d-ring-989.phtml
Its worked a treat, and I now use it on my other youngster. The youngster probably wont stay in this, but at the minute its working well.

 

[BunnyDog]

Love this, I see waaayyy to many horses being driven into the jumps at speed, very uncomfortable viewing.

I love Chads jump and attitude, he just wants to do the job. One of mine was a bit like him with the bit, I had a chat with a bitting company and they recommended this ; https://www.horsebitbank.com/trust-soft-flexi-d-ring-989.phtml
Its worked a treat, and I now use it on my other youngster. The youngster probably wont stay in this, but at the minute its working well.

So this is timely. I have the Herm Sprenger Duo bit, but it's shelved. Why? Because I went to watch a clinic with Richard Spooner and he made a fantastic point that when a horse wants to bend or stretch into this bit he can only do so in a straight line. Young horses especially sometimes need/want to bend and twist a bit as new skills are hard and carrying themselves becomes tough. The mullen mouth is slightly problematic to this because they also run into the bit sides if they are doing any extremes in turning, bending, etc. I watched a horse with a similar bit on a canter circle and Richard was on the horse asking it to bend and because of the lack on 'play' in the D ring on a bendy mullen mouth the horse was acually having the metal of the D ring pressing into it's cheek.

So to try to summarize, these are great bits for many tasks but the point was when you had one that moved it's jaw a lot or would overbend or was green and all of the above, it actually played against the horse and caused more negative reactions.

Em

 

[BunnyDog]

I don't say this often but I LIKE your instructor
Horses aren't bad either

Good God don't tell him that!!! Seriously though I think he's one of the most beloved Eventing Authorities. He's written many books, even one that is about his awesome fly fishing stories that I swear I couldn't put down. I was crying from laughter. He's great to ride with because he was a rider in the 'old days' when we had a team based at the US Equestrian Team Headquarters and they all lived and trained there. The team owned the horses and they picked who rode what. The stories are hysterical. He's got a keen eye and a wry sense of humor. He will tell you that you were wrong but also give you the tools to fix things. BUT I did get him ONCE. Many moons ago I was riding in his clinic and we were doing gymnastics in an indoor with mirrors on the far end. He often will place something on a rail to get you to look at the middle of the front rail and not take your eyes off of it until it disappears from your glance through the horse's ears. So he put a handkerchief on the rail, I came on through and as I landed looking ahead I saw in the mirror that behind me he was replacing the handkerchief with a tube of Chapstick lip balm. He then asks me if I saw the Chapstick. I laughed and said, "No it WAS a hankerchief, but you just swapped it" He laughed, everyone laughed and he told me I couldn't do anymore clinics with him. I had learned his tricks. To this day he still tells me when other riders catch him out. We both laugh and I love that I can make him laugh. God knows we've earned it.

Here's the video of me catching him out. LOL

Here's his books available:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=James+Wofford&ref=nb_sb_noss

"Take a Good Look Around" is the book of his stories. I HIGHLY recommend it. In fact I may have to dig it up and read it again now.

He's an icon of our sport here and I hope to be able to ride with him more because for sure I have tons to learn still.

Emily