Pippa Callanan Clinic July 2026

 

Cruise's first sleepover camp went well and we learned so much with three days of lessons plus a lot of auditing.  Bonus, we were stabled next to KL who brought Cob Jockey's Disco to the clinic.  He is gorgeous and KL was everything Jen describes in her blog.  I really enjoyed watching her sessions with him.

I have a ton of homework and a lot of thoughts that I will break up into some separate posts as I work my way through things.  The gist though, is that Pippa was very complimentary about our progress on balance and posture, and gave us more complex things to work on for Cruise and quite a bit of position stuff for me.  I'm going to share video of our last session with the homework at the end and you can watch it HERE.  I think it's really representative of how Pippa teaches.  Unfortunately, I didn't get video of the flexions or the renvers pirouette, but maybe next time, because they are integral to the French Classical system.  

Excited to get to my homework!

Almost Summer Update

 We've been tooling along, riding 5-6 times a week, with static flexions every day, an occasional lunge, and in hand work maybe twice a week.  Taking a lesson pretty much weekly has been super beneficial in learning the Legerete/French Classical system and Cruise is thriving.  His balance has changed so much, he loves the system and is so much more willing.  We did our first walk canters yesterday and they were actually good!  Add in getting our first effortless trot in hand  and lateral work in the same lesson and I feel like we are making some good progress.

I'm still working on keeping my elbows by my sides and my thumbs up but I think that's going to be the job of a lifetime.  One thing that has recently really helped my position is going to a mild roller spur instead of the dressage whip for forward.  Worn low on the heels, Legerete style, and only used as an auxiliary aid to energy and leg, riding Cruise with spurs has been a revelation for me.  I only use them to back up my energy/leg and then ask again until I get the response I want with no spur.  Cruise is surprisingly easygoing about the use of the(admittedly mild)spur but gets his arse in gear pretty rapidly.  And I just sit there with a truly forward horse.  It's amazing how much easier everything is with true forward.

We're doing another Pippa Callanan Clinic in the beginning of July and this time it is 3 days and Cruise is staying overnight for the duration.  It should be an adventure!

Interview with Helene Arianoff

 

Wonderful interview with Helene Arianoff, a Belgian Classical dressage instructor who trained with Nuno Oliveira.  Some really interesting descriptions of the seat and rein aids that led to some lightbulb moments for me.  She is a treasure.  Watch it HERE.

The Elbow Fix

 

At our lesson on Saturday with LM, my elbows came up again.  I've spent 40+ years fighting my chicken wings and LM thinks it is time to get rid of them for a potential huge improvement in my connection through my back, in my seat, and ultimately in my finesse in riding.  She suggested riding with a thin dowel under my thumbs while holding the reins.  I'm not super keen on that with windy cooler spring weather and the difficulty of shortening my reins easily, so off to the interwebs I went.  After about an hour I found the best video.  It explains why I have always struggled with my elbows(I'll give you a hint-piano hands) and how to easily fix them.  Also, why my wrists are a little stiff and how to fix them as well.  10 minutes that are so well spent if you struggle with either of these issues.  Watch it HERE.