Jeff Morse clinic on 3/21/2010

[targetsmom]

If anyone gets a chance to attend a Jeff Morse clinic - or webinar - I highly recommend it! This one was sponsored by the CT Valley Driving Club, an ADS club that holds a CDE each June. I think most of the clinic participants this year were minis - or at least not full size horses. We seem to be taking over. One Ag Science teacher brings her students and several minis each year for a group lesson.

First, let me say a bit about our mare Ruby: she is 6 years old and has very crooked legs, especially from the front. But my husband LOVES her, so she is a keeper (but will not be bred). Actually almost everyone who sees her loves her. Besides being popular, she is very versatile and a lovely mover. Anyway, as we entered the ring, Jeff was clearly watching her from the front very carefully. I told him, yes I knew she had very crooked legs, but wait til he saw her from the side. (He has a Morgan that paddles so he could relate). Then he commented that many minis have a very quick tempo that needs to be slowed down, but Ruby's tempo is fine. He only made one adjustment to my harness, tightening the breeching a bit. In some lessons, horse critique and harness adjustment are major parts, so I felt lucky to this point!!!

For those of you regulars on here, you probably know that bending was going to be a main topic. Here she is walking to the right (her stiff direction) while Jeff is assessing us and giving me pointers. You can also see how crooked her front legs are. Note that you can see the huge mirrors with the spectators reflected in them.


You can also see that she has a tendency to duck her head and get behind the bit when the going gets tough, but Jeff wasn't too concerned about that. Just a flick of the whip to get her forward (and her getting stronger) should take care of that.

I also asked him about the GLOVES I was wearing (for those of you who remember the "what is wrong with this picture" post). They are dark brown riding gloves which he thinks are just fine. He is not sure that lighter gloves would be a problem anyway, as he has seen turnout classes won with orange-looking gloves.

Thanks to CVDC and Jeff for a great clinic!

 

[Minxiesmom]

What a wonderful opportunity for you. Good job!

 

[BannerBrat]

It sounds like you had a great time! I'm hoping to get out in the driving world a little bit this year, and maybe have a chance to get a clinic with him. If not this year, within the next few years.

Any neat tips you picked up? The video's are great, thanks for posting!

And I do see a lot of potential in your mare, she looks like a doll.

And great job having pretty much all of your adjustments good.

Did this seem to help with your horses that were going crooked?

 

[targetsmom]

Last year I think Jeff did a clinic in New York for the Saratoga Driving Club. You might want to check that out. Jeff is a great teacher!! He gives lots of tips throughout the lesson and I don't want to give everything away. But one good tip was to look where you want to go (not at your horses ears!) and get used to how things feel and keeping an eye on your horse through peripheral vision. And sometimes you need to let the horse figure things out for themselves - like the bending. By the way, Ruby is under 32" tall and not in shape, so I expect her to get stronger as the season progresses - and that with these tips the bending will improve.

Not sure where you are, in NY, but the Saratoga Driving Club's Pleasure Driving Show in August is a great way to get started!!! We hope to take Ruby this year.

 

[BannerBrat]

Hi,

I'm located a little south of Albany in NY, I'm hoping to attend that but time and money will tell if I can or not. I heard it's going to be a continous drive? There's also a combined driving trail in october that I'm really hoping to be able to do. We'll see though.

And wow, Ruby looks taller than she is!

 

[targetsmom]

I just looked up the Saratoga website and you are right - it is a one day continuous drive this year, not a regular Pleasure Driving show. Not sure what we will do, but maybe there will be something in that area and we will run into you!

You reaction to Ruby is not that different from Jeff's! Or maybe it is just because I am only 5' tall.

 

[RhineStone]

I think most of the clinic participants this year were minis - or at least not full size horses. We seem to be taking over.
In general, driving seems to be a growing sport in all divisions, but the largest growing division in ADS shows seems to be the ponies and less. A lot of the demographics of society and ADS are older women who just don't want to be dealing anymore with the 17hh warmbloods, et al. Some are taking their children's former riding ponies and converting them to driving horses because people seem to be less sore when driving than when riding!

So your observations would make sense.

I also asked him about the GLOVES I was wearing (for those of you who remember the "what is wrong with this picture" post). They are dark brown riding gloves which he thinks are just fine. He is not sure that lighter gloves would be a problem anyway, as he has seen turnout classes won with orange-looking gloves.

My driving gloves aren't quite darkened yet to where I would like them, so they are more on the "orange" side. What you definitely want to avoid is the "yellow, straight from the racks at the local hardware store" deerskin gloves. I have purchased those, because they fit incredibly well, but I dyed them more brown. That wasn't the best solution, as the dye came off on my whip. I should have oiled them to color, or John Greenall says to rub them on a sweaty horse to darken them.

Jeff has a tremendous amount of patience, moreso than I do!

He can walk for hours. I get bored with that! However, when he was at the Midwest Horse Fair last year, it was interesting to see the progress from those three horses over the course of the three days. And we too have been working on not staring at our horse's ears. So much for all that Western Pleasure training! Obstacle work seems to help with that, too.

Myrna

 

[Kendra]

Thanks for posting, that was fun! Ruby is a lovely mover!

I have to ask - what was the footing? What a gorgeous arena.

 

[targetsmom]

Thanks for the comments.

This is an incredibly beautiful facility - High Hopes, which is one of the first therapeutic riding places. The footing is fabulous, but I am not sure what it is - either rubber or one of the hi-tech types, is my guess. Lots of people were watching from the heated lounge where you could hear every word Jeff said. Then there was a pot luck lunch right after my lesson, which was fun too!

And, yep, I am one of those older women going from the larger dressage horse (in my case only 15H), to a much smaller, more comfortable mini! Or several, in our case....

 

[rcfarm]

What fun that looks like. Great arena. We have a clinic for April 3, with Bob Giles. I cant wait! Then we have a pleasure show close by in May.

You have a cute little mare.