Lucinda Clinic: Why Not More Professionals? by Ashley Leith

I just finished a two day cross country clinic at Fair Hill with Lucinda Green, and my biggest question of the week was why are there not more professionals taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity? I have ridden with Lucinda on and off since I was sixteen. These days I try to see her once a year. I will take a young horse or a client's young horse and participate in one of her Stateside clinics. If the timing works out perfectly, the clinic will be a week or two before a big show, because no matter how well I am riding, Lucinda's clinic is always a good wake up call. The exercises that she has her riders play over are skinny, awkward, sometimes spooky, and have no set striding. It is the perfect foil for the increased pressure of perfection in dressage, show jumping, and even cross country in our sport. Lucinda focuses on what she terms engine, line, and balance. These elements are the most basic building blocks in any correct riding. What Lucinda tries to do is foster these building blocks in the rider and then build on our horses' natural instinct to use their footwork and athleticism. Lucinda, rather than trying to create the perfect jump time and time again, tries to create awkward jumps so that riders and horses can learn instinct and survival skills. No one can be perfect every time.

Lucinda has a very loyal following for her clinics, the one I just participated in is usually full six months before the actual clinic date. Her training approach has been very influential in my own riding and her exercises are a breath of fresh air in this country. Gone are the days of learning to ride cross country by actually, well, riding across the country. Even in my own program I now go to Florida for the bulk of the winter and miss a good part of balancing on the slippery, muddy hills in the Northeast. I also miss fox hunting season, which is cross country riding raw. Lucinda has figured out a formula to specifically recreate cross country riding techniques in an arena. Even with quality dressage and show jumping riding more important now than ever before, good cross country riding is still the meat of the sport. Lucinda, one of the best cross country riders that the sport has ever seen, still has her finger on that pulse.

Lucinda's clinics are not the only ones I've attended. Over the years I have done clinics with Jimmy Wofford, Stephen Bradley, Ann Krusinski, Joe Fargis, George Morris as well as other top riders in different disciplines, including Natural Horsemanship. With few exceptions, very rarely is there another professional in my group. One notable exception was the George Morris clinic at Morven Park two years ago. To the benefit of everyone riding, Leslie Law also rode in the clinic on a young horse.

I see clinics as useful for many reasons. First, they are a great way to stay fresh by practice training techniques that I don't use on a daily basis, and in some cases I learn a new approach to an old concept. Second, they are a great experience for a young horse. My training level and preliminary level horses are looking for mileage, mileage, mileage, and a clinic is a great way for them to be in a pressure situation without being in a pressure situation. They perform a little bit, then they get to stand quietly and relax. Every single young horse I've taken to a clinic has been more mature by the end of two days. Clinics are also a great place for riders, even very good riders, to practice under pressure. The first year that I rode in an Ann Krusinski clinic, I did not want to be the leader in the exercises. Two years later, I led almost the entire clinic in my group. My thought process had gone from "I want to watch someone else so that I make sure I do the exercise right" to "I want to see if I can do this exercise right without seeing it done first." Having professionals in a clinic group also benefits the other riders. We do learn through watching, and being the group leader sets a great example for those savvy enough to pay attention. These days, clinics also help my teaching repertoire. As an ICP certified instructor, I have become more interested in watching different instructors teach. Often in a clinic I will watch how a master horseman communicates different concepts or works a struggling rider through an exercise.

Again, then, I ask why there are not more professionals riding in clinics? If Leslie Law can take the time to participate, where is everyone else?

A New Addition and PRO DerbyCross by Ashley Leith

I woke up this morning before feeding time so that I could sit down and write about the Derby Cross experience on Saturday in Wellington. When I got into my office and looked out the window I saw one of our horses looking very agitated. Yesterday we moved the brood mares to one of our front fields so that we could keep a closer eye on them as they neared their due dates of the third week in March. As soon as I saw Darcy in the next field going up and down the fence line, I thought, "I bet we have a baby!" Sure enough, when I put my shoes on and went outside, my Hanoverian mare Glitzen had just given birth. Glitzen was still on the ground, and the new shiny wet colt was standing by her head. She was licking him dry. I called Brian out and gradually as the whole farm awoke, everyone got to admire the beauty of a new baby on the farm. He looks to be a bay, although his legs have white hairs on them. He also has a little white star, just like his mother. Even though this is my first venture into breeding, Glitzen is a seasoned broodmare and she obviously knows what she is doing. She is very proud of her little one and also very protective of him. After giving them some space while we did barn chores, we went out to make sure he had figured out how to suckle. We had a batch of thirteen adorable baby chicks here three weeks ago, the spring flowers are blooming, and now we have our first healthy foal on the ground. This is certainly a moment to stop and enjoy!

PRO Derby Cross on Saturday night was well done and entertaining. The arena at the Palm Beach Equestrian Center is much more enclosed than most arenas that we event riders are used to. It is surrounded on four sides by seating and VIP tents. This allows for a very spectator friendly program. Before the start of the competition, hosts Leslie Law and Boyd Martin blasted into the ring on two borrowed mounts in order to demonstrate some of the techniques of the sport of three day eventing. While course designer David O'Connor narrated, Leslie and Boyd showed how to jump a corner jump and how to jump a drop to a wedge jump.

The competition then got off to a quick start. One of the most memorable early rounds was Will Faudree. He was riding Errigal Lion and he rode at an amazing pace. His ambition in that arena reminded me of how he got thrust into the upper echelon of event riders to begin with. Almost a decade ago at his first CCI*** at Fair Hill with his parter Antigua, Will rocked it around the cross country course, finishing inside the time and ending the day near the top of the leader board. His drive once again stood him in good stead on Saturday night. With a clean round and a clean jump over the eventers joker fence, a five foot high orange Hermes vertical, Will was later awarded the Eventer MVP for the evening. After the ten second deduction for clearing the joker fence, his final time of 1:06 was the fastest.

The competition ran in a team format. There were five teams with five riders each. The teams all had three event riders, one show jumping rider, and one polo player. The event riders all jumped first over a course that combined cross country questions with show jumping obstacles. The two most influential fences were fence four, which was an angled hedge in-and-out, and fence eleven, which was a square oxer and the second to last jump. Trouble came at the angled hedges because they came up quickly and caused a type of optical illusion due to their positioning. Fence eleven was influential because after speeding over a number of cross country type jumps where the horses could really gallop, the square oxer on show jumping cups required them to really come back and bascule around the jump.

After the first round of fifteen event riders, team FarmVet/Cavalor with Will Faudree, Bruce Davidson, and Buck Davidson as captain, was sitting in the lead. Team Canada, with Rebecca Howard, Jessica Phoenix, and Kyle Carter as captain, was placed second. A quick break was taken to reset some of the jumps. Then the team sents in their polo player and show jumper riders together. They each jumped designated courses one at a time and then jumped their designated joker jumps. The polo players, who jumped between 3' and 3'6" were a mixed bag over their triple bar oxer joker jump. Interestingly, though, not one of them cleared the final jump on their course, a 3'6" open bar vertical. That proved to be a real bogie! The jumper riders had higher show jumps and many of the same cross country type obstacles that the event riders had, including a drop bank to a skinny. I thought their horses, who don't often jump drops, handled that combination amazingly well. Their joker jump was a preliminary level corner. Every show jump rider jumped it clean. I have to say I thought it may have been too easy a joker jump for them!

At the end of the day, the scoreboard changed a little bit. Team FarmVet/Cavalor went last, in reverse order of standing, but they had an ace in their pocket with Aaron Vale. Aaron really delivered under pressure. He did have a rail down, but he jumped the joker clean to finish on a time of 1:11, which was the second fastest of the jumper riders. Team Canada did not fare so well, however. They fell from second place to last place due to a refusal by their polo player's horse at the up bank. With double joker points, Team Triple Crown with Marcia Kulak, Will Coleman, and Allison Springer as captain slid into second.

The evening finished off with a puissance class. The winning height of 7'3" at the puissance wall really dwarfed the cross country jumps still placed around the ring. The point of having Derby Cross in Wellington was to try to introduce eventing to a new audience. Apparently we have already been invited back, which is wonderful. What I took away from the evening, though, after watching event riders, jumper riders, polo players, and then puissance riders, was how diverse our sports are yet how each sport contains something to admire. Horses really are a versatile and wonderful creature!

Photo of Jonathon Millar Courtesy of Molly Sorge - Chronicle of the Horse

PERSPECTIVE: The Road to Kentucky by Ashley Leith

In 2009 I was almost able to fulfill a lifelong dream of riding at Rolex Kentucky CCI****. I qualified with my mount ESB Irish Doctrine who is owned by my wonderful patron Elkins Wetherill. We had also qualified for Rolex in 2008, but I had only gotten the ride on Doc a few months before and I felt we still had issues to iron out. In 2009, after careful preparation all spring, we arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park fit and ready to compete. As fate would have it, 2009 would not be our year. Doc is a notoriously quirky and spooky horse. Trot up day on Wednesday was chilly and blustery. Moments before our number was called to present to the ground jury, my groom trotted Doc for me up and back on the tarmac in our pre-inspection holding area. Doc spooked sideways. I didn’t think much of it, with the crowd and the wind I would have been surprised if he had kept all four feet on the ground. I proceeded up the ramp and presented for the jog. I was sent to the hold, where to my horror I realized that my horse was three-legged lame and getting worse with each step. Further diagnosis revealed that he had torn a ligament in his stifle. It seems that his spook on the asphalt ended our chances to ride on that hallowed course. Doc came sound and spent a season the following year competing at the preliminary level, which defied all diagnoses, but his upper level career was ended.

Two years later, I am once again qualified for Rolex. This time I am riding Jet, a bright red chestnut off the track thoroughbred. Jet has been with me since he began his eventing career. In 2004 my now-husband, performance horse farrier Brian Leith, moved to Ocala, FL. Being new to the area, he decided to pick up a barn of racehorses along with the sport horses he was shoeing. Jet was bred in New York State and raced there in the summers, but came to Florida in the winters to train. Brian shod him as a three, four, and five year old in Ocala. Jet, a.k.a. Jamie’s Jet by A.P. Jet out of Full of Bull, had a moderately successful racing career. In late 2006, however, he was loosing his speed and his owners decided to retire him. Brian, who knew he was a sensible horse, picked him up just before Christmas and sent him to a friend to decompress. In 2007 Brian and I started dating while I was in Ocala for the winter. In April I was back in Pennsylvania. It seemed, though, that Brian thought our relationship was going well. He called me and told me he was sending me a horse. He said that the horse had a good mind and he figured I could do something with him.

Within a year and a half, Jet completed his first CCI* with me at the Florida Horse Park. We did a second CCI* in the spring of 2009 at the Florida Horse Park and then moved up to the intermediate and two-star level. From the beginning Jet was a cross country machine, often posting at the top of his division in that discipline. He has a naturally balanced stride, so I hardly have to touch him on course. The collection and expression necessary in dressage and the suppleness and bascule necessary in show jumping have come more slowly to Jet. Nonetheless, for the past four years Jet has clocked along for me. He has been unbelievably consistent in his record and has never missed a beat in his soundness. In May of 2010, Jet was 6th in his first CIC*** at Jersey Fresh and then 14th at Bromont CCI*** in Canada in June. At the end of October we finished our final four star qualification with an 18th place finish at Fair Hill International CCI*** in Elkton, MD. Rolex was once again in my crosshairs.

In December, however, when I brought Jet back into work after his rest time last fall, something didn’t feel quite right. I tried every trick I knew to assess the problem, and I also called in the professionals, including multiple veterinarians, acupuncturists, chiropractors, and massage therapists. We tried one thing after another, but nothing made him sound. In January we took him to The University of Florida for a bone scan. The test did not show any area of concern, so we were still left with no answers. We began blocking, and with the aid of ultrasound found a small inflammation in a suspensory ligament. I brought him home and aggressively treated the area with injections and shockwave therapy. Jet also began exercising in the aqua-tread machine at nearby Kesmarc. Within two weeks, the ligament issue resolved, but his lameness worsened.

It is now approximately ten weeks to Rolex. I have brought new opinions on board and this morning we started a new treatment that seems to have made a positive improvement as of this afternoon. If Rolex is going to be a reality for us this year, I have two weeks left to get Jet sound. I will need every minute of the remaining eight weeks to train, boost his fitness, and do preparation outings. Every day I think about the irony of the situation. I may once again be all dressed up with nowhere to go.

Six or seven years ago I rode around the cross country course at Kentucky CCI**** on a golf cart with Peter Green and some friends. A veteran U. S. Equestrian Team member and four star competitor, Peter was riding that year. At the time I had just barely competed my first three star. Getting to the four star level seemed like a very big deal. I asked Peter at what point in his career did getting to a four star become not such a big deal. He smiled a knowing smile and replied, “It is always an honor to get here.” Those words resonate more with me every year.