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California Riding Magazine • April, 2010 Learning Opportunity by Winter Hoffman |
The purpose of this nascent program is to establish a set of guidelines to ensure that trainers adhere to certain basic teaching methods. I signed up for the Feb. 16-18 event at Thermal because I wanted to encourage my daughter Zazou Hoffman to become certified. I thought it would give her credibility as she makes her way in the world as a young professional. As a young rider myself growing up in the Los Angeles area’s Portuguese Bend, Olympic rider Hilda Gurney and an assortment of visiting trainers had a huge influence on me. Seeing our neighbor Betsy Raines’ daughter Kathleen make it to the Olympics in dressage made me realize that great trainers can provide a scaffold for success. It was with their encouragement that I started to breed and train our own horses.
Trainers from Arizona - So off I went at 4 a.m. in my car to HITS Thermal for day one of the TCP symposium. Zazou thought she could join me but obligations at school got in the way. The TCP schedule was very well thought out and George Morris, Olympic show jumping chef d’equipe, was our guide. We got an oral breakdown of the elements of an equitation and a gymnastics course and their role in confidence building, as well as the importance of progression in training. View the video on YouTube by searching for: George Morris Leads the USHJA TCP Symposium. This was followed by a rider demonstration of each on the flat and over fences. Three different groups of riders (intermediate junior riders, advanced intermediate riders and advanced jumper riders) illustrated different training techniques. George Morris is an intensely entertaining narrator. His voice exudes the confidence of years and years of experience. It could be misinterpreted as pompous arrogance, but that would be a complete misread. His humility is palpable. When he says he had to learn “blood and guts” because he didn’t have them, you believe him and a sense of Weltschmerz (sentimental pessimism) infuses his words. When he says he got nervous at the thought of teaching the trainers in the TCP symposium you realize he’s telling the truth and that he desperately wants to pass on what he’s learned. It’s not about ego, it’s about a genuine love of the sport and a quest for excellence in everything that the rider sets out to do and in everything Mr. Morris sets out to do. He has very high standards and he wants all trainers to have high standards, too.
George Morris, U.S. chef d’equipe, leads the trainer syposium. A point he makes emphatically is that we don’t have to reinvent the wheel in training horse and rider. The French equestrian Baucher and 15th century Xenophon have already done it in their writings on classical riding. The simplest approach is the best. No gimmicks, no kooky training methods. “Go with what works and forget the short cuts,” says Morris. As chef, he says, he’s paid the big bucks to tell the riders to “stop jumping” so as to conserve the freshness of the horse. The irony has not eluded him. This concludes my thoughts on Day 1 and 2. Regarding general observations, it’s a shame that this event was grossly under attended. It is a great learning opportunity and Mr. Morris is mortal. He turned 70 recently. I wish USHJA and USEF had offered something tangible as incentive, like a $10 discount on rider dues. They tried with the trainer liability insurance discount but the carriers I contacted were a little hazy on the details. There should have been hundreds, ideally thousands, of riders and horse loving auditors and wannabe trainers packing the place, but sadly there weren’t. The Symposium’s final day was led by acclaimed hunter rider John French and covered the basics of the hunter division, choosing an appropriate horse, and the renaissance of the Hunter Derby. For me the best part was taking what I learned, sharing it with Zazou and seeing the results as we applied it to our homebred hunter Balthus. You can see the results on YouTube by searching for Zazou Hoffman & Balthus Work on Adjustability. I sat with three professionals (two of them Learner Judges) as well as a recently aged-out junior over the three days and asked them what they learned and how it is applicable to their business. Here are a few of their responses: ”I learned a lot of back to basics and classic riding techniques that have been ignored in recent years,” said Nicole Wood. “Reflect on the past masters, study their winning techniques, apply and never lose sight of your goal - higher and wider!” from Melissa Duven. And, “I love the new format ... as a trainer, competitor and judge, I find it extremely valuable to attend clinics and symposiums as we further our education,” from Debbie Jamsa.
For more information about the USHJA’s Trainer Certification Program, visit www.ushja.org. |
