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| Over the last few years the numbers of
people riding and supporting dressage in KZN has dwindled considerably.
The new dynamic committee headed by Sue Horne has announced an
enthusiastic drive being called The Dressage Renaissance which is a
program planned to educate and motivate riders not only in dressage but
also Show Jumping, Eventing and Equitation, to pay more attention to
basic schooling of their horses which will ultimately enhance the level
of performance in all competitions by making their mounts more
gymnastic, supple and adjustable.
The Dressage Renaissance was launched with the first
seminar entitled “Find Flat Work Boring?”, which was held at the Durban Shongweni Club on Saturday 18th April. With a total
of 4 horses and riders Bev Pendock explained and demonstrated to well
over 100 people, the basic principles of training and how to overcome
the specific problems each horse and rider presented. With only 30
minutes with each horse, and at the same time explaining to the crowd
and the rider, as well as fielding questions from the public, it was
truly remarkable the very evident improvement achieved with each pair in
this short space of time. The riders left the arena with smiling faces
and much applause from the crowd.
Bev fielded a multitude of questions with regard
to problems people had with their own mounts at home and general
principles of training. People broke for lunch feeling motivated and
inspired with what had taken place and indicated that their long drives
from the South Coast, Empangeni and the Drakensburg had been well worth
it.
The afternoon session which followed the theme of
the morning, was led by Sharon Rhode from Germany. Sharon is an
International FEI candidate judge and judged in South Africa on the
highest panel for many years. Sharon explained to the spectators what
the judge is looking for in a dressage horse. Three horses from various
levels performed tests and Sharon with some interaction from the crowd
and her husband, a trainer of Grand Prix Dressage horses in Germany,
critiqued the tests. Sharon also explained ways of improving each
rider’s performances to help them to achieve better scores in the
future. Sharon also explained how the Young Horse classes are run in
Germany and how they are judged. There was tremendous support for the raffle for
which winners won amongst other things, private lessons from Bev Pendock,
Anita Adendorff, Liz Day and Gill Pater.
All in all there is no doubt that the seminar was a
resounding success and the demand for further seminars of this standard
is prevalent. Enquiries with regard to further seminars and the purchase
of the Seminar video can be directed to Sally McGrath at sallym@boe.co.za.
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