HTNSNews
Ian Roberts Clinic Summary
On May 20 – 22 nd, 2005, Maritime eventing riders and coaches were treated to a jumping clinic with Athens (2004) Olympian and NCCP Level III Eventing Coach, Ian Roberts.
As well as being one of Canada’s top event riders, Ian is one of the most well respected coaches in the country. He has coached several Ontario Young Riders teams to medals at the North American Young Rider Championships, held each August in the USA. In 1989, Ian was voted Ontario Horse Trials Association’s Coach of the Year, and in 1995, was both the Ontario Equestrian Federation’s Male Rider and Coach of the Year.
Ian hails from Port Perry, Ontario where he and his family own and operate Dreamcrest Farm ( www.dreamcrest.com). Ian’s wife, Kelly was herself a ThreeDay Event Team rider and represented Canada. As an experienced coach, Ian was quickly able to assess the riders and horses. Each lesson provided progressive challenges appropriate to the horse/rider level.
The more advanced horses and riders were given some pretty interesting combinations of jumping exercises, some of which simulated cross-country on the actual Olympic course – the “Urn” (aka Barrel) jump for example; the corner oxer and narrow fences with bending lines. The exercises questioned accuracy and precision. The riders had to be using eyes, seat, leg, upper body and good hand control. They had to be very focused or they wouldn’t get the job done. The horses were awesome. Everyone was so proud of themselves and came away with a real sense of accomplishment after an impressive performance.
The less experienced rides had smaller, easier versions of the upper level rides, which definitely challenged, but didn’t overface.
There was a LOT of emphasis put on rider position – form to function – in order to help the horse do it’s job better. The rider must learn to FEEL balance and oneness with the horse and be able to stay over the center of gravitiy even when it is constantly changing as it does on cross-country. The sport of eventing asks much and the riders must develop a true partnership with their horses. The horses need to trust in the rider so much that it will jump almost anything, given the correct training and experience.
A “Meet & Greet” get-together was held at the Farm house Saturday evening. Ian was more than happy to answer lots of questions, particularly about his Olympic experience.
Due to torrential rain, Sunday’s ride was forced indoors, but the first lesson of the day got to practice some unscheduled water jumps! It was disappointing to not get out on the cross-country course, but Ian had plenty for us to work on in the arena.
The clinic was well attended with riders and coaches/spectators. Ian left us with some marvelous training techniques to add to the program. He didn’t just tell us to “do” something, he told us “how”. He explained clearly the set up and variations of the exercises and for the coaches, how the same exercise could be varied to accommodate different skill levels. He also gave us some very good ideas and suggestions for designing and building cross-country fences.
Respectfully submitted,
Kim Elliott-Foster
President, HTNS &
Athlete Development Representative