Dressage
English and Western
Cathy was educated in England and learned to ride as an eventer with the British Pony Club. Dressage is an integral part of that system and is understood to be the base of training from which everything else grows.
Cathy has maintained her reliance on dressage techniques to train her horses and students whether they are headed to the competition ring or out the barn door and down the trail. Indeed she attributes her successes in the hunter/jumper show rings to her understanding of good dressage as the platform from which everything else can develop.
Cathy believes that the essence of dressage is about teaching your horse to respond to the lightest of aids with a joyful and willing attitude.
"Too often I see riders, who have been seduced by the promise of quick results, use artificial aids (draw reins, bitting rigs, fancy bits) to speed the process along. These methods rarely work, even though they may look like they do to an inexperienced eye."
"A frame that is not developed over time can only be a false frame, which often results in a mixture of adrenaline and pain."
Cathy encourages riders to gradually build their own and their horse's strength and ability so that they experience a constant sense of accomplishment.
"I pride myself on being able to pick appropriate goals both short and long term so that the rider can accomplish the next step and the horse is never asked to do more than he/she is ready for in one session. If they follow the path that I lay out for them, step by step, they will end up at their destination with a happy and willing partner."
Although most of Cathy's coaching and training successes are in the Hunter/Jumper world she has maintained her interest in competitive Dressage for her own personal enjoyment. She competed successfully, locally and at Saratoga on her personal horse "Orion" who she showed and attended clinics on with such people as Sally Swift and Eric Horgan
