As a dressage rider, getting physically and mentally challenged while riding your horse is a daily occurrence. Everything we work on takes concentration, balance, precision, and direction for both horse and rider. The better we are at these things, the better we can communicate with our horses to make our riding seem effortless. Lessons are our ticket to getting better. Having a qualified person on the ground is invaluable. Since my trainer was in florida, I was really missing my weekly lessons, so you can imagine how "THRILLED" I was to hear that I was going to get a chance to ride with Steffen Peters! I was so excited when I heard Pams message that I started jumping up and down. Then I listened to the message again, just to be sure and I began to panic, especially after I heard about the dress code. I went nuts looking for a riding vest. I found a website that had 60 vests per page, and over 85 pages. I think it was on page 25 (if you do the math, thats a lot of vests) when I finally decided on one. Most people would be panicing about riding with an Olympian, well that too would come. As soon as I heard about my opportunity, I emailed all of my friends that have already ridden with Mr. Peters. They all gave me positive feedback saying that he had helped them all a lot and was really nice too. I then developed a riding plan, and decided to work on some things that Steffen had done with riders at the Equine Affair. I figured you can't be too prepared. This was very good for Novelty and I because we had been enjoying this mild NE winter with a little break in our work routine by trail riding more than once a week. Having a reason to get focused again was essential. We both LOVE our trail riding, so we needed some good motivation there. Preparing for the clinic did not just include a riding plan, I also wanted to make sure my horse had what he needed to do his best in what would be a stressful situation for him, and consulted with my vet. We decided that the clinic would pose much stress to Novelty's delicate gastric system. Being a nervous horse to begin with , the crowds of the clinic would be sure to make him more nervous and with Novelty being such an over achiever when it comes to his work, we knew that he would need even more help to deal with his overactive gastric stomach. We decided to treat him like he was going to a big show and we put him on gastroguard prior to the clinic. We also gave his joints a little more help with an extra dose of Legend a few days before the clinic. Having a riding plan for the clinic as well as a stress management plan for Novelty, I was surprised that I was getting nervous as the clinic date got closer. It was then that the DEMON rider appeared out of no where, unfairly picking on her horse for every little thing. The result, a fire breathing DEMON horse! After a couple of very stressful rides, I realized that I was concentrating a little too much on one thing and forgetting about ALOT of very important stuff. Ah, what a relief...my horse had it's rider back, and I, had my horse back. It was a good thing that I figured that out and still had 4 days left until the clinic. Now the weather was all I had thought I had to worry about and luckily, I knew whose hands to put that in, so I said a little extra prayer for that( Good thing huh?) and carried on. Then something dawned on me. Prior to the clinic we were to write a little bit of information about our riding and our horse, which I had done and of course listed Novelty's and my history together. In doing so, I got totally wrapped up in what we HAD done, not what we were doing(a lot of trail riding remember). Then it occured to me that Steffen would be expecting this horse who had shown the PSG in the fall. PANIC< PANIC< PANIC.....Yes, we did show the PSG this fall but that was before my trainer went to florida, christmas came and went, and before the NICE trail riding weather!!! Trying not to panic, I decided that I would just have to explain to this Olympian who lives and breaths dressage and horses, that he would need to lower his expectations just a little from what my little riding resume had said because I let "LIFE" get in the way. The last thing Novelty needed was to be stressed out about showing in February. We deal with that enough over the summer. Luckily for me, when the clinic rolled around, Steffen's assessment of my riding in the warm up zoned in on something even more important than the movements of the PSG. It was that important part of the "training scale", called suppleness. For so long, I had concentrated on using better contact and engagement to get the relaxation which Steffen said was "Most" important, that I had left out another important item to the dressage soup recipe, and that was using suppleness to help with the relaxation and improve the contact and engagement. Sometimes we think of the training scale as being steps to get to collection, and we don't realize how each part of the training scale helps the other parts be successful, but not necessarily always in the same order. For example, during the clinic Steffen commented that my contact and engagement were "Good," but to make a tense horse more relaxed we needed better suppleness. We then used many suppling exercises that helped lighten my horse off his forehand, and helped my aids be lighter and more clear, which incidently helped my wimpy horse deal with a lot of scary things and helped him stay more relaxed, supple, connected, straighter, and finally, in better self carriage in his work that day. It also gave me a tool that I knew would help me keep Novelty more relaxed in other stressful situations. This tool not only helped make a tense horse more supple and relaxed, but it helped me realize the incredible effortless feeling of using my seat to get a more collected gait in any part of the arena. Steffen's way of teaching gave me a clear picture of what to expect from myself and my horse, or any horse at any level. That evening Steffen's presentation reflected his philosophy of teaching and we saw the seemingly effortless way a true dressage partnership communicated. It also gave me an even clearer picture of what a good training program is all about. His earlier instruction and presentation not only showed me that a good training program would lead to a great partnerships between a rider and his horse, but it also showed me that it could lead to one becoming a better ambassador for these magnificent creatures that just want to have a trusting relationship with us. I felt truly blessed to be able to learn so much in one day about the horses and sport that I love so much. I am very grateful to CRDA for giving me such an incredible experience and hope that everyone that attended the clinic could see how important the training scale is in developing a good training program which helps better our communication with our horses so that all of our rides can seem more effortless. THANKS AGAIN CRDA and Steffen Peters.