Leslie Olsen clinic

27 Feb 11

Today I rode with Leslie Olsen at Four Shoes Farm (a beautiful facility) in LEA's first clinic of the year. First off, Thank You Pat for having us! The lesson was very good for Connor and I. Connor is a 16yr old TB and our primary 'drug of choice' is Eventing. That usually makes straight dressage trainers cringe but Leslie took us in stride! She asked what our problem areas were and what we'd like to work on and she them gave us a few things to work on and I'm glad it wasn't more because mastering the things she gave us will take some practice. Maybe by the next time we see her, we'll have them down and she can give us a couple of more things. She worked on my position and didn't have me worry about where Connor's head was, that came with my improved position. We got a some very nice moments and all of you know what I mean, it's those "moments" that we all strive for. Then we can stretch out those moments til it's second nature.

Dana, thank you for organizing this clinic!

09 Mar 11

I agree, Leslie made the clinic fun and "do-able". She asked for new things and even when you struggled with something, the answer was always "don't worry, try again". I liked her style and the low-key instruction with very good results. My horse was quite tense on the first day and she just worked around his problems and still we had improvement by the end of the lesson. And the next day she asked for more and we both, horse and rider, were able to step up to the plate. People auditing the clinic saw improvements in EVERYONE and a suppleness in the horses that was a pleasure to watch.

I'd like to have Leslie come back.

11 Mar 11

I completely agree. I thought that Leslie Olsen was great. She really focused on classical dressage which was a nice change from the modern day show world. She focused on the rider being correct. She said that the horse would follow and become correct if the rider was correct. She changed my position so that my leg was further back so I could cue my horse (Chloe) with more clarity (instead of nagging). I enjoyed listening to her talk about her experiences in the show world as well. Overall I thought she was great and I would love to ride with her again.
--Marett Peets.

13 Mar 11

So glad that you all could participate. Leslie has such a quiet, patient demeanor. There wasn't a single horse-rider pair that didn't come to a better place of communication and relaxation. I hope we can get her back and we are working toward some time in April.
It is VERY rewarding to see our clinic efforts take off like they have. I hope that we will eventually get more auditors coming too. It is pretty easy to absorb a lot by observing.
Thanks to all of you who have posted. It should help to keep this wonderful momentum going!