When my friend called me several months ago and asked me if I wanted to audit the clinic with her, my first response was "And who is Lisa Wilcox?" I was told that she was an American, who now rode in Europe and who had been written up in Dressage Today. She sent me the bio provided by the clinic organizers and here is a summary. Lisa Wilcox is an American-born Grand Prix rider, based at the famous stud farm in Germany. She is a certified Reitlehrer and became the first American to win the German Young Horse Championships.
I agreed to go, partly out of curiosity and partly because I wanted to see horses perform upper level movements. I have scribed and stewarded at horse shows for many years as well as gone to quite a few shows each year just to watch. So I have become somewhat jaded and it takes a special ride to make me go "Ooooh!" I figured a clinic with upper level horses performing lots of upper level movements might just do the trick.
But I didn't Oooh or Aaah. I just sat in quiet appreciation of what I saw: an articulate clinician effectively schooling the use of the basic aids: legs, seat, weight, voice and hands. She emphasized patience and the theory that less is more. For at least 75% of each ride, she led the rider through basic work on the circle, transitions within and between the gaits and the consistent connection of the outside rein. Then, with the basis of the upper level movement firmly established, the riders worked on pirouettes, canter half passes or flying changes.
When she herself rode, she showed us the results of the use of simple aids on the horse. Her ride demonstrated that dressage requires a great deal of concentration and attention to many tasks simultaneously but it is not "rocket science". By adherence to the basics of dressage, performing upper level movements become an athletic, yet artistic endeavor; rather than a collection of tricks. This theory of training defines a particular movement (such as a flying change) in terms of the ability to demonstrate mastery of the concepts underlying the movement (see the AHSA purpose and directive ideas for each test for particulars).
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