Ashley Adams Clinic Day 2 – Eugene Stadium

My husband was in the BN group, which started right after lunch. Unfortunately, I missed almost all of his lesson because I was busy with the vet and dentist. This was the only date I could get the dentist to see Levi before April and I was worried about him since he wasn’t eating right. While Eugene was having fun jumping things, Levi was getting drugged and his mouth poked at.

I did manage to see a bit of David’s lesson at the beginning while I was waiting for the vet to arrive and then a few moment as I walked by when the dentist asked to see Levi’s bit and I had to walk over to the trailer to get it (and then walk back again when he explained that he wanted the bridle too). I definitely got my steps in that day.

Anyway, I didn’t get to see much of my husband’s lesson so this post is mostly pictures.

I did ask my husband for his main take aways from the lesson.

Ashley wanted him to have a lot more contact with the outside rein for two main reasons. One: to keep Eugene balanced around turns.

The second reason was to create a more uphill movement. Basically take the impulsion and push him into the outside reins and use that to rock Eugene onto his back end.

maybe not like this

My husband said the theme for the weekend was basically balance + impulsion. They did a lot of the same exercises that my group had done, just with bigger jumps and some different patterns. Twice when I walked by and watched my husband go, I watched him make a mistake (turning left instead of right after a jump or taking the wrong jump). Just like in my lesson, Ashley switched up the courses every single time and you really have to be paying attention.

double checking the next course

Despite the bobbles, they did really well. Eugene was popping over the jumps without a lot of issue and really moving forward. While he goes forward well on XC, getting Eugene to move with impulsion in the arena can be a challenge. It was good to see him really hustling and even taking off without crawling into the base.

My husband also really enjoyed Ashley’s teaching style and had a great time in the clinic.

Stay tuned for day 3 where my husband and I ride together.