The
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Arizona Dressage Association
Vol. 15, Issue 5
www.azdressage.org
May 2015
How I used my Arizona Dressage Association Scholarship By Sarah Lindsten
In March 2014 I was thrilled to learn that I had been awarded the Arizona Dressage Association Adult Amateur Rider $500 Scholarship. (ADA awards a $500 Scholarships each February to a Junior, Adult Amateur and Open rider.) I knew exactly how I was going to spend my scholarship money. I was going to ride with Mr. Conrad Schumacher! I had met Mr. Conrad Schumacher through my daughter Taylor, whom she had ridden with in several clinics in Wellington, FL and Ashby, MA in 2012. I asked Mr. Schumacher to come to Arizona to share his knowledge and training. To my surprise, he agreed to add Arizona to his annual US clinic schedule. I had a lot to do to prepare for the Conrad Schumacher Clinic that was just a few months away. On the first day of the clinic in May 2014, Mr. Schumacher instantly put me at ease sharing some of his fond memories coaching Taylor and Cookie. We started my lesson with maintaining throughness and steady connection. He worked on my position, emphasizing relaxed shoulders and “breathing” legs. I was just learning the canter pirouette, so we schooled the canter pirouette first by riding a square with quarter turns. I struggled at first with this exercise; there was so much to think about and put into action. After several lackluster attempts at the canter pirouette, Mr. Schumacher loudly announces that I am being “disobedient!” This comment seems to resonate with both my husband and trainer, Kristy Doty. I gradually embraced the feeling of pushing out of the quarter turn with my inside leg, maintaining the rhythm and balance throughout the turn.
Sarah Lindsten on Cookie - Collected Canter
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