Volume 14, Issue 5
www.azdressage.org
May, 2014
Charlotte Dujardin Symposium By Kim Pribble On March 8-9, 2014, Ann Damiano, (who trains with Cyndi Jackson), Jill Graf, (who trains with Juan Lopez Torres), and myself, Kim Pribble,(I train with Beverly Rogers), all travelled to the Los Angeles Equestrian Center to attend the first ever Dressage Symposium put on by Charlotte Dujardin. As I am sure everyone in the dressage world knows, Charlotte Dujardin currently holds every World dressage record, along with winning Team and Individual Olympic gold on the charismatic Dutch Warmblood gelding “Valegro.” Along with Charlotte came her former trainer, Judy Harvey, an accomplished international Grand Prix rider; Judy is also an FEI 4* judge and serves as a selector for the British Olympic Dressage team. Charlotte also brought along her Ann Damiano, Kim Pribble and Jill Graf best friend Ian Cast.
Charlotte, Judy and Ian
I am an avid note taker when I attend clinics and this clinic was no exception. I went armed with a fresh notebook in which to memorialize all my “nuggets” of training wisdom and I am happily sharing them with all of you! I wrote down pages and pages of notes so this article is going to be a small series, as it would be way too long for just one article. I am an Adult Amateur rider and I am sure the nuggets I focused on most likely are ones that resonated with me personally. I hope you enjoy them and if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me, I would HATE for any of my nuggets to be taken out of context. In this series, I am going to organize all the nuggets into categories, regardless of the horse and rider pair it was specifically applied to. I feel this will help the reader to understand Charlotte’s view on say, young horses, training flying changes, her training routine, etc.
The entire event was FIRST CLASS! We did all splurge on buying the Premium Gold seats, which gave us box seats right in the front and center, including catered gourmet lunches each day, along with a cocktail hour of even more fabulous food and drinks, and the opportunity to meet Charlotte, Judy and Ian all personally! It was a highlight for me to have the opportunity to meet Charlotte and she couldn’t have been more gracious and sweet, posing for countless pictures with us and looking at photos of our horses. It was so refreshing to see that even with all her remarkable success, she is such a down-to-earth, darling young lady. Continued on Page 7
Arizona Dressage Association Mission Statement The Arizona Dressage Association is a not-for-profit organization whose goal is to promote the advancement of classical dressage through educational opportunities and programs, and the rigorous evaluations received at recognized and schooling dressage shows.