Welcome to 2014! We hope to make this year a fun and productive year for our club. Some things we will be looking into and preparing for will be a booth and demonstrations at the Horse World Expo in Harrisburg in 2015, a recognized show in 2015 and if not this year, hosting the "Tri-State Challenge" and inviting 2 GMOs from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania to have a team competition. Hopefully this will become a yearly event and which state will get to keep the trophy....

We will be looking into a bus trip to the Festival of Champions at Gladstone, NJ this June. If there are any programs you would like to see the IEO host, any clinicians you would like us to have, etc., please let Evelyn or Heather know as soon as possible so we can get to working on setting it up. The USDF does offer funding to GMOs for educational opportunities and USDF credits can be earned as well. Looking forward to hearing your suggestions. Keep a look out for the New Omnibus for some new changes for this year. Looking forward to a great 2014! 

Evelyn Pfoutz

Have you ever stopped to wonder why there is no movement called “shoulder out” in our dressage tests? In the listing of lateral suppling movements, the shoulder in is championed as an essential gymnastic exercise. It is included in dressage tests starting at second level, the first tests where collected gaits are required. But there is no such recognized exercise as its opposite, what FEI judge and author Charles de Kunffy calls the shoulder out. I’d like to argue that the shoulder out has gymnasticizing benefits as well and deserves to get a little respect; better yet, even recognition in the USEF Dressage rulebook and inclusion in our national level tests. We have travers (haunches in) and renvers (haunches out), both of which appear in second level tests, suggesting there is abundant evidence in support of bending the horse behind the girth and riding the change of bend from inside to outside and back. Why then is there no such series of exercises requiring riders to bend the horse in front of the girth while keeping the haunches straight and change the bend from inside to outside and back?

I think we can all agree that it’s essential for dressage horses to be balanced and laterally supple enough to bend and work in both directions and just as important for riders to be capable
of putting the horse’s shoulders or haunches anywhere they want to whenever they want to. Appreciating that the objectives for all the lateral movements include increased suppleness and elasticity, improved obedience and engagement as well as increased cadence and collection, then it seems logical that the shoulder out should qualify as a lateral movement because it too helps to accomplish all of these qualities. And in addition, the shoulder out ridden on a 20-meter circle provides an extra bonus – the challenge of riding counter flexion where your horse is continuously bent to the right (outside) while circling to the left and vice versa. One of my favorite uses for this exercise is when horses are braced at the base of their necks and not through their backs or tracking up. By changing from shoulder in to shoulder out on the circle, I can soften the neck and establish a more correct connection without having to change rein – a nice bonus indeed!

So tomorrow morning when you’re mucking stalls and filling water buckets, consider the advantages of asking for shoulder out on the 20-meter circle when you ride out to school. Shoulder Out - the new and improved lateral suppling exercise, guaranteed to add one more physical and mental challenge to your already over-flowing list of dressage movements to master. Or maybe it might just be easier to put this idea out to pasture with another one of those dressage movements that you’ve probably schooled but won’t find in any USEF rule book or dressage test – the turn on the forehand. Now what’s with that?

Like I said at the beginning of this essay, I was just wondering ….

Susan Moody, IEO President

           As a young college grad in the late 1970’s, I traveled all across the United States to teach summer camps as part of the Pony Club Visiting Instructors Program.  It was an amazing experience, spending a week in eight different towns throughout the summer, working with young riders and seeing the country for the first time as a vagabond riding teacher.  I met wonderful people and taught virtually non-stop; classes on the flat and over fences for the Pony Club members during the days and their parents in the evenings until the sun went down.  I loved it and felt energized by the challenge, but I didn’t make much money – they paid me $100. per week, all the jelly sandwiches I could eat and kept a roof over my head. 

At one stop in Wisconsin, I met a parent I will never forget.  On day 1, she put me in my place by declaiming that she had low expectations for the camp because, “I know you only get what you pay for,” and it was clear that my meager salary meant that these Pony Club lessons were next to worthless.  She was a serious dressage rider who believed that mercenary instructors dole out exactly $50. worth of training for a $50. lesson fee – and not a penny’s worth more.  She was intent on purchasing her way up the levels, and now, almost forty years later I still think about her and wonder if she ever achieved the success she sought to buy?  The idea that Americans only value what they pay for has troubled me ever since, so I’d like to pose the question, “In the horse world, does more money always equal better quality or is it possible to acquire the occasional free lunch?”
            In a culture that celebrates extreme coupon shoppers with their own reality television show, it’s clear that Americans love to get something for nothing.  But how often do we devalue an experience if we haven’t paid for it?  Here’s why I ask.  The IEO is offering a horse management clinic this month which promises 6 hours of interesting and important topics from longeing skills to rider core strengthening exercises and the clinic is free to members and non-members alike.  Now don’t be misled into thinking that we aren’t paying for this experience – the club is footing the bill for renting the indoor arena, copying costs for handouts and even the coffee that will keep everyone energized and warm.  But notice that the wonderful instructors who are teaching all day are not part of the budget, but have volunteered their time and expertise because they are motivated by caring, not cash, and believe that this type of clinic fills an important need in our horse community. 

So is this clinic like unsolicited free advice and only worth what you are paying for it?  Or a prime example of that elusive, yet delicious blue plate special that leaves your wallet intact and your tummy full?  I’m voting for the latter and hope to see you in the lunch line at Homestead Farm on March 10th!   -  Susan Moody, IEO President

Unconscious Incompetence  Conscious Incompetence  Conscious Competence  Unconscious Competence
                (Naivety)                        (Discovery & Commitment)                (Practice!)                                (Mastery)

Recently I was introduced to Abraham Maslow’s “Four Stages of Learning”, an educational theory that describes the learning process, beginning with Unconscious Incompetence where the student is blithely unaware of what they don’t know (think the “ignorance is bliss” stage) and culminating with the Unconscious Competence level where the skill mastered is so automatic that you no longer need to think about it. I was intrigued to discover this philosophy of learning and pondered its relevance with regard to training dressage riders. Can, and do, riders embrace the idea of being incompetent and acknowledge that the art of dressage requires them to submit time and again to this cycle, from ingénue to mentor, as they journey forward toward their riding goals?

This fascinating look at how students progress from the total naivety of Stage 1 to discovery and awareness in Stage 2, where now they “know what they don’t know” and understand that change needs to occur, seems to me to unmistakably describe dressage riders as they train their way up the levels. During the Conscious Incompetence phase, they recognize the value of the skill that they need to acquire, for example, the student knows that her inside leg needs to remain firm and quiet at the girth, but is frustrated in her attempts to keep it there. Committing to learning that skill (“my naughty left leg must remain correctly anchored under my left seat bone”) then leads to Stage 3 or Conscious Competence, where the student actively works at developing the necessary skill. In Stage 3 the student can perform the skill without assistance, but still requires reminders from her instructor and concerted thought and effort are needed to perform the skill correctly. At last Stage 4, Unconscious Competence dawns, where the skill is now second nature and the correct response automatic. Mastery has occurred and the student is capable of not only demonstrating, but teaching her new skill.

As an enthusiastic life-long learner, I find Maslow’s Four Stages of Learning rather comforting as they apply to dressage. They reassure me that with persistent practice, todays skill drills will finally be mastered (yea!) and then new skills that I currently can’t even glimpse, will present themselves for me to stretch toward. In essence, a never ending cycle of discovery, learning and mastery that promises a new challenge is always waiting. It appears then that this dressage stuff could keep me busy for a lifetime – and that’s not such a bad way to spend one’s life now, is it?

Susan Moody, IEO President

As I sit here on this last day of December 2012 and ponder what improvements need
implemented for 2013, it’s easy to point out the obvious; I must resolve to stop waiting until the
last possible moment to write the President’s letter for Close Contact!

Our editor, Kathy, has proven good tempered and often generous when it comes to
deadlines. Her patient reminders, “It’s that time again!” crop up in my mailbox all too often and
my best intentions of finishing early often lead me down a familiar track – that road to hell
populated by procrastinators and politicians. In truth, when I’m graced by the good writing fairy,
I actually enjoy writing this little essay, but then there are days when inspiration flees and I
struggle to be clear and concise, much less clever.

So with the topic of making New Year’s resolutions in mind, here are two of my IEO
resolutions for 2013 to add to that one about meeting deadlines before the “late fee” kicks in.

In 2013, I resolve to keep the IEO Board meetings from expanding beyond two hours.
My goal is to get our business accomplished in a timely fashion and not be diverted into lengthy
discussions that draw us off topic. Since many of my students would point out that I never met
an hour’s lesson that I couldn’t teach for 90 minutes, this could present a challenge. I’ll keep
you posted.

I also resolve to be a better “shutter bug” at IEO shows and clinics. I never remember to bring my camera to catch those charming photos that we all enjoy flipping through, so for 2013, I will try to capture those memories on film. This year at the annual banquet, Pamela Amende showed a wonderful picture review of IEO members and their horses that she had set to music. Next year we plan to go even bigger and better by having a projector to show the presentation, so we’ll need lots of fun (and funny!) pictures to include.

 So there are three of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2013 – be on time (or better yet, early!), keep it brief and take a picture. What’s on your list for 2013?

Susan Moody, IEO President

The IEO is the oldest Group Member Organization (GMO) in the United States, with a rich history that includes hosting the first U.S. CDI at the York Fairgrounds in 1976, well before most Americans had ever heard of dressage. Our club continues to fulfill its mission to promote dressage riding through a variety of activities and 5 schooling shows each year. Take a minute to recall all that we accomplished in 2012, then look forward to IEO’s new challenges for 2013.

In 2012, the IEO launched some new initiatives, beginning last winter with a video clinic called, “On the Levels”. This unmounted clinic was so well attended, that we plan to do another like it in 2013. We sponsored a mounted clinic at Harmony Hill Farm with Paula Kierkegaard, which gave our members an opportunity to ride with a well-known dressage judge and clinician. Stakes classes that included money paybacks for the winners were instituted and we were treated to a demonstration of a new discipline being offered by the USEF, called western dressage. We held 5 well-attended schooling shows and finished the year with our annual Year End Awards Banquet, which offered the company of good friends, great food, a wonderful power point photo montage of our members and their horses, as well as beautiful trophies and ribbons. It was a busy and successful year and it all happened because of the efforts of incredible volunteers who donated their time and talents to help the IEO. Extra special thanks go out to retiring IEO secretary Maggie Hawn and board members Margaret Scarff and Kathy Barker for all their help.

Looking forward to 2013, we’re making plans to offer a free, unmounted Horse Management Seminar this winter that will allow our members to explore hands-on learning experiences covering topics like braiding, bandaging, basic lunging skills and rider fitness techniques. We’re starting a fun, new column for our monthly newsletter designed to introduce and profile one member a month as an easy way for us to get to know each other better. Western dressage classes are being included at our schooling shows this year, as are the new USDF Musical Freestyle Test at Training Level and the just introduced USEF Riders Tests, which are designed to highlight the correctness of the rider’s position and aids, while reducing emphasis on the horse’s gaits. More information about these clinics and the new classes will be included in upcoming issues of Close Contact, as well as in the 2013 IEO Omnibus, so stay tuned!

The officers and board members of the IEO look forward to another exciting year in 2013 and hope you plan to join us as we continue to promote dressage and offer the finest dressage schooling shows in south central Pennsylvania!

Susan Moody, IEO President