By Nancy Brannon
Kim Gentry found a great way to introduce dressage riders to her new facility in Moscow, TN: a Lilo Fore Dressage Clinic. Fore attracted training level to Grand Prix ridersfrom all around the mid-south for a three-day clinic, April 8-10.
International FEI “I” Judge, FEI “C” Judge for Para-Equestrian, and USEF “R” Judge for Sport Horses, Lilo Fore is a well-respected trainer and coach, as well as a highly successful rider. She is an examiner and founding member of the USDF Instructor Certification Program.
She is originally from Dusseldorf, Germany. After seeing her first horse at age four, she “knew that four legs, a mane and tail” would shape her life’s work. Currently she spends most of her time on the road teaching clinics all across the country.
She moved to California in 1971, where she now owns and operates a dressage training facility, Sporthorse America in Santa Rosa, CA. At her facility, she trains dressage horses and breeds sport horses, standing up to six stallions at stud. Her stallions have earned numerous awards, and all her stallions passed the 100 day stallion testing program.
In her early years in California, she bought an injured three-year-old Thoroughbred named Dionysus for one dollar. Under her care and training, Dionysus not only healed, he became U.S. “Horse of the Year.” She and Dionysus were selected for the USET short list in 1976. Fore has won numerous other national and international “Horse of the Year” awards in California, USDF and USET.
Watching her work with several riders at various levels gave a strong impression of her intuitive grasp of exactly what the rider and horse need to perform better and with greater ease. She used clever analogies to help the riders understand how to change their position, or change their aids, or ask the horse for a particular movement.
Sometimes riders can allow their hands to drift, so seemingly simple instructions to “keep the reins on either side” of the horse’s neck is a helpful reminder to keep the horse in the “box” between the leg and rein aids. “Close your hands; keep a fist; open hands are not soft” clears up a common misconception many riders have when trying to create clear, but gentle rein aids.
“If your reins are long and you put your hands forward, the horse will be too long (not sufficiently collected and balanced for the movement). Think of your hands as if on stairs, and carry your hands a step higher. Then have a little flexion in the elbow.”
For making turns, forward movement is a necessity. “You can only turn when you are going. A parked car cannot turn.” She reminded riders that “it’s the shoulders you’re turning, not the neck. Keep the neck slightly bent between the (front) legs.”
For smooth downward transitions, “sit, think ‘down’ and then come to the walk” (or downward transition to another gait).
“With a horse that’s drifting, ride straight ahead. Be sure to get straightness before the canter depart.”
“Let the seat swing to the rein aids (at canter) and feel like the inner knee goes down; let the heel just hang.”
With her helpful advice, riders came away with a sense of success and saw improvement in their position and horses’ performance. She showed riders how to help their horses become more pliable and submissive. She stressed self-carriage of the horse: “balancing himself toward his hind legs so that he appears to work almost on his own.”
To read more of Lilo Fore’s teaching advice, check out her article on gymnastic exercises at:
http://www.equisearch.com/horses_riding_training/english/dressage/eqlilofore277. Several videos of her clinics are available on YouTube. For information and locations about the FarmVet/ USDF Adult Clinic Series, visit:
http://www.usdf.org/education/clinics/adult/dates-locations.asp
New Location for Kim Gentry Dressage
Kim Gentry has a new boarding and training facility on Highway 57 near Moscow, TN. She is leasing what once was a premier Quarter Horse breeding and training operation, owned by the Hatchett family.
The barn has 30 roomy stalls, a covered arena, outdoor arena, and plenty of turn out areas. The barn is insulated against cold weather, but well ventilated for horse health and comfort.
Kim has only been in the new location for a couple of months, but she is delighted with the move. For more information, contact Kim Gentry Dressage at: 901-412-7743; email: kim@kimgentrydressage.com or visit her website: http://www.kimgentrydressage.com
