Who wouldn't go and fence sit at a Vicki Roycroft clinic at the most stunning property you'll ever see......for free!!?? Well apparently loads of people wouldn't - there was only about 4 of us watching! But my guess is that no one really knew it about it....I have no idea where everyone was!
I remember watching Vicki when I was about 12 at the World Cup Jumping in Shepp, that was 38 years ago.... She's 64 now (so wikipedia tells me) and still looks damn good in her riding gear I reckon!
Fence sitting is super cool - you get to soak up all the amazing expert knowledge whilst some one else pays top dollar and potentially gets taken to bits...and built back up...or maybe not. Don't quote me but I think a 1.5hr spot in a group of 3 riders was about $230.
I watched the 2 lower heights, the 60-80cm and the 80-100cm groups and here's what I heard, what I saw and what I learned:
- Vicki is "the world's worst morning person" - her quote not mine, that's reassuring though don't you think, that you can get to the top of this game and basically live there without being chipper at 5am,...or 8am...
- "If your horse is scaring the b'jesus out of you then get a different horse". Seriously....that advice alone is worth at least $500!! It really is.
- Practice coming to a damn good halt 4 strides after a fence if you're going to do one of her clinics, you'll use that a lot.
- DON'T..whatever you do...don't jiggle away with your reins to get your horse "on the bit"....just don't, ok..seriously!!
- If your horse tends to over-bend and lean on the bit...make it stop that shit!
- Vicki never gets on a horse without spurs and a "stick", she just doesn't.
- "Lift up your hands" "LIFT UP YOUR HANDS!"
- She's not much good with names...Mia knows this...aka "Emma", but we don't love her for that anyway so it's all good :)"PUSH him around the corner, don't PULL him around the corner"
- "If you can't see a distance then at least just keep it smooth".
There's was lots more gold in there but I was also chatting, admiring outfits and tack and gossiping.....so I missed bits :)
Hopefully Vicki will be back to Leisurely soon....I think that is the plan. I'll fence sit again for sure.... Will I ride?? Well I'd more likely ride at her's than at George Morris's....I'd lose my shit and leave the arena once George started yelling at me!!lol
Camera Stuff: I used all my will power and left the big Canon stuff at home opting for my little Olympus om-d e-m5mk2....a camera I got 12mths ago, I used 2 prime lenses, for the sake of the pics lets call them a 50mm and a 135mm...(it's a cropped sensor....blahblah). Sometimes I think this camera is an amazing little gem worth it's weight in gold, and then lots of other times I think its the biggest waste of money of my entire life,...hence why I FORCE myself to take it out... Almost all of the shots in the indoor were shot wide open at f1.8, and mostly with the 135mm prime.
KJx