Vincent Flores Clinic

My GMO hosted a (COVID-rescheduled) symposium with GP rider/trainer Vincent Flores over the weekend. I spent both mornings volunteering at the check-in table which was sadly quite a hike from the dressage court indoor (as opposed to the jump indoor--this barn was palatial and just down the road from the Maddens which I obviously had to drive by on my way home). It was super busy Saturday morning so I didn't catch any rides then, but it quieted down significantly Sunday and I was able to scamper over for a few minutes of each morning rider to listen in and grab some pictures. 

the barn's head trainer running through the GP test

After lunch both days, I did stick around to audit the next two riders so I was able to get a sense of what type of trainer he was. In short: forgiving and funny! It was never the horse's fault, but he never put down the rider. 

Most of the one liners are from the afternoon rides, while the stuff on the changes were what I was able to catch at the end of the Second/Third horse's ride. 

Make sure you go in your corner. We're in a dressage court, not on a racetrack.

Every time you miss a corner something dies in me.

Open your inside rein like you're opening a newspaper. You don't open a newspaper with your elbow, it's only your hand. Okay, I know we don't look at newspapers so think about opening your Dover catalog.

3 loop serpentine: I don't know who made up the lettering and spacing [in a dressage court] and made this so complicated. 

Horses don't wake up in the morning trying to sabotage our lives.

In the canter the outside rein has to allow the motion of the neck.

i've seen these two at our schooling shows a bunch of times and i
freaking love them. they took a break and when the rider went to ask
her to go back to work, she tried to leave. VF was like, "going back to
our conversation about her breeding yesterday, i think we can say for
certain she's part pony."

Lateral work he does every day, flying changes are also okay to do every day. You don't want to do extension and collection every day (pirouettes, piaf/pas, and extensions) because it's physically taxing on the horse and you'll end up with a suspensory.

You're not here to put on a demo. The point of a symposium is for you to watch other riders struggle and then they watch you struggle.

Half pass: Get your shape in the corner and then just move sideways across the arena. If you don't have the bend going in, the chances of being able to fix it are very slim.

HI: The rider and horse's shoulders are straight, pointing at the short side, only the haunches come in.

lusitano stallion doing HI

Flying change: That was not straight. That was about as straight as I am.

For every movement, understand what you need to do to get a 10.

Changes:

• On a circle: walk - counter canter - walk - true canter - walk - counter canter - lead change. 
• People go into the ride thinking, "Today I'm going to work on the changes!", and they're going to get them no matter what so they perpetuate sloppy just to get them. (Hi, it's me.) You have to be disciplined. If they don't change when you ask, immediately come back to the walk and do it again. 
• For a mare with a big change one way: I know we're in upstate NY, but they don't need to be exotic. Keep them classy.

One of the rides I watched on Saturday afternoon was a working student (I assume) on an older GP schoolmaster. He was a great big Canadian Warmblood that VF already knew. He pointed out for the auditors toward the end of the ride that he wanted us to see this horse because he was such a good teacher. 

He doesn't have the best canter, he and his parents were bred for carriage horses not dressage horses, but he's been very successful because he has the right mindset. Look at him. At any moment he can canter to walk. More important than breeding is the right brain, the right trainability, the heart to do it. 

And I think that quote perfectly sums up the vibe of the whole clinic!