Katy Barglow - Awesome dressage trainer

Katy is one of the National Examiners that will be teaching the clinics at the education portion of the Festival. I could not find her in the Clinician's Corner. So, here is an introduction about Katy.
 
Katy Barglow is an FEI rider and trainer, a USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medalist, a Bronze and Gold Bar holder, a USDF "L" judging program graduate with distinction and an "r" judge candidate, and a level IV National Examiner for the Dressage Specialty Ratings. She has trained multiple horses from just-broke to Grand Prix and earned numerous state and national titles along the way, including wins at the CDS Futurity, Region 7 Championships at Intermediare 2,  and USDF Horse of the Year for A/A at Grand Prix. A graduate HA pony clubber, Katy has coached students to success at all the pony club ratings through the A-D level, and in the show ring from training level to Grand Prix, including USDF medals and the NAJRYC.

Katy was not on the clinician's corner so I asked her to give me the answers to the questions the corner had:

1. What equestrian event brings back the best memories to you and why was it so important? My favorite memory was riding down centerline for the Grand Prix Freestyle at the California Dressage Society Championships in 2005. It was at night, under the lights, with a large and boisterous audience, and there was a buzz in the air not often felt at dressage shows. This show was held near my hometown, and I had been gone for a number of years at college and graduate school. A whole group of people watching had not seen me ride since I was a teenager and my horse a 4 year old. Back some years later, we were both suddenly grown up! We had a super ride, with the audience clapping along to a perfect line of one-handed one-tempis down the final centerline.
2. What is the earliest memory of riding? I grew up in a non-horsey family, but I had an uncle who had a friend who had horses. In the summers when I was 7 and 8 years old he would take me out to her ranch. I learned to post, to canter, and to fall off there!
3. What are you most looking forward to in coming to the 2011 Pony Club Festival? In all my pony club years, I have attended many Western Championships as a competitor (Games 1996 and Dressage 1999), Horse Management Judge, and a Coach, and I have traveled the country as a National Examiner for tests and preps, but I have never been to Festival. I am very excited to meet and work with Pony Clubbers, horses, parents, and other clinicians from all around the country, all in one place!

I asked Katy to give some tips for the dressage riders and the eventing riders at champs:

1. Remember the focus is on the quality. Better to be a step late but have a good transition then be at the letter with a bad transition.
2. That said, it's silly to lose points on geometry. Diagram your test out so you know exactly where each circle and movement crosses/touches the rail, centerline, and quarterline. Plan ahead so you are ready for the movement to come.
3. Corners are your friends. Ride each corner as a quarter of a circle, as small as your horse can comfortably go in that gait. Using the corners makes the ring seem much larger-- movements come up slower, and you are more organized, having taken that time to rebalance your horse! tests with good corners look much more polished than those without.
4. Read the USEF rulebook for dressage (available online) so you know what the movements in the test really mean. What is a free walk, versus a medium walk? Should the stretch circle maintain contact? (hint- yes!). What are the directives of each movement? (ie, quality of the trot, quality of the bend, steadiness of tempo, geometry of circle). If you don't know what you are trying to show, it's difficult to show those things!
5. Practice your centerlines and halts -- they are the first and last impression you make on the judge, so make that impression good! Any horse, no matter how fancy or plain, is capable of getting a "10" on a halt.
6. Think about how to use your time outside the ring, before you enter. Which direction will you track? Which gait (walk, trot, canter, or transitions between) best benefits your horse for a good entrance. Does your horse need to canter down near the judges stand, then walk quietly in front of it a few times so he won't spoke? (If you go around the outside at a walk, you may never get down that far before the bell rings.)

If you want more info about Katy Barglow or want a couple lessons from her, go to her website: www.barglowdressage.com