Pam Millar Dressage Trainer

Classical, sympathetic, personalised training for you and your horse

Contact: pam@pammillardressage.com Mobile: 07740 116 336 Home: 01651 872613

A British Dressage Accredited Trainer

2007

Coming soon! Review of Debby's new book - "The Building Blocks to Training". Markus Bauer clinic.  Last weekend Pam attended a demo and some lessons given by Markus Bauer at Ladyleys. Markus Bauer is of Danish nationality and did all his equestrian training and exams in Germany. His demo focused mainly on the basic scales of training with particular emphasis on straightness. This was also a common thread through the lessons. He had the horses going actively forward with correct inside bend and lots of changes within the paces – lengthening and shortening the frame. I believe that people who had more than one lessons benefitted most, as Markus rode many of the horses and it was important for the rider to have a second lesson, where they did the riding, to gain the benefit of what Markus had done on the horse the day before. Markus was very encouraging to the riders and very forgiving of any mistakes made by the horses. Pam was very pleased with the final outcome with Havanna and hopes to have more lessons with Markus in the future. 7th September 2007 Congratulations to Rebecca and Patch for their recent wins and to Tracey, Kathleen, Nick and Karen for recent good results. 12th September 2007 Pam is now back from a very interesting trip south for some training. She attended a clinic given by the famous international author and trainer Charles de Kunffy at the “Training the Teachers of Tomorrow” Trust in Surrey.  Pam watched lots of interesting lessons over 3 days, attended the lecture demo on the subject of transitions and also attended the instructors’ day, which included a lecture about the role of the trainer in classical dressage and watching and discussing a selection of riders and horses regarding both judging and training. There were lots of interesting points covered including the effective riding  position, the importance of the basic scales of training and lots of inventive “patterns” for improving “the way of going” especially engagement. Pam also enjoyed a few lessons on Debby Lush’s horses, including her Gran Prix horse, Merlin. Those of you having lessons with Pam in the near future will also benefit from the clinic as she passes on what she saw and heard! Special Offer (for current clients only) If you are one of Pam's client's and are going away on holiday, would you like your horse to keep fit and improving while you are away? Why not book him/her into Ladyleys at Oldmeldrum for the week or fortnight you are away for Pam to continue training? There are lovely facilities and excellent staff and Pam will ensure you get back into a good stride on your return! Call Pam for more details. 24th August 2007 Congratulations to Rebecca and Skye for a good performance at the Pony Club Championships and to Tracey, Kathleen, Fiona and Rebecca for good scores at the Ladyleys dressage last weekend. 19th August 2007 Congratulations to Eleanor and Gina for winning 2 show jumping championships last weekend and also to Kelly, Stephanie and Rebecca for good performances in the North Star Cup. 12 August 2007 - Dressage to music clinic at Ladyleys The clinic on Sunday 12 Aug went well. People enjoyed riding to a variety of music in different tempos then they learned about how dressage to music competitions work. They each designed their own freestyle test, based on the guidelines given, rode it, refined it and video’d it so they can go away and sort out their own music. We look forward to seeing them out competing very soon. This is good fun for all involved so if you are interested in something similar in the future – please get in touch with Pam. 12 August 2007 Congratulations to 2 champions – Linda and Ben won the North East Prelim Championship (and  a Novice class the following day) and Elizabeth and Paddy won the Novice league at Faraway. Well done to them both – well earned results for their hard work. Also well done to Karen and Inula for three 1st places in the past week including their 1st Novice test together. 22 July 2007 Well done to those competing at Ladyleys at the weekend. Fiona was competing Leo for the first time and did well and there were good scores for Tracey, Kathleen, Maureen and Kim. Pam was also very pleased to get 66.4% and 67.9% and two 2nd places with Havanna in only her second outing at Elementary level. 25 June 2007 Pam’s trip to Skye. Pam recently had a very enjoyable trip to Skye to teach (in glorious sunshine!). Lessons were split between 2 riding centres and included a wide range of horses and riders. All the riders were keen to learn and worked really hard at the challenges set by Pam. Good luck to you all with your ongoing schooling and hope to see you again soon (in August?). Yes, I'm going back and taking hubby with me so that he can go climbing in his beloved Cuillin Hills.. General round-up. Several people have been out competing recently and doing well so here is a quick round-up. Well done to Rebecca for a good performance at Burgie 3-day event, Kim for wins and qualifying for the Scottish C Squad, Clare for improving Guinness’s performance in Prelim, Louise and Lauren for improving their scores, Tracey and Kathleen for good scores and Anna for getting two 2nds on her 2nd outing with Harry. (Sorry if I have missed anyone – you are all so busy with the summer season!). 5 June 2007 Well done to Mhari and Frankie for winning their eventing class at the weekend at Scotsburn and also to Eleanor and Gina for bringing home a handful of rosettes on their first outing together. 29 May 2007 Congratulations are due to several people who were competing at the dressage competition at Ladyleys at the weekend. Well done to Rebecca and Patch for winning their Elementary class, to Kim and Ebby for a very good score in the Affiliated Novice, to Tracey for a very good score with Treacle in the intro and to Louise, Lauren and Ros for taking home a handful of rosettes from their classes. Well done to all of you! 14 May 2007 Pam attended a trainers convention at Gleneagles led by Stephen Clarke. It was an excellent day with Stephen explaining his views to assessing and progressing horses and riders from Prelim through to Advanced. Stephen's explanations were very clear and his sense of humour made it very easy to listen to him throughout the day. He focused very much on the importance of correct basics, e.g. he tested out horses of all levels for their level of responsiveness from the rider's legs in simple walk to trot transitions. He also explained very clearly the use of inside and outside aids; the outside being the controlling aids (including a secure outside rein) and the inside aids being for impulsion, connection, softening and flexing - but NOT holding. As a basic approach to training the horse, he emphasised about creating a reaction you can praise so the horse knows he is trying to do the right thing. An interesting and inspiring day. 12 May 2007 Congratulations to Kim, Rebecca and Clare who all tried competing at a higher level and got creditable scores over 60%. 2 May 2007 A few people have been competing over the past couple of weeks and deserve congratulations: to Linda with Ben for a 1st and 2nd in recent Novice tests with good scores and for qualifying for the Scottish Championships; to Eleanor with Gemma and Nikki with Blue for achieving personal best scores in the schools competition and to Nikki for being placed. Well done! 17 April 2007 Well done to Clare Wilkinson and Guinness Draft for becoming reserve Champions in the Buchan Riding Club Dressage intro league. Clare got 1st and 3rd on Sunday including a 68%. Well Done! 11 March 2007   Well done again to Linda and Ben for good placings and scores in their 2 Novice tests last weekend - 64.3% and 69.4% are excellent scores as Ben has just started doing Novice level. Also well done to Stephanie and Nikki from Knock for their recent show jumping wins. 25 March 2007 Well done to Emma Cheyne and Finn for being placed in their 1st dressage outing after only a very few weeks together. 21 March 2007: Congratulations to Linda McKenzie and Far Beyond (Ben) who did really well on Sat 17 March at the Gordon Dressage Group competition. They did N32, affiliated training section and got 66.52%, 2nd overall then did N33, affiliated training section, and got 65.52%, 1st overall. Linda qualified for the Area Festival. Well done Linda and Ben! 18 Feb 2007: Pam took Havanna into her 1st Elem test and was delighted to win the class with 67.2% Keith, Pam's husband, also won the Partner's "Test 0" test with 70%