September 2020 FRC Member Newsletter

Rider Review
For our first Rider Review of Dressage Position, we had several entries
of beautiful horse and rider pairs.
Our mystery judge this month is JODI LEES
Jodi Lees is an FEI rider and instructor living in Campobello, SC. She
is an active dressage competitor, instructor and judge. Jodi is a
Jodi Lees
USEF licensed “S” dressage judge and has earned the USDF Bronze,
Silver and Gold medals plus numerous riding awards and performance certificates. She
and her husband own a 30 acre facility named River’s Edge Farms where she trains and instructs.
Jodi instructs at a number of regular clinics and welcomes teaching clinics and educational
opportunities. For more information on Jodi, visit her website
at www.RiversEdgeFarms.com or at www.JodiLeesDressage.com. She has a personal
page (Jodi Jones Lees) and a business page (Jodi Lees Dressage) on Facebook.
Pair # 1
I appreciate the overall picture of this partnership.
The horse seems to be willing to follow the bit
and to be on the vertical. There is a clear reach of
the inside hindleg under the horse’s body. The rider
has a pleasant expression on her face and seems to
be enjoying her ride. At the moment that this picture
is taken, the rider has clearly collapsed her right
side which has caused her right shoulder to drop, her right leg to fall forward and the toe
to turn out. It is common for riders to try to “help” their horses by bending their own bodies
when turning but most of the time, this actually causes an imbalance in the relationship
- an imbalance for which the horse has to compensate. Even as the horse is obviously coming
through the corner of the arena, the rider should keep the horse more squarely in front
of her hips with shoulders remaining back and the inside hip and seat bone pushed slightly
forward to keep the horse's inside shoulder up in the turn. We want our horses to lift
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