Hazelwood Lodge

It's one of those cold mornings, with the classic colourful Australian sunrise and frost on the ground. In fact, it's the most frost I have ever seen at the farm. But, no time for photos, as I'm off to Hazelwood Lodge for a two day clinic with Catherine Martindale.

The drive is made a little bit tricky by heavy fog, but I arrive without a hitch. I unload Lilly and put her in a yard, then I take in the place. It's only 9am in the morning, but the place is ... well ... busy.

Stables are being cleaned out, yards are already full of horses. Some are being saddled. There are three riders just starting a lesson. A lady in a purplish-pink jacket walks up to me "Hi, I'm Catherine", she smiles. I like her straight away.

I saddle up and start my lesson. Within seconds, Catherine is at my side explaining things. "Ok, you want to have her head just here", she takes the bit, and gently asks Lilly to drop her head. "When you're working at home, you want the ears level with the wither. You want to see this muscle here. That's their top line."

Lilly relaxes and travels happily forward. Of course, this is a new place, so she keeps getting distracted a bit by the goings on. But Catherine has made things so clear to me, that regaining the right frame seems childs play. I feel like jumping off and giving her a big hug!

When it comes time to canter, Lilly rushes into it, but we manage to maintain a 20m circle. This is great progress for a horse that believed you can only canter in straight lines a mere two weeks ago. We even manage a few relaxed strides.

I am actually in a group lesson - there are three of us. However, Catherine gives me one-on-one attention, then sends me off to practice. But, she's got eyes in the back of her head. Even though I'm at the other end of the arena, when I really do something wrong, I hear her shrill voice correcting me.

After lunch I have a jumping lesson. "So, how much jumping has she done?", asks Catherine. "Well, only trot poles really", I reply. Catherine sets up some trot poles and we go over. Then she converts them into canter poles, and we canter over them. Lilly is caught a little bit by surprise, but she adjusts pretty quickly.

Then Catherine sets up a grid. Just a simple one at the start - some trot poles and then a cross rail. Lilly trots over the lot. The grid changes to cross rail, one stride with a pole, cross rail. Lilly trots into it, then takes the remainder at canter. That's the whole idea. The grid is forcing her to jump. Very soon, the second obstacle becomes a straight bar. The progress is so smooth and simple that once again I feel like jumping off and giving Catherine a huge bear hug.

After the lesson, I have the chance to watch others ride. Women of all sorts of shapes, sizes, ages, and aspirations are here. And Catherine is equally attentive to all of them. Her confident, but relaxed style, with the odd joke thrown in for good measure, creates a fantastic atmosphere.