Jane Savoie is an Olympic dressage coach, instructor and clinician extraordinaire. Although she is best known in the dressage world, Jane’s knowledge and expertise can apply to all types of riding — including yours.

“If you ride a horse, you can learn from these topics,” says Savoie. “The responses that we see from horses in the exercises I use are the same for dressage as they are for Western or hunter/jumper.”

Rhythm, relaxation, and suppleness are important aspects to great riding and cross between many disciplines. All types of horses need these responses to be good at what they do. Most riders have seen the similarities between dressage and western pleasure. Even though they look very different at first glance, both types of horses respond to rider commands in a similar way.

To improve these skills, Savoie uses teaching exercises that can be successfully applied at home. Instead of focusing on one rider’s individual issues at a clinic, she prefers teaching at events like Canada’s Outdoor Equine Expo and focusing on more broad and universal rider issues. She tackles challenges all riders have faced at some point.

“If people are attentive, they can go home and do the exercises they’ve learned [with their own horse],” says Savoie. “I give specific exercises plus tests that you can do to see if you’ve done the exercises correctly....ways of evaluating whether you’ve been effective or not.”

By providing tests, riders can check if Jane’s teachings are working or not. It’s a sure–fire way to check for the intended response from the horse without having an expert there to watch. Take–home exercises let riders learn at their own pace and know they are achieving the responses they ask for by using Savoie’s tests. This teaching style lets Savoie have a bigger impact on more riders of all disciplines — not just dressage.

Jane Savoie will run “Suppleness — Unlock Your Horse’s Body” clinics on Saturday June 11th at 2:00pm and “Basic Lateral Work — The Importance of Sideways” at 5:00pm. On Sunday June 12th, she will run “The A,B,C’s — Developing a Language With Your Horse” at 10:00am and “Connecting Aids — How to Put Your Horse Honestly on the Bit” at 2:00pm.

Want to ride in Jane’s clinics at Canada’s Outdoor Equine Expo? Organizers are still accepting first and second level dressage riders for her clinics. Each session costs $150 and stalls are available for rental if needed. Call 1–800–563–5441 ex. 32 for more information.

Canada’s Outdoor Equine Expo will be held June 10th to 12th, 2011 at Iron Horse Equestrian Complex near Burlington, ON. For more information, visit www.EquineExpo.ca or search Canada’s Outdoor Equine Expo on Facebook.