Linda O’Carroll Memorial 2024 AA Clinic Northern Region
This years’ Linda O’Carroll Memorial AA Clinic Northern was held at the beautiful dressage facilities at
Starr Vaughn on March 8-10. CDS East Bay held a drawing to select a representative. While I was the
lucky winner of the draw with my partner Eli, East Bay was well represented by two horse and rider
combinations with Gwen Lynch and her lovely buckskin mount Simba getting a spot from the waitlist.
Upon arrival on Friday it was clear Starr Vaughn was well prepared and appointed for the event. Owner
Michele Vaughn gave us a warm welcome to the permanent stalls of the south barn surrounded by pine
trees and lush green grass for equine snacking. Our host was a fixture throughout the clinic scooting
around in her golf cart making sure every need was attended to.
There were eleven riders all told spanning 1 st level through I1, with most of the riders showing and/or
schooling 1 st through 3 rd level. Our clinician Heidi Gaian got the ball rolling Friday night with a roundtable discussion of each horse/rider’s biography and current goals for the clinic. If anyone was wondering how Heidi could absorb all this information you only had to wait until Saturday to get the full measure of her energy, enthusiasm, wit and humor.
Heidi brought an enviable combination of skills to draw on combining her deep history as an
accomplished rider and coach bringing a wide variety of horses and clients up through the levels and
her keen eye for detail as a USEF ‘S’ dressage judge. If there was one word Heidi used most throughout
the event (and particular during my ride!) it was ‘rounder’ as she encouraged most of us to ‘tell your
horse what you want it to do with its front end’. She reminded us all that as of 2019 at 1 st level being on
the bit is NOT optional and attempting to move up the levels without confirming it doesn’t work. She
pointed out the muscles at the top and base of the neck that we should see developing as our horses
learn to consistently be in self carriage with a round frame from back to front.
For many riders, Heidi focused on the tests they were targeting in 2024 breaking down the more
challenging aspects. She emphasized the importance of precision – for instance establishing the angle in
a shoulder in immediately at the letter where the movement is called for and maintaining the
movement straight down the track. She drilled movements on center line to ensure they were accurate
for the judge at C and for higher level horses she worked on canter pirouettes to break the movement
down to a spiral-in moving the shoulders around a fixed marker.
While appropriately demanding and challenging for all of us, Heidi also demonstrated flexibility and
patience bringing in buddies to calm nervous horses and taking several of us to the round pen for some
quick tips on lunging where necessary – all while staying right on schedule. She explained that lunging is
the “best kept secret in horses” and a skill she picked up from her business partner Johann Hinneman.
She demonstrated her approach with specific recommendations to work into our routines.
The final aspect of the clinic that bears noting was the camaraderie of all the participants. We all made
an effort to see other riders go and to offer encouragement. We enjoyed lively conversation and sharing
of experience at breaks and during our evening at the Spaghetti Factory. I pulled the 7:30am slot on
Sunday morning and was surprised and gratified to see many of my cohorts there to watch my ride even
after losing and hour to daylight savings the night before! It all made for a very supportive environment
where as Heidi said “we’ll try and we’ll have fun while we’re trying it.” And we did.
– Amanda Salter-Yuh (East Bay Chapter Clinic Awardee)
I wanted to update you about and thank you for supporting an absolutely incredible experience last weekend. The Adult Amateur Clinic is such a great opportunity for all who take part. This was my first clinic EVER as a participant and I have nothing but positive things to say! First our chapter’s event took place at the fabulous Starr Vaughn Equestrian Center at its most beautiful, with flowering trees as a backdrop of its huge well-groomed indoor arena. It was well-organized (thank you Michele Vaughn) and all the participants were friendly and eager to learn and support one another. Amateur photographers and videographers abounded to commemorate our rides! Finally, Heidi Gaian was endlessly patient, positive, and informative teaching all levels of horses and riders. Some people arrived with specific challenges in mind and she eagerly tackled those issues. For others of us, she immediately honed in on what SHE could see we needed. She was able to provide the invaluable perspective of an active judge saying things like “I would have to ding you for that.” I was able to strengthen second level skills and show strategies with my new horse “Simba.” A successful AA clinic experience was such a HUGE confidence builder for us as a horse-rider team and I will head into the upcoming show season with renewed enthusiasm and confidence as a result of Heidi’s keen eye and advice. Thank you so much everyone!
– Gwen Lynch (CDS East Bay Alternate who got to go as a wait list rider)