Missy Clark Teaches Recognizing & Riding the Distance
Improve Your Ability to Recognize and Manage Distances
Top trainer Missy Clark teaches the skills you need to be able to feel confident in your ability to manage any distance that can (and likely will) show up for you on course. Improve your eye, execute short and long distances in a manageable way, and create an adjustable canter that gives you options.
Feel Confident to Every Jump
Hone the skills that will allow you to recognize and manage many types of distances. This means you'll be able to confidently ride not only the "right" distance, but also make those not-so-perfect ones work out.
Develop Your Eye
Practice specific, hands-on exercises that will help you understand how distances are created, what pace you need to each jump, and how corners, position, line, track, and more directly affect your distances. Through practice, you'll develop the ability to better manage each stride.
Recover Easily From Mistakes
Mistakes happen in riding, but through Missy Clark's 'rules of riding' you'll learn how to recover from bad distances and make the most of the rest of your round, while also learning how to prevent disasters through purposeful riding.
Course Overview
Here are just a few of the many things you'll have access to with this course:
- 10 in-depth video lessons with Missy Clark
- 40 page digital workbook
- Detailed exercises to practice at home
Missy Clark's Lesson Plan
Missy explains what 'seeing a distance' really means, why distances matter in every ring, what skills riders need to be able to recognize and ride distances effectively, and troubleshoots common problems.
Learn what it means to develop your eye as a rider, what separates top riders from the rest, and how you can improve and develop your ability to see distances to every jump on course. Work through a simple but highly effective exercise that gets big results for all levels of rider, from brand new to grand prix.
A step-by-step guide to what correct position means for the hunter, jumper, or equitation rider, and how your position directly influences your ability to recognize and ride good distances. You'll learn to identify and fix common mistakes and go in-depth on how they affect your horse and your eye. Practice a gymnastic exercise specifically designed to help you work on your position before, during, and after fences.
Missy explains why adjustability is the most crucial skill for both horse and rider to master in order to have options on course and be able to execute any type of distance well. She walks you through step-by-step how to create an adjustable canter, how to know if you have enough pace, and helps to troubleshoot common problems that riders of all levels encounter. A practical jumping exercise that can be done at any height builds skills and helps you understand how your canter should feel.
Timing is everything when it comes to riding a correct distance, and your reactions are just as important for making the small (or big!) changes necessary to change your approach to the fence, or recover when something goes wrong. Missy teaches you how to develop your timing and how to react correctly in any situation on course. A progressive jumping exercise, which can be modified for any level, helps you hone these skills in both combinations and long rides.
Discover how your line and track changes what distances will show up for you, and how well you and your horse are able to tack different challenges on course. Troubleshoot mistakes you might be making and sharpen your skills and ability with a bending line exercise that is one of Missy's go-to's when training top riders.
Missy believes that a main skill lacking in most junior and amateur riders to day is the ability to ride the short distance well. Many riders end up chipping or leaving long because they lack the confidence and training needed to execute the shorter distance like a pro. Take a deep dive into theory then work through the most challenging exercise in this course, which can be modified for beginners to advanced riders.
Missy reviews real rounds, talking through what each rider does well and how they could improve, and showing how the skills learned in this Masterclass come into play in the show ring.
How to take the lessons that you've learned in this Masterclass and put them into action to get real results at home and in the show ring, and how to plan for continuous growth and improvement.
Missy shares her personal journey, from growing up with a world-class trainer mother, to starting her own barn, to training legendary horses and riders in the equitation and jumper rings.
Meet Missy Clark, your Masterclass Instructor
Missy Clark, a leader in show jumping and equitation training, co-owns North Run with her husband John Brennan. Growing up in East Aurora, NY, under the guidance of her mother, Doris Clark, Missy started her equestrian journey with Fox Run LTD before establishing North Run. As a junior rider, she trained with notable professionals like Chuck Graham, George Morris, and Rodney Jenkins, and worked for Jimmy Lee. Missy's deep roots in the US equitation system have contributed to North Run producing top riders, many of whom have excelled at the Grand Prix level and represented their countries in Nations Cup competitions. North Run riders have claimed 78 National Championships or Reserve titles in equitation finals.
