Online Riders Collective - My Friends are Amazing
I wrote up a few paragraphs about how much I hate the world right now. In case you haven't noticed, everything really sucks. However, after rereading what I wrote, and falling deeper into that black hole of Monday-ness in the time of COVID-19, I promptly hit delete because that's not what I want to focus on today.
It's easy to dwell in the horror of the world, but there is this magic that happens in the face of tough times where the absolute best in some people comes out. All around us there have been fundraisers, people sewing masks, donations being made to food banks and hospitals. I'm not saying all of these wonderful things negate the actions of the careless protestors and people who still think this is "just the flu", but sometimes it helps my brain to focus on the good for awhile.
The horse industry has been hit hard by the shutdown. Shows are cancelled until who knows when, many barns are still closed except to essential staff, and trainers and riders alike are missing the normalcy of the barn.
Enter the Online Riders Collective.
In a feat of brilliance, my good friends Jess Clawson and Alice Bruno came up with the idea of having trainers view video submissions from riders across all disciplines for 1:1 virtual clinics. Called Clinics for a Cause, riders can submit up to 15 minutes of video footage of them riding (even piece together several videos!) and choose the clinician of their choice for tailored feedback on their ride. The best part? Each video submission only costs $25 and every dollar gets donated to The Equestrian Aid Foundation (EAF).
In case you missed any of that, Jess and Alice have worked tirelessly to build this amazing organization, all on their own time and dime, and some of the top trainers across all disciplines are donating their time to review video submissions. Each submission costs $25, all to benefit the Disaster Relief Fund by EAF to assist equestrian professionals and service providers who are in financial crisis due to COVID-19.
Online Riders Collective is active on Facebook and they even created a new group that I'm geeking out over - there are so many incredible people, amateurs and professionals alike, I'm fan-girling over virtually rubbing elbows with them. ORC is sharing videos of riders with their professional feedback (with the riders' permission, of course) and watching them is so much fun. At the moment, I'm absolutely kicking myself that I have no usable video from the past few years to submit, and I'm hoping to change that sooner than later.
The website is easy to use, and you can choose from over 40 different professionals to get feedback from. Among the all-star lineup are people like Sissy Wickes, Phillip Dutton, Laura Kraut, Boyd Martin, Lauren Sprieser, Tom Bebb, JJ Lavieri... the list goes on. In what world can you get a personal clinic from a trainer for $25? Apparently in the dystopian world of COVID-19, but hey I'll take it!
As mentioned previously, Goose is currently a grass hippo and though I'm slowly starting to get him back into work with some long-lining sessions I started this weekend, it's going to be a few weeks at least before our flailing is ready to be captured on video. (Side-note: Shoutout to Kendra Clarke, my trainer in NJ, for teaching me how to long line! It's one of my favorite tools and Goose and I both get so much out of it. She's one of the clinicians for Clinics for a Cause, go check her out!). Since I can't currently participate by submitting a video, I've been watching the others' that are posted. Here are a couple I've been watching in my downtime, you can access all the videos shared with permission here.
Jess Clawson, adult amateur event rider, & clinician JJ Lavieri, Grand Prix show jumper
Julianna, adult amateur & Boyd Martin, US Eventing Team
Watching these videos makes my heart so happy. You go from Jess, one of the founders of ORC, getting feedback on a show jumping round at a novice event from JJ Lavieri, to professional JJ Lavieri getting feedback on his own show jumping round from none other than Laura Kraut! Arguably my favorite video however, is Julianna's video with Boyd Martin's feedback. She's a lovely rider with the CUTEST chunky horse, and Boyd gave her excellent feedback, which I can really relate to since I ride my own grass hippo and struggle with some of the same things Boyd pointed out for Julianna. The best part of Clinics for a Cause is that riders of all levels can submit videos, whether you're an adult beginner or a professional, and the feedback you get is going to be helpful and encouraging which is exactly what we all need at a time like this.
As stay at home orders are starting to lift in my state, I'm starting to go out to the barn a few times a week at times where I hope not many people will be there. The goal is to long line 3-4 times a week for two weeks and then hopefully climb back in the saddle and put us both in boot camp. If all goes well, hoping I can get some video by early June - we'll still be flailing, but getting feedback from Clinics for a Cause will only help us get back into working order for the summer!
I'm so proud to know Jess and Alice and to call them my friends. There are some awesome things coming up with Online Riders Collective, some that I may even be a part of *hint hint*, so please follow along, get involved, and share if you can. While it's been tough to stay away from the barn, the past few weeks have given me so much motivation to get back to work with the Goober. Watching videos of others riding has been so helpful and seriously so much fun. This weekend I pulled up YouTube on my TV and watched way too many - If I can't watch shows or ride myself just yet, this is the perfect outlet!
It's easy to dwell in the horror of the world, but there is this magic that happens in the face of tough times where the absolute best in some people comes out. All around us there have been fundraisers, people sewing masks, donations being made to food banks and hospitals. I'm not saying all of these wonderful things negate the actions of the careless protestors and people who still think this is "just the flu", but sometimes it helps my brain to focus on the good for awhile.
The horse industry has been hit hard by the shutdown. Shows are cancelled until who knows when, many barns are still closed except to essential staff, and trainers and riders alike are missing the normalcy of the barn.
Enter the Online Riders Collective.
In a feat of brilliance, my good friends Jess Clawson and Alice Bruno came up with the idea of having trainers view video submissions from riders across all disciplines for 1:1 virtual clinics. Called Clinics for a Cause, riders can submit up to 15 minutes of video footage of them riding (even piece together several videos!) and choose the clinician of their choice for tailored feedback on their ride. The best part? Each video submission only costs $25 and every dollar gets donated to The Equestrian Aid Foundation (EAF).
In case you missed any of that, Jess and Alice have worked tirelessly to build this amazing organization, all on their own time and dime, and some of the top trainers across all disciplines are donating their time to review video submissions. Each submission costs $25, all to benefit the Disaster Relief Fund by EAF to assist equestrian professionals and service providers who are in financial crisis due to COVID-19.
Online Riders Collective is active on Facebook and they even created a new group that I'm geeking out over - there are so many incredible people, amateurs and professionals alike, I'm fan-girling over virtually rubbing elbows with them. ORC is sharing videos of riders with their professional feedback (with the riders' permission, of course) and watching them is so much fun. At the moment, I'm absolutely kicking myself that I have no usable video from the past few years to submit, and I'm hoping to change that sooner than later.
 |
| Grass hippo, due with twins any day now. |
The website is easy to use, and you can choose from over 40 different professionals to get feedback from. Among the all-star lineup are people like Sissy Wickes, Phillip Dutton, Laura Kraut, Boyd Martin, Lauren Sprieser, Tom Bebb, JJ Lavieri... the list goes on. In what world can you get a personal clinic from a trainer for $25? Apparently in the dystopian world of COVID-19, but hey I'll take it!
As mentioned previously, Goose is currently a grass hippo and though I'm slowly starting to get him back into work with some long-lining sessions I started this weekend, it's going to be a few weeks at least before our flailing is ready to be captured on video. (Side-note: Shoutout to Kendra Clarke, my trainer in NJ, for teaching me how to long line! It's one of my favorite tools and Goose and I both get so much out of it. She's one of the clinicians for Clinics for a Cause, go check her out!). Since I can't currently participate by submitting a video, I've been watching the others' that are posted. Here are a couple I've been watching in my downtime, you can access all the videos shared with permission here.
Jess Clawson, adult amateur event rider, & clinician JJ Lavieri, Grand Prix show jumper
JJ Lavieri, Grand Prix show jumper, & clinician Laura Kraut, US Show Jumping Team
Watching these videos makes my heart so happy. You go from Jess, one of the founders of ORC, getting feedback on a show jumping round at a novice event from JJ Lavieri, to professional JJ Lavieri getting feedback on his own show jumping round from none other than Laura Kraut! Arguably my favorite video however, is Julianna's video with Boyd Martin's feedback. She's a lovely rider with the CUTEST chunky horse, and Boyd gave her excellent feedback, which I can really relate to since I ride my own grass hippo and struggle with some of the same things Boyd pointed out for Julianna. The best part of Clinics for a Cause is that riders of all levels can submit videos, whether you're an adult beginner or a professional, and the feedback you get is going to be helpful and encouraging which is exactly what we all need at a time like this.
As stay at home orders are starting to lift in my state, I'm starting to go out to the barn a few times a week at times where I hope not many people will be there. The goal is to long line 3-4 times a week for two weeks and then hopefully climb back in the saddle and put us both in boot camp. If all goes well, hoping I can get some video by early June - we'll still be flailing, but getting feedback from Clinics for a Cause will only help us get back into working order for the summer!
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| We love long lining |
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| This booty |
I'm so proud to know Jess and Alice and to call them my friends. There are some awesome things coming up with Online Riders Collective, some that I may even be a part of *hint hint*, so please follow along, get involved, and share if you can. While it's been tough to stay away from the barn, the past few weeks have given me so much motivation to get back to work with the Goober. Watching videos of others riding has been so helpful and seriously so much fun. This weekend I pulled up YouTube on my TV and watched way too many - If I can't watch shows or ride myself just yet, this is the perfect outlet!
I had seen the ORC FB group (and joined, naturally lol) but I didn't know about the Clinics for a Cause thing -- that's SO COOL! I, like you, am trying to slowly get my whales into shape, so I don't really have video footage yet either, but maybe once I'm back in the saddle I can drag out the Pixio and coax it into working again..... Getting feedback from somebody like Lauren Spreiser would be fucking amaze-balls!
ReplyDeleteEven if you have old video, you can use that too! Currently going through all my videos from even a couple years ago and seeing if I can piece together something decent, it's an awesome cause and I would be THRILLED to get feedback from someone like Lauren!
DeleteAlso, we should start a support group for de-whaling our equines. I keep telling Goose we have to both get our bikini bodies back hahaha
What a wonderful idea! I should work on getting some video in the near future...
ReplyDeleteUpdate to say that I just secured a videographer for the next pretty day, Thursday. Eee. Going to ride both Grif and Q. Now to decide who to have critique videos!
DeleteYESSS I love this!!! There are some really awesome options it's going to be hard to choose! Can't wait to read about your videos and feedback (assuming you'll blog about it, I hope?)!
DeleteI mean, I put myself out there enough already, seems like great blog fodder lol
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