Cricket Hill Farm
Academy and Gardens
Riders of all levels, half a dozen new to our clinic series, enjoyed two days with Shelly, showing their progress and learning training tips for the next level. We hoped Shelly would be able to come back in April… Sadly for us but happily for Shelly, she will be competing in Europe for the U.S. Team again. Good luck Shelly and see you back at Cricket Hill in October 2018!
Just back from Rio, where she was the Alternate to the bronze medal U.S. Olympic Dressage team, Shelly was greeted by old friends and mostly good weather! A great clinic and wonderful stories!
Shelly was back at Cricket Hill for her third time this year. It may be a little while before Shelly returns as she has a heavy competition schedule planned for the upcoming season and 2016 Olympic Team selection. She is on the short list with two horses, Doktor and Danilo, both trained by Shelly from youngsters. Shelly remains one of the few U.S. international riders who compete on horses they have trained themselves, yielding a training and instruction approach which is understandable to both the horse and the rider.
Riders enjoyed another great Saturday evening to commemorate not only the great rides, but also the abundant apple harvest! Click here for the the menu and story of the Wolf River Apple!
Shelly was back to check on our progress, fitting her regular spring clinic at Cricket Hill in between the busy CDI Florida show circuit and her trip to Europe representing the U.S. Shelly is competing 4 FEI horses, two in Grand Prix and two on the Small Tour.
Three new horses and two new riders, Susan Boardman and Liz Call, joined us for the first time. Everybody had an “aha” to take away with them, and prodded Shelly to squeeze in a third clinic this year! Kira was able to arrange a session in August as well as October. See Upcoming Events for the dates.
Shelly was back at Cricket Hill November 15 and 16 for a full clinic, 10 rides each day. It was rewarding to see the progress many had made since May and fun to welcome some new horse-rider combinations to the event. Everybody enjoyed the Riders’ Dinner at Sue and Art’s house and Shelly’s stories of the competitions in Europe this past summer. She was the U.S. Team alternate for WEG 2014. Shelly’s logical, patient approach to training gives us all plenty to work on, and we’re already looking forward to her return in April!
Flash! Shelly Francis invited Kira to bring Delilah and Rio to another clinic she was giving at the barn of Jane Hannigan in Littleton, MA. The trip was very worthwhile. Kira was able to review her work with Delilah on the pirouette canter and establishing “baby piaffe-passage”. Shelly was especially complementary of the progress Rio showed in just two weeks since the last clinic! Shelly mentioned that she is working on her show schedule and qualifiers for the U.S. Team and might do some shows in the Northeast this year. We’re hoping she’ll be back in the spring!
