Classical Dressage Art in Motion

Over the many years of training horses, not just our own homebreds or imports but also for clients that send them in for schooling and development, we know that horses need time to develop their own personalities and to develop their confidence. With horses that don't belong to us but are under our wing for a portion of their training and careers, we have additionally experienced a variety of clientele with a myriad of notions and levels of education as to just what constitutes what in the training pyramid. Our mantra is based in the classical training that we have received and that we continue to receive from notable sources/masters of dressage around the world. Simply put, a solid foundation is fundamental to the success of the horse in his training.  Some owners know basically nothing about dressage. They have seen a pretty horse or two dancing at an exhibition, have even developed an eye as a breeder and know lots about bloodlines and can read the studbooks out loud almo...

Like any business your horse business will change over time. If you are doing things right it should constantly evolve and grow. And, just like any other endeavor in your life, there are times when a critical evaluation is a good idea. An opportunity is thus created to re-balance life and responsibilities. For hubbie and I, we have had a busy time with the horse industry over the years. Both of us have trained both horses and students to the Grand Prix level, and helped train many horses for colleagues, especially those in the breeding world that need polish put on their horses for sale. We have worked extensively to learn more about dressage and enjoyed time spent with iconic names such as Herbert Rehbein, Gabriella Grillo, the Eilberg family, Ewe Shulten-Baumer, the Kemmers ( both Swiss and German sides of the family), George Theodorescu, Wolgang Niggli, Gen. Jack Burton, Raul de Leon, Jim Belman (who also taught Dane Rawlins and Paul Alvin-Smith at the start of their careers),and ...

I confess to being amazed at the change in the horse market over the past several years. It used to be that you posted a print ad and produced a video and folks would call you to ask lots of questions about your beautiful horse and if you felt them to be a serious prospective buyer ( or even if you didn't) you'd send them a copy of the video. Gambol's Georgy Girl is for sale..Proven broodmare, great dressage or eventing prospect. After receipt of same the buyer would generally either call or return the video with a note saying whether or not they were interested. With the arrival of the internet, website and social media the market has certainly changed. I believe the availability of free information on a horse you have for sale to a massive audience is helpful overall. But unfortunately with it comes a lot more than just tire kickers. Video of Gambol's Genevieve: For Sale Currently $5000.00 Price will increase once under saddle. A few experiences f...

My husband Paul Alvin-Smith is also a Grand Prix trainer As a professional dressage competitor/coach/clinician and trainer the wait on the State of New York to enact the Equine Inherent Risk Law has been a long and patient one. Finally, after a collection of corrupt individuals were removed from the NY Assembly, the bill was finally enacted. What does this mean to horse owners and trainers and folks involved in the horse business? Will everyone enjoy lower insurance premiums for the services they provide and the liability to which they are exposed. Possibly and possibly not.  What is important as a trainer and as an individual or any sort that spends time around horses is still the same, safety first. This law will not protect you from law suits. Anyone can sue anyone at anytime, we are all aware of that. The new law may help the decision that comes down from the bench if a suit is filed, but it is yet untested. It is still imperative, for moral reasons and also for...

I was recently talking to a group of students who asked about preference in breed of horse for a successful dressage horse and why Paul and I didn't breed registered warmbloods much anymore. While we bred, imported, trained and loved our 20+ years as a Hanoverian dressage breeder (with a few Oldenburgs thrown in), we came full circle in our breeding program and came back to the beauty of the cross bred horses. Why? The soundness and great temperaments that crossbreds can produce I believe comes from their genetic variety. After so many visits to Verden to purchase horses, the 65% statistic for OCD that was given me by their own vet, Dr. Gerd Bruncken was validated at every turn. Our operation in the U.K. where we also bred many Donnerhall, Lord Sinclair and other warmblood lines and imported them as part of the Willowview Hill International Collection every Spring, also taught us that OCD was a sincere issue across the German lines. We moved into Dutch Warmblood breeding as ...

Over the years Paul and I have enjoyed giving many clinics and the abilities of horse and rider that we train varies greatly. While we are generally sought after for clinics in the U.S.A, primarily in the North East, South Carolina and in Florida, we tremendously enjoy giving clinics abroad despite the difficulties of the language barrier. As many of you know we work with FEI coach Greta Kemmer in Switzerland from time to time. Thankfully Greta helps us out with the joys of trying to speak German by providing some translation on our behalf. This has made our FEI4ontheFloor clinics, held in Bedford, NY and Lausanne , Switzerland, a great deal of fun. She translates for us in Switzerland and we translate for her in the U.S.A..We have been hosted at two elite yards in Germany over the past several years, and for those occasions a professional translator has been provided. This however has not worked so well. The translator was not familiar with horses at all! So when we used 'termin...

As many of you know I make regular trips to Europe to work with my FEI coach Greta Kemmer in Switzerland, visit England to see family and to work with some other noted names in the dressage world, and visit Portugal and Spain from time to time. I consider myself truly blessed to have the opportunity to enjoy these travels and to broaden my equestrian education and life experiences. A month ago I was thrilled to take another trip to Portugal and Spain with hubbie Paul, for multiple reasons. We were honored to be invited to give two clinics. One in the Sevilla region in Spain, and another in Portugal. We also had a super visit with family in The Algarve, and searched far and wide in both Andalusia, Spain and Portugal for horses for students. A search that was most successful and included a visit with the head of the Portuguese School of Equestrian Art, Antonio Borba Monteiro at his farm in Lisbon.  This farm is the where Nuno Oliveira began his apprenticeship in his magnificent c...