Classical Dressage Art in Motion

As many of you know our small breeding operation at Willowview Hill Farm based now in Stamford, New York and for some years also duplicated in the U.K.,  has produced some super horses since 1993. It's hard to believe that we've been at this that long. As Spring 2014 is now on the horizon it is with renewed excitement we begin more youngsters under saddle. It is a labor or love from inception design, conception through the 11 month pregnancy, then birth and and imprint training. So after all that daily handling and lesson teaching in hand it is finally time this Spring for us to start up three fillies and introduce them to work under saddle. We are very excited! Gambol's Middernacht at 3 years old, with her 'Tina Turner" hair All three fillies are sired by Gambol. With KWPN ( GOV and others too) approval and strong Dutch warmblood genetics, Gambol himself was competed on the world stage by Canadian Ashley Holzer. His babies here have all inherited his exce

Sometimes you feel the need to stand up on your soap box and this is one of them. I may not be at Hyde Park Corner in London, but I do think this message can still garner an interested audience of dressage aficionados if not the common man. We can talk about offering classical dressage training. We can talk about competitive sporthorse dressage training and discuss German versus French until the cows come home. But really folks. If you study the classics, you will find Baucher , Fillis , Steinbrecht, L'Hotte , DeCarpentry and so many others already expounded on everything you see today. No - not seeing the Duke of Newcastle included ( God forbid we should mention the British having anything to do with it, though the latest successes of the Brits Carl Hester , Laura Bechtolsheimer and Charlotte DuJardin etc. might make you wonder). Are the great riders of today such as Kyra Kyrklund influenced more by Nuno Oliveria , Brenderup or Alois Podhasky or none of the above? Aren'