Classical Dressage Art in Motion

Here's your horse. Here's your groom. All the gear you need is neatly packed and organized. All you have to do is show up. Well - not quite. Riding and competing in Europe with my Swiss coach and her elite team from her private yard has been a blast. There have been many ups and downs over the years for sure. Mostly ups. I'm not going to focus on the time my groom forgot my entire wardrobe trunk, or the time my horses arrived just 40 minutes before my first class ( actually I will later), or the time the airline somehow managed to lose one of two boots that were packed in the same boot bag ( most useful one boot), or me running flat-out through the terminal in riding boots and breeches carrying a shadbelly (that, thankfully, only happened once). Not the most comfortable footwear to travel in. But I did make the gate. Travel between European countries is easy enough but driving takes a lot of time due to the traffic and travel from the USA to Europe is expensive. I alway...

Well it's been a mad time dashing about downstate to ride some of the Willowview Hill International 2012 Elite Collection and I have had plenty of time not just riding but watching to think about what kinds of problems folks have training flying changes. One of the mares in the collection is a Rohdiamont/Donnerhall Prix St George horse and sitting on her changes were to die for. I can't claim to have put the flying changes in to this particular horse but I can tell you from years of training including from the mare's trainer and mine, Greta Kemmer, that when a horse is properly trained I sure know it. I think flying changes are one of my favorite things of all to do and there is nothing to compare to the joy of having your horse succeed in passing this test of canter quality with flying colors. Do you have trouble with flying changes? Don't despair. Here's a few hints to get you on the right track ( pardon the pun). The quality of any movement in dressage is alw...