Classical Dressage Art in Motion

There was a hiatus over the summer with the training of our young mare,  Gambol's Middernacht aka Midi due to various issues such as busy times with haymaking and giving clinics, plus Paul's shoulder injury which sidelined lots of plans. However, on a good note, hubbie's shoulder is on the mend after a few injections. Last week we were able to enter Midi into our full training schedule and she has had six sessions in eight days. If you would like to follow along with our video training program please subscribe to our You Tube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkwOcl5m8yH7K8Zy8ZU3H2g to receive updates as they are posted. There are six sessions to view and the progress Midi has made has been awesome. Please note you need to click on the You Tube link to view. Session 1 on 11/13 was actually filmed as we were showcasing Midi to a prospective purchaser. Midi was very tense about the 'intruders' especially as the gentleman was a very tall person who she...

We have started many horses over the years at Willowview Hill Farm . Naturally much thought and planning goes into every horse we produce. Which stallion to choose? Which vet to trust? The delight of the moment of birth and imprint training that follows is truly wonderful. Then the weaning , the years of daily handling, new introductions to everything a horse should know and confidently manage and then when the time is right, longe work and backing. Here is a video of how we start our youngsters to train to the saddle. This video is of our Gambol's Middernacht WVH. You will hear some deep outward breaths from behind the camera, which Midi hears and do relax her. I am teaching her to trust me as a 2nd ground person, so when she is mounted for riding she still has a person on the floor to look toward for help. The point in the video where Paul says, " Now you've seen it," is Midi noticing the banner on the side wall. She had previously been frightened by the in...