Classical Dressage Art in Motion

The arrival of your newly acquired horse is a special moment that you will never forget. How smoothly things go after your horse steps off the trailer is in large part up to you.                                       Akiko and Gambol's Genevieve It's typical for horses that have not had much exposure off the farm where they were born to exhibit much anxiety when they find themselves in the hands of new people at a strange and foreign location with different horses in the vicinity. Introducing a horse to anything new should be done slowly and with every effort to take things step by step so as not to heighten anxiety, and done in such a manner that encourages trust. Horses do not do bad things with intent, they do not plot and plan to be difficult. They are simply looking for guidance as to what they are s...

Hubbie and I have been out and about giving clinics as usual. We just returned from our last tour which was in England and Scotland, which naturally included staying in a castle. It was awesome and fun but also very tiring. I think we've just about recovered! It was grand to work with fellow Brits again and their wonderful horses We traversed more then 1600 miles in our gallant rental vehicle. The roads were sometimes single lane and difficult to navigate, especially across fells and around lakes in the Lake District.  Our trip took us from a clinic in Buckinghamshire up to Lincolnshire, then onto Scotland just South of Edinburgh. We crossed over to the West coast of Scotland to Aye, before heading South to the beautiful Lake District for another clinic and then on to Shropshire for a day or two. Then it was back down South to Buckinghamshire before we headed back home from Heathrow.  The horses and riders we saw were a broad mix of talent, from those starting out...

It's important for all trainers to keep training with other trainers. Stagnation is the enemy of progress and it can also just be hard to keep yourself motivated as a trainer or clinician. You need fresh material and fresh knowledge to bring to your students and you always want to keep improving both your own training of horses and the training of those under your wing. Over the past 25 years or so my husband Paul and I, a duo of Grand Prix dressage competitor/coach/clinician and trainer, have always kept busy continuing our education so that we can share that wealth with others.   Access to the top echelon of dressage riders worldwide, is not available to all and by taking part when invited to special symposiums, or hosting Olympic level clinicians for our regular students as well as to our own benefit as riders, we are very happy to provide some added value to our valued students. Our annual, 'Ride With An Olympian' clinic is a prime example of how much fun ...

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...