Classical Dressage Art in Motion

I was recently approached by a well-known dressage trainer to compile his articles on dressage training to formulate an online training course. Well at least I think that was the scope of work - it was all a bit airy fairy. One of our senior Grand Prix horses that we recently lost to colic. As many of my readers know, aside from dressage training I am also a professional content writer and PR/Marketing professional. I field many such calls from varietal trainers worldwide across many disciplines, equine and other industry manufacturers and service providers, all interested in capitalizing on the spend of the consumer through video content and instruction. This particular call was different to most, in that the trainer was totally uninterested in any writing help at all. It was almost impossible to get a word in edgewise during the conversation. He spoke partly to horses he was longing one after another, and partly in a dictatorial manner to me. A strange way to conduct a conversation. ...

I knew I would have to write about the loss of Tiberio Lafite aka Tigger at some point, but didn't really expect it to take me 2 months.    Our beloved partner since buying him age 5, through to his elderly statesman years at 26, Tigger brought much joy to our lives and gamely adapted himself to all our human demands.   Many horse owners know that sinking feeling, when you find your horse laying down unable to get up. The moment when the world literally stops for a second, and everything seems to be happening in slow motion, as your brain fights to figure out what to do next to do the right thing. For us it was a sultry, humid day in July. Paul went out to the fields to do an a.m. check of the water troughs and see that the horses that had enjoyed the freedom of a night outside in the paddocks and were all AOK.  From the windows of our home and the security system we have in place, we had already seen the horses were all up and about doing just fine by all appearance...

Fields of 2nd cut horse hay at Willowview Hill Farm, Stamford, NY     We have been producing organically grown hay for over 22 years, and 2021 has been by far our busiest ever. The hay has been flying out the door like never before. The expression, 'buy now or cry later' has become a regular post on our social media platform. There is simply an unprecedented demand for 1st cut this year, and like many farmers around, the yield this year was not the best. Our fellow farmers in CT and MA, saw a poor 1st cut due to the damage done to the grasses by last year's drought conditions. Meantime further north, NH, VT and ME saw drought conditions this Spring so yields were down there as well.  On our home turf here in the Catskill Mountains in NY, we check multiple weather forecast daily during hay season to hunt down those blocks of 3 good days of sunshine, that will be sufficient to cure our hay to our required 12-14% moisture by Mother Nature. It can be cured faster using applic...

Many horse owners embark on the journey of horse breeding and an inescapable fact is sooner or later the progeny of your beloved mares will need to be started under saddle. Keeping one of your homebreds to replace your aging personal horse is a common reason to hang on to a home bred horse. This photo is Tiberio Lafite aka Tigger, my husband's Grand Prix horse that he trained from start to finish. Tigger is now 28 years young, (sometimes he still believes he is 3), and in retirement. The plan to hold back a home-produced young performance prospect as a replacement was always in the cards.   Even if your business plan is set to market the foals rather than raise the young horses to adulthood, there are often issues such as injury, market changes or simply the temptation to wait and see if a particular horse is one you'd like to keep for yourself, that result in a homebred horse in your own backyard to start yourself. Over the decades as a horse breeder, first Hanoverians, then D...

It's always fun to play with the 'big boys' in any sport. Who wouldn't like to try their hand at handling the best of the best. Many companies make a ton of money by offering folks the opportunity to do just that.   This Grand Prix horse with his GP rider Paul have worked together for over 22 years..still going strong.   For a considerable fee you can visit a racetrack and take a turn driving your dream Ferrari. Under supervision of course. Sailing the seas as part of an experienced crew for a few hours aboard a racing yacht that cuts through the waves like butter is also an expensive 'experience' that can be purchased if you have the right access. What about riding a Grand Prix dressage horse? Can you go out and do that, even if you can't afford to buy one for yourself? The answer of course is yes. It is entirely possible to work with a dressage trainer that has a suitable Grand Prix schoolmaster available for lessons. Naturally, this time will be spent und...

  Organic Hay at Willowview Hill Farm, NY   It's been twenty years (or thereabouts, as Peter Wright would say in his Yorkshire accent on The Yorkshire Vet, my latest binge watch on Acorn), since we began proudly producing and marketing our organic hay . There have been years before now when supplies of hay were low in our region of the N.E. U.S.A. One year it was the awful slimy army worms that devoured much of the County's hay supply, drought, monsoon summer rains have all played their part in Mother Nature's symphony of the unexpected. A farmer's lot in life. One neighbor even had his second cut horse hayfields trampled and chowed down by a herd of wandering bison that had escaped their keeper for months.  But in 2020, along with everything else that went sideways, the year brought little rain and much drought to the N.E. Connecticut was as dry as the dust bowl, grasslands laid bare in MA, VT and NH. Here in Stamford, New York, in the micro-climate of heaviest rains i...

  A Covid vaccine is just the jab needed to get the job of horse clinics and horse training back to person to person. Hopefully the vaccine roll out will speed up in time for Spring.   Ever the optimists, the team here at Willowview Hill Farm has made the decision to re-open for hay sales April 1st, along with some new horse training events from May 28th. These announcements were apparently eagerly anticipated by our clientele as video submissions for entering clinics were rapidly received and slots for riding opportunities quickly filled. Our weekend options for clinic giving in 2021 are almost full! If you are able to work on weekday dates we may be able to accommodate Spring and Summer 2 day clinics. Please ask. We are also hoping to attend shows in our coaching capacity as things get under way, and we thank our regular students for their patience over the last 12 months!   Here are details of our WVH Summer Series on Facebook ( please note 2/3 will be held off-site as...