Classical Dressage Art in Motion

  The firing of Andreas Hausberger, Chief Rider at the Spanish Riding School after 40 years of service is not the first 'firing' of the elite trainers at this heritage institution and most likely based on precedent won't be the last. I was fortunate to visit the SRS when the horses still lived at the palace. Shopping for a stallion at the school I enjoyed riding stallions in the grand hall and at Piber, and experienced first hand the work of the riders and Chief Rider at that time, Arthur Kottas. In my previous career I had also worked with an earlier Chief rider at the SRS, George Wahl after he had left the now, unenviable position. That was a long time ago now - back in the days where Christine Stückelberger and Granat were the highlight ride at the yard where I trained. The days of the classical dressage were numbered, and those last years of the 1990's were truly the end of the institutional training in the classical art. The advent of rollkür was embraced by the ...

A rider without an independent seat will almost always go to their hands to help balance themselves in the saddle. Sadly, many dressage riders manage to acquire a trained horse that is 'finished' or at least headed toward FEI level and regardless of their poor 'horse hands handiwork' they gift themselves even more leverage with the use of a double bridle. Paul Alvin-Smith schooling his daughter's horse Manitak - Day 1 of double bridle introduction. Note lightness of weymouth rein.   It is not easy to develop a truly independent seat. But you can't jump this part of equestrian work without consequences in the progression of your own and that of your horse's training. Many folks don't have access to the use of a schoolmaster longe horse where they can ride without reins, hopefully to learn how to use the seat and legs to elevate the front of the horse, to direct 'traffic' as it were, speed, cadence, collection etc. However, there are some steps the...

For the past few decades hubbie and I have been out and about sharing our equestrian knowledge and in particular dressage training, as the 'Brit Grand Prix Duo' and our work has taken us far and wide.  It has been very rewarding, thought at times quite exhausting! As we kick in to 2023, we are thrilled to announce we are already fully booked for the limited 'book' we are offering to hosts for our clinics.   The post Covid reality that like everyone else caused us to pause and consider how we were spending our time and what direction we wanted to take our lives. We have to acknowledge that we are not getting any younger and that while we enjoy our travels giving clinics, it takes up much time and travel as everyone knows is a more intense experienced and more difficult to accomplish than ever.  So, now I've taken you around the block explaining the change, am also pleased to share that another 'result' of this cut back on travel for clinic giving has also res...

Our 1st warmblood purchase, Oldenburg premier colt, Fenix, Furiano/Aktuell/Weltmeister.   Everything in life comes full circle and in horse breeding it is apparently no different. As dressage competitors/clinicians we began our horse owning experiences with two geldings, a Morgan and a Standardbred. The former was trained to do anything but stay grounded with four legs on the floor is seemed. Meanwhile the 16 year old Standardbred had spent his previous six years as a successful Grand Prix horse before we bought him. Only trouble was, the Grand Prix experience was in the showjumping arena not the dressage one. Of course since those early years in 1981 and forward from that time there were many breeds of horses that found their way into our yard, initially mostly male gender.  But then of course the horse breeding bug began. And after several OTTBs, Quarterhorses, an Appendix Quarterhorse, an Arabian and Welsh pony for the kids, we branched out into more mare ownership and stal...

It's not the judges' fault there is no open option to offer advice My attendance at a recent show that was a non-dressage event revealed to me the reality of what showing and competition is for most equestrians. Although I competed in multiple disciplines in my youth I had simply forgotten how things worked outside of our lettered arena. This reveal was the seemingly outdated system of merely issuing points for qualifiers for future competition and placement of 1-6 and nothing further.   In dressage test sheets offer comprehensive help In dressage we are fortunate that every score for every aspect is defined in our tests, and that beside each score the judge offers a comment or two. Sometimes positive, often negative (but hopefully always constructive) critical comments. At the end of the test sheet there are collective remarks that further help the competitor understand the errors of their ways, areas where improvements can be made and offer praise where it is due. We are so l...

Changes are coming and we don't mean the flying change or tempi variety. Paul and ANCCE stallion Celesto IV.   Your Grand Prix dressage duo, hubbie Paul and myself, are in the process of pivoting our dressage services here at Willowview Hill Farm, based in Stamford, NY. From January 2023, we will only be offering a limited number of general dressage clinics offsite and we will no longer offer our pick up a dressage lesson programs at client's barns. Instead, we are choosing to pivot our dressage services to focus our energies on our own private horses and training here at home. As many of you know we are currently under contract for a film production and a book deal is already underway for, " Road Map To Making The Grand Prix Dressage Horse." We will continue to offer dressage training for clients here at WVH for a limited number of horses.   We are also currently on a serious hunt to buy two top quality PRE/ANCCE or Lusitano young horses. At this point in time we are...

  Hay production is part art and part science. The average hay farmer faces many challenges in regard to the hay production process and not every field of grass or legume is worthy of being baled as horse hay. And why is good horse hay so expensive? What's the difference between cow hay or general hay and horse hay products anyway? A lot! From how the field is seeded to how it is cut to how it is tedded and raked to how it is baled, to how it is stored, - everything matters. For example, most hay products available for purchase at feed stores and agricultural outlets like Tractor Supply Company, come with Round Up type chemicals included in the bag or bale for free. Their suppliers openly post that they use chemicals to cure their hay and to up their hay yields and decrease the time needed on the fields to produce it. Alfalfa seeds come as Round Up Ready seedlings - and regardless of how the pharma industry has changed the name from the well known carcinogen brand name to others, t...