Day 9: Hubertus Schmidt

Yesterday was our last day in Germany, and we ended the trip with a fantastic visit at Hubertus Schmidt’s barn. When we arrived at the stables, we were not only greeted by Hubertus, but also American riders Todd Flettrich, Devon Kane, and Catherine Malone, who were all there training with Hubertus. Hubertus did an excellent job explaining his training with us, both while he was riding and while he was teaching. Here are some of my observations, along with some of the major points Hubertus discussed with us:

The first point I’d like to note is my own observation on Hubertus’ riding. Hubertus has an incredible seat with legs that hang loosely at the horse’s sides and soft hands. He always had a calm look on his face and he rode in a way that made it look like he was just sitting there and enjoying the ride. Never did the riding look difficult for him. However, even though Hubertus appeared very quiet, he was extremely effective with his quiet aids.

The first horse Hubertus rode was a very fancy, 11 year old, gelding that was schooling the Grand Prix. The gelding was very hot, so the horse constantly had to be ridden with relaxation as a high priority. The horse had an incredible passage but would sometimes get too extravagant in it. To help the horse relax and sink more into the hind legs, Hubertus rode the passage quieter and slower. As a result, the horse started to passage with higher steps and with greater ease, because the horse was more relaxed in the back.

Another horse Hubertus rode for us was an 11 year old trakehner stallion that was schooling the Grand Prix. The horse was a breeding stallion until he was seven, so the horse was just starting the Grand Prix. The stallion came out trotting very normal as Hubertus warmed him up in a stretching frame with lots of canter-trot transitions to help loosen the horses back. When Hubertus started collecting the horse, however, the horse became very fancy with an incredibly long stride. It is amazing to see how a horse can move when he is relaxed and using his back. Hubertus explained that the entire time you are riding, you want the feeling that the horse will put his next down if you were to ask him to stretch. If the horse feels like he wants to crawl up in the neck, then he hasn’t relaxed over his back.

The third horse Hubertus showed us was very interesting. When the mare walked into the arena, she didn’t look like much. In fact, I was surprised to see Hubertus get on the mare instead of one of the working students. The mare warmed up very normal, but when Hubertus picked up the reins after the warm-up, the mare was instantly transformed. To my surprise she could do all the Grand Prix movements with ease. She sat beautifully in her pirouettes, and had a lot of suspension in the trot. Her half-passes looked fancy, and never once did the mare looked over phased by the work. It was incredible to watch this mare and to see what really good riding can do for a very normal looking horse.

 Our group with Hubertus Schmidt

Lastly, we watched Hubertus teach lessons to several other riders. Here are some tips I picked up from watching him train:

·      The horse should always be connected to the outside rein. If a horse is heavy on the inside rein and won’t take up contact with the outside rein, ride the horse with more inside bend so you can be light on the inside rein and take up more of a connection with the outside rein.

·      To keep the activity in the pirouette and to prevent the horse from spinning on his own, start the pirouette small and ride it bigger. This helps the rider remember to use inside leg to help control how much the horse turns in the pirouette.

·      Always keep a steady contact with the horse’s bit, even if the horse is very light and only needs a small bit of contact. Do not just give the reins away so that there is no contact.

·      Carry your own hands.

·      If a horse has the tendency to think backwards in the piaffe but you are wanting the horse to stay more on the spot, turn the horse as he is piaffing (it looks like a pirouette turn in piaffe) so that the horse feels like he has a place to go. This helps prevent the horse from wanting to run backwards.

Day 8: DOKR

Yesterday, we drove to the DOKR (Deutches Olympiade-Komitee fuer Reiterei) to get a tour of the German riding facility where German team members meet to train together for large competitions such as the Olympics and the World Equestrian Games. Juniors, young riders, and pony riders also meet there to train for large championships. In addition, the DOKR is the grounds where the Bundeschampionate (the German National Championships) for ponies and horses takes place.

The front entrance to the DOKR

When our tour guide first met us, she gave us a little history about the facility and what it was used for. In 1913 the DOKR was established, and in 1950 the buildings that became home to the DOKR were built. In the entry way of the main building was a large award case that encompassed many national medals. When a German team wins a trophy or medal from a major championship, the award is encased at the DOKR facility because the award belongs to the nation. When we looked into the case you could find many awards from major championships like the Olympics and the World Equestrian Games. In total, the German equestrian teams (including jumping, dressage, and eventing in both team and individual competitions) have won 39 gold medals, 20 silver medals, and 24 bronze medals since they first began competing in the Olympic games.

 The award case

Next, we got a tour of the facility that expands across 80 acres of land. The facility includes three indoor riding arenas: one for jumping, one for dressage, and one multi-purpose arena; as well as an indoor lunging arena. There are also several outdoor rings: two for dressage, one for jumping, two for driving, and one for eventing. One of the outdoor rings is even equipped with a high-tech watering system where water for the arena comes up form the ground and is automatically regulated so that no one has to monitor how dry the footing becomes. In addition to riding rings, the DOKR property has an event course, and a 600 meter track that goes around the perimeter of a corn field. 

 The indoor dressage arena at the DOKR

The race track around the corn field

The barns consist of several aisles of stalls, a hot walker, several paddocks, and apartments for grooms and apprentices. Some of the stalls are used for year-round boarders who rent out the stalls. Other stalls are reserved for when team members gather for training sessions together, such as when the German Olympic teams have team training sessions. The facility’s main purpose is to provide a meeting headquarters for team members to meet in preparation for large international shows. In addition, the facility is used to host the German National Championship, called the Bundeschampionate, for both ponies and horses. Lastly, the facility is sometimes used for scientific projects with horses, as well as being used as a place to study training techniques. 

 A water jump on the eventing course

The DOKR is financed by three different parties: 40% is financed by the Ministry of International Affairs, 30% is paid for by the Olympic panel, and 30% is paid for by the riders and boarders who use the facility. 

 The large outdoor jump ring

It was really neat to see such a massive facility built for servicing the top levels of the equestrian sports in Germany. We do not have a single training center like this in the United States, so it was very interesting to learn about how Germany prepares and trains their teams for international competitions. 

Day 7: Anabel and Klaus Balkenhol

Today we traveled to the farm of Klaus and Anabel Balkenhol, to observe them training their horses. Unfortunately, Klaus had left to travel out of town this morning, so we did not get to meet him; however, it was wonderful to spend time learning from his daughter, Anabel. It was fun to talk to Anabel after having seeing her show in Verden the day before. As we drove down their driveway, I was instantly in love with the charm of the stable itself. The barns were large and brick, with dutch windows and arched doors. There were endless flowerbeds surrounding the buildings, along with vines that covered the brick walls. We were greeted by Anabel when we drove in, and then we followed her to the outdoor where she climbed on a big, beautiful Hanoverian mare.

The Stable of Anabel and Klaus Balkenhol

The Hanoverian mare was six years old and was partially owned by the Hanoverian society. She was purchased two years ago from the Verden auction. As we watched Anabel ride the mare, it was obvious that tempo changes are a major part of their training system. I never saw Anabel ride a long side where she didn't ask the mare to do some kind of tempo change, either going more forward or bringing her back and asking for more collection. The same was true in the canter. I also noticed that bending lines were a big part of their program, which seemed to help make the horse more supple. In addition to watching Anabel work the mare, we also got to see Guenter Seidel and David Blake school their horses. It was a bonus to travel to the farm and see two top American riders schooling in the ring, too!

We watched Anabel work a few other horses, and then observed her teach a lesson. I enjoyed listening to the lesson, and wrote down a few notes I thought were important. She explained in the lesson that a horse should never trot around in the same tempo all the time. The horse needs to be made active, but activity does not come from just riding the horse faster. Instead, the horse should be slowed down and activated by driving the hind legs more under the body. Another major point I thought was important to remember is that the horse must react to the leg and then be left alone so that the horse carries the rider. The rider should not have to aid every stride in order to keep the horse going.

Anabel schooling the passage

After we spent a few hours at the Balkenhol's stable, Anabel invited us all out to lunch with her and her mom. We had a delicious lunch at a local cafe, which gave us the opportunity to ask her questions about horse care, training, and showing.

Hannah Pierucci, Molly Eastridge, and me visiting with Dablino

In the afternoon, we once again returned to the Balkenhol's stable to tour around the barns and property, and to watch her ride a couple more horses. We learned that most of the horses above four years old do not get turnout in order to prevent injury, and most of the horses are ridden twice a day. We also got to meet Dablino, Anabel's top Grand Prix horse. He was the sweetest horse, and definitely appreciated the sugar cubes we fed him!

The young riders, the chaperones, and Anabel

Our day ended with a dinner out with Anabel, US rider David Blake, Guenter Seidel's groom, and Anabel's working student. It was a fun dinner full of lots of laughs. It was great to spend an entire day with Anabel, both at the barn and outside of the barn. She is an incredibly kind person, and seemed very happy that we spent the day at their farm. In all, it was a fantastic day in Germany with great people and beautiful horses!

Day 4-6: The World Breeder's Championship for Young Dressage Horses in Verden, Germany

For the past three days we have had the incredible opportunity to watch the famous World Young Horse Breeder's Championship in Verden, Germany. Our visit there was filled with many great horses and riders to watch, ranging from the world championship classes for five and six year old horses to the Prix St. George and Grand Prix CDI classes. I had always read and heard about this amazing show, and I have spent a lot of time throughout the past years watching Youtube videos of horses showing at Verden, so I am truly grateful I got to experience this show in person. Even after all that I have heard about this show, words cannot describe how incredible it really is.

 Hannah Pierucci and Molly Eastridge enjoy shopping at one of the many vendors at the show

Scott Hassler talked to us for quite a while about the Verden horse show, and gave us some interesting information about the history of the show. The World Breeder's Championship for Young Dressage Horses originally started in Holland in 1999, where it was run by the Dutch registry. Later, in 2005, the show was taken over by the Hanoverian society and was moved to Verden, Germany, where it is currently still held. Scott also explained how the qualifying procedures worked for the championship. The number of horses each country can send to the championship is based on the breeding population each year in a given country. That is why Germany is able to send more horses to the championship than the United States. Currently, the United States is able to send two five year old horses, and two six year old horses. In addition, only horses from specific warmblood registries are allowed to compete, such as horses of the Hanoverian, KWPN, and Oldenburg registries to name a few.

The first day we spent at the Verden horse show was almost overwhelming as there were several top quality horses, well known riders, and endless rows of vendors. There was also an extremely large crowd that gathered close around the rings, making the atmosphere electric and exciting. I had never experienced a horse show like this. We first watched the B final for 5 year old horses and watch one beautiful horse after another perform in the ring. The test was used to determine which three horses that didn't make the top twelve in the preliminary test the day before would still be able to compete in the championship class on Saturday. The top twelve from the preliminary test were automatically qualified for the A final (the championship class), while the rest of the horses had to ride the B final on Friday.  The major theme I noticed the judges rewarded on Friday was a horse with correct throughness, which was rewarded in the submission part of the score. I really appreciated the judges paying such close attention to this part of the riding and rewarding the horses that maintained a correct contact throughout the ride.

We also watched the 6 year old preliminary test on Friday, and it was especially fun to watch the American horse and rider pair, Charlotte Jorst and Vitalis, perform a harmonious test that was good enough to qualify them for the A final (championship class) on Sunday. Friday afternoon we switched rings and watched the Prix St. George CDI class, where we again got to see several great horse and rider pairs. One famous name we saw ride in the Prix St. George class was Hubertus Schmidt. We finished the day by watching part of the stallion show that took place in the jumper arena in the evening. Overall, it was a fantastic first day at the Verden horse show!

US rider Charlotte Jorst and her 6 year old gelding Vitalis warming up for their preliminary test

Our second day at Verden consisted of watching the CDI Grand Prix class in the morning where we watched top riders like Anabel Bahlkenhol, Hubertus Schmidt, and Nadine Capellmann show. It is really fun for an aspiring young rider like myself to watch accomplished riders like the few I mentioned ride and show. I am inspired by their skill and tact in both the warm up and the show ring, so I found it very interesting to watch these riders. Another really fascinating part of the show was the amount of spectators that came to Verden. There was an incredibly large crowd of people that surrounded the ring, and the crowd was loud and cheery. It was very different than the quiet show atmosphere we have at most of the shows in the United States.

Anabel Balkenhol warming up with the help of her father, Klaus Balkenhol

Saturday afternoon was the 5 year old championship class, and the crowd was bigger than I ever could have imagined. The tent we sat in was so full you could hardly walk through it. It was so fun to see the public's interest in the sport. Although there were many spectacular horses in the class, it was quite clear by the end of the class why the last horse to go, Scara Boa ridden by Lena Stegemann, was the winner of the class. When the mare trotted into the ring, she instantly drew your attention not only because she was beautiful with extravagant gaits, but she was incredibly soft in the bridle and focused on her rider. I got goosebumps just watching the mare float through her test. I don't think I have ever seen a 5 year old perform a test that difficult with such ease. In my opinion, she truly deserved the 10 score she was given for submission.

The five year old Champion, Scara Boa, after finishing a fantastic test

The last day of the competition was on Sunday. We started out the morning watching the Grand Prix Special, where we again were able to watch many top riders compete. The one horse and rider pair that stood out was Nadine Capellmann and her mare Girasol, who ended up winning the class. The mare was a large chestnut with an incredible hind leg and a soft connection to the bit. In the afternoon, we finished up our visit in Verden by watching the 6 year old championship class. Again, there were many top performances, but the horse and rider pair that won was Sa Coeur and Eva Moller. Their performance was mistake free and the horse moved with great looseness through his body.

The crowd starting to gather around the CDI ring

Day 3- Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin

On our third, and last day in London, we drove to Carl Hester's farm where Carl put on a small symposium-like demonstration for us and another group of people who were visiting from Scotland. Carl talked about his training program while various riders from his barn demonstrated what he talked about, starting from a four year old horse all the way up to Grand Prix horses. Of course one of the demo riders was Charlotte Dujardin, the three time gold medalist at the last Olympics! Charlotte performed an impressive demonstration on her five year old horse, that was already able to half-pass and do flying changes with ease. Anther demo rider was US rider Katherine Bateson-Chandler, who rode Carl's reserve horse for the European Championships.

Jennifer Baumert visiting with one of Carl's horses

The demonstrations were filled with endless amounts of information that I feel was extremely valuable. Here are many of the tips and training tools he explained that were a part of his program, starting with the four year old horse and progressing to the FEI horses:

Shopping for young horses:

•  Carl often buys his horses straight from the breeders as 2 year old horses, so that he can get them cheaper. After they are started under saddle he then decides which horses are quality enough to keep and which horses he wants to sell. 
•  When buying a young horse, it is important to know what your ultimate goal is for the horse. Sometimes the bigger and fancier movers have difficulty collecting enough for the piaffe and pirouettes in the Grand Prix. On the other hand, if your goal is to have a competitive horse in the young horse classes, a young horse with big, flashy movement is necessary even though the horse may not have the talent to really collect for the Grand Prix. (Of course, this does not mean that every horse that does well in the young horse classes won't be good Grand Prix horses. Often though, a horse that is not a flashy mover as a young horse, but has a great ability to sit behind, will do well as a Grand Prix horse where he can shine in the piaffe and pirouettes).
•  A good tempered horse for FEI is sensitive and wants to work. It is not the horse that is dull and nonreactive.
•  When shopping for a young horse, try to find a horse with a good quality canter where the horse travels uphill with the hind legs under his body. That will later mean the horse can take weight on the hind legs for canter pirouettes, and he will have expression in the changes.
•  When shopping for a young horse, you want to see the horse trotted on a long rein so that you can see the natural quality of the gait, not what someone has created by sitting on the horse. If a horse does not carry his hind legs naturally under him on a long rein, he may have difficulty with collection later on as an FEI horse.

Four year old horses

• The young horses at Carl's barn live outside, and many of them are turned out in a group. Even as they get older, all the horses get turnout including the FEI horses.
• Turnout is especially necessary for hot, young horses so that they are relaxed and quiet when they come into the arena to be worked, even if that means turning the horse out all night.
• Carl has a friend break the horses out at 3 years old, and then he turns the horses out until they are 4. When the horses turn 4 they go back into training to start their regular riding career.
• When starting young horses, there are two different ways a horse can be in the bridle: either too light or too strong. The horse that is the most difficult to teach contact to is the horse that is too light and will not take up contact with the bit. This horse must be ridden with a constant feeling in the reins when first learning contact.
• The best time to teach a horse to stretch is at the end of the ride when the horse is tired and wants to stretch. Often times a young horse is too tight in the beginning to offer a stretch.
• Although people argue that they won't stretch a horse because it will put the horse on the forehand, changing the outline between a working frame and a stretching frame is necessary to create a supple horse.
• Ideally a 4 year old horse should only be doing arena work for 20 minutes a day and have turnout the rest of the day. They should also have days each week where they are hacked instead of worked in the arena.

The Young Rider International Dream Program Group with Carl Hester

Five year old horses:

• All horses (not just young horses) do dressage work only 4 days a week at Carl's barn. The other 2 days they are either hacking or cantering out in the field. This preserves the mental and physical soundness of the horse. Even Valegro and Utopia are only ridden in the arena 4 days a week.
• The trot is the easiest gait to develop and improve. The walk and canter need to be naturally good quality.
• Rising trot helps teach a horse rhythm, and at Carl's barn they often ride many movements, including lateral work like shoulder-in and haunches-in, in rising trot. 
• When stretching a horse, a long-bodied horse should be in a rounder frame when stretching so as not to get strung out, while a short bodied horse should be in a longer stretching frame.
• The first time a horse truly learns the start to a real half-halt is with canter-walk-canter transitions, where the canter-to-walk transition is the collecting back part of the half-halt while the walk-to-canter transition is the forward (re-driving) part of the half-halt. 
• A horse can build greater strength from transitions within the canter than from transitions within the trot.
• Once the horse learns to make a flying change, it is best to do the changes on the long wall where the wall prevents the horse form swinging in the change and forces him to make straight changes. 
• A 5 year old horse should only work for 30 minutes in the arena, and  he should be hacked 15 minutes in the field before and after each workout, as well as be stretched before and after each workout.

Seven year old horse

• A bigger, more suspended trot can be developed by doing shoulder-in down the long side in rising trot and with little angle. When the horse can keep the suspension in the shoulder-in, he will be able to hold it in the half-pass as well. 
• In order to start schooling the pirouettes, a horse must be able to both collect the canter on the spot and be able to half-pass well.
• The leg-yield is used for freeing up the movement of the horse, while the shoulder-in and traver are used for developing more collection.
• In theory, a horse should keep going forward until he is told to slow down. If a horse gets behind the leg, he must be corrected with a sharp leg and then left alone so that he carries the rider. Most young horses only get behind the leg if they are either tired or are for some reason unable to do the work.

Hannah Pierruci petting Valegro!

Grand Prix/FEI Horses

• A longer bodied horse has a longer distance to swing the hind leg under the body in order to carry weight on the hind legs.
• Every horse should learn to halt square. It is the rider's fault if a horse does not halt square, because even a poor quality mover can halt square.
• A square halt can be trained by asking the horse to walk with very small steps. When the horse learns to balance himself in the very small walk steps, it will be easy to correct a halt that is not square by asking him to step in small steps forward until he is square.
• One must ride a horse forward into passage. Passage is not ridden by slowing a horse down.
• Passage involves the pushing power of the hind legs, while piaffe is about the horse's ability to sit behind.
• A hot horse gets easier to ride as he gets closer to Grand Prix, because the work demands greater amounts of submission.
• A hot horse should be ridden with more leg, while a lazy horse should be ridden with less leg.
• A good way to teach a horse to stay moving forward and sideways in the half-pass is by doing leg yields across the whole arena in the trot and canter.
• A horse can only be ridden forward if he is in balance.
• If a horse does not stretch down at the end of the ride, and instead does not stretch at all, stretches the nose straight out, or curls behind the bit, then the work before was not useful. 
• Carl rarely rides his horses with whips. Instead he trains the horses to react to the leg. The whip is only used in the rare case that he absolutely needs it to help get a very lazy horse forward, or to help a horse with rhythm when teaching the piaffe.
• To help keep the horse thinking more forward in the passage, transitions within the passage can be made by bringing the passage back on the spot for one stride (just before the horse starts to piaffe) and then riding the passage more forward again.
• When teaching the half-pass zig-zag, be sure to have a step where the horse travels straight before asking for the flying change and the half-pass in the new direction.

After we enjoyed a few hours of training tips and demonstrations by beautiful horses and riders, Carl took us on a tour around his farm where we got to meet both Utopia and Valegro! After an incredible day with Carl and Charlotte, we were off to the airport for our flight to Germany.

Day 2- Laura Tomlinson

Today we had the incredible opportunity to visit Laura Tomlinson (Bechtolsheimer) at her family's farm. The farm was beautiful and Laura, her father, and the staff were very welcoming and greeted us with coffee and cookies when we arrived. Right from the beginning, Laura's father told us that even though we were watching today, they were not going to change their normal riding routine with their horses. Because Laura was away at a horse show the past week, some of the horses were being worked lightly today and were not ridden through test movements in order to "show off" to us. I appreciated that they stuck strict to their horse's normal work routines, and loved to see how a top rider trains her horses at home on a regular basis.

 Laura schooling Unique (Minnie), the horse she competed to top placings in the small tour at Hickstead

We watched several horses being trained by Laura. The first horse we watched was one of Laura's former international Grand Prix horses that one of her students is now riding and competing. Her student just got back from the international show in Hickstead and finished third in the Grand Prix Special, and it was only her third time showing the Grand Prix.

Next, we watched Laura ride a few horses her family owned. Some of the horses were horses Laura's family bred and were by the stallion Laura rode as a young rider. One horse that was incredible to watch was Polar Bear (Teddy). He was a large gelding with spectacular movement, and will hopefully be Laura's next top Grand Prix horse! Laura's father, Dr. Bechtolsheimer, was an eye on the ground while Laura was riding and he talked about how the gelding could get nervous in the work, so it was important to introduce things in small amounts, and to always pay attention to the quality of the gaits when schooling a new movement. If the quality of the gait diminished while schooling a movement, one must leave the movement and fix the quality before returning to the movement. For example, we watched Laura school the one time tempis, and she only did three ones at a time. Her dad explained that they planned to add one more change each week so that the horse kept his confidence and balance in them. Then, after a few months the horse would be able to do an entire diagonal of ones that were large and expressive with ease and confidence. 

Laura riding Teddy

Lastly, Laura gave us a tour around her farm and it was interesting to see all that goes into managing top horses.  Her barn was equipped with magnetic sheets that hung from the ceiling and could work on the entire horse's body when the horse stood in between the two sheets. She also had an aqua treadmill, as well as a scale to weigh each horse so that they could stay at optimum weight and fitness. Her feed room was also spectacular with a hay steamer to remove the dust from the hay, and customized mineral mixes for each horse that were tailored to what the horses needed according to blood test results. Each horse also enjoyed turnout in paddocks just beyond the outdoor arena. Even her top Grand Prix horses are allowed to go out for turnout.

Inside the main barn

We also got to meet Mistral Hojris (Alf) while he was being hand grazed. We did not watch him go under saddle because he was scheduled to hack around the fields today, but it was fun just to meet him!

Day 1- Kyra Kyrklund

Our first day in England started off early as we headed straight to Kyra Kyrklund's barn from the airport. When we arrived, Kyra was on a top event prospect that was at her farm to learn flying changes. We watched her school the horse, who often got nervous in anticipation for the changes, and I was amazed at Kyra's patients with the horse. Every time the horse made a clean flying change she patted him and walked him on a long rein. When he did the change before her aids, or the change wasn't clean, she simply returned to the original lead she was on and continued to canter until the horse calmed down enough to make a clean change on her aid. Only when the horse was relaxed did she ask for the change. She stressed that relaxation cannot be forced, you must simply be patient and wait for the horse to settle down.

 The above picture is includes Kyra and Max with the four selected young riders: Hannah Pierucci, Molly Eastridge, Molly Maloney, and Katie Foster; and chaperones: Jennifer Baumert and Jontelle Forbus. Photo credit: Hannah Pierucci

We also got to watch Kyra ride several other horses. One horse that was a special treat to watch was Max, her now retired 18 year old international Grand Prix horse. Although he is retired from competition, Kyra still works him on a weekly basis.  From the beginning, it was evident the two had a close bond. Every movement Max demonstrated looked effortless, and he appeared proud of his work. The most interesting thing Kyra demonstrated with him was the similarity in the amount of collection a horse needs for both the piaffe and canter pirouette. She made several transitions between piaffe and canter pirouette within the same pirouette circle. It was amazing to watch, and Max performed the task with ease! She said that the amount of collection a horse should have in the canter pirouette is the same amount of collection the horse needs in the piaffe.

We watched Kyra ride a few other horses, many of which were horses she bred and by stallions she had competed on in the past, such as Tip Top and Matador. Another interesting tool she taught us was how to teach a horse who is not naturally free in the shoulders how to have a greater range of movement in the shoulders. From the ground, she simply teaches the horse how to lift his leg up high (so that he has to involve moving the whole leg from the shoulder). She then puts this cue into a leg aid where the horse lifts his leg when she puts her inside leg forward and sits on her outside seat bone. Max demonstrated this several times for us. She explained how once the horse learned that he could lift his leg starting from the shoulder, not just from the elbow joint, he often was able to trot with a freer front leg just by being shown that he could have that much movement through the shoulder.

The above picture is of Kyra and Max performing the passage. Photo credit: Hannah Pierucci

One last point I thought was really inspiring that Kyra said about training horses in general was about how every horse has their own limits to their athletic ability. To her it is already an accomplishment to train a horse to the best of his athletic ability; one does not have to try to make a horse more special than he is. Every horse one trains to Grand Prix is a great learning experience for the rider, even if the horse is not international quality.