My trip to Spain

I am starting my trip home from an amazing 5 days in Seville, Spain. With thanks to Kim Boyer of Hampton Green Farm, I know much more about the Spanish Andalusian horse, saw some lovely Spanish countryside and was awed by SICAB (Salon Internacional del Caballo PRE), the daunting trade fair/breed and performance national championships/exhibition, etc. all celebrating the PRE (pure Spanish horse). I joined Kim and her husband Fred, their business manager Joan, and Courtney and Jason Dye. We had a blast!

The flight over was uneventful although we bumped all the way across the Atlantic. On the flight from Madrid south to Seville I got my first glimpse of Spain. The only other time I was in Spain was in 1969 when I went by ship to Italy for my college Junior year abroad – we stopped for about three hours in Malaga. The countryside was mostly flat with some hills, very dry and barren looking at this time of year. After leaving New York at 6 PM we arrived in Seville about 7 AM (about 1 AM home time and needed to stay up until about 10 PM (4 PM home time). I used to be able to pull all nighters but can’t any more. Only last night did I get a decent sleep – my body could not figure out what time it was.

Alex Zilo (who owns a champion PRE) and his wife Lily, who competes for Hong Kong) had gotten us wristbands so we could go anywhere, although mostly that meant we could get in free and get into the warm up ring. Everyone could go everywhere else.

There are about 1000 horses there and everyone wanders through the stables. The breeding mares are all in stalls in one wing of the convention center – really they are in pens so their heads can hang into each other’s stalls. They are there for at least a week and I never saw one being taken out for a walk. The stalls are no more than 8 x 8 and some even had rather large foals with mom. In general mares are not ridden (keep ‘em barefoot and pregnant). You can quickly tell a mare under saddle because her mane will be roached and her tail cut often just below the bone. The other stables are in tents and anyone can go there, peer in the stalls, pat the horses. Actually you could go in the stalls because, at least during the week, there are very few people around the horses. No one worries, which is a testament to the temperament to the PRE stallions. On the weekend when the place was truly mobbed – as in, one literally could barely move through the crowds – it wasn’t unusual to see a small child riding a stallion piaffing through the crowd. Amazing!

Another wing of the convention center has the stud farm stands many with a stallion or two in a tie stall right there with the crowd. This was definitely the place to be at night – the parties started in earnest about 11 PM with much camaraderie, drinking, and flamenco.

Another wing of the convention center was for a trade fair with everything imaginable for sale, and on the end was a sort dressage arena sized ring where on three sides people could hang over the rail. On the weekend the crowd was 6 or 7 people deep and the grandstand along one side was packed. Here they had the morphology classes – in hand classes – mares and stallions separate from age 2. In these the handler has the horse on a halter or small lunge cavesson. He walks the horse down the center line, then canters the horse on a lunge circle and jazzes him up, then the handler runs down the middle of the ring while the horse does extended trot down the side (on a lunge length lead), canters a few circles, runs the long side at trot – several times. This way the judges see the horses at all three gaits – unlike us who never see the horse canter in hand. The handlers are 99% men in VERY tight pants, little Spanish jackets and hats – they were as fun to watch as the horses. I watched one class of 21 stallions. They all stood next to each other along one side and then one at a time they do their in hand work. They had to be there close to an hour – side by side and I never saw one be disobedient. They stood absolutely quietly – then perked up for their performance and then stood very obediently again.

The top horses were taken from each age group, age 4 and up– stallion and mare groups, then performed in the Functionality test – sort of a first level test in the Dressage arena. The champions are the ones with the highest scores from each test. This way they don’t have so much the problem that we have in the US where the most gorgeous in hand horses in all the breeds often never become great performers.

Other classes included Prix St. Georges, Intermediare Kur, Grand Prix and Grand Prix Kur, FEI 4, 5, and 6 year olds. And four in hand and pair combined driving, show jumping, and levels of Doma Vaquera (4 – 6 year olds, and 6 and older) alta esquela and concurso de exhibiciones). These were held in the smaller ring and the horses were ridden in traditional Spanish attire (tack and clothes). The saddles sit high off the backs with simple decorations and cruppers. The bridles were either a pelham type set up or a combination curb hackamore with the top rein attached to the noseband. The manes were French braided and the tails were tied up in what we call a mud tail. The best I can tell is the riders are given about 4 minutes to do whatever they want showing walk trot and canter. Some did lots of quick transitions trot, walk about 6 times in a row. Lots of circles (most with very good bending, lots of counter canter at a very brisk canter, some sort of sliding stops, long distance rein backs, poor flying changes in the more advanced classes. They do dressage movements plus Spanish walk in the highest levels. My impression is that those without the quality work required in a dressage test do these tests: not so correct in the contact, unevenness in movements, weak extensions, poor walks (all by dressage competition standards). Still they were fun to watch and I saw some really nice horses who with better riding could be wonderful dressage horses. It wasn’t uncommon to see a horse who wouldn’t do well in the dressage arena due to poor contact, resistant transitions, etc. and then he would do a gorgeous piaffe and/or passage.

We saw no young riders in competition and very, very few women – although a woman won the Grand Prix Freestyle. During the week I would say that more than 90% of the spectators were men. On the weekend everyone was there – lots of families. I think the stands had more people watching the in hand classes even that the Grand Prix Freestyle. They take their horse breeding very, very seriously.

Courtney and I did an interview for the PRE Magazine. They were especially interested in what we thought of their breed, how they could improve it, and about their training. Kim was telling us about how they are working to improve the walks especially for their sport horses – length of stride never meant anything to them. Their horses have very active walks but not very long strides. And the younger horses do have better walks.

After watching the Grand Prix, Courtney and I agreed that there wasn’t a horse in the class we wouldn’t like to have in our stable – either as an amateur horse, or a nice competition horse or…there as one that we both felt could be a top international horse – wow, he was fabulous – good walk, very supple, very good extensions, super scopey half passes, and excellent canter work and piaffe/passage.

Every night they have the “espectaculo” – performances of all types for entertainment. I went twice and had a blast. There was a very good pas de trois (Grand Prix level). There was a really very good couple who did a tango on horse back…lots of riding knee to knee, one facing forward the other facing backward and one horse would back while the other walked forward, sideways, turns – it was fun. They had a driving exhibition. All in the ring at the same time: a single, a pair, two horses one in front of the other, one horse with two behind, a four in hand, two horses in front and three behind, one horse in front (not pulling anything), and two and two behind. They all went around the outside one behind the other and then one carriage at a time they drove figures through the middle. The 2/2/1 carriage, the lead horse who only has reins to him, no harness, sort,of drifted about in front of his four behind him. Then when they went into the middle the driver turned the coach so sharply that the front horse almost touched the back of the carriage.

Raphael Soto and Invasor, the most famous Spanish dressage competitor did a very effusive freestyle to finish the performances one night – dressed in traditional Spanish attire. He’s a real showman.

There was a Hungarian group on little horses – an older man with six students who did a liberty, trick riding, roman riding (standing with one foot on each of two horses) that was extremely entertaining. They did some wild vaulting type moves on their horses while they galloped fast around the ring with no bridles. The best was when one girl was roman riding at trot and three loose horses, one behind the other galloped up behind and between the two horses, under the rider’s legs.

There was a flamenco dancer --I have to say I have a hard time appreciating flamenco singing (yelling) and dancing, but they probably don’t understand the twist ☺. They did a lovely performance with her and some traditional riders with a long pole that the horses work around, and at one point the rider holding one end of her shawl. It was very well done. There were also horses doing airs above the ground that were pretty spectacular. One of the horses who did the capriole would jump in the air three or four times before he got the kick-out – sort of saying I know I can, I know I can, I know I can – there! I did it. He was so focused and trying so hard. Then there was one horse who stood straight up on his hind legs and hopped backwards and at the end he reared straight up and stood there for about 15 seconds.

One horse/handler from the Spanish National School did a very good long reining demo.

By far the most exciting and unique were the Moroccans. Apparently every year SICAB partners with a country. The Morrocans had a large booth in the breeders tent. There were three artisans working on their equipment. One man was making rifles (real ones), another man was doing the inlay on the stirrups, and a woman was doing the incredibly elaborate “embroidery” that covered all their tack.
During the exhibitions they came in in Moroccan warrior gear – flowing robes and head gear, saddles that literally put them at least a foot above the horses backs, knives at their sides. They started in a long line, about 15 of them next to each other and came down the arena at a???? canter? That was no faster than I could crawl. It was sort of three beat, with a little up and down hopping. Three of the horses did more of a canter but continually rotated left and right, sort of quarter pirouettes, non stop down the arena, sort of running into each other. After coming all the way from one end to the other like this they did a little quadrille type performance – not a lot of polish. They ended up at the far end of the arena and once again did their little canter almost in place, then all of a sudden with blood curdling yells went flat out toward the end of the arena. Just as you were sure they would run into the wall, the rifles went off and they slammed on their brakes – lifted everyone right out of their seats. The first night I was seated quite high up in a corner – I had gone alone while the others in our group went into the city for dinner. The second night we had very VIP seats and I was seated in the front row, floor level with nothing but a little flimsy fence between me and the arena. During the performance there was one horse who was a bit out of control. Of course I knew what was coming at the end and I noticed that the horse who had been difficult was directly opposite me. It was all I could do not to sneak into the back of our section and hide – but let me tell you with the bits they had in their mouths those horses were going to stop – and they did.

On Friday Kim, Fred, and I dove to Malaga, on the Mediterranean with Danny who rides a horse Kim bred and owns who is doing PSG. We drove through endless olive groves and over the mountains to the sea. It was interesting to see a typical Spanish stable – right in town, one “paddock” about 30’ x 60’, riding ring with just enough sand footing., an old building, nice stalls with straw bedding. I am sure there are many days the horses don’t get out of their stalls. They are given two big flakes of hay on the morning, and get an oats corn mixture three times a day. At the show we saw many horses without water buckets. They obviously get watered at certain times.
I gave Danny a lesson – here he is one of the better FEI riders in Spain and it was his first help in over two years. He started out riding doma vaquera as most of the riders do and then switched to dressage (doma classica). Danny treated us to a delectable seafood lunch – the first time I had seen fish cooked completely encased in about a ½ inch of salt. One night in Seville I had fish and it was heavily salted so that one actually crunched down on chunks (not grains) of salt – too much for me. But the fish is Malaga after they broke the crust and peeled the salt off with the skin, was scrumptious.

So now I am on my way home, having missed Thanksgiving for the second time in my life. The first time was in 1969 while I was studying in Rome. I spent the Thanksgiving weekend in Vienna at the Spanish Riding School. This was such a special trip and a great break. Thank you Kim and Fred.

Kids working for their success

An invitation to a party and a fundraiser -- how great it is to see two 15 year old kids taking the initiative, going into town and getting donations for their silent auction, and planning the day of fun and fundraising. Do come join us on Sunday with Tina Konyot, Courtney King and  Young Rider Reserve National Champion Meagan Davis riding her freestyle.

On Sunday, July 12 at Sunnyfield Farm in Bedford (825 S. Bedford Rd, 10506) renowned international Dressage trainer Tina Konyot will be teaching a clinic all morning.

Starting at 12:30 there will be a luncheon (with a suggested donation) and participants may eat while watching the horses. There will be a performance by Tina on her Grand Prix horse. Olympian and two time world cup competitor Courtney King Dye will address the audience at about 1:30. Two young riders who are trying to raise funds so they may compete in the Youth Dressage Festival as well as their regional championships will ride with commentary by Lendon Gray, two time Olympic rider and trainer.

For the luncheon please RSVP to Heather Ward at heatherton2000@yahoo.com or call 914 234-6302.

In the afternoon during and after the performances there will be a silent auction to raise funds for Megan Heeder and Rachel Chowanec’s journey to equestrian success. These two girls are willing to work hard washing cars, baby sitting, trunk cleaning, whatever they can do to finance their dream this year.

There will be refreshments available all afternoon as well as face painting and other activities for kids.

The program and activities should be fun for all from the grandparents to the kids; for Dressage experts to those who simply love to watch horses. Come and bring the family and your neighbors.

Below is part of the list of auction items. Contact Lendon if you would like to place a bid before the auction
a private tour of the MET permanent collection for 4, followed by lunch in the Trustees' dining room overlooking Central Park - donated by Francine Walker
Custom Hand-Painted Portrait of your animal by Jeanne Pacchiana
2 Consulting Sessions with Tammy Vankrevlen. See website for more information: http://intuitiveadvancements.com
Afternoon of sailing lessons down the Hudson River for up to 6 people donated by the Jennings family
Fancy Belt and $250 Gift Card to L’Armoire, New Canaan
Cooking Class for 6 with Jackie Hijkoop
Chef for Dinner Party by Jackie Hijkoop
Colored Pencil Sketch done by Laura Satterfield; with horse and owner or from photo
Various styles of custom-made jewelry donated by Ingrid Taff
Activate Your Horse’s Core autographed by author, Hilary Clayton
Michigan State University Children’s Choir CD (featuring Megan)
Handheld CD Player donated by CVS
Night of Babysitting (M & R)
Thinline Saddle Pad donated by Thinline
2 Lessons on Rendezvous 3, Francine Walker’s Grand Prix mare, with Courtney King-Dye
Photography Session by Jayne
Lesson on Simba
Lesson on Mouse
Lesson on Sunny
Lesson on Loui
Lesson on Danny
Lesson on Ivan taught by owner Laura Satterfield
1 Free Clipping by Edgar
Copies of Lessons with Lendon
Copies of Mikhail the Dressage Mouse
Joules Jacket, light blue (Size Large) donated by The Horse Connection
2 Movie Tickets to Bedford Playhouse
MOSS Tack Soap
2 Lessons with Lendon Gray at HW Dressage to new students on their own horses
$25 Gift Certificate to Bedford Hardware
Trailer Cleaning (M & R)
Boot Polishing (M & R)
Tack Trunk Cleaning (M & R)
Tack Cleaning (M & R)
Car Washing (M & R)
2 US PRE polo shirts donated by Hampton Green Farm
Hat with Hampton Green Farm logo
Tote with Hampton Green Farm logo
Handmade Fleece Blanket- purple and black check with horse heads donated by Mrs. Heeder
Gift Certificate from Burts Ives Tackshop in Columbia, CT
Saddle Fitting (Done by Katie Gussenhofen of County Saddlery)
Stabling at CDI at Saugerties, normally $175 for the weekend
1 Week of Camp at Newberry Farm in Columbia, CT, age 2 – 16 donated by Chandra Chowanec
An extra day for your favorite HW Dressage groom (M & R)

I had to share with you all what I did this past weekend. I spent the last three days in Bozeman, Montana teaching a clinic. After doing clinics for the last forty years all over the world I am pretty sure that this is the best one I have ever done.

No, it wasn't because I stayed in a beautiful home where I ate lobster, steak, and shrimp; where I lay in bed at night and woke up in the morning looking out over the most glorious view of the mountains, the trout jumping in the pond, the hordes of pheasant families, the magpies, the hawks, the deer grazing, the groundhogs, and even a badger, and the impressive cloud formations. Well, OK, that may have kept me in a good state of mind.

I worked with 7 riders on 9 horses -- thoroughbreds, warmbloods, an Andalusian, a percheron cross, Morgan -- 4 years old to Grand Prix schoolmaster. That isn't unusual. What was unusual was that there wasn't one horse/rider combination that I had to go back and fix things with. In every case I said, "you can do more -- challenge yourself and your horse more!." They had lovely positions (yeah, there was a tweak needed here and there). What a pleasure to work with horses and riders with really sound basics who haven't pushed and shoved their horses, jammed then together, tried to do things before they were ready. Perhaps it's because there is very little competition available so they are truly riding for the love of it. 

The horses were really so well schooled, so comfortable in their work, and so ready for a challenge. What a pleasure. I can't wait to go back in October.

The other thing I loved was that the riders I had worked with 6 months ago were able to tell me what I had worked on with them then and what was working or not quite working now from the previous lessons. My favorite kinds of students.

I have to say that one of my pet peeves is that people cannot tighten their girths or shorten their stirrups safely and quickly while mounted. I think that most people do not tighten (or at least check) their girths after riding around for a bit. I was always aware if my girth was a bit loose because I could feel the saddle bouncing a bit on the horses back. Tighten the girth and it was easier to sit the trot. 

A rider must be able to quickly adjust the stirrups without taking the foot out and while keeping one hand on the reins and it should take a few seconds only. Sure you'll have to practice to be able to do this. I used to adjust my stirrups while trotting or cantering. :-)

Anyone who feels that this might be too difficult, check out this video: http://www.barnmice.com/video/metropolitan-mounted-police

Make sure you get to the end. What wonderfully trained horses! And riders with independent seats and hands. WOW!

riding to music clinic

Just a quick note to tell you about a clinic we just had with Mike Matson on riding to music -- not developing freestyles specifically, but just have fun, suitable music to listen to when working your horse. The participating riders included one who has trained the most wonderful Grand Prix horse -- a top horse who doesn't go to shows -- to a rider who hadn't cantered around the indoor arena all winter due to fear -- and with the music around and around she went -- to one highly competitive professional with a fourth level horse. Without exception everyone thoroughly enjoyed Mike, his music selection, and his ability to broaden their enjoyment level when they ride. It truly is amazing how the right music can help the rider to relax, to focus, to be aware of the horse's rhythm and tempo, to be distracted from the problems that so often get in the way. I have never had a clinic where riders of every level, professional to very amateur were so pleased with their rides. Each rider now has her own DVD with her own music on it.

He has already been invited back for another clinic on May 3. Mike has a website with lots of music for anyone to try --  www.equimusic.com. The site also gives some help on how to create competition freestyles. 

To Barbados for the USEF and FEI

Here I am flying back from my quick trip to Barbados. The FEI with help from the USET has started a program assisting developing countries in Dressage in hopes that they will be able to create teams for the Pan Am Games. I was asked at the last minute to go to Barbados to observe their riders at the FEI Dressage Challenge.  Two international judges, one from Finland and one from Columbia, have been on the road for about a month, judging shows in Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti, Antigua, Bermuda. At each show there are FEI classes for Children, Preliminary. Medium (about 2nd level), Advanced (about 4th Level) and PSG. Each country names 4 riders to be their team before the show starts and then the country with the highest score is the Group winner.

I arrived in the early afternoon and went directly to the jog. They were holding the jog at two venues where almost all of the horses are boarded. We waited in the hot sun for almost an hour because the vet was dealing with an emergency somewhere. The horses went from average paints and appy’s to Swedish warmbloods crossed with their local TB race horses, to imported schoolmasters.  The horses looked well but by our standards were a bit thin (translate into, were not overweight). One rider was bemoaning the difficulties of getting her horse shod properly because there was a week or two where there wasn’t a shoeing nail to be found on the entire island. Not to mention that the farriers don’t have much education in farriery. The jog was fine, a couple were held for the next day. Then the judges went off to the other end of the island for the next part of the jog and I went home with my hosts, Alison and James Elliott. He is the president of the National Federation.  They had a nice home on the top of a hill where the breezes were delightful. Windows are open all the time. They had two little sparrow/finch type birds who fly into and out of the kitchen all the time. Apparently a few years ago they had two pair — one pair came in the windows on one side and the other pair came in from the other side and if they ever met, all hell let loose.

Off to a press conference at the incredibly elegant hotel on the beach where the judges stayed (donated by the Hotel). To no one’s surprise the press was an hour late, but our time was used up when a call came from the chief judge that he did not feel the footing at the second stable which is where the competition was to be held was sufficient and could not be used. So anyone who has ever had anything to do with organizing can now imagine the consternation. But in about an hour’s time the owners of the other stable agreed to hold it, tents, chairs, port-a-potties were organized, competitors were informed and transportation was arranged. There is some rivalry between the two stables as can be imagined, but that was also dealt with. Oops, forgot to tell you about the jog at that stable. A stallion got away from his rider and left......was found 2 hours later, after he had found a girlfriend mare. Someone received a free breeding! Trailering can be a bit of an ordeal since they move their horses very seldom. The trailers and the vehicles pulling them made me a bit nervous now that I am used to our elegant solid trailers and trucks. Since the horses are trailered in, just for the day it can be tough because some horses get pretty up tight trailering and I can certainly understand after driving on the roads. They are barely wide enough for two vehicles, with absolutely no shoulder and the traffic is a bit.... Well let’s just say I as glad I wasn’t driving. They don’t have many lights, but lots of confusing roundabouts.

So we had a wonderful dinner finally, to bed, and on to the show which went well. Most of the riders had nice horses, some could be very competitive with the riders getting a little more help. And Barbados ended up winning their group challenge. I spent Sunday AM writing up my reports for the FEI, the USEF, and the riders.

A bit of Barbados trivia for those who don’t know much about it. It is the easternmost island in the Caribbean, 166 square miles,  was fairly safe while the European countries were fighting over the islands because while it is easy to sail from England to Barbados it is extremely difficult to sail from the other islands there. The island has mongooses, only one type of snake, a harmless garden snake that is pretty rare. The pelicans have become pretty rare because of loss of habitat and appear to be adapting to eating freshwater fish. There is one oil well. Horse racing and polo is very active. Lots of sugar cane fields. The gorgeous coastline beaches with fabulous homes and hotels. Thee interior is pretty unimpressive. Lots of tiny brightly painted homes jammed together with tiny very clean yards, but you weren’t aware of terrible poverty.