WT: What has been your experience working with mares?


■ JOHN: If you have good mares, they’re great. When you get along with them and they trust you they can be as good as or better than the rest of them. You have to be good at knowing their personalities and how much to press. With a stallion a lot of times you have to be tougher. With mares it takes more finesse. They’re a lot more sensitive. Because they’re more sensitive, you look like you’re not doing much when you’re riding. You don’t have to force things. In hunters, it makes a soft picture. With a stallion or quiet gelding you have to use more leg strength. Mares will go on their own and you can leave them alone. ■ ALLIE: Mares try really hard and work with you. I love my


girls. I love that they’re sweet. It doesn’t bother me when they’re emotional. I like that they care. If you can get a mare on your side and trusting you she’ll try to the nth degree for you. It’s a bond. ■ JAN: I never wanted a mare. I always felt that if you want


to ride dressage you need a gelding. Mares are moody and come into heat. Now I have three mares that are wonderful. I have been really lucky with them. Every day they come out and they are the same. A mare can be a little careful because she’s wired to take care of the babies. If something bothers her, her first choice is ‘I’m not going there.’ If she’s really frightened, you don’t want to say ‘you must.’ You don’t want to fight with any horse, but with training you


run into conflict. If you have a fight, you want to win. But if you get too demanding with a mare, she may do it now, but you’ll have a problem when you try the next time. She’ll just say no. You have to treat them like a woman. If you don’t have a


partnership, you don’t have the beauty of dressage. You have a partnership if your horse has fun doing her job and trusts you.


WT: Tell us about recent mares you’ve trained. ■ JOHN: A top mare that I had was Vida Blue (Chambertin).


She won everything around with me and with my student. I found her with a trainer in Texas, in a backyard. No one was buying her. She was sensitive and would drop off in front of the jumps. When I bought her and won at Thermal, everyone was saying I can’t believe we missed this horse and she was right in our backyard. Peter Pletcher said she was always so hot, but he mostly did jumpers and tried to ride her on the bit. But she wasn’t built for that. She was not going to pull together that way. Her neck was


put on to go out. She took a light leg. She wasn’t that spooky. You had to keep her relaxed and not over jump her. It made her a little nervous if you tried too hard. So we wouldn’t jump huge in the warm up area. The girl that rode her in the amateurs did so well with her. She just kind of plopped along. And she did well with Andre Dignelli who bought her. She was grey. I am a bit of a believer in the colors of horses


and it reflects their personalities. I’ve had great luck with greys. Chestnuts especially with no white tend to be more sensitive. I would never buy a solid black horse. Vida Blue was an old soul who knew her job. Just don’t bug


her. ■ ALLIE: Fergie is a long bodied, big boned girl. We’ve had


to do a lot of trotting and hill work to get her fit for three star events. Now it’s nothing for her to trot for an hour. I respect that she tries, even if she’s scared, and will do it


for me anyway. I like how she looks at me and if she’s sad, it breaks my heart. I feel like I understand her and we have a good connection. I swear Fergie’s over the top happier if she’s won. If she


doesn’t complete her event on Sunday, she’s very depressed. I had to retire her on course at Rebecca Farm this year because she cut herself on the fifth to the last fence and wouldn’t jump the next jump. At the barn she was bumming, like she knew. Ellie is a trier, but harder to ride. She’s more game. If she has a stop, she will come back the next time and is not fazed by the


Jan Ebeling and Rafalca showing at the Grand Prix. Photo by Amy McCool


Warmbloods Today 55


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68