Katie works on applying Martin’s advice about pace with six-year-old stallion Cassus.
with her nose a little more up and with not such a nice round canter) even if she jumps clear, rhythmic and always with the right canter, her marks are normally between 7.4 and 8.0. Unfortunately, at shows where I compete, you are not placed with marks below 8.0,” Martin says.
seat, your own balance, the right aids, pace and more, while riding in a jumping class. So, it’s better when the horses’ balance is on their to-do list.”
Nature Versus Nature My second ride was Topaze, a five-year-old Selle Français mare who acts twice her age. Martin asks me to guess how old she was, and I guess nine years. He laughs. She rode with self-assurance at the jumps and was easily adjustable. Martin had picked her out a few years earlier, enthused about her temperament. She really was all business. For Martin, Topaze exemplifies all the good qualities
exhibited by many French-bred horses. It was a topic he says he could write a book about and I am immediately intrigued. “French horses are bred to take care of themselves,“ he explains. He points to the stallion approval process, as an example. “In France, the stallions are judged based on two different ways of free jumping. The one is the normal gymnastic row like in Germany; the other one, there is just one single fence without any pole in front. They judge how the horses find a distance by themselves as well as how they behave and react without aids.” Martin believes that due to the breeding in France,
many of the horses, by nature, have the qualities desirable in a jumper. “You normally just have to improve them and give them experience. The French riders don’t like to make a big thing out of flat work, so the horses have to have all the points that we need for riding a course. German-bred horses normally have to school in a classical way so that they develop right. They are softer on their aids and more sensitive to their environment. These items make them, at the end, easier to ride. But, until this point, you have to school them more compared to the French horse,” he points out. Topaze didn’t do well in the German show jumping classes as a four- and five-year-old. Speed classes are only allowed starting at age six for the horse. Prior to that, the only competitive jumping classes are “style” classes where two judges place based on the horse’s rideability, technique and way of going. “For a horse like Topaze, (who prefers to go
It’s The Little Things When Martin continues his critique, he provides several nuggets of information I am trying hard to remember in my daily riding at home. “Light contact doesn’t equate to open fingers,” he remarks, a habit George Morris himself also abhors. Martin, perhaps in a slightly more conversational tone than the master would bark, tells me to really watch for keeping contact. Equal contact on both reins is critical for a straight horse. I am coached on curving my line to the jump, not making it a right angle of a turn. If it doesn’t work out quite right the first time, and my pace is correct, adjusting the approach to the fence usually solves the problem. “My personal aim with everyone is to get a harmonic balance between rider and horse. There is always a solution for all problems and tasks. In ninety-five percent of all cases, it’s the rider who makes the mistake,” Martin explains. Martin also says remembering to breathe is something a
lot of riders dismiss but that it helps the horse tremendously. “Don’t be in such a rush to start the course that you don’t collect your thoughts and breathe.” Universal words for any discipline. Sometimes, whether it’s the adrenaline or that we’ve waited hours for our few minutes in front of the judge, we lose our focus and forget to simply concentrate on each moment as it comes. Even when each horse is done flatting, stretching out is
not to be forgotten, Martin reminds me. “Head should be nice and low to the ground but not heavy. Back should be engaged and hind legs still propelling forward,” he explains. Always a good reminder that daily essentials are never to be overlooked. Wrapping up my week, we talk horses a little more before
I have to head home. When asked if he had ever considered the Olympics, Martin smiles. “When you walk around courses that big, you wonder, good and bad,” he says. I tell him it had always been a dream of mine when I was young, but now I’d be just as thrilled completing a small jumper course. “We all have to be so brave in this sport,” he responds. In retrospect, when I flew to Germany, I expected I would
need to learn a new way of riding. I didn’t. Instead I learned how to finesse—how to become a more engaged rider. But my greatest lesson learned was to believe. Believe in yourself, challenge yourself, and expect a few mistakes along the way. Boldness beckons.
Warmbloods Today 75
Courtesy Katie Shoultz
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