POINT OF VIEW
will have them because of his trainability and rideability, but not now. There are many roads to FEI and he will get there quicker and will be more successful going a different direction.”
Judy added, “In Europe the big freaky movers that win the
young horse classes will not make it to Grand Prix. The big- ger the movement, the bigger the mistakes, the less they stay sound. This horse is correct and willing.” Charlotte concurred. “You can have the best moving young
horse, and it doesn’t mean you will have a Grand Prix horse. Dressage is about developing a horse. Keep it simple – leg is go; reins are whoa. Krisi’s horse has natural balance, rhythm and great trainability. The great big canters sometimes have trouble collecting.” Charlotte had Krisi ride Barnaby very forward and pointed
out that she will ask a young horse to trot as fast as possible, often in a field. “Her training system is to go forward to the contact and to build strength,” Krisi remarks later. “Barnaby is very forward and quick off my leg. Do I ride him that forward every day? No. I think everyone has to take that with a grain of salt. She’s here to teach and make a point in a short time. She did a good job. He was not running through my hands. I took a lot of information to add to my own system. I’ll say, however, that riding forward without chasing and driving into the bit is a big difference.” One of Krisi’s takeaways was how much Charlotte posts.
Charlotte remarked that she never sits the trot on a young horse. “It’s important that the horse remain forward and he is not physically strong enough in his back at this stage to have a rider sit.” “Charlotte posts a lot more than I do,” Krisi says. “When you
post, your leg supports the horse every other step. You help less. Because of that, you can learn how honest he is on the aids, how truly connected he is. It’s like shoulder-in in the rising trot—you see if your training is correct.” Krisi was particularly pleased to have Charlotte give her input on her position. “I told her that most people leave me alone about my position, but that I loved that she was on me that my left thumb needs to be up. On my older horse, my right leg goes too forward because I support him if he falls on his weaker side.” “I loved being pushed and that she was straightforward.
That’s how you get better. You check your ego at the door. If she can provoke us to improve, then great. There are grains of truth in everything, and you have to figure out how they apply to you. It was quite thought provoking.” “As a professional, it’s hard to do a clinic in front of an audi-
ence,” Krisi confesses. “But sometimes you need someone to break through barriers, no matter how hard it is.” Krisi, who has ridden with Judy previously in her California
clinics, noted that by participating in the clinic Judy was get- ting recognition for helping to develop Charlotte as a rider. Charlotte was quick to acknowledge her mentor. “Judy taught
58 May/June 2014
me about the joy of riding and so many life lessons, like trying too hard is as bad as not trying,” she said. Judy explained to the audience that she joined the sym-
posium to help Charlotte explain some of the things she does and knows by feel but cannot always verbalize. Judy also soft- ened Charlotte’s quick-witted humor and direct responses to the riders.
METTE AND CENNA Mette Rosencrantz was the consummate demo rider: she worked hard and well, and she made changes, all the while demonstrating respect for her horse and for the clinician. She also demonstrated how horses have histories not always known to the audience and the instructor. As is often the plight of a professional trainer, Mette was
looking forward to an amazing season in 2013 with a horse she had successfully trained to Grand Prix. However, the owners were so pleased with his progress, they de- cided to sell him. The sale left Mette
feeling like a fish out of water. A five-time national champion- ship competitor, win- ner of the open Grand Prix at the 2007 World Cup in Las Vegas and former head instructor at Sweden’s prestigious Stromsholm school for instructors, she had no horse, no sponsor and no money. She bemoaned her fate to a friend while they watched the European Champion- ships. Then her friend had an idea. Her friend knew of a horse named Cenna, a 13-year-old
Mette Rosencrantz of Topanga, Califor- nia, rode her new mount Cenna, a Danish Warmblood mare by Come Back II. This photo taken during their recent debut at Grand Prix at the L.A. Equestrian Center.
Danish Warmblood mare trained to FEI level work but never shown. Her owner, a woman in her late 70s, had very limited breathing capacity. As a result, she could only trot down the long side before she had to stop. The horse became so attuned to her owner’s problem that when she simply touched the reins—or even breathed loudly—the mare stopped. “I loved the horse and she wasn’t a million dollars, so I
was able to buy her,” Mette says. “It will be fun if I can turn her around, but I just started riding her a few months before they asked me to be in the clinic.” Mette chose to go ahead and ride in the clinic with Char-
lotte, even though the mare had holes in her training and wasn’t clear about Mette’s aids. The first sign was in a transition from canter to walk. Charlotte remarked that it was “terrible.” Mette knew it, but she was stuck in one of those spots that so many of us have faced—the horse as a work in progress.
Anna Dahlberg
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