P
T Old is New
ublisher’s Welcome
he value of riding well-trained horses that are more advanced than your own level of riding has big benefits. And I speak from experience. Many years ago I attempted to ‘learn’ dressage on my untrained OTTB, which brought
many more days of frustration and confusion than days of progress. You know, that “green horse, green rider” scenario that rarely works? Although it was a six-month experience that I never want to repeat, in hindsight, it was actually a good experience—because it forced a change. I woke up one day realizing that I needed to find a horse who knew more than I did. My search brought me to a 17-year-old, sound, retired event horse who had made it to Prelim in his younger life. He had some good dressage basics and for the next three years he was steady and patient with me. Looking back, I learned a tremendous amount from him (and my instructor) as we had reasonable success in the lower levels. What was old hat to him was new, fun and an invaluable education for me. When writer Amber Heintzberger presented the idea of a story showcasing three upper level event horses who moved on to
help younger riders, I was all for it. And as it turns out, these weren’t just any old Advanced horses—these were top notch, Olympic, four-star horses—all trained and competed by our best event trainers. What a fabulous learning opportunity for these three riders! Although taking on such a horse isn’t easy, Alexa Perkiel summarizes it well in the article: “Everything you learn, you can bring to your next horse and into your future, because you learn how a horse should feel at that level.” On that same theme, trainer Michael Barisone has some good advice in the Warmblood Whoas column that you won’t want
to miss. He touches on ‘feel’ and ‘imprinting’ and how important it is to ride well-trained horses. For example, watching and reading about piaffe or passage is not the same as riding and feeling it. Experiencing the power of a collected horse underneath you performing at that level is awesome and leaves lasting imprints. Even though I haven’t made it to Grand Prix with any of my horses, I’m one who isn’t too shy to ask to take a lesson on such a horse. I’ve had six lessons on four different Grand Prix horses over the years and, believe me, I have never forgotten them. Well-trained horses, whether jumpers, eventing or dressage horses, who are at the top of their sport didn’t get there by accident.
Each one clearly received a very good education when young. Someone taught them the proper basics and paid attention to all the other management aspects like shoeing, feed, tack, etc. Our country can breed super talented horses all day long, but unless the proper education and care is given to them from the start, those horses will never reach their full potential. Hence, pundits in our country have been making a lot of noise in the last decade about young horse training—and they should. Although everyone seems to agree on this point, that young horse training is vitally important, it remains a challenge to
overcome in our vast country. Kudos to Scott and Susanne Hassler, who put together their own annual event in 2005 bringing trainers of young horses together. You can learn more about their successful program and its unique aspects on page 33. In fact, at the Young Horse Dressage championship show (see page 40), we found that more American-bred horses came out on top this year, which is a good sign that our well-bred horses are getting in the right hands. You also might check out our Point of View column on page 63, which asks as well as answers tough questions about producing our own elite jumpers and dressage horses bred here in North America. Much of this issue addresses both ends of the spectrum: riding ‘the old’ that brings new learning and training ‘the new’ that stems
from older, tested methods for generations. Being a part of this equestrian cycle of learning opens our eyes and brings challenges as well as rewards—something to look forward to every day! Enjoy the issue,
Liz Cornell
editor@warmbloodstoday.com
Our Mission: Warmbloods Today is the leading magazine in North America focused on the entire spectrum of Warmblood breeds. It’s a place where people from all aspects of the sport horse community can come together: amateurs, owners, trainers and breeders. Each issue contains interesting, informative and often heart-warming stories of peoples’ experiences with their horses, along with thought- provoking opinions from various professionals and amateurs. We cover all horses from European descent bred for the sports of jumping, dressage, eventing and driving including the Iberian breeds and American Warmbloods.
10 November/December 2015
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 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92