“Even if a horse has special talent, they need to go through all the lessons every horse does.”


lessons every horse does.” What’s most important -- character or gaits? To Heather,


it’s definitely character. “Without the brain, the gaits are useless. You have to have the brain first. The sport is about rideability and temperament.” Her current favorite Danish Warmblood is Praeste-


markens Quatero (Quaterback x Rohdiamant). The nine-year- old won the Intermediate I championship at the 2017 US Dressage Finals in Kentucky. She had advised his Danish breeder about picking


Quaterback as a sire and, when Quatero was five, she returned to Denmark to try him. “As soon as I put my seat in the saddle, it was, ‘This is my horse.’ I could tell right under my seat. It was his frame and his energy.” Her new horse wasn’t easy, she says, with a strong


personality. “He has a very big opinion about everything. He would not be a good horse in less-educated hands. He had to be told. Now he’s really on track and he has a really good idea of what his job is. We have a good start on piaffe and passage, and the ones [tempis]. It’s all really come along in an encouraging way,” she continues. “I love to take a horse to Grand Prix that I’ve had at least


four years with. I’m looking forward to having another one in the ring that I’ve had that long to work with.”


Michael Bragdell


Michael is a trainer at Hilltop Farm in Colora, Maryland. He has produced many champions in the USEF Young Horse National Championships. “For me, it’s the willingness and attitude,” he says about


training young horses. “And how the horse takes to the work, and what their reactions are to the work you’re asking. Are they smart enough to understand and participate in what you’re doing? I spend a lot of time doing groundwork. You can tell early on when they participate in the questions you ask them.” He looks for “sharp and quick reactions. Slow moving is


impressive to watch, but if it is too slow, he’s hanging in the air. You want them quick enough, but not too quick.” Riders dream of the horse with super gaits who’s willing


to do anything the rider asks. Michael says, for him, willing- ness is the priority. “I’d rather have a horse with the work- manship, maybe with good, average gaits. With that attitude you can accomplish a lot,” he explains. A horse with amazing gaits is limited if he lacks desire to


work, he continues, cautioning in particular against being swayed by a big and fancy trot. “The trot is the gait you can develop. Look for good rhythm in the trot—I’d rather have that. In the canter, look at that gait to be a little higher qual- ity. If the canter is too big, how difficult is it to make the canter a little smaller, so they can later do the one tempis?” Guiding a lively youngster requires equestrian tact.


The exuberance shows in the horse’s expression. “It’s good if they’re hot and reactive as long as you can maintain a


positive tension, not the other way, or negative tension,” says Michael. “It’s important that the horse understands. We have to find a way to channel that into a positive tension—not moving away from the leg so the horse is stiff and runs away from the leg.”


The Take-Away The horse’s heart and excel- lent work ethic are what set him or her on the path toward becoming an inter- national superstar. Good gaits and a dash of fire are also necessary ingredients. But in the end, our experts point out, predicting the “winning” horse is difficult. All of these trainers approach the task of finding the international stars of tomorrow with a “we’ll see” attitude and a healthy dose of caution.


Testing for Piaffe


Can you invite a young horse to piaffe, to see early on if he shows talent for the movement? Heather and Michael address the value of introducing piaffe correctly. “See that the horse has


a feel for piaffe,” Heather says. “Does he show good diagonal pairs and lower the hindquarters? You can even play around on a four-year-old, to see what the instincts are.” “Some horses didn’t


Michael Bragdell showed the Olden- burg stallion Hemmingway (Hofrat x Archipel) and won the champion- ship at the national Young Horse championships in the Four-Year-Old division in 2012 at the Lamplight Equestrian Center, Wayne, Illinois.


have piaffe early, or at five or six. Then later they were good,” she adds. “Lightly play with it to see what the instincts are. Instincts tell you a lot.” “If done correctly with a good system and you break it


Famous trainer Bo Jena demon- strates asking for piaffe on the long reins in 2007 in Flyinge, Sweden.


down into basic steps, you can start early,” Michael says. “For me, it tells what the engine of the hind leg means. If you took a still picture of how the horse holds his hind leg I want him to find that balance and hold the hind leg.” He incorporates piaffe as part of groundwork, to see if the horse accepts the aids. “If the groundwork is done methodically and you break it down clearly for the young horse,” he says, “it will help them, ultimately.”


Warmbloods Today 19


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