It's been a long time since an update, but all the horses have been going well. For me, Storm has gotten better and better every competition, even the last one at Middleburg Horse Trials, where I felt like I had ride-ability and responsiveness in all three phases, which is a good thing because I’m moving up to Intermediate at both Marylands! I'm excited. I think the ride-ability is always tricky in that they need to follow your hand and still find connection without getting backwards. Although I have experimented a lot with different bits, it's never about the bit, is it? It’s always about the ability to go forward and come back and still have them stay in front of you. After all, it is their job to jump the jump, and it’s our job to have the right line, the right rhythm, and a really strong position. Storm has always been so offended about me having a conversation, and most of the time when I take the reins, his first answer is, not you again, and his head goes up. I'm always working on being able to find the balance of forward enough and not offended about what I do with the reins. And clearly, that's the name of the game with Storm.
I’ve been so fortunate to go to Kentucky, Badminton and Luhmuhlen. I wasn’t selector at Badminton, but went with my friend, Susan. I feel it's important to have impressions of the top courses and horses. It’s a funny thing because the dressage now is so tight that the time in the cross-country and the time and faults for the show jumping can be hugely influential. I thought that Kentucky walked harder than I’ve seen it, but at the end of the day, the best of the best made it look easy. Watching Badminton, and walking it, it’s amazing how you realize that in Europe and England, horses are just a way of life. I don’t think I’ve ever walked a course at the 5-star level and found it to be so intense. It was relentless all the way to the end.
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Then at Luhmuhlen, there was a completely different track yet again, with flatter terrain and quite narrow roping both out in the fields and in the wooded tracks. All the distances walked pretty normal, other than 11 ABC, the three vertical gates that had a different feel than the rest of the course. I was surprised when they started the competition and the first three horses fell—the first at the gates, the other two at other fences— how hard the course rode. It’s hard to qualify difficulty because we are talking the 5-star level, with the German Championship at the 4-star. Watching it live, especially sitting where I could see fences 6-11 and still see the big screen, was a huge education in itself. It was apparent just how fast you had to go to get the time and still be accurate.
I thought all three show jump tracks from Kentucky, Badminton and Luhmuhlen were good tracks, but I would say that Luhmuhlen had the atmosphere and the height and the technical aspects that, combined with the time allowed being tight, put more pressure on the riders and was even more influential. You realize why Kentucky is so hard for many of the horses and riders because we don’t have that kind of speed and accuracy pressure often in the US. In my mind, if you want to educate yourself as an American rider, don’t spend a ton of money to fly your horse over, just go watch, so that before you apply for a championship or nations cup like Aachen or Boekelo, you understand what’s being asked of the horses and riders and what it takes to get that done. You'll need to be able to ride forward, hold the line and have your horse stay with you. And you'll need to have a cool enough head to care about all the details, and not care. I have been impressed with the riders that have spent the money and the time to start to educate themselves about the best in the world, because that's the only way to get better.
I thought all three show jump tracks from Kentucky, Badminton and Luhmuhlen were good tracks, but I would say that Luhmuhlen had the atmosphere and the height and the technical aspects that, combined with the time allowed being tight, put more pressure on the riders and was even more influential. You realize why Kentucky is so hard for many of the horses and riders because we don’t have that kind of speed and accuracy pressure often in the US. In my mind, if you want to educate yourself as an American rider, don’t spend a ton of money to fly your horse over, just go watch, so that before you apply for a championship or nations cup like Aachen or Boekelo, you understand what’s being asked of the horses and riders and what it takes to get that done. You'll need to be able to ride forward, hold the line and have your horse stay with you. And you'll need to have a cool enough head to care about all the details, and not care. I have been impressed with the riders that have spent the money and the time to start to educate themselves about the best in the world, because that's the only way to get better.
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