My time here at the Academy Bartels is coming to a close. It has been an awesome trip full of wonderful experiences and training opportunities. I have really enjoyed my time with Floratio, but he has worked very hard lately, so he is receiving a well deserved weekend in the pasture. He was quite a partner to learn with. He is talented and powerful, but his above average intelligence made him a bit of a puzzle to be solved. He could read my mind very easily and knew when I was riding 100% and when I was riding 95%. It was really interesting figuring out how to work with his intelligence to get more out of him. Every rider has their perfect match of a horse. Some riders have not found this yet, but I most definitely have. I pair up well with sensitive, cautious horses and this was not Floratio. He is bold and strong. I could not make him do anything, I had to be smarter than him, I had to use good timing and focus on exactly when and where I would be most successful. This was a fun riddle to work out. Floratio gave me a very special feeling, which was a testament to the training he has received in this program. I will never forget the big moments I had with him or the sultry looks he was known for giving in the barn. I will never forget you Floratio… My dance partner today is the elegant Eduard. If Floratio was Rock Hudson, Eduard would be Cary Grant. He has a soft, soothing sweetness to him. He stood perfectly still while bring tacked up and began our ride fully focused. He gave me the feeling that he was just as invested in this session as I was and that is a fun feeling to have. Todays lesson was with Columbian dressage rider Rodrigo Laserna. Rodrigo has been working at the Bartels stable for several years now and his speciality is piaffe and passage. He is a master at inhand work and has a really sharp eye. I met him during my first time at the Academy Bartels and was excited to ride with him this morning. Our focus with Eduard was straightness. True… absolute… straightness. Eduard is a very supple and flexible horse, so if you are not careful, pieces will fall out of alignment. He is also very adjustable, almost too adjustable. He can collect so much and his naturally obedient temperament made him very responsive to the leg and although each one of these attributes are positives one, harnessing all of these in one package took some organization. Rodrigo’s coaching was very systematic. I warmed up by developing consistent control of the rhythm in both trot and canter. I did this by focusing on specific tempos throughout the arena. It can be easy to place the importance of adjustability above consistency, but although one may be more important during certain moments of training, they are equally as important overall. It was quite easy to gain adjustability with Eduard, but when I shifted my focus towards developing consistency, I found something to work on. The thing about consistency is that it impacts several different aspects of our horses way of going. It works longitudinally (back to front and front to back), laterally (side to side, both inline and diagonally) and in terms of energy. Eduard is quite consistent in regards to energy. He is not afraid to put in a full days work, so maintaining a consistent level of energy was not difficult, as long as I was asking consistently, he was working consistently. The majority of our goals were retaining certain body positions to help improve his overall straightness and balance. It was really satisfying to feel his already Lamborghini like feeling develop into something even better. Once we established this, we began testing the control by riding long lines on inside tracks and adding some lateral movements and flying changes. It was a really fun, gratifying ride that ended with a hack around the beautiful galloping track. Eduard has a lovely soul and it was an honor to work with such an honest and giving animal. This week was a Training Week at the Academy Bartels, so riders from all over Europe bring their horses to train with Imke. I had the pleasure of spending time getting to know so many wonderful people that I would probably never have had the opportunity to meet. There were two ladies from France, a Dutch couple who brought their very special Icelandic Horses and two friends that bought their horses from nearby Eindhoven. This was a great group of horse people! We spent a lot of fun evenings dining in nearby towns until late hours and they all taught me Dutch words, which I surprised Imke with during a few lessons. They were a wonderful part of my visit and I just wanted to thank Els, Hans, Pien, Sandra, Dasha, Mohammed, Anette and Giulia for the good times we spent together. Now that I am back home, it is such a great feeling to look back on all of the great moments, lessons and experiences that I had on this trip. I left with so much motivation and am really excited for the opportunity to pass this along in the future. I would also like to thank Imke Schellekens-Bartels, Tineke and Joep Bartels, Rodrigo Laserna and Annet Broeckx for all of that they have given to me. To say that I appreciate what you have done for me just doesn’t seem like enough... Till next time...
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