Thank you to everyone for joining us and thank you to BZ for allowing everyone to have access to such an amazing athlete and for you to give them advice on some of the questions they have. So we're super excited to get started. I'd like to thank Ariat for coming up with this creative idea and I hope you guys get a lot out of it. Let's just get started.
So the first question I have that came in, what are some flat exercises that you do to get your horses to not ignore your rein aids, kind of running through the bridle issues? Yeah, I think I would do a lot of transitions with a horse like that. If they're strong, obviously a lot of downward transitions and really get the horse schooled to the half halt, which...
A lot of horses just run right through the half halt and they need to respect that and a lot of stopping them, backing a little. Just any transition from canter to trot, canter to walk, they've got to do that canter to walk transition without any trot steps eventually. And just get them, you just have to be a little more demanding and probably to do that, your position needs to be quite strong.
If the horse knows, he can pull you out of the saddle. He's going to do that time and time again. So you have to really, I tell my students to get their shoulders behind their hips and brace in their heels a little bit when they go to do a strong half halt or a downward transition so that the horse feels that he can't pull you forward and can't pull you out of the saddle, and then they'll start to respect it a little more.
Somebody says that their horse fights them in the bit, and sometimes the longer they work, the worse that their horse gets. Could this be a bit problem, maybe a saddle fit? problem it could just be the horse being strong or do you have any advice there so kind of a similar question without seeing what's actually happening it's a little hard to answer but I think for sure a bit or a saddle is a consideration to to check or try a different bit if you can just go to a snaffle at some point and try that because if the problem is the horse doesn't want to take the bit basically a snaffle is the easiest thing or even a rubber snaffle but I don't really know the situation the other thing is just to make sure the horse is schooled to the to the leg and to the hand that they react to the leg and the hand and I think the other thing is to look at make sure as a rider that you are are not too stiff in your arms and not riding with too low a hand because I see that a lot in These days, it's a little bit fashioned to ride with a lower hand in the equitation and stuff like that.
But really, if you have too low a hand, that puts pressure on the bars of the horse's mouth, and that's uncomfortable for them. So if you have a straight line from your elbow to the horse's mouth, you're more likely to keep the bit up in the corners of the mouth, which is where it's more effective and more comfortable for the horse. And kind of sticking with the theme here, what are some of the most fundamental?
exercises that you think are important for beginner and intermediate riders, kind of that they must master to have a successful future in riding in general, whether that be the hunters or the jumpers? I think the most important thing is a strong basic in your position, because that's what gives you all the functionality of being able to use your aids and being able to be strong enough. You know, the horse weighs 1,100 to 1,300 pounds, and not even the strongest guy is going to out-muscle a horse.
So... The important part is your position because it's efficient and it gives us strength and the leverage that we need to ride horses. So that's really important. I think the rider's strength and being able to keep their position is important. So riding, riding without stirrups, staying fit in general is a good thing to do.
Basic dressage work is good on the flat. Trying to... expose yourself to anything you might see in the ring and and other things as well you know we have a we're lucky here in New York at our home we have all the natural fences out in our field and we have very simple little banks that that the horses can do even when we're walking or trotting around the field then I think it's always good to you know you're never going to be able to recreate everything you have in the ring because there's always surroundings around the ring that you you you're never going to be able to recreate at home.
So it's good to expose yourself and your horses to different things at home so that they have confidence to do what you tell them, even when they're distracted by other things. Somebody asked, what are some exercises a trainer should teach to a green horse to have a successful future in jumping? That's a lot the same answer as the rider.
The horse needs to know the basics of flat work and dressage. You know that jumping is really a natural instinct for them, but you can always improve their jump with gymnastics, things like that, exposing them to what they're going to see in the ring. whether it be a hunter that needs to see all the flowers and the gates and the walls and things like that in front of the fences, or a jumper that needs to see some of the colored fences, maybe some natural fences, if that's where you're heading somewhere that has those.
And again, expose the horse to different things. Go on trail rides, go on, you know, try to find some natural fences or maybe a fence like a straw bale or... barrel or something like that that wouldn't they wouldn't see all the time but they need to be exposed to different things like that so that there's when something does surprise them in the rain they're they're not afraid to basically trust you that you're gonna what you tell them is correct and now we're going to kind of switch gears to some questions about you busy and some of your rituals and things that you do so one of the first questions i have in that category is what kind of fitness work do you do with you and your horses? Well, for the horses, we have a walker here at home and in Florida, and I think that's really good.
I think it helps a little with their fitness, but basically helps with their health, I think, because they're bred to live in a field, basically, or live in the wild. So they move constantly when they're out in the wild. And I think anytime you can keep them out of their stall and doing something is good for them.
um the other thing is uh i would say we give them four or five days a week you know again it depends on their show schedule but four or five days a week of serious flat work and or jumping if we if we jump one or two days a week um the other thing is the rest of the other days one day we might do just like a loose hack which the horse can stretch and and uh try to if they'll do it with their heads down that's a good thing but i don't pull them down with the drawings. I just try to encourage them to stretch down and throw some galloping in that day with it. And then another day, probably just a trail ride, you know, just a very light.
And it, again, it depends on the horses, a young horse, we might only ride, ride them four days a week, you know, a three or four year old or five year old, they, they don't need every, every day of the week drilling. So I would probably do one day. field one day trail ride to one or two days trail ride in a few days of really trying to teach them something so again it varies on the horse for myself um i try to do three days a week in the gym i have i have a trainer that helps me in florida and now we've done uh facetime with him here so um that really has helped keep me in better shape while i'm not showing and you know in the gym it's basically He tells me what to do, but it's a lot. It's really the whole body that he tries to work on. He, you know, core strength, leg strength, upper body strength, some balance, some aerobic stuff, but really just all around work on the body.
And the next question here, I love this question. Throughout your writing career, what has been the biggest personal victory? So not necessarily the biggest win.
but a moment that really sticks with you when you look back? Yeah, when I think about this, I have, you know, a lot of moments that meant a lot to me. I had Authentic that we bought when he was six years old, and he took me to my first Olympic Games.
And then I had Judgment, who was very scared of water obstacles when we got him and throughout as he was a young horse. But we were able to win some big derbies with him at Spruce Meadows, so that was a pretty cool accomplishment as well. And there's... a couple World Cup titles.
And when I think about that, really the most impressive thing is that I've had a lot of years of success. And I think that's what I'm most proud of that, you know, people can have one horse that they're really successful with, maybe another one, myself and my husband and our team, and our team of owners and everything, we've been able to come up with a lot of horses throughout the years that's carried my career for a long time. And I think that's, that's really the most thing I'm most proud of.
Another question we have here is before competing, are there any medical, physical, emotional rituals that you do or recommend to people to help stay focused or get rid of any pre-show jitters that they may have? I'm kind of a bad one to ask about this because I've always had a pretty easy time with nerves and what we call show jitters. But I think one thing that has helped me over the years is really just knowing that I'm prepared for what I'm doing.
I don't try to do something that's impossible for me to try to do at the show, you know, or show a horse in a class that he's not capable of. we don't think he's capable of. I think all that helps. Make sure you've done anything that you've practiced, you know, practice everything that you're going to face in the ring. And then I like to be organized with my equipment and make sure that I'm, you know, I'm not last minute running off for a pair of spurs or a stick or something like that.
And that the horse comes up with the proper tack that I get on early enough that I'm not in a rush. I think even when I'm a little nervous before I get on the horse, once I get on, I'm fine because I'm concentrating on what I need to do to do my job. Other helpful things are if you have a course, I try to segment the course into parts. You know, the course as a whole can look pretty overwhelming.
But if you break it down into parts, you know, maybe the first line, then you maybe group two or three other fences together and you realize, yeah, I know how to do that. And I can do that. And I've done that before.
And I think that helps you, A, remember the course and B, realize that if it looks even if it looks difficult, it's really possible to do. And it's just different segments that you've already practiced or done before. And I think that I find that really helps. The only thing I've also tried to do is if you go in there trying to worry, if you're worried about making a mistake.
when you go in the ring that's that's not a great attitude the attitude you want to have is that you're going to go in there and you're going to show off how good you are and how well you can do it so i think that's really helpful as well how can you build a stronger bond with your horse it's always nice to spend a little time in the barn with your horse i always get my first horse ready um attack him up groom him everything else so while they're busy mucking, grooms are all busy mucking. So I enjoy that because I get to know a little more of the horse's personality. And I think the same with, you know, sometimes I take them out and graze them.
I see them in the paddocks. I, you know, just really pay attention to the horse, not only when you're riding it, but how he is around the barn, how he is paddock, things like that. I think you get to know them a little better.
And really just riding and working with the horse. We're not like jockeys who just meet their racehorse. You know, with racehorses, they meet them and maybe they exercise them on the track one or two times before a big race.
But mostly they just meet them at the races. And I think we're really lucky. And I think you should take advantage all the time of being able to ride your horse at home and work with it.
Even if you're not jumping and not taking a lesson and things like that, it's still important to spend time with them. Okay, and then I've had a couple questions come in via email as well as on Zoom about finding distances. Some people asked about exercises to help yourself see those distances as well as just the striding and if you're struggling with finding the correct distance.
The most important thing is to not really have it in your head that I have to find a distance. You know, I think it's a similar mentality to worrying about making a mistake. I think you have to go in there knowing that some distance is going to appear, some distance is going to show itself to you. Maybe it's the last stride or two. Maybe it's, hopefully it's before then.
But I think exercises that you can work on it with is, I think beginners just basically learn to do it when you're jumping a line. You know, maybe the end is a little messy or something, but you can learn to measure the stride by. knowing the number of strides you're going to do down the line and measuring that to the second fence.
I think that's the first step in trying to establish some timing. Another exercise is you can maybe start with a rail on the ground because it's easier, but I like to count down, you know, start with three, two, one, and jump. And then eventually, you know, you can start farther and farther back.
start six strides out and then make yourself these six strides to that rail and see how you can actually adjust the horse's stride to to meet the number of strides your goal is. We've sometimes done it all the way to 10 strides, which is kind of fun because you might be cantering in place by the time you get to the rail. But I think when you do it between three and seven, it's pretty realistic to try to start to see it that far back. Okay, great. What are some of your favorite flat work exercises, either on a flat work day or just warming up?
Yeah, I think any kind of basic dressage movements are good to practice. Lengthening and shortening the source of stride is important. That's a good thing to do as you're warming up because that's really, you know, just something they need to be sharpened up on before you go in the ring.
I think if I'm allowed, you can watch some of our videos on the Madden Method on YouTube. I've done some segments on basic... Basic movements like shoulder in shoulder out without getting into detail here.
You can go on and watch those Those are good to see and you can read books about a lot of different exercises Bert DeNemithy's book is good I don't know some of the modern ones these days But just trying to teach your horse flying changes and things like that You can you can do a lot with flat work before the actually asking them to do a fine change to teach them that so It's, there's, you know, just anything that you're teaching the horse to respond to your needs is a good thing. Another question we have here, she said she just started riding again after having a year off herself from a knee injury. She's wondering kind of how to get back into it. They're pretty specific here.
So I'll just kind of let you give some advice in general as to coming back after a personal injury rather than a horse injury. You know, for the rider, I would just follow doctor. advice. I don't know how serious the knee injury was.
If it was a year, it sounds fairly serious. So I think you can kind of tell, your body will tell you how much you should be doing. But as far as the horse, if he hasn't been in flat work or anything, I would say probably a good six weeks to two months before you start to jump a little.
Maybe you could throw in a jump or two after four to six weeks, but nothing real serious till... he's actually been working for probably a good two months then you can start to build up some courses and low fence more putting more fences together than that period of time we had a couple questions surrounding people wanting to work at a stable i'll start with the first question that we had come in on this one they asked when someone wants to come work for you either as a writer a groom a working student etc what skills do you expect them to have or would want them to have? Well if we took on a working student we don't have so much place for riders, for people who want to ride a lot because we just don't have a big volume of horses here. You know we have a small volume and try to keep it high quality so what I guess we would be looking for somebody that can do some grooming, maybe some...
a little bit of exercise riding for me, but we're really kind of all set with that. So we're not a great example of that. But I would say the most important thing if you want to be a working student is to always present yourself well.
You need some kind of quality that somebody is attracted to you for, that they want to put some time and some financial backing basically into you if you're a working student. Because basically the fact that you're a student is they have to teach you, you know, a lot of things before you are really useful to them. So it is a bit of an investment for them. And you have to impress them with something that they feel like they want to put the time in with you, whether it be your personality, just your personality.
Your riding skills are important for some. Other people, it might be. grooming skills or just management type skills you know maybe you're a real organized person and they're a good person to do entries and travel organization and stuff like that so there's a lot of different things you can do in this industry luckily and uh one big thing too is I always tell people to pay attention to their Facebook and social media parts because that's the first thing when we get a resume or something that somebody wants to be a working student we check them out on there social media and see what kind of person they are and how they how they present themselves so just remember that when you when you're posting on social media that it's out there.
I think for any kind of job hiring, somebody's going to look that up. Definitely. Somebody asked, my goal is eventually to work at a stable that specializes in the sale and training of young horses, but I find myself sometimes struggling to take the necessary risks to get there. How did you approach the risks as you've progressed through your career and some of the risks you took that kind of made you the rider that you are today? Yeah, I mean, our sport can be a little dangerous, so it's a bit of a test of bravery.
But at the same time, intelligence, too. You know, you don't want to do stupid things. And I think you just have to develop your skills as a rider first, you know, with a horse that, if you're really lucky, you can do it with a horse that knows what they're doing already. And then if you do get a young horse and you're a little inexperienced, hopefully you can do it with.
along with a trainer or somebody that can help you, you know, as you get going to tell you what to do. And also maybe sometimes to hop on the horse and help you out along the way, just to push you over the hump sometimes if you get stuck. And I think, yeah, I mean, you need to take risks, but they need to be educated risks. And that's always the tricky part of teaching or developing a young horse.
You have to push them enough. that they're going to make advances, but you don't want to push them to do something that's going to, that they're really going to fail at. And then you lose their confidence and you go backwards three steps.
You know, there's going to be ups and downs and things like that, but you don't want to have big steps backwards. So just keep that in mind when you're making your decision. All right.
So we have about two questions left here. First of the two is coming from someone who sounds like they're a trainer. She asked, how can I help my clients understand the importance of transitioning through horses to excel in different levels?
Yeah, I think that's the same as, you know, stretching yourself enough to advance and not fighting off too much. So I think, you know, as we start, you need a horse that's a bit of a schoolmaster and knows what he's doing. Maybe he's not as fancy as some of the others, but you're going to get good experiences in the ring.
And then I think you definitely outgrow a horse like that eventually. Maybe you need to move on to a little more quality horse or one that can jump a little higher and take you a little farther. And sometimes when you try that horse, it might seem a little difficult or a little maybe too much horse for you. And that's a balance.
It has to be. little bit more force than your other ones so that you can advance but not beyond your capabilities of handling and and stuff like that So you want to you really have to rely a lot on your trainers advice there It's a bit of a feeling you know Whether you're gonna be able to grow into being able to handle that horse or if that horse is actually just too much for you so It might not be a hand in the glove type fit you know, in the very beginning, but as long as it's within your capability to advance and be able to learn to ride that horse, I think it's an excellent thing to be able to move forward. And that's, that's sometimes tricky to do, but for sure you outgrow one horse and have to move on to the, to the next one. And that's just part of, part of learning. And then the last question I have is if you have any advice.
when it comes to good stable management? Yeah, I mean, there's a lot to stable management. So that you can learn a lot by just hanging around the barn. Even if you're just somebody's student, if you're allowed to, some stables don't like it when everybody hangs around.
But if you can start to show that you can be helpful around the barn, I think that's a big part of, you know, people then start. saying, hey, this kid's kind of trying to learn and do things, and they help you along the way, and I think that's the best way of getting to know horsemanship around the barn. Again, we have some Madden Method videos that can help you with that too, but really, it's experience, you know, hanging around the barn, and you never know when there's going to come a situation where the vet comes and looks at some horses, maybe a horse colics, and you learn how to handle that while the horse is colic, you know, when you see how...
people handle that. It's just a, there's so much to it, it's a big subject and it's, yes you can read about a lot of it in books or watch videos. I mean, there's just a lot of good books out there with it, but the best thing you can do is experience Hanging Around the Barn if you have the chance, the opportunity.
Thank you guys, and thanks for all good questions, and I hope you guys got a lot out of this, and yeah, enjoy your time getting back in the showroom.