A Special Q & A with Region 9 Standouts Special to Collective Remarks - Photos by Susan Stickle Thanks to the Houston Dressage Society (HDS) volunteers who made the Oct. 4-7 GAIG/USDF Region 9 & SWDC Championships & HDS Autumn Classic held at the Great Southwest Equestrian Center (GSWEC) another resounding success. Now that we ve recovered and rehydrated, it s time to circle back with the Recognized Show Chair Leslie Rohrer. We ll also check in with a few of our members who notched impressive results from the show. From Adult Amateurs to seasoned professionals, HDS members worked hard and proved themselves from their halt at X to organizing the in-gates. Thanks for sharing your time and talent! Leslie Rohrer has been an HDS member for more than 30 years. She was the HDS president from 2012 to 2016 before taking on her current role. The 2018 regional championship was approximately the 50 th show she has organized for HDS. Q: Leslie, congratulations on organizing and running a successful show. What are a couple of things we should know about the 2018 Region 9 Championships? A: Well, first thing is that this was the best attended Region 9 Championships in the last decade. In terms of riders, sign-ups were up more than 20 percent compared to 2016 and 2017. I am particularly happy that we didn't have to turn anyone away. We were able to accommodate all the entries by recruiting two more judges and juggling the schedule a bit. Second, I hope everyone noticed that the GSWEC continues to invest significant amounts in maintaining and improving facilities, like redone bathrooms, stall mats, more and better-placed electrical outlets, and that wonderful footing in the outdoor arenas. We are lucky to have a facility like this in our backyard. Finally, I want to point out that we had the lowest entry cost for a regional championship out of the nine USDF Regions. Our cost per championship class was one-third lower than the average and less than half the cost of the highest-priced regional championship. As a non-profit organization, HDS works hard to keep fees down for competitors. All of our wonderful volunteers help us to do that. And, the show officials commented on how nice our volunteers were.
Not only was the show a success, but many HDS members gathered accolades and qualified for the US Dressage Finals in Lexington, Kentucky. One such competitor, professional trainer Marta Renilla, raked in the ribbons when she claimed the 2018 Region 9 GAIG Open championship at First Level on WEC's Señor Rubinstein, the I-1 Freestyle championship on Rhustler, and the Grand Prix Freestyle championship on G Amarrot Font. She was also reserve champion on Jazzmeyer at GAIG Second Level. Her husband Anartz Chanca was the 2018 Region 9 Open reserve champion at Third and Fourth Levels on Superman. As a newly-minted U.S. citizen, Marta will compete next month at the US Dressage Finals for the first time, riding two different horses in the PSG, I-1, I-1 Freestyle, I2, and GP Freestyle championship classes. Anartz hopes to finalize his citizenship in time to be eligible for the Finals, where he would ride in the championship classes at Third and Fourth level. Q: You two have been training with Conrad Schumacher for almost five years now as part of the HDS FEI training series. What tips can you pass on from that experience? A: (Marta) He is my favorite trainer ever! I think most HDS members would get a lot out of participating in or auditing a future clinic. In my particular case, Conrad has helped to better organize my rides for each horse at any particular level. I m stricter now about trying to achieve perfection of each and every component of the movements. I need to completely control all the horse s body parts with light aids, loose arms, and an open seat in order to achieve a beautiful dance that looks effortless. When I face a challenge during my training, I think, What would Conrad do? I can always hear his voice giving me the solution. He is a Master. A: (Anartz) When a rider has a challenge with a particular movement, Conrad has a gift for identifying exactly what part of the basics the horse and rider need to improve. He
guides them through a simple exercise tailored to close the basics gap. This immediately improves the movement in the very next try. It is like magic! One of my favorite exercises from Conrad is as basic as an extended counter-canter on the long sides, with transitions to collected counter-canter on the short sides while going very deep in the corners. Once you have done three laps in a row, its amazing how the horse is thinking forward, but still capable of collecting. The horse is always thinking that he needs to extend after the collection, so he keeps a consistent impulsion through the whole collected movement, for example a canter pirouette. HDS member Bonnie Canter claimed the 2018 Region 9 GAIG championship at both Prix St. Georges and Intermediare-1 on her 8-year-old Fifinella GC, also known as Fifi. Canter was also GAIG Champion at Second and Third levels with her 6-year-old Shakira 467. Fifi was the 2016 US Finals Champion at Second Level AA and reserve champion at the 2017 US Finals at Third and Fourth Levels. Shakira was 2017 US Finals reserve champion at First Level. Bonnie will return to Lexington next month to compete her two mares in the finals classes at Second, Third, PSG and I-1 levels. Q: Bonnie, you won your first Regional Championship title when you were 50, 10 years after you started dressage, and you won 12 more Region 9 titles since then. What is the secret to improving as a rider in your 50s? A: The secret is that there is no one secret, but what has helped me is a combination of three things. The first is better core fitness. About five years ago, I started to spend about 15 minutes each morning doing exercises to strengthen my core. It has made a big difference in my riding. The second thing is video study. I watch video of the good riders like everyone else, but I also regularly record good-quality videos of my own training rides and watch them on a big screen. Sometimes that is more painful than the abdominal exercises but, for me, it has been a vital part of figuring out where I needed to improve. The third thing is constantly working on better rider position. This is related to the other two things, since rider position is an area where you can make a big difference with video study once you have more core fitness. By improving my rider position, some of the training issues I thought were horse-related (!) have diminished or disappeared.
Another Houston Dressage Society member, Ida Mattisson, was 2018 Region 9 GAIG and SWDC champion at both Prix St. Georges and Intermediare-1 on Evaldi L. She had 15 years of dressage experience in Europe prior to moving to the USA in 2011. Q: Ida, based on your success at the FEI levels, what specific sort of work do you think would benefit HDS riders who want to move their horses up the levels? A: Good question. I think many riders underestimate the importance of strength training and fitness for the horse, particularly if you want to do well at 4th Level and higher, where we do see many with potential who, unfortunately, are not getting the scores they could. I see a lot of good horses in this region but most of them would do even better if they had a stronger, more muscular top line. You need patience and very consistent work to get there with any horse, but you will be rewarded with much better collection that is essential for FEI levels. You can help any horse develop its movement and get closer to its potential by doing the basics correctly every time you ride for as long as you are together. And having eyes on the ground and a good trainer is key for all of us! Adult Amateur Ashlee Watts was 2018 Region 9 GAIG AA Champion at Training Level and First Level on her 6-year-old Ricarda. She was also GAIG AA Champion at Fourth Level on her 10-year-old Hampton. Ashlee and Hampton were the 2017 US Dressage Finals reserve champions at Second Level AA after being 2015 and 2016 Champions at Training and First Levels. She will return to Lexington to compete her two horses in the finals classes at Training, First, Third and Fourth levels. Q: Ashlee, your record shows that you have taken Hampton successfully up the levels over the last four years. Since April of this year you have also been showing Ricarda and doing very well. Did what you learned on Hampton help you select, train and show Ricarda?
A: I ve learned so much from Hampton and not just riding dressage. He s taught me so much about everything. But I can't give him or myself much credit for anything related to picking Ricarda, as much as I would like to! She sorta found me and she s just a cool horse. I was reluctant to take her on at first. It was actually my husband, Chuck, who said, She s perfect for you: tall, young, green, well-bred and with lots of energy. You should just do it. It still makes me laugh. But he was right; she is perfect. The unexpected answer to your question is that I am now learning even more about training and showing because she is so different from Hampton. We joke all the time that they do have some things in common: they are both horses and tall. They really are complete opposites and learning how to ride the tricky things on one of them, makes me ride the easy things on the other so much better. Learning to train and show two very dissimilar horses has made me a better rider and it has (mostly) been great fun! Professional trainer John Mason was the 2018 Region 9 GAIG Open reserve champion at First Level on Savannah SWF. The pair were 2017 US Dressage Finals champions at Open Training Level and they will return to Lexington next month to compete in the Finals classes at First and Second levels. Q: John, you have also been training with Conrad Schumacher for several years as part of the HDS FEI Training Series. What have you learned from him that might benefit other HDS riders? A: My biggest takeaway from riding with Conrad is very, very clear. No matter how old the horse is, how advanced/novice the horse may be, or how talented the horse may be, it is imperative to have correct classical basics. From there, you can come up with further specific things to focus on with each individual horse, but it all starts at the same place. I know this is true because I have the privilege of riding a wide variety of horses. Whether it is a horse with the caliber and quality of Savannah or a horse with some conformational/training challenges, I approach the riding and teaching of the horse in the same way. With the methodical and theoretical approach that Conrad demands, you can eventually get more out of any horse than you ever thought possible. His clinics are fascinating and I think any HDS member would benefit from auditing. Here is a very simple exercise you can use to help in your training. It focuses on the release of the neck, the lowering of the croup and the rounding of the back while in the
halt. The importance of a good halt is one of the most important principles of classical riding. This means that during a ride with Conrad, you will do, on average, 15 to 30 halts. There are several steps toward achievement. First, the horse must be relaxed, in front of the leg, and giving in the neck going into the halt. You should keep working on the entrance to the halt until all three are achieved. Then the horse must stand "like a monument," as Conrad says. Once the horse is standing still and relaxed over the back, have the horse stretch down (like a stretchy trot) all the way to the buckle. Then, back up to a normal frame. During the whole process, the horse must stand still. This very simple exercise is extremely effective at getting tight, hot horses soft in a quiet, easy way. It also gets flat, heavy horses up. To sum it all up, I think what it comes down to is correct, patient, and theory-based training. There are no short cuts. No tricks. Nothing fancy. If I ride and train like this at home correctly, then the result is always more honest and natural than the alternative.