Loxahatchee, Fla.—Jan. 19

Wishing you could have been at the Adequan/USDF FEI-Level Trainers Conference to learn what exercises you should be working on with your horses and students this winter? Wish granted! The Chronicle was on the scene at High Meadow Farm on Day 2 of the conference and took note of the different exercises clinician Johann Hinnemann had each rider do to help them improve on their shortcomings.

Mica Mabragana and Tyara—Perfecting The Half Pass

Hinnemann dedicated nearly a half hour of Mabragana’s 45-minute session with the 15-year-old mare Tyara to the same half-pass exercise that they worked on in Day 1, insisting she perfect small tweaks to it until it produced a straighter horse and a noticeably more active gait.

At the trot and canter, Hinnemann had Mabragana turn up the center line (and sent her back in a circle when she wasn’t perfectly on the line) and half pass from the centerline to the rail, having her pick different letters to aim for so she was constantly changing the angle of the movement.

When he wasn’t satisfied with Mabragana’s control of the hind legs, Hinnemann had her zig-zag back and forth down the ring, half passing to the left and leg yielding to the right.

Hinnemann also had Mabragna deviate from the half-pass to sharpen the mare’s reaction to her leg, having her do some walk-canter transitions before returning to the half-pass so she was more reactive.

“I said it yesterday, when you’re in the half-pass, going to the right, you have to sit with the right seat bone, and every second you feel you are able to create balance,” Hinnemann said.

Another edit to the exercise Hinnemann added in before having Mabragana do it in the traditional manner was having her alternate every two strides between flexing the mare into the direction of the half-pass and then straightening her neck.

By the end of the half-pass work, which was extensive, Tyara was much more animated on her movement, and Hinnemann praised Mabragana for the change.

Ayden Uhlir and Sjapoer—First Impressions and Lengthening the Neck

It may seem silly (and indeed Uhlir couldn’t help but laugh a bit when she was asked to repeat the exercise over over and over), but Hinnemann stressed the importance to this aspiring Brentina Cup rider of making a good first impression.

“What is the saying, there are no second chances at a first impression?” Hinnemann posed to the crowd.

He had Uhlir practice her salute several times, nitpicking every detail of it and getting after her to be stricter on her straightness on the center line and her transition down into the halt.

Once he was content with her placement of the halt at X, and her straightness on the center line, he had her practice several times trotting out of the halt, and had her get after her 17-year-old gelding with a kick to get him more reactive and jumping forward into the trot out of the halt.

Another exercise Hinnemann was keen on Uhlir getting right was one designed to help her lengthen her horse’s neck while keeping the poll at the highest point. He had her let her horse’s head out long and low, before asking her to slowly gather up the reins—he had her do this several times.

“When you shorten the reins, don’t make the neck shorter, just get the connection,” Hinnemann said.

Heather Blitz and Quatero—Getting an “Honest” Transition 

Blitz was the only rider who switched horses between Days 1 and 2 of the conference—she left her stallion, Ripline, in the barn and swung a leg over the 7-year-old gelding Quatero for Tuesday’s session.

Hinnemann watched Blitz trot the flashy chestnut for a few minutes, doing canter-trot transitions, before he started calling out directions, all designed to improve the transitions.

“I want that correct, because that’s exactly the point, because the walk-trot, trot-canter, I want a really honest transition forward from the hind legs, that you control,” Hinnemann said.

The gelding had no issue once he was in the gaits—indeed Hinnemann spent a good deal of time trying to get him to stop “passage trotting” when he simply wanted a long swinging trot, but he was particular about the transitions.

Another exercise he had Blitz do to improve the gelding’s reaction to her leg was a series of walk-canter transitions, but barely allowing even a single step of walk before asking for the canter again, so it was really more like canter forward, pause the forward motion for a beat, and then back into the canter.

The gelding struggled with it at first and got antsy and anticipating of Blitz’ aids, but by the end of the exercise he accepted that he had to go forward whenever she asked, and Hinnemann had her think about always feeling like she was asking for a shoulder-in (but not actually do the movement)  when she was asking him to go forward to keep him straight.

Endel Ots and Samhitas—Taking the time to relax, and doing it without stirrups! 

Hinnemann joked with Ots as soon as he entered the ring on Samhitas, his second ride of the day.

“You know yesterday, we mentioned riding without stirrups,” Hinnemann said, trailing off as the crowd laughed. He had Ots ride to the center of the ring and removed his stirrups from the saddle before sending him back out on the rail to work the 7-year-old gelding.

Hinnemann also had Ots drop the curb rein to work the gelding only on the snaffle as he leg yielded at the trot without stirrups. Hinnemann said he thought Ots’ stirrups were perhaps too short, because he liked his position without them better.

“With the stirrups, you were collapsing in your stomach a bit,” Hinnemann said, demonstrating from the ground by hunching his shoulders slightly and pushing in on his abdomen.

Samhitas was very animated and up in Tuesday’s session, not spooking but a little bit tense, and Hinnemann had Ots spend nearly 20 minutes just focusing on getting the horse to let go of the tension in his body, doing walk-canter transitions on a circle, while Ots was simultaneously working on his seat without stirrups.  

Hinnemann suggested Ots do this for 20 minutes everyday at home, asking the horse to go long and low at the end of it before collecting him back up for the flying changes and the collected canter on a circle where he swings the haunches in to prepare for a pirouette.

J.J. Tate and Gideon—Think like Gumby to take it to the next level

“More bend, and more activity, and more flexibility,” Hinnemann demanded as Tate went around the ring on the Connemara pony, Gideon, doing various exercises. “The movements you’re doing are technically correct, but he needs to be more flexible.”

Whatever the activity, be it half-pass, haunches-in, or three-tempi changes, the pony did promptly and without fuss, but Hinnemann wanted more. He wanted Tate to be able to get more out of the gelding than just a correct response—Hinnemann wanted more action and energy at the trot, and more self carriage in the collected canter.

To do this, Hinnemann had her work on exercises like the zig zaggy half-pass/leg yield, and insisted she leg the pony up when he wanted to get dull or behind her leg. He also had her do a very small collected canter circle around him in the middle of the ring, essentially a large pirouette, and insisted on energy and activity even in the collection.

“See, he needs that canter for the pirouette,” Hinnemann said, turning in place as he watched Tate canter tightly around him. He said the exercise was also perfect for developing the strength needed for a true pirouette.

Endel Ots and Lucky Strike—working on head carriage/neck placement and length with a young horse

Lucky Strike showed his youth when he got excited and kicked up his heels at the crowd on Monday, but Tuesday he was all business, and that allowed Hinnemann and Ots to really focus on perfecting the young horse’s neck and head carriage in the snaffle bridle.

“He has nice contact, but I want the nose line out,” Hinnemann directed, calling Ots into the center of the ring so he could show him in the mirrors exactly where he wanted the gelding’s head.

He sent Ots back out to the rail to do trot-canter transitions, and insisted that the gelding not drop his neck in the downward transition. Then he had Ots canter on a circle, going two strides forward at the medium canter and then two strides back at the collected canter, reminding Ots to “control the poll” throughout the speed changes and make sure the horse was dropping it as he collected.

“Its only 100 percent correct if the nose is out,” Hinnemann reminded Ots and the crowd, commenting on the quality of the 6-year-old’s movements but noting that was what was needed to take him to the next level.

Melissa Jackson and Domani—Setting yourself apart at the shows with expression

Jackson provided a little comic relief for the conference when she, as directed by Hinnemann, half passed from the corner of the ring to where he was standing on the opposite rail, and nearly ran him over.

Hinnemann laughed as he quick stepped out of the way, and Jackson pulled up and apologized before letting out a giggle herself—they were working on the same exercise from the day prior, picking a spot on the rail and half passing directly to it, but this time the spot was Hinnemann.

Hinnemann had just spent a few minutes working with Jackson on a quality active trot before sending her into the half pass that nearly flattened him, and he noted to the crowd that while the horse had started from the very beginning doing things correctly, it was this new expressive trot that would help her in competition.

“Most people who go to the show can do the exercise, but can you do it with expression, and without tension,” Hinnemann said. “No one makes mistakes anymore, it used to be maybe they missed a change or something, but no one does anymore, so you have to work on expression to set yourself apart.”

Read more in our coverage of Day 1 of the clinic in “Transitioning To The Top At The Adequan/USDF Trainers Clinic.“