Catherine Haddad Staller

Dear Rita,

I shot off on a longer tangent than I expected! Let’s get back to some fun stories.

That impertinent afternoon when I jumped the fence and asked Mr. Schultheis if I could watch the training at his stable (see blog from Feb. 2, 2010) was a turning point in my life.

Dear Rita,

You know, sometimes when I sit down to write, I have to admit to having ulterior motives. I don't know if y'all noticed, but the FEI is meeting at Lausanne today to discuss Rollkür. This controversy has become insanely heated on both sides with rational thinking and logical argument mostly thrown out the window.

Dear Rita,

At least one person read my blog! I am thrilled to get a comment with a question about the "Playing the Accordion" video. Being a new blogger, I am in a panic about where to answer this question, so I’ve submitted a whole new post.

Dear Rita,

I know you are sitting on pins and needles waiting to hear the next episode of the Schultheis Chronicles. I hate to leave you hanging in the tangles of his rose garden, but I have to surge off on a tangent for a minute. A bit of half-pass to the right please…

Dear Rita,

Did I ever tell you the story of how I met Mr. Schultheis?

Over the years that I trained with Bodo Hangen in Michigan in the 1990s, Willi Schultheis became a hero of mine. Bodo loved to tell stories about him and showed me many photos and videos from his time in training at the Schultheis Stable in Warendorf, Germany. He taught me how to ride in the Schultheis way and in the Schultheis saddle. For me, Schultheis was the ultimate Master of Dressage.

Dear Rita,

It’s Friday afternoon in Vechta, Germany, and I have just completed a most unusual activity in my daily routine—shoveling snow—which is a distant, more strenuous cousin to sweeping the aisle. All German riding instructors will, at some time or another, use the following quip when handing you a broom: “Learn riding through sweeping.” This is a quip, by the way, not a joke. Germans do not joke about learning riding.