OHMYGOD. Ella is flipping amazing. What did I do in another life to deserve a horse like this?

(I think it goes without saying that our Conrad Schumacher clinic was pretty awesome.)

My biggest struggle has been compressing her body, particularly in the passage. She has this MASSIVE stride – she’s barely 16.2 and can clock off a diagonal in about 10 strides without breaking a sweat – and in the Brentina Cup test, half the passage is done on twisty lines. When I’ve only got 5 strides to develop passage, demonstrate passage and then gather passage for a piaffe transition, all of them on a curved line, I’d better be on top of it! And I’m not yet, not 100% of the time.

Mr. Schumacher had the answer, like he always does. On Day One, this meant time in one of his famous squares.

Aww, MAN!

I first watched him teach when I was 17, when he was coach of the Young Rider program, and rode with him for the first time a year later. He’s watched me grow up, basically, as a person and a horseman. And I’ve somehow never been put in The Square before. So I’d like to think that I’ve ARRIVED (either that, or I’ve ridden horses for whom collection was not the problem. But I like Option A better for my ego, thanks). The Square is exactly that, a square built from ground poles, about 10 meters, and you have to stay in it and own the corners and own EVERY FLIPPING STEP and, you know, ride well.

Ugh!

But it was, of course, exactly what I needed. Ella had to wait, to rebalance, to whoa herself. One of Mr. Schumacher’s greatest qualities is having an exercise for everything that sets up the horse to fix the problem himself, to let the exercise take care of the issue instead of the rider’s aids.

Day 2 was more about straight lines, and about patience and whoa. He was ALL OVER ME about my stupid &!@&$^! right rein, which I swear has a mind of its own, and about not constraining the passage, but rather compressing the passage. Wait. Sit. Stretch yourself. And voila, there she was, making teeny weeny passage – up and expressive, just little and under, like I’ve been trying to get since, you know, ever.

Wahoo!!

We did other stuff – slow canter, slow canter sideways, slow canter pirouettes. She’s got the most marvelously adjustable canter, but I let her get frantic and quick instead of under and sitting. Thinking slow really helps that.

And we talked about her fitness, how I had this plan to do hillwork and trot sets, and he said hey, kid – your problem isn’t a FITNESS problem, your problem is a fitness IN THE COLLECTION problem. No amount of trot sets on the planet will fix that. I have to fix it by, sigh, riding more collection. Sorry, Ella.

I rode Fender too, which was a nice forum for Mr. Schumacher to talk about young horses and their development. He encouraged me to close his front end more – not stronger, not shorter, just a closer contact. I’d been hesitant to go there, fearing making him shorter, but by just keeping my hand a little more in three walk-halt transitions, I had a totally different animal. And there’s still plenty of progress to be made – Fender is not too keen yet on really giving up his back, especially in sideways stuff, but Mr. Schumacher had me doing some moving turns on the forehand, and at the end of my first lesson Fender gave in for one BIG sideways stride, and I felt his whole spine just curl underneath me. Whoa. A taste of the future.

It was just a fabulous clinic. He’s a tremendous clinician, not just a trainer – he engages the audience, explains brilliantly. He does have his own language, which you have to adapt to. It took me quite a bit to figure out that “ZOH!” noise he makes is a good thing, not a bad thing. He’s tough, and is absolutely not afraid of browbeating riders for their mistakes and their problems, but it’s because he wants the rider to succeed. He’s a fierce advocate for the horse, but also understands that the horse must be through the neck to be through the body. He doesn’t believe in comfort zones, and has a great understanding of when to hold the rider’s hand and when to give them a swift, stern kick through the door.

We fed and wined him, so hopefully he’ll come back!