This report in about Day 2 of the 2025 Adequan/USDF FEI-Level Trainers Conference. Click here to read the Day 1 report.
German dressage team coach Monica Theodorescu and U.S. dressage team chef d’quipe Christine Traurig remarked on the positive changes they saw among the horses and riders they coached on the second and final day of this week’s 2025 Adequan/USDF FEI-Level Trainers Conference, as the participants built upon the lessons they learned on the first day of the event, held Monday and Tuesday at High Meadow Farm in Loxahatchee, Florida. The clinicians were true to their references to “Transition Tuesday” and spent much of the second day focused on that topic.
Sometimes Less Is More
Theodorescu praised Kate Shoemaker for her warm-up with her 9-year-old Hanoverian mare Vianne (Kastel’s Vitalis—Raureif, Ramiro’s Bube). Shoemaker, a Grade IV para-dressage rider, attended the trainers conference in advance of this weekend’s CPEDI3* at Adequan Global Dressage Festival 3 (Florida), which is her first international para-dressage competition with Vianne since the pair won individual bronze at the Paris Paralympic Games.

The German team coach said that, for her, a warm-up with the degree of balance, relaxation and engagement the pair displayed would be sufficient for a training day. When a horse is well-schooled, it is not always necessary to work on the movements for the next competition; simply letting the horse work in a productive and calm way is enough, she told the spectators. That sentiment also carried over to warm-up at shows.
“The work has to be done at home, not at the competition,” she said. “Make it easy and the least exhausting possible. The horse gets mentally tired, too.”
As Shoemaker put her horse through her paces, she was cautioned to not hurry when they worked on a turn on the haunches to supple the horse.
Later in the lesson, Shoemaker and Vianne—who compete in open dressage classes as well as para-dressage and recently won a Prix St. Georges class—tackled one-tempis. Theodorescu told her to just keep going as they did a series of them. The result was 17 one-tempi changes to the delight of the audience. Soon after, the presenter called the lesson early as it was successful, and Vianne didn’t need to be schooled any longer.
Your Ring Finger Is The Thermometer
Chris Hickey and Saskatoon OMF, a 7-year-old Hanoverian gelding (San Amour I—Dolce Nera, Don Frederico) owned by Cecilia Stewart, was more supple, relaxed and improved from the previous day, Traurig noted as their ride began. She talked to Hickey about the importance of the rider taking responsibility for the aids and constantly assessing their efficacy: If a horse first responds by stiffening in your hand, you may need to soften your hand, she said. She spoke about hand position and how the fist holding the reins can massage them, as if squeezing out a sponge. If the horse doesn’t respond, she suggested softly adding some wrist action to gently turn up the volume.
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“The thermometer in your horse’s mouth is your ring finger,” she said, meaning that the softness of the horses’ mouth can be checked with just a twinge of the finger.
It was the same with leg aids: A rider should be able to soften the leg aid without the horse’s way of going changing. If it does change, the rider may add a little more leg to give a gentle reminder. She reminded Hickey that, for the half-halt to work properly, the horse must be unconditionally in front of the leg.
“A downward transition is not a backward transition; you are gathering the hind legs under,” she noted.
As “Saskatoon” responded to Hickey’s aids, Traurig told him to make a fuss over the horse and praise him. She shared that she always had a soft spot for Saskatoon and frequently asks his owner if she can take him home, but Stewart always declines.
“It’s a treasure as a trainer to find a horse with talent and a good attitude,” she mused.
Downward Is Still Forward
Neve Myburgh started her second lesson with Theodorescu by warming up her 8-year-old German Sport Horse mare Firiet (Franklin—Evita, Ehrentanz I) on the weaker side, and the trainer quickly noticed she was already improved from taking shorter steps in the canter on that side the day before.

In the Transition Tuesday theme, Theodorescu reminded Myburgh that even downward transitions are forward transitions into the changing gait, asking her to use soft contact and her seat, instead of pulling on the reins, to make the transition.
Firiet demonstrated a willingness to improve, especially in the counter-canter, as her stride in the medium canter became more uphill and her inside hind leg came more forward from Monday’s lesson. To work into the flying changes, Myburgh was directed to half-pass from the center line, then after the short side she went across the diagonal in the medium canter. Theodorescu said that when the rider felt that today was the day for a flying change, then she should go for it but if the single changes were not secure, she could not move onto four-tempis or three-tempis.
The Straight And Narrow
Geometry was at the forefront when Heather Bender and Keisha B, her own 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Geniaal—Fiona B, Apache) entered the arena. As they warmed up, Traurig reminded Bender to be very precise in her geometry and aids, and not to hurry. As the lesson continued and they worked toward canter pirouettes, Bender was encouraged to feel how the inside bend of the horse is available, even on straight lines. The inside leg to outside rein connection was in full action during the haunches-in and as the rider worked on downward transitions.
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Bender was directed to ride shoulder-fore in the canter and then to make a 20-meter circle where they worked on tempo transitions to “change gears” within the gait and to prepare for more collection. Traurig wanted to see the horse asking “what’s next”—rather than slowing down—when Bender shortened her reins to collect.

Moving into lead changes, Traurig talked about the importance of the horse’s legs staying on a straight line in the change so that the hind legs stay on the line in preparation for the pirouettes. Straightness continued to be a theme as the lesson continued.
To Each Horse A Different Warm-Up
JJ Tate and Denali, Cackie Vroom’s 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Don Noblesse—Shakira, Scolari), worked with Traurig and, because the gelding had gotten a bit tired during the previous day’s lesson, the presenter allowed Tate to warm-him up at her own pace while taking into account his needs. They went through the walk and Tate incorporated lots of leg yields in the gait. They did a turn on the forehand at X and continued into a half-pass to supple the horse. As they continued the warm-up with lots of suppling and bending, the gelding became lighter and softer to the aids.
The pair also worked toward pirouettes, with Traurig instructing Tate to establish her bending aids in a manner in which she could feel the adjustability of the canter forward and back. It was Transition Tuesday for Tate as well, Traurig said, talking about how the downwardness of going “back” within the gait enables the upward transition of going “forward” in the pirouette. As the rider was finding the perfect time to start the movement of the pirouette, Traurig advised her not to allow Denali to bait her into thinking “not yet, not yet, not yet.”
Traurig also cautioned Tate to make sure aids from the outside leg didn’t allow the gelding’s haunches to fall out of the pirouette, yet she still needed to give him some room to move while turning him from her outside leg.

Q&A: What About A Fussy Horse?
During one of the conference’s question-and-answer sessions, a participant asked how to deal with a very green mare who is resistant to the contact and how to teach her in an effective and positive way.
Traurig advised eliminating any causes of discomfort before moving on to soft training techniques. First and foremost, she recommended having the mare’s teeth and mouth checked for any signs of discomfort. Similarly, she said, check the bit fit before proceeding. Modern horses are sensitive and their mouths are much narrower than in the past, so addressing the thickness of the bit is important.
“I can tell you, for example, that I still have my bit box from years ago, and when I looked at the old snaffles I used to use, they were a whole lot wider than then I use now,” she said.
The rider also has to take responsibility and accountability on how they ride to the contact and honestly assess whether they have a smooth, soft feeling in the contact: Do their hands get unsteady? Do they move too much so the horse gets fussy? Have they correctly taught the horse to understand contact? Exercises like longeing in sidereins can help teach a horse to seek the bit, but the rider should first assess themselves and the role they are playing in their horse’s understanding of—and potential aversion to—contact.