Back in the mid-’80s, I spent several months training with Harry Boldt, who was then, and still is, one of my equestrian heroes. He had perhaps 15 horses in training at the time, and when I arrived with my Swedish Warmblood, Stockholm, I discovered I was the only foreigner in the barn.
I got a warm welcome when I walked off the van with the horse, but Mr. Boldt kept looking behind me as if he expected another person to appear. And indeed, he did.
“Where is your husband?” he inquired.
“In America,”
I said. He was
apparently amazed that I’d traveled without a guardian.
When I arrived the second morning for my
lesson, Mr. Boldt looked a bit
confused. On the third day, he exclaimed, “You are back!?”
I assured him that I had not come all that way with my horse to miss a single opportunity to ride in front of him, and he seemed to accept that fact with some hesitation.
A couple of days later, I
started to get the picture. A lady I hadn’t seen before arrived to ride her horse, and after the lesson, she asked Mr. Boldt when she should come back to ride again. His reply was, “When I call you!”
She got back in her Mercedes, departed, and wasn’t seen for at least two weeks. This was the way it worked with all the horses there–you came to ride your horse by invitation only. I remember thinking that such a system would go over like a lead balloon in the United States.
When I had to return home, I left the horse with Mr. Boldt, and after a while I received pictures and a list of results from a show in which his working student had ridden my horse. I don’t recall that they ever asked if they could show him. But whenever I arrived to visit, the horse was in excellent shape, up to his elbows in clean straw, and shining with good health.
Although not even Mr. Boldt’s expert riding could remedy the horse’s canter, which was very earthbound, he was in all other ways making progress and obviously being trained according to a regular schedule.
My point is that, like many amateur riders, I learned to give up control of my horse and place my
trust in someone I really admired. And it all worked out well because I chose the right person.
I can’t say it was easy, though, and now when the shoe is on the other foot, I
understand how an owner can worry about his or her horse when he’s out of their hands.
Of course, I grew up knowing how
the system works in Europe, but giving up control is not the American way, and it
has taken a long time for us to get a working relationship going between trainers and owners, one that’s beneficial to both parties and also to the horse.
Last month, I judged the best 4-, 5- and 6-year-olds in Scandinavia at the Flyinge Stallion Station in Sweden. Of the 45 4-year-olds that qualified, only about five were ridden by their owners, which is completely normal for European standards–and the best way to get your horse started right. Young horses
and inexperienced riders make a dangerous mix, but it took Americans a long time to accept this. Although it looks like the message is getting through, there’s still a lot of “mixing of greens” out there, and it’s bound to clash!
For the amateur rider who’s busy with work, children and other agendas and only has limited time to spend with her horse, a professional trainer is a must if the horse is not to stagnate. It can be difficult to find a capable rider/trainer in the immediate area, and the search can be as complicated as choosing a college for your child.
Once you’ve made a selection, though, it’s time to let go and allow yourself to be taught and the horse to be trained. This presupposes that you already own a horse. If not, the trainer of your choice should help you locate and select the horse. There is nothing less inspiring for a teacher than working with a combination that’s totally unsuited for each other.
When you sense it will
never work, standing there and trying to find positive energy from two negatives can wear you down.
Considering how much
time, effort and money a horse with an agenda consumes, it’s vital that you start with a
rider and horse who have physical and mental attributes that match.
When evaluating horses to buy, it’s often very difficult for part-time riders to “look into
the future” and tell what will
be required for a horse to advance in his
training. Trying horses out can be an in-
timidating experience, and it’s well worth
paying a reasonable commission to someone who finds a suitable horse (usually 10%, but sometimes more, de-pending on the circumstances, the time and travel) to avoid making mistakes.
Admittedly, some people will try not to pay for advice. But the expertise of a well-meaning and experienced horseman is every bit as valuable as that of a lawyer or doctor, and nobody would dream of not paying
them for their time! Admittedly, we need more clear guidelines to follow when it
comes to commissions–and who has rightfully earned one–but that doesn’t mean
that customers can ignore the fact that they owe something for time spent and advice given.
Even if an amateur rider wisely chooses a horse who’s more experienced than he or she is, instant bliss is not a given. Horses, like people, have their own view of how life should be. More often than not, you’re looking at about a year of “getting to know you” before you have the feeling that the horse is truly your horse, responding to your aids without hesitating or resisting.
Even if you fell in love at first sight, the engagement can be rocky because the horse anticipates the aids and reactions from his “old” rider, which may not be in the new rider’s repertoire. Both of them could also be carrying some other “baggage.”
As we know, horses never forget, good or bad, and a flashback from his former life can cause misunderstandings and friction. He’s also likely to pick up on fear in the rider caused by incidents that have nothing to do with him, creating tension neither horse nor rider can detect the source of. Here, again, input from your instructor is vital to move past the problem.
At this point in my life, I’m in the lucky situation of being able to choose the kind of clients I wish to work with, but having started out young and naive, I know how tough it can be to earn owners’ trust and end up with a loyal customer base. You do it, of course, by teaching honestly, riding the horses in a fair manner, and doing all you possibly can to deliver what you promise.
One additional very important thing is
to respect the amateur owner/riders for
their contribution to the sport and for what they’re able to accomplish outside of their
riding life, while supporting us horse
fanatics.
To borrow from the title of David O’Connor’s last column (Oct. 21, p. 50): We are powered by the amateurs, and we’d better be sure we run our barns as professionals should.