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California Riding Magazine • February, 2009 Home For The Holidays by Zazou Hoffman |
I was offered an opportunity to work with a young Seattle Slew Thoroughbred gelding when I came home for Thanksgiving. It was interesting to see how agile and energetic an off-the-track Thoroughbred can be, albeit with a limited attention span. I asked my friend, Olympic show jumping legend Kathy Kusner, for her input knowing that she favors the nimble American Thoroughbred over some of the clunkier European Warmblood jumpers. We came up with some exercises to determine how much scope and natural jumping form the horse had. After that I worked with my trainer Meredith Bullock on flat exercises and specific jumps in order to make the horse more adjustable and comfortable with different distances and types of jumps. After several weeks I am happy to report that much progress was made and I won a 1.15M class on him at the Industry Hills show. It was incredibly satisfying and rewarding to see that, with a methodical training plan, a young horse can make significant progress in a very short period of time. A confident ride is essential, but continuity and a daily routine can also produce very positive results. Once again I am reminded that the best approach is two pronged: get input from the experts, in my case, Olympian Kathy Kusner and my California trainer Meredith Bullock, then follow my instincts and apply my own personal experience to the situation at hand. Every horse is an individual and deserves an individualized approach to training. I tried a variety of bits and equipment, worked with the shoer, and came up with protective boots and even concluded that he needed ankle protectors because he crossfires. I even briefly considered glue-on shoes, but decided they were unsuitable because he over-reached.
Me and JoAnn Postel in the judge’s booth at the My next adventure was a trip down memory lane to Westlake Village and the Foxfield Riding School, where, not so long ago, I was a camper with my strawberry roan pony, Ellsworth Kelly. JoAnn Postel asked if I would judge the Foxfield Holiday Horse Show, a non-rated show for Riding School students. It was a beautiful crisp morning when I arrived at my wreath and poinsettia festooned judge’s booth at the Hitchcock ring. The entire experience was delightful. Each rider was perfectly turned out in dark hunt coats, clean breeches and shiny boots. The horses were freshly groomed and the parents cheered enthusiastically for their own children as well as fellow competitors. The holiday spirit was everywhere and good will was the name of the game. It was a wonderful reminder that riding is fun!! And showing is fun. I loved being judge for the day and I managed to spread the ribbons around. Even the riders who decided to inspect the footing received the special Foxfield angel wing “fall-off” pin. There were no major mishaps and everyone went away happy. The Foxfield family does a spectacular job with their riders. If ever you are discouraged about the state of horsemanship in our sport just go out and visit the Foxfield Riding School and Camp. I am off to Wellington, FL to compete in the Winter Equestrian Festival, where I hope to make my debut in the High Junior Jumpers. More about that next time.
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