windurra camp: dressage

The last major focal area for the camp was certainly not the least — in fact there was probably more dressage action than anything else. 

Each clinic participant had two dressage lessons, one with Silva Martin and one with Australian Olympian Brett Parbery. Plus US Olympian Laura Graves did a demo with Silva, and also taught lessons for a small contingent of pure dressage clinic participants — most of whom were working on the FEI levels.

nbd just Silva Martin and Laura Graves doin’ a dressage demo!

It was kinda funny too, bc at one point they actually had the pure dressage FEI horses riding with Laura in the same ring as the BN eventers riding with Brett… And obvi it’s natural to be drawn into watching the big fancy impressive moving warmbloods doing fancy upper level stuff vs the scrawny TB learning a leg yield lol… 

But realistically there are always more direct and tactical takeaways from auditing the lessons working at my own level, right? Real talk, tho, I kept trying to find a horse among the various groups that went most like Doozy, so that I could try to follow them around and see how the clinicians handled them… Except, joke’s on me — none of the horses went like Doozy, bc maybe most people are smart enough not to take that kind of hot mess out in public, LOL!

Laura on one of Silva’s horses

Ahem, cough cough, Moving On! Let’s start with the demo, wherein Silva and Laura shared high level thoughts on their approach and training philosophies — while simultaneously floating and flitting hither and yon on extremely fancy creatures, as one does.

They both emphasized the importance of intentional careful practice, of confronting the details right away, every day. Whether that be in developing our strength in our position, or the quality of a gait, or execution of a movement.

Laura in particular noted that she often sees people “get desperate” — a similar theme that Peter brought up in his show jumping lessons too. She said you’re always better off just taking a break, a circle, a breather, regrouping to try again, rather than getting desperate and maybe teaching the horse the wrong thing, or sacrificing positioning etc.

Silva demonstrating a variation of the exercise she coached in many of the lessons

She advised riders to “get out of a movement before failure, even as you work on pushing the boundary.”

Which is when Silva chimed in with the note I shared in an earlier post, that you have to let the horse do things he’s good at too, to help them like it and give you a reason to praise them.

The example she used was teaching eventing horses the changes — she’ll often halt straight and do a rein back after a bad change, NOT because the rein back is punishment for the bad change, but rather bc the horse can easily and correctly answer that question and then she can praise it right away for that, then go back and try the change again. Her point was that the horse can’t be scared of doing the wrong thing.

A lot of hotness in the horses comes from that insecurity (Editor’s note: Uh, **noted**); and while Laura pointed out that some positive tension is required in order to go forward and have energy, we want to avoid it bubbling over, avoid the desperation.

clinic riders did two dressage lessons — one with Silva

The warm up for the eventing groups was remarkably similar to the xc warm up, which was itself remarkably similar to the show jumping warm up. Are you sensing a theme here??

Silva started her groups moving immediately into trot / canter transitions, with changes of direction, to get everyone moving forward right away. From the more forward gait, she then asked riders to zero in on shoulder control, and particularly straightening on the outside rein. 

After a couple transitions between gaits, next came transitions within gaits — first in trot: forward and back in trot, almost walking then trotting forward, with changes of direction. Then in canter — lengthen first, then come back. Riders could use the ring geometry to help, like lengthening down the long side, closing into the corner. 

In one large circle, she wanted to see riders able to execute quiet smooth transitions every quarter — bring back, then normal, bring back, then normal. Again and again and again.

and another lesson with Australian Olympic dressage rider Brett Parbery

Laura kept a similar theme even in her lessons with the pure dressage horses. She noted in particular that riders and horses alike can make mistakes in these exercises — but that by finding that edge, that boundary, then you know where it is and can work on it. The key is being fair when there’s a mistake. 

Tho she noted, we can’t have greater expectations of the horse than the structure we provide. Our aids are only correct when the horse gives the right response (in other words, the horse hasn’t read the textbook, right?). The point of a correction to a mistake is to help the horse understand the original aid, not to have the correction itself become the aid.

Laura also taught lessons for the pure dressage participants

Especially when it came to quality of gaits, adjustability and transitions within the gaits, Laura was constantly asking her students: do you like this walk? Is this the trot you wanted? If not, does the horse know that? In her words, riders need to “make up your mind and act” bc the horse will only know what we tell them.

Possibly the most interesting thing Laura did with each lesson related to that overarching theme of finding forward first and always: Many of her clinic participants would come in wanting to work on a specific movement, two examples were pirouette and half pass zig-zag. Almost invariably, after they’d do the movement once (and thus demonstrate why it was an issue for them), Laura would break it down in the same way. 

She’d have the rider focus solely on establishing the pace and positioning for the movement — be that piro canter or half pass bend — but then just ride forward down the quarter line instead of turning into the movement itself. And it quite literally broke a few brains — even as it made her point crystal clear: so often, our tendency is to get wrapped up in the desperation of the full movement, that we sacrifice the fundamental components (ie, forward). But if you can’t hold the preliminary positioning on a straight line, maybe that’s actually the underlying issue?

nbd just super fancy and inspiring!

Anyway, tho, as fascinating as that was, it’s maybe a little less directly or tangibly applicable to me lol. Well. Except for the mantra of remembering the “forward and straight first” part!

Brett’s lessons with the eventing groups, however, continued to bring those same concepts to life in more relatable ways — particularly with some exercises I hope to repeat at home as Doozy continues in her rehab. 

He had riders working on the same transitions between and within gaits — that’s clearly just something that maybe everybody in the whole wide world is doing all day, every day, and I just forget to even think about it…? But he also introduced more complicated transitions too. 

it was amazing how many threads carried through all three clinician’s sessions

For one of the BN/N groups that had three very different horses, he had them all do the exact same exercise of a small-ish (think ~5m) figure-8 at walk, then after a circuit or two, as you change the bend do a walk-canter transition. Carry on in canter on a circle for as long as you can hold the organization and control the shoulder, then back to walk, regroup, repeat. 

The objective of this exercise is to help the horse arrive in a smaller canter right away, to help set the horse up for the organization, not try to impose organization after the fact. And it was interesting to see how well it worked for each of the horses — the behind-the-leg horse got more prompt, the overly-forward rushing horse got less strung out. Definitely something to try!

every individual horse and rider pair was so different, but they all benefited from the same simple classic exercises 

Tho Brett advised that it’s really all about slowing down the placement of aids — getting acceptance of each component, one step at a time. Prompting each moment of action without panic or desperation, without sacrificing correct posture and positioning. 

Something that will be important for me to remember with Doozy: It’s not just one big movement, it’s actually several smaller aids and steps and moments that each need their own breathing room. And that is what becomes the schooling, becomes the acceptance of independent aids.

Overall, lots to chew on, lots of food for thought, and a LOT of ideas I’m eager to start weaving into our daily practice — especially since a lot of this seems fairly rehab-friendly, too. 

Hopefully there are some good ideas or thoughts or takeaways in there for you all too, and the notes actually make some semblance to sense beyond just a massive download from hours and hours of auditing and lecture LOL! Or maybe some of this is already a major feature of your regular work?

windurra camp: show jumping

There were so many groups, so many sessions, and so much activity throughout the weekend that it was impossible not to experience at least a little bit of everything. For whatever reason, however, I gravitated to the show jumping ring again and again. 

And as a result, there are lots of notes and takeaways haha. The tl;dr version is that if you have a chance to ride with or audit lessons with Peter Wylde, you should. There’s so much information, so many notes, bc literally every single thing about the course itself, and how he wanted it ridden, is Intentional and On Purpose.

Olympian Peter Wylde & Boyd tag-teamed the show jumping demo

Day 1’s riding sessions kicked off immediately with demonstration rides — first with Boyd on Fetiche des Rouges (Radish), then with Peter on Cooley Nutcracker (Bali) — while whoever wasn’t riding provided commentary and insights.

The way they warmed up, put together the exercises, then rode the course was exactly how every single lesson, horse, and rider did it too — everyone from the BN group, to the modified group, to the random non-clinic lessons like with Boyd’s assistant riders etc, young horses, olympic horses, Nox & Lulu, everyone did it the same.

Which, ya know, means you can do it too!

Boyd and Fetiche des Rouges (aka Radish) 

It started with warming up on the flat. Now again, the Windurra horses would have arrived at the ring with usually at least 20min hacking under their belts, so adapt accordingly for yourself. But it was virtually the same for everybody:

Peter started the groups trotting forward on a circle in a light seat, not too fussy about the connection to start. Change directions, trot forward. Sit the trot, canter a circle or two — collected to rolling canter to collected, return to sitting trot, canter again, back to sitting, change directions, rinse repeat: sit, canter, canter on, canter collected, sit, canter, sit, post, walk. 

The transitions, especially with the sitting trot, were intended to help collect and balance the canter and bring the trot together. The contact and connection were developed through the exercise rather than as a fussy starting off point.

video of the full course

Then it was right into warming up over fences. See the diagram below. Riders started with a simple low vertical (with a somewhat impressively heavy gate as the top element) placed at least 14-15 steps in from the rail so that it can be approached from both canter leads. 

warm up was universal — everyone did exactly the same series, including boyd and peter and their other non-clinic lessons with working students and assistant riders etc.

Riders did their first pass on the left lead, which in this course was the tighter turn (larger diameter than a center line turn but smaller than a 20m circle). To Peter, the landing was almost more important than the jump. For many horses, this meant landing and quietly bringing back to walk *before* the turn. Peter likes this first jump to be far enough from the end of the ring that riders have to ride the landing first rather than relying on the wall.

Repeat again off the next lead — which Peter had riders approach from the quarter line rather than the rail, creating a slightly wider turn than the other direction, but still a small enough half circle approach to develop connection and engagement in the forward step. 

Peter was up next in the Demo with a schooling ride on Cooley Nutcracker, Liz Halliday Sharp’s Paris Olympics horse

Then with the magic of a jump crew, the vertical is raised and riders do it all over again — really focusing on schooling the landing side of the fence. Jump the jump, then deal with the horse first, then the turn.

The oxer was next, positioned at the other end of the ring on the same line as the first vertical (tho I didn’t see anybody ride the line directly). Same idea with the approaches off each lead, tho for the second trip Peter had riders go all the way out to the rail and open the canter up a bit, before collecting into the corner to make a good straight turn.

warm up vertical

Some horses did more repetitions than others to get the landing right, but basically without deviation, next came the bounces! A simply constructed straight line of low vertical to X to low vertical, 9’ distances, ground lines on both sides of everything, to be ridden off a circle in both directions. 

More advanced horses put much more of a curve into their line, like Peter and Bali below, with a main focus on holding the correct lead, while greener pairs rode it a little straighter. But everyone basically did it twice on a circle each way. Peter loves this exercise especially for helping develop connection and softness in the flatwork. 

warm up bounces, ridden in both directions

Next came the main feature of this particular course design: Peter’s quadruple 2-2-2 line, which is apparently one of his favorite exercises that they use often. 

looking tidy down the quadruple 2-2-2 line

This gymnastic grid measures 30’ to 31’ to 32’, with placing poles to the B, C and D elements spaced 8.5’ out. Riders were instructed to ride in collected and connected, land and wait, wait through the first stride to the cavaletti, relax hand over the jump, then wait, wait, etc, down the whole line. Staying straight and steady. 

This line is intended to really help a horse understand his footwork, especially helping him bring his hind feet together to push off, while also getting comfortable jumping from a close distance. It’s generally positioned going away from the in gate to help avoid rushing.

distances in the quadruple were 30’-31’-32’, with V poles and ground line boxes for each of the four elements. cavaletti was spaced 8.5’ from each jump except the first (which had no placing pole)

Peter’s preferred construction uses three height elements with a rail and panel toward the top of the jump, and a third rail toward the bottom. Boxes for ground lines, placed slightly ahead of the jump. Heavy cavaletti for the placing pole 8.5’ out, and ~2” diameter / 9’ length PVC poles to create the “V” guide rails. 

lovely demonstration of the quadruple line by Nox & Lulu!

Alternatives could include just using 3 elements instead of 4, tho the length of the line is really the main point of instruction bc jumping in too hot will catch up with you. You could also do three oxers instead, and maybe add 1’ to the distances between (tho keep the cavaletti the same). Peter also likes using lines of 5 or 6 bounces especially for horses that are tricky on the flat.

Peter advised always starting with a low height bc it’s a LOT to jump into!

He likes using the “V” poles for basically everything (obviously) as a straightening device, and says they can often be just as effective on the floor too, or even on the landing side — tho he advised placing them at least 6-10’ back from landing so horses aren’t stepping all over them. The idea is to passively train out drifting while building the strength to jump straight and square.

For less careful horses, he might rest the poles so that the ends are about 6” above the height of the rail, with a gap between them as narrow as about 18”. In the gif above, that would look like bringing the poles to the inner edges of the red bands instead of the outer. 

picture for my own benefit — basically two full steps from the cavaletti to my feet here, then slightly plus 1’ to the ground line box, which is itself pulled out slightly ahead of the jump

Anyway, from there, the next schooling exercise was to put the first line together — starting with the same oxer riders warmed up over, then bending in a patient 7 strides to a vertical jumping into the corner. 

Peter said he likes to set a lot of distances that are about 3’ short, and especially likes starting and finishing his courses with shorter distances to help the horses not anticipate or spool out. Again, everything is all about the little details. 

this oxer doubled as a warm up jump, and as the first jump on course — bending in a short seven to the vertical

For most lessons, the riders did this line at least twice — starting from the right lead, then rolling through a polite and organized turn on the landing to come back down on the left lead — letting the canter open a bit on the long side before collecting again — to jump the line a second time, this time walking in a straight line on landing into the corner. 

straight to the corner! no cutting in, finish riding the landing before the turn

The important detail in these polite landings is the smoothness, to show the horse the improvements not by roughing them up, but by calmly and firmly asking for just the one answer: walk in a straight line before the turn. 

Peter advised that the worst thing you can do is have a tantrum on a sensitive horse here… which like. Yea, I can see that LOL. But that doesn’t mean you can hide from the issues either. You have to confront them, and help the horse understand the rideability on landing.

second line on course, another oxer right bend, this time on a true 12’ stride in seven

The idea is that if you start your ride by focusing on those little details, the course should basically put itself together. Riders started again with the same first oxer bending to blue vertical in a patient 7 strides, then down the quadruple 2-2-2 gymnastic. 

like so!

Then onto the next bending line, this time actually set to a true 12’ stride but still in seven. For folks who might be interested in setting this up at home, but who would prefer to have both a right and left bending line, you could square that turquoise oxer instead of putting it on the diagonal to change that bend from right to left.

then a finish down a triple combination again set on slightly short “comfortable” distances

The course finished down another combination set on distances that were all about 3’ short, again to help horses learn not to keep snowballing as the course goes on. And riders were instructed to finish their circle politely. As with every other line, fix your lead, fix your canter, as if you intended to keep going.

An alternative construction could include a 5-1 oxer-vertical-oxer instead, which is apparently another of Peter’s favorites for practice. He said he sometimes likes putting a liverpool at the A element jump to force riders to ride forward into the line even tho the distance is short.

sketch of the full course, lmk if you want any additional details

Overall, Peter described his training approach and course design to be all about helping horses and riders avoid the round snowballing out of control. Sometimes he’ll use cones in the ends of the ring to cue walk transitions in the middle of a course, or maybe he’ll plop in a trot jump like you’d see in an equitation round. 

But basically, he wants riders to be able to create a transition at any point in the course, to break up the building adrenaline, and develop tools and techniques to prevent desperation. “Develop” being the operative word there — rather than “demand.”

Personally, I can’t wait to try setting some of this up, and practice some of the techniques and approaches from these lessons. But ya know. Rehab comes first… so in the meantime, maybe one of you will give it a shot and let me know how it goes?

windurra: the unmounted sessions

The Windurra Camp curriculum was truly designed to be a 360* immersion into the performance ecosystem. Because as we all know, there’s more — FAR more — to success with horses than just what happens in the saddle. Arguably, a solid comprehensive system will get you sustainably farther than just talent or resources alone.

As performance coach Natalie Hummel said in her kickoff keynote session “Think Like A Champion,” Boyd’s system is set up so that it would literally take more work for him to stop, than it would to keep executing the plan to be World #1.

Natalie Hummel opened the camp with a group session on framing mindset

So she opened the camp with a talk intended to provide riders and participants with a framework to establish sustainably healthy mentality, accountability and intentionality. 

The material would be familiar to anybody who has listened to Natalie’s podcasts or RideIQ sessions, but essentially she focused on shortening emotional recovery time. Everybody makes mistakes, it’s inevitable — and the temptation to get stuck into the drama is hard to resist. But that drama, or the dwelling, is basically just wasteful consumption of what may be limited resources of energy, attention, stamina, etc.  

ah yes. all my red flags LOL

So she talked about the “Notice - Reset - Recover” process, comparing it to “how many strides does it take to bring your horse from an extended to collected gait (Editor’s note: this is a major recurring theme across the whole camp). Specifically, “Feel your feelings, then carry on” and stay in the moment.

Her C.H.A.M.P. framework is designed to help riders recognize and name the common pitfalls or emotional obstacles to improve awareness, recovery and resetting to: Composure, Humility, Alignment, Mastery, and Performance Standard. Scan the QR code below if you’re interested in more material.

scan the code if you’re interested in more material

For me, and actually for many session participants, that “Composure” element is a pretty big one… And not gonna lie, when I got back to the barn later that evening, I explained very carefully to Doozy** that “Composure” would be our vocabulary word of the day for… ever, probably LOL.

And another little mantra from Natalie: Taking feedback is not the same as dwelling or fixating. She suggested asking ourselves in a difficult moment, “WWBD” (what would Boyd do?), with the answer: “Win this Moment.” You can’t carry a mistake forward, you can’t ride yesterday’s round or yesterday’s horse, you can’t be stuck on the last jump when another is right in front of you. Whether we like it or not, our horses demand that we stay present in the moment with them.

(**Who was a hot fucking mess bc her fields did a normal rotation but she had ended up turned out alone in a new paddock for a couple hours in the changeover and was very very sad about it…)

 

Xander from Stübben led a deep dive session on bitting

Obviously readers won’t be surprised that the sports psychology session resonated with me, as that’s an area I’ve personally spent a LOT of time working on in myself over the last few years… But let’s keep moving through this 360* ecosystem, shifting gears to the Stübben session on a key piece of equipment in our sport: bits. 

Boyd tag-teamed this session with Stübben product designer and internationally recognized bitting specialist Xander Boere, with demonstrations conducted by a working student whose name I missed (sorry!) but who has started the FEI eventing levels with his thoroughbred gelding.

one of boyd’s working students did the bitting demo ride on a sensitive slightly insecure but lovely and very willing thoroughbred gelding. 

Boyd talked a lot about his own favorite bits, and especially the reality that while he may have literally hundreds in his collection, he probably uses the same three or four 95% of the time (regular snaffles, twisted snaffles for jumping, and a baby Pelham). Xander, meanwhile, emphasized that your bitting solution needs to support a good contact, and that without that contact and connection, you lose the body of the horse.

He advised riders to use bits they like the feeling of, that the horse also likes. Realistically some horses will just get offended at some bits or some points of pressure, so a little trial and error may be needed. 

A general guideline he offered was that a smoother reaction that takes longer to work is “better” than the alternative of a quicker reaction that’s less smooth, bc you can always keep finessing and refining the training from there. 

boyd, looking deep in thought lol

Key topics in the talk included reviewing cheek piece styles, mouth pieces, materials, and best practices for fit. For example, a loose ring bit wants a finger of space on either side of the mouth to avoid pinching, but an eggbutt can be much closer. 

The baby Pelham is one of Boyd’s favorites — especially for his working students who might be hacking or exercising his horses — bc its action helps bring the horse’s head down and back up without a lot of fussing or tinkering in the connection. Alternatively, the three ring can help with raising a horse’s head up, tho you may sacrifice some hollowness in the back. 

Most of Boyd’s horses will flat in their ‘normal’ bit 90% of the time, but there may be certain scenarios where it’s helpful to change it up. For example, after a show when the horse is feeling tight in his back, or before a show during ring familiarization — these are both examples of a time where you can move back and forth between bits to help the horse understand and achieve the beneficial posture with minimal fuss.

doozy is clearly so excited to put my takeaways to work as we keep chugging along in the rehab

Xander also highlighted a new plastic compound Stübben is using for their bits. It’s his feeling that rubber as a bit material is basically outdated technology — that rubber is actually too drying and too prone to wear and tear. The plastic, on the other hand, encourages a wetter mouth and is less likely to get chewed up. 

I actually ordered a baby Pelham in the plastic material (with the same mouthpiece as the kimberwick Boyd’s holding above) using the clinic discount, and will report back!

(Editor’s note: another major theme from the clinic — an ever-growing shopping list LOL)

head groom / operations manager / boyd’s-right-hand-man Steph’s personal horse was an extremely willing participant as demo horse in Dr Kevin Keane’s session

As with anything with horses, there really aren’t any hard and fast rules or requirements here — the horses haven’t read the textbooks and all our experiences will vary slightly. If you’re interested in getting more personalized feedback or even a fitting, it might be worth reaching out to either a rep or independent fitter in your area!

And same caveat with the next session, “When do you NEED the vet?” with Kevin Keane, DVM. He was crystal clear that these are really just informal guidelines and helpful highlights based on the experiences of the professionals leading these sessions. When in doubt (or in urgent need!) — turn to your trusted tribe.

Kevin’s an accomplished vet and also an accomplished eventer in his own right!

Apparently Boyd’s head groom* Steph suggested this topic to Kevin, so he put together a remarkably concise and clear list, and talked through each aspect — including why it matters to his practice.

The session started with a review of measuring Temperature / Pulse / Respiration (TPR), the relative normal ranges, and the circumstances where variance is totally ok and non-emergent. His main point was to encourage folks to be comfortable enough with these metrics to be ready able and willing to provide them in a call to the vet should a situation arise, so vets can triage their response. 

(*A wildly underwhelming title for the person who by all accounts is a major driver in overall program operations…)

great session on when do you NEED your vet

Then he went through his emergency list — specifically, the situations where he feels it’s appropriate for a vet to make an emergency visit to see the horse immediately, vs scheduling an appointment. The list is:

1 - Eye: pain, tearing, shut, discoloration. Especially if you live in a warmer climate like Florida, apparently the fungal pathology can get very bad, very fast.

2 - Uncontrolled bleeding. The blood vessels get larger higher up the leg, as does the scale of blood loss. He reminded the audience that in emergencies, you want to do what it takes to save the horse first — and worry about complications later. Example: use the tourniquets or vet wrap around delicate structures etc. if that’s what it takes to save the horse

3 - Lacerations need stitches if the skin edges are separated. K.I.S.S.

#justwindurrathings

4 - Colic: painful abdomen. Again, he reminded the audience that there are a LOT of other organs in the abdomen beyond just the guts, and that uncontrolled pain can be a big deal. You’ll want to be able to tell the vet your horse’s TPR (prior to administering banamine or any other drugs!)

5 - Choke: food material coming out of nostrils. Horses that are choking for a long time are at increased risk of dehydration, compounding the emergency. Soaking food is a good way to reduce risk.

6 - Lameness: affecting horse’s mobility. The distinction between an emergency call and scheduling an appointment can be fuzzier here, but is basically related to whether the horse can actually get around or not - esp to get to the water bucket. When in doubt, make the call.

7 - Neurological status change. Biggest issue here is safety to the humans and other horses who may be in the same space as an ataxic horse.

the conditioning pond: shallow water, peacefully ensconced within some shrubbery, best enjoyed as a quiet group activity

It’s probably a safe bet that if you pinned Kevin down to keep meditating on this question for another couple of hours, days or weeks, the list might get a little longer… Or maybe there’s something you would add to or clarify about that list, based on your own experiences??  Honestly, tho, I appreciated the simplicity and focus on the most common situations. 

Ultimately, his most emphatic advice to the audience was to develop a good relationship with your team — your vets, farriers, trainers, etc., so that if the unthinkable happens, you’ve got the resources you need.

i would like to please special order an exact copy of this round pen for doozy LOL

Whew, ok, are you still with me? I know this is a lot of information packed into a single post, but hang in there — we are shifting to the last topic addressed in the various unmounted sessions, which you may have guessed based on the last few pictures: Conditioning!

I saved this for last because I’m honestly most interested in adapting or modifying to fit my situation, vs trying to replicate a 5* fitness program for Doozy. Thanks but, uh, no thanks!

doozy’s first time in our home round pen — complete with chicken coops LOL

The horses at Windurra spent a LOT of time conditioning — the vast majority of their ridden time falls more into this category than “proper schooling.” A typical session for a horse could include hacking out with a working student for 20min before being delivered to Boyd for a dedicated ~20min schooling ride, flat or jumping, then picked up by another working student for a second cool down hack.

Very rarely would a horse go straight from the arena back to the stall — they’ll at least walk the drive way or do a loop around the fields. Something. Variety in location, footing, terrain — it’s all part of the program.

For more intentional conditioning hacks — let’s say an hour of walk/trot out in the woods and fields — the horses trot on the flat and uphill sections, walk on downhill. Boyd said he’s not too insistent on frame through this work, only that the horse isn’t upside down or inverted. He wants the back to be soft, but the work is more about the heart and lungs vs muscles.

“what the fuck with that rooster tho” — doozy, being tall but composed

Peter Wylde offered some perspectives on connecting the conditioning to the schooling in his various sessions (more on all that in a later post!). He said he’s fond of free lunging a horse (if you have a safe secure space like a round pen) for ~5min each direction in loose relatively passive side reins — either connected to the side or just down to the girth. Then remove the side reins and do another few minutes each way. 

He also likes integrating more passive conditioning style work into his warm ups — including getting up off the horse’s back and letting them go 3-4 times around the ring. Not running or chasing, just a low frame, free back, sending the horse forward but letting him take a deep breath. This is apparently an approach Michael Jung uses even in his dressage warm ups.

and then off on a semi-serene hack! better than fully-feral, amirite?

Steph Simpson added some additional nuance to those thoughts in what turned out to be a 1:1 discussion on conditioning on the last day when a lot was going on and I was the only one who showed up LOL. It was super cool tho bc we really got into the weeds on my own special critter, Ms Mondeuse. 

And, well. Basically, Steph said her impression of my description of where we are with the rehab (on one hand progressing slower bc we don’t have a ton of control; on the other hand introducing more complicated flatwork sooner for… the same reason LOL) was that it sounds like a “Hostage Situation,” except she’s not sure which of us is the hostage. Oh. My. God.. haha…hahaha??

doozy maybe you’ll be grown up one day

She talked about the slow canter / galloping program they use to leg up the horses in the winter, and wondered if a similar structure (in concept if not in intensity) might suit Doozy? 

Basically, all along I’ve had this idea that Doozy doesn’t need to be fit. I don’t WANT her to be fit. Thanks, but dear god no thanks… Except, that approach might be missing a key concept that was another major recurring theme throughout the whole camp: You have to find ways to let the horse succeed, let them do what they’re good at, find salvation in the forward. 

And guys… Well. Doozy is good at running lol. It’s like her lungs are in her feet, she never really takes a breath until we’re settling in at canter. There’s a reason cross country is our easiest phase, ya know?

So Steph suggested adapting their slow canter (aka quasi gallop) program into my work — as appropriate with the rehab schedule — starting with 2-3 minutes of continuous canter in week 1, sticking with it long enough to get over the “hump” of what might an explosive start lol. Then for the next couple weeks, adding in a second 2-3 minute interval. Then increasing again to a third interval for another few weeks, etc. Eventually their horses get up to 5 intervals of a mile each, tho obvi that’s not my goal. 

Rather, Doozy’s goal would be to integrate this type of work into our system to 1) alleviate the hostage crisis; and 2) create a more productive connection for practicing the “forward and back” that will be a major theme in the Dressage and Show Jumping posts.

We’ll see lol — does any of that conditioning work align with your program? Or any thoughts / ideas / comments from the other sessions on sports psychology, bitting, or vet work? Or maybe you’re just waiting for me to get on with the good stuff — the ridden sessions?? lol… 

windurra camp ‘26

All the way back in July 2017, some friends and I embarked on a casual informal “adult camp” that included a day trip out to Boyd Martin’s legendary international eventing facility Windurra for a guided tour. 

That was a great and memorable day — so when I won an educational grant this year from the MCTA, it was a no-brainer to splurge on auditing the official Windurra Camp: a three day extravaganza full of demonstrations, lectures, and unmounted sessions in addition to traditional clinic lessons!

the auditors’ goody bag came complete with branded swag, natch

The clinic was an immersive experience of long days chock full of content and material from a broad range of professionals. And, as you might expect, I took a TON of notes! And pictures, omg so many pictures LOL!

So I’ll spend the next couple days working through the mountain of material — hopefully digesting and distilling it all down to the biggest themes, takeaways, learnings, observations and ideas. 

Today’s post will focus on cross country, pulling the threads together from a few different sessions, including auditing participant lessons, former steeplechase jockey Mark Beecher’s session on galloping position, and Boyd’s demo schooling session with Liz Halliday Sharp’s Paris Olympics horse, Cooley Nutcracker. 

brace yo’self, bc i took a LOT of notes!

Subsequent posts will be dedicated to show jumping (featuring Peter Wylde), dressage (featuring Silva Martin, Brett Parbery and Laura Graves), and then a miscellaneous catch-all from the unmounted demos and sessions, including: 

- The Champion Mindset with Natalie Hummel

- Bitting Discussion & Demonstration with Xander from Stübben

- When To Call The Vet with Kevin Keane, DVM

- General (and also Personal!) Conditioning Discussions with Steph Simpson and Peter Wylde

boyd did a cross country galloping position demonstration on this chromey chestnut

Hopefully at least some of that will be interesting to the average reader lol… So let’s dig in, yes?

Tho, lol, I’ll be honest with you… I’m starting this recap series with cross country bc it’s the easiest for me to get out quickly… mostly bc… ymmv but I find auditing xc clinics to be less impactful than other phases, in the grand scheme of things. 

So much of cross country riding is really just about feel. And since most of us don’t have the luxury of setting up our own schooling fields, it’s not like we’re taking away exercises or combinations to recreate at home either. The lower levels are most fundamentally just one jump at a time, applying skills and training developed from normal every day ring riding.

lessons were replete with lots of discussion of principles

What WAS interesting to me, however, was the number of recurring themes throughout the entire clinic: no matter who led the session for which phase, certain patterns and concepts emerged again and again. And one major theme related to techniques for warming up the horse, preparing for a ride in any of the three phases.

Shocking exactly nobody, the name of that theme is Adjustability. Also known as forward and back, lengthen and collect, transitions within and between gaits, forever.

every session had tons of auditors too!!

For the cross country clinic lessons, Boyd started by having riders find a light seat at trot, immediately working on adjustability in the gait off just the rider’s position: trot, nearly walk, then trot off again. Rinse, repeat, then canter. 

In canter, riders would shorten the stride on a small-ish circle, maybe 15m, then ride forward again. With the intention of right away trying different lengths of canter — including opening onto a more open stride in a truer galloping position.

random flashback to a million years ago when charlie and i did epic things like jumping that same jump <3 <3 <3

In Boyd’s demo rides, Peter Wylde offered a sort of live-stream narration (audible in the video below!), and in his words, “the warm up is intended to help the horse take a breath and get in sync.” The purpose is to connect and feel ready, and that just doing the short quick bare minimum in order to start jumping jumps can be less helpful in the long term (Editor’s note: guilty as charged!). 

For the first couple jumps, Boyd suggested “don’t think cross country yet” — just keep it really simple. And in his demo with Bali, he started with a simple figure-8 over two inviting tables — focusing on politeness and turning both directions equally well on landing.

back to boyd, doing another demonstration — this time a serious but simple schooling ride with Cooley Nutcracker

As a schooling ride progresses, Boyd encouraged riders to try to recreate the feeling of being on course — taking longer straight approaches and big sweeping turns, vs more twisty show-jumpery type lines. The first few fences are really thinking about turning each way, checking all the aids, checking for politeness rather than “desperation.”

Relating to pace, Peter advised that when on simple flat ground — non-complex / combination scenarios — you’re basically looking to do one less stride to everything than you’d do in show jumping.

it’s insane how easy these two make it all look

Former steeplechase jockey Mark Beecher tag-teamed the galloping position sessions with Boyd, and encouraged riders to practice catching jumps on a more forward flying stride — the “minimal set up” type galloping fence. 

While he said it’s inevitable that riders will make mistakes doing this practice (and therefore suggested practicing in low-consequence scenarios like with a ground pole or small safe slope-y type jump), he was adamant that it was a critical part of learning to be smooth in cross country. 

Riding forward, keep coming forward — don’t necessarily commit to the forward with your body while you work on developing the feel — but keep riding forward.

Bali trying to act like he wouldn’t accidentally murder boyd while spooking at his own reflection lol

For each session, and especially for Boyd’s demo with Bali, he talked about the importance of keeping it simple. You don’t have to jump every jump every time — especially if schooling is something you can do more frequently. 

The checklist is basically to practice the gears (forward and back), check the turning, try a little terrain (jumping up and downhill), and hit the three main hallmarks of xc (ditches, banks and water) — with any combinations as appropriate by level.

video from their schooling ride here — short and sweet!

Horses at Windurra generally jump twice a week — maybe one session is show jumping and the other is cross country, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be both. 

Especially for the veteran campaigners, cross country days can be selected base on optimal conditions. For example, it rained on and off all day Saturday, so the ground was perfect on Sunday for Boyd to bring Bali out for his first cross country jumps since Kentucky.

tfw you get home early after an inspiring clinic and can’t wait to get on your horse, denim be damned!

I’m sure the riders had more takeaways from their various lessons — likely with specific homework related to posture, technique, or how to help their horse with various questions etc. For example, Boyd was adamant in his coaching about position details like keeping the upper body back with hands forward especially down banks or for jumps with stuff on landing.

But for me, the breakdown on how to approach the warm up is probably most applicable. Namely bc I’m literally notoriously terrible about just rushing through it bc Doozy is so much easier to jump than to flat lol… Sigh…  

More than anything, tho, the cross country sessions just made me feel a little sad, jealous and #FOMO-y — and eager to get Doozy fully recovered so we can get out there for ourselves again!! All in good time, hopefully. 

And in the meantime, more to come on the rest of the sessions soon — definitely lmk if there’s anything either from the xc sessions or from the stuff yet to come that seems particularly interesting to you!