A Horse Cures All That Ails You

Serendipity Strategies for Carriage Driving Obstacles

Accidental Sagacity for The Day

1. Know Your Course

2. Know Your Horse

3. Love Your Horse

That is oversimplification, I know, but it's true.

This photo of The Major General and I at the Harvest Moon Carriage Classic in Urbandale, IA, shows something important that I harp on about all the time. Carriage driving clients of mine will say, "Michelle! You are dropping your shoulder!"

Yes, slightly. And notice that Major is slightly dropping his shoulder to mirror me. It is incredibly hard to drive a cones course on a hillside in the gig without dropping your shoulder, but this is what happens. This is why we placed fourth or fifth or whatever.

Second thing I say that sounds like a broken record: Look where you are going so your horse knows where he's going. I know he has blinkers on, but they KNOW. See, Major knows where he's going, he's looking at exactly what I'm looking at. He mirrors me.

Mirroring is a topic that too few people are aware of in their relationship when training horses. It can elevate you from a competent horseman to a remarkable one. It takes a study of body awareness both of the person and the horse. It takes commitment to the process both physically, mentally and emotionally. I constantly work to achieve the level of brilliance that my horses attain. The mirror works both ways.

A photo is worth so many words...

Training Special Horses at Serendipity

One of the many pleasures of training horses for the Serendipity curriculum is the moment when the horse reaches the stage where he believes he's a show horse. The weeks of conditioning take away the sound of his hooves, his step is a spring, his neck sculpts into a crest, he raises his eyelids and looks widely at you. He knows he is special.

Ace has got to that stage. His extension is still a little wobbly, but he is working his heart out on it. The transition from baby sitter to ballet dancer doesn't happen overnight, and it is a credit to his breeding and disposition that he has got so far, so fast.

The longer I know Ace, the more he reminds me of his dam, Whitmorr Topaz. He shares her love of carriage driving obstacle courses: fast, fast trot, downshift, spin, more fast trot, turn, turn turn, go, go, go, stop, fast, turn, faster, turn, fastest trot, yeah! Topaz gave me three impeccable horses-Ace, Major and Don Pecos. They can all spin the gig 360 degrees at a working trot without moving the inside wheel. They love it, too.

Perhaps they enjoy it because the whip is having a ball, you might tell me. Yes, I agree to a certain extent. However, the fact remains that I hate cones courses. I do not enjoy them. And yet I trained all the above horses, and more, who do love cones courses. Maybe it's Morgans. Maybe it's Topaz's offspring. Who knows really.

One thing is for sure, they know they're special. You can see it when they move.