When Horses Dance & Trainers Chance
By Tina Hammond
Last week I was fortunate to collaborate with my usual trio of trainers. Our group known as “FEI4onthefloor” consists of myself, Greta Kemmer and Grand Prix duo Paul and Nikki Alvin-Smith. We’ve been at this clinic giving lark a few decades now. So hopefully getting good at it. Well riders keep coming back so guess we are doing O.K. The clinic was held in N. Salem at a regular haunt. And as I sat back for a bit and watched the others teach it occurred to me that perhaps this kind of collaboration doesn’t happen much this side of the pond.
Why don’t trainers get together and work together at a clinic? Why is everyone so protective and solo oriented? This could be accomplished in any discipline. Trainers that take the opportunity and chance to work alongside each other toward a common goal at an event I suppose could confuse riders if their methods aren’t compatible.
These ‘FEI4onthefloor‘ clinics we hold all over the place. Greta is originally from Germany but has spent most of her adult career based in Switzerland. While Paul is a Brit/American and Nikki is British, both based for much of their careers in America. And then myself, originally from Ireland and a pro groom on the A Circuit showjumping before switching out to dressage when I moved my own career into the ‘communications’ industry and made horses my 2nd priority. I live half the year in Luxembourg and half the year in Switzerland.
We all help each other and have done for eons. Greta is the old lady of the group. Oldest. She’ll be cross with me saying so. It began when we met when she was the coach for all 3 of the rest of us when we competed in Europe back in the 80’s and 90’s. Come to think of it I suppose none of us are particularly young. All of us have competed through Grand Prix dressage and all of us have made several horses from babies to GP.
Clinics we have done include symposiums, straight one on one regular style events and teach-ins. While I might still hop on a horse to give it a quick tune-up at an event for someone, the other guys don’t. They’ll only train a horse if it comes to them and they get time with it. Not sure when that stopped. Them all riding during clinics at the drop of a hat. But think the American Mark Russell being one in a long line of riders who was killed when riding an unknown young horse in a clinic setting was the final straw. No-one wants to get hurt.
We all bring something different to the table. Students have often remarked that they wonder if Paul has a degree in psychology because he is so good at working with riders and innately knowing somehow how they feel and how to get the best from them. He doesn’t have a psych degree by the way. At least not the paper sort. Nikki is big on the horse side of stuff. She should have been a vet. Sees stuff miles off. Good at picking horses too. We always want her opinion before we buy, even now with all our experiences. Greta has trained a lot of students across multiple disciplines during her time. Growing up in the family she did her education was premium. Bucking the trend to leave home and set off on her own with her then husband was brave. She hasn’t looked back.
My ex-husband and Greta’s know each other which isn’t as weird as it sounds. Random meeting. They got on and still do. We don’t see much of either of them, both ex’s. But Paul and Nikki’s marriage is clearly solid. They have worked together every day since they got together back in 1980 and not just working horses. But them knowing each other means they work in tandem as if by magic formula.
We have all exchanged horses and let the other ones ride our own mounts at competitions. Nikki and Paul had a good size breeding op for Hanoverians and Oldenburgs in the UK and those horses came to Switzerland. Greta and I would work with them. Nikki and Paul would come over and train and compete. Separately because of their kids and horses and work obligations back home in New York. We have all cheered one another on from the sidelines. We have all helped each other ‘fix’ stuff. Nikki fixed one of my horses who had an issue with flying changes, I fixed one she owned that was timid in the ring. We don’t all get on with all horses all the time.
You get the idea.
During clinics our students get to benefit from our combined experience. The horses dance, and we watch and help. All of us aren’t good at everything. No-one is in my experience. Paul is ace at the passage/piaffe from the saddle and can put cadence and trust on a horse quickly at any level. Very patient and quite dogged when you get in front of him. Pirouettes are my specialty and I am a bold rider. I love a challenge. Greta is brilliant at ring riding craft and she is very no nonsense. Greta’s English was awful at the start but she is much better now. Nikki is often the ring-leader, pulling it and us all together. She always knows an exercise to fix anything and is tuned to the horse.
Net result. It works.
I encourage trainers to feel more secure in their worth. To accept help from others. To work together to hold events and combine knowledge. Not hold their help so precious. Everyone knows something someone else doesn’t. We can’t all be good at everything. We don’t compete for students. We share them at these events. Yes we all have our own clients back home. Ones we work with on a regular basis. But the ‘FEI4onthefloor’ clinics are designed to work with usually more advanced riders who can quickly take in and adopt the advice regardless of whether they are riding a young or an advanced horse.
Having said that as ‘trainers trainers’ we often hold closed sessions. Mostly this is when students are expecting to compete in the near term against each other or have some of their own students attending. Or if someone riding is a judge.
At the recent clinic a gal told me she had never seen this before. This camaraderie. This support. And felt privileged to be a part of it.
I guess I do too. It’s a bit unusual I suppose.
But trainers why not try it? Get together. Share. Support in real time. Make those horses truly dance.
