Although starting in the world of eventing, Spencer turned to dressage in his 20s. He’s won 13 national titles and with is partner in the arena Super Nova, helped bring home team silver at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and team bronze at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon in 2018.

As a trainer and rider, Spencer comes up with the best exercises….and lots of them! In this interview he breaks down his process for us. We talk about what the hardest thing is to achieve in dressage, the importance of transitions AND discipline as well as trying to balance your training and test riding at home and we also touch on how dressage is evolving.

Spencer also delves into mental preparation and his crazy lead up to WEG at Tryon which was really interesting because sometimes you just don’t realise what’s been going on behind the scenes when you see the perfect combinations step out at the big shows. And speaking of shows, what does Super Nova think about prize givings?! …and is why Charlotte, “so annoying.” ;-)

Spencer was brought out to Australia by Dressage Masterclass and I was lucky enough to watch him teach at the IRT Future Stars Clinic in Sydney.

Today’s interview is with German eventing legend Bettina Hoy! Bettina has competed at three Olympics and four WEGS and is still very active as a 3 and 4 star rider today. In 2017 she became the national coach of the Dutch eventing team. Like myself, Bettina is passionate about rider fitness and it’s that subject we delve into in this interview; what sort of fitness is best and some different exercises that you can put into use right now. We digress a couple of times to talk about Bettina’s future in straight dressage and also how you take on the king of eventing coaching Christopher Bartle as a rival coach..though I can assure you it is a very friendly rivalry.

Last year Bettina filmed some exercise videos for "WeHorse" and they are online waiting for you to enjoy right now (see link below). So, put your trainers on and listen up!

https://www.wehorse.com/de/search?keywords=Bettina+Hoy

Swedish rider Therese Nilshagen is one of those lovely riders who just makes dressage look easy. At the time of making this podcast, Therese is ranked 12th in the world and is one of the key riders on the Swedish team with the stallionIn Dante Weltino.

She stands out with her soft, harmonious riding whether she’s riding Grand Prix or in the young horse classes at the Bundeschampionate where she won the five year old final on Dominy in 2017.

In a very animated Aachen atmosphere last year, Therese talks about her journey from being a kid in a stable to being one of the best riders in the world; how she got to train with Klaus Balkenhol and what makes him so great. She talks about her training routine and making the horses feel confident and good in themselves along with fitness and sports psychology work before running is through what a competition day looks like. Enjoy!

For the fully transcribed interview with photos go to:

https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/09/meet-therese-nilshagen-and-dante-weltino/

I’m a big fan of Cathrine Dufour; she says it how she sees it, she’s down to earth and is really focused on her journey.

Cathrine was on the Danish National Juniors team at the age of 11 and was going to give up riding at the end of Young Riders so she could go to Uni and party! But as we know, she kept going with the horses and is one of the top riders in the world today, representing her country with her partner in crime, Cassidy at Olympics and Europeans and very often ending up on the podium.

Cathrine talks about her “crazy” Cassidy, why she bought him and what’s his biggest fear. She talks about her fitness work and why she does it, what she takes from other sports and why sports psychology is so important to her. What a normal training session involves, why Isabell Werth is so inspiring and also the difference between the new kids on the block and the grown ups of the current dressage scene….and what’s the awesome exercise that she learnt from Charlotte?!

Cathrine is huge on social media and she talks about why she shares so much about her training and the day to day running of her barn. She’s a good egg!

I caught up with Cathrine at Aachen earlier this year.

For the transcribed interview with fabulous photos, go to the link: http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/08/cathrine-dufour-bubbles-her-way-to-the-top/

In this episode I interview the very funny US dressage star Laura Graves.

Laura burst onto the international dressage scene in 2014 at WEG in Normandy where she finished 5th in the Freestyle with her gelding Verdades,who's she's had since he was a baby. Two years later at the Rio Olympics they were part of the bronze medal winning US Team as well as just missing the podium to finish 4th individually. More recently she won silver in the Special at the WEG in Tryon as well as team silver.

In this interview, Laura talks about the difficulties of being at the top. Judges expectations and when you know your horse has given all he’s got. She describes “Diddy" the “person” and her approach with the gelding’s special personality, when situations don’t always go to plan and being smart about your training.

Laura gets her fitness work by chasing dogs, and she talks about Andy the US team’s “voodoo” wielding physio. You’ll hear what I mean!

She describes a normal day at home, why coach Debbie McDonald is so good and what it’s like being part of the US team; how she copes with social media….and all that time waiting around at the big shows plus learning from other riders. She also shares her thoughts on the sit trot.

And the take way for me? The small things are the big things.

Honest, passionate and generous. These are words that apply to both Vanessa Way and her trainer, friend and mentor Carl Hester. Vanessa’s enthusiasm is infectious. She’s driven and focused…and was kind enough to give me an interview a few months ago at the Sydney CDI. Vanessa is a star of the NZ dressage world having come back from a very nasty rotational fall back in her eventing days. Since then she’s really focused on her dressage and has undertaken many stints with Carl in the UK. She talks about training programmes, the key to handling sharp, young horses, the importance of The Training Scale and getting horses’ backs up and lifted. She still believes the bridle is quite misunderstood and as riders we must work harder for lightness of contact.

And people…FIX YOUR HANDS…and give yourself time!!!

So…what’s it like to ride Nip Tuck and Valegro and what’s it really like to train with Carl and Charlotte?!

Link to transcribed interview: http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/05/what-is-it-like-to-ride-valegro-an-interview-with-vanessa-way/

Julia Krajewski has been quietly creeping up the German eventing ranks. The 29-year-old has successfully competed right through the levels from Pony competitions, and in more recent years has represented Germany at Nations Cups. It was in 2016 at the Rio Olympics that she was thrust centre stage, being asked at the last minute to go from reserve position to take up a team spot, replacing Andreas Ostholt. Although Julia didn’t have the most wonderful time at Rio, the Germans went on to win team silver.

Since then, Julia has really experienced the highest highs and the lowest lows the sport has to offer. At the end of 2016, she enjoyed a win with Chipmunk, at the horse’s first CCI3*, at Strzegom, as well as her first 4* win last year at Luhmühlen on her Olympic mount Samourai du Thot. That was followed by another team silver at the Europeans in Strzegom, however, Samourai du Thot had tested positive to a controlled substance and Germany was stripped of their team silver.

Julia has come back this season bolder than ever. A win at Bramham in the CCI3* on Chipmunk and a podium with Sam in the CIC3* at Wiesbaden before this weekend winning the German Championships on Sam at Luhmühlen on her dressage score of 19.9.

I spoke to Julia at last year’s Bundeschampionate. We talk about her role as the German national juniors coach, how she got into eventing herself as a youngster and why she likes the eventing scene. She goes into how Germany manages its event horses and the reasons behind that, why Chris Bartle is so missed by the team and what its like to be on a team with legends Ingrid, Michi and Bettina (you only need their first names!). Julia describes the newly discovered benefits she gained from rider fitness work and talks about why she likes to “walk” the cross country course on a bike.

And…like most top riders, she advocates lots and lots of hard work to reach the podium.

The fully transcribed interview can be found here: http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2017/11/julia-krajewski-a-very-eventful-life/

Allison was part of the bronze medal winning US Olympic dressage team at Rio in 2016. Her story is amazing. She’s a “normal” person doing extraordinary things so she’s a good one to pay attention to.

Having grown up in Hawaii, she left home as a teenager to pursue her riding dreams and through sheer hard work, she reached the top of her sport.

In this interview Allison talks about how being highly motivated, hard working and driven can find you quite a few fairy godmothers on your journey to the top. She gives her opinion on why the Germans are so good and getting horses into the competition arena happy and healthy. Speaking of which, she talks about her Olympic partner, the Dutch stallion Rosevelt. Allison has been coached and inspired by some great trainers and it’s interesting to hear about the problems she overcame to get a Rosevelt to the top.

We also get an insider’s opinion on why Team USA has become so successful, why you need to compete overseas and why it’s best to train horses all the way through from babies. And I had to know what it was like for her to take on her first Olympics. For me though her best bit of advice was: You have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Cool, huh?

Interview with photos: http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2016/11/making-it-on-your-own-rebecca-ashton-profiles-allison-brock/

Today’s interview is with the lovely Beatrice Buchwald who I spoke to at last year’s Bundeschampionate. You’ve probably heard of the German dressage rider as not only is she incredibly talented, but she’s been associated with some really super horses. The stallions Belantis and Lordy Carnaby, Victoria’s Secret, Daily Pleasure and also Isabell Werth’s current Olympic mount and European Champion, Weihegold. Beatrice was stationed at Isabell’s for five years before going it alone about 18 months ago, basing herself at Gut Kostenschlag, the stable of long time friends and supporters, the Hödl Family. She’s been successful at Bundeschampionates, Grand Prix and everything in between and has a Nürnberger Burg Pokal and Louisdor Prize to her name.

Beatrice talks about working with Isabell and what she learnt, the importance of softness in the horses and how to best prepare and manage the young horses for the big shows. Why she like sensitive, intelligent horses and managing her charges to keep them sound right from the young horse classes to Grand Prix.

And of course there’s the important questions: what’s Isabell like as a coach and what was it like to have Weihegold as your first Grand Prix horse?!

Link to the transcribed interview: http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/01/beatrice-buchwald-making-it/

Chris Hector and and Roz Neve chat to their friend and master German horsewoman Susanne Miesner. Susanne has been successfully training horses for over 30 years and was awarded with the “Stensbeck plaque”. Her trainers have been Herbert Rehbein, Fritz Tempelmann and Johann Hinnemann. She’s won numerous championships and Bundeschampionat titles, successfully training horses from young horse classes to Grand Prix. She has incredible theoretical knowledge as well and was one of three authors to write the “The Principles of Riding” for the German National Equestrian Federation and has been a member of the German bereiter testing committee for over 15 years

Susanne talks about the problem with some bits, the main key to good dressage and making the horse better at each level, what is true contact and why it’s so important (and why we keep bringing you articles on it!), fitting nosebands in the most efficient and effective way. She talks about the correct half halt, the standard of riding today and ideas to uphold the principles of dressage.

Link to articles: http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/whos-who/meisner-susanne/