I love talking to Laura Graves. She’s articulate and thoughtful which makes for super answers and a great conversation and we’re lucky to have another chat with her. Just to recap, Laura, burst onto the international dressage scene in 2014 at WEG in Normandy where she finished 5th in the Freestyle with her gelding Verdades. 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.

Laura was out in Australia earlier this year to give a brilliant Masterclass at Brisbane CDI. This interview touches a little bit on the themes she raised, so I’d really recommend that you read the Masterclass notes, the link to which are below. In this interview, Laura talks about US Dressage and what that actually means, the high scores we’ve been seeing recently in the dressage arena, the importance of experience, competitiveness, what exactly is rider fitness, the elusive half halt, the importance of having high expectations, how she likes to obtain her horses…….and fomo!

Link to Masterclass notes: http://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2019/08/laura-graves-a-masterclass/

German dressage rider Helen Langenhanenberg is as delightful to talk to as she is to watch ride. After Grand Prix successes with Responsible, she took over the ride of Damon Hill from her then trainer Ingrid Klimke. The chestnut stallion and Helen went on to win team silver and finished fourth individually at the London Olympics in 2012, win the World Cup Final in 2013 and then individual silver and team gold at WEG in Normandy in 2014. Her partner in the top sport today is the 17 year old stallion Damsey. With numerous successes under their belt, their third place test at this year’s World Cup Final, will perhaps be talked about for many years to come. That final centreline!

We talk about that test and what the future holds for Damsey before discussing riding while pregnant and riding while recovering from chid birth. You might be surprised how quickly Helen was back on a horse!

Helen discusses what makes a podium rider and what her non-negotiables are with her horses. We get into her training philosophies and how someone so petite rides those big horses without force, her super up and coming stars and how she copes when horses get sold. She’s really good fun…there’s a lot of laughing.

Michael Jung needs no introduction. The eventing superstar won individual and team gold at the London Olympics and individual gold and team silver at Rio on his super horse, Sam. He’s won at Kentucky, Badminton, Luhmühlen and Burghley and has been inducted into the Eventing Rider Association Hall of Fame.

In this interview he talks about how he manages all his horses, why he does so much show jumping, the different types of eventing horse and what makes a great rider. We find out how the German champion remains so cool and calm in the start box, what he does on the day of a competition and how to manage the eventing season. We also talk about past and future champions.

The background music is courtesy of Hagen Horses and Dreams!

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/