Special Horses

DUX

After becoming a dedicated dressage rider around 1990, I struggled with several horses to break out of First Level. My first warmblood, a Hanoverian mare “Madame” had shown First level successfully, but her conformation (unknown to me at the time) did not predict she would be successful at the higher levels to which I aspired. I asked my Danish trainer to help me locate an FEI schoolmaster in Denmark, and in the spring of 1997, I landed in Copenhagen to try several horses. Two of them I returned for a second ride. The lovely young gelding was almost ready to show PSG and the slightly older gray gelding had already competed I-1, with some piaffe/passage training. After riding tempi changes for my first time on the gray, Dux was purchased and imported to New Jersey.

Within a few weeks of riding him, I had random flying changes and the trot work was all passage! Terrified I had broken my new horse, he moved to my local trainer’s barn and I took several lessons a week to catch up to him. One year later, I was showing Fourth level with very decent scores above 65%. We moved up to PSG over the summer and that fall I won the regional championships at both amateur Fourth level and amateur PSG. The following year we did our first CDI at Devon and placed 8th out of 34 in the PSG. But Grand Prix eluded me until after our move to Florida. I eventually got those scores to finish my USDF Gold medal, and Dux was then leased and used for lessons until his retirement. He was euthanized at 26 years due to complications from EPM.

One of my favorite stories was on April Fools Day in 1999. I received a call from someone stating they were from USDF and wanted permission to use a photo of Dux and I winning the regionals on the cover of USDF Connection. Not thinking this could even be possible, I gave her a hard time about yanking my chain, and she gave me a phone number and said to call her back. When the receptionist answered the phone, she knew exactly who I was and transferred me back to the original person. And that’s how Dux and I ended up on the cover of the May 1998 USDF Connections, the first issue!

In his retirement, Dux had developed quite a sense of humor. I frequently had college students helping me on the farm, and when they would lead Dux in from his paddock, he would be slow and quiet, until reaching an open area between the paddocks and the barn. Dux would casually look off to the right, bump the student off balance with his left shoulder and take off running around the farm. He was truly a once-in-a-lifetime horse. He has a brick dedicated to him at the USDF headquarters in Lexington, KY.

Wunderbar

Wunderbar was purchased as a recently gelded and imported 3-year-old Hanoverian in 2003. He is well-bred (Weltmeyer/Sherlock Holmes) but uncharacteristically small and black. I was told his 15.3 size was the reason he was not presented as a stallion prospect in Germany. His early training was slow due to his explosive spook, but with some natural horsemanship help, he became more reliable. He did a short stint as a hunter prospect but (thankfully!) did not sell.

Advancing to PSG was easy, with scores in the 70s at every level up to that point. The wheels came off at PSG, so we had to regroup and fix some holes. Not unexpected as he was my first horse to train after learning the ropes from Dux. With help from Matt McLaughlin Dressage, we eventually made it to Grand Prix and had 3 seasons between 15 and 18 years of age. He won many awards through the years, including one regional championship and all 3 of my freestyle bars from USDF.

He retired sound in the summer of 2018 and enjoyed a year of leisure. But Jenna Brown in Maryland needed a PSG horse and having known and ridden Woody in his younger years, it was a natural fit to ship him to her.

Jenna and Woody have had a successful run at Fourth level and PSG, earning the scores she will need for the USEF “r” and “R” judges programs. He remains sound and rideable and will be available for lessons.

Favory Vereina

After the majority of my dressage career being spent with warmbloods, I ventured into an alternate breed as I was finalizing my judging education for the USEF S license. My good friend and fellow judge, Kate Phillips of Mississippi View Farm in Minnesota had a Lipizzan foal she wanted me to buy. At first, I hesitated, but a few months later, Favory Vereina was in my barn.

A small, shy colt at first, eventually grew into a horse ready to start under saddle. Some rough moments early in his training caused a delay in coming back to my barn, but eventually, we began our bond together. “Vern” was a superstar at his first show, then COVID hit. When shows started up again, we raced to finish scores for USDF year-end, where he earned USDF Reserve Champion Vintage Cup Professional at Training Level. He was also the highest placed (13th) non-warmblood in the Open Training Level with a median score of 73.4%. By the end of 2020, Vern had not only qualified for regionals at First Level but also debuted at Second Level. In 2022 Vern was 3rd place USDF Vintage Cup Professional at Second Level and started showing Third Level.

Lipizzans are quite different from their Spanish cousins. Generally, better gaits, but a bit more laid back, sort of like warmbloods. They are very aware of their surroundings but tend to observe rather than bolt. Their natural ability to sit and engage makes training easy, but they can be stubborn at times. It is a fun journey to bring Vern along, and now I have a half-sister to follow him and challenge his successes.