{"id":23456,"date":"2017-10-29T14:36:49","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T03:36:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=23456"},"modified":"2018-03-08T13:54:05","modified_gmt":"2018-03-08T02:54:05","slug":"grace-miguel-the-dance-goes-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2017\/10\/grace-miguel-the-dance-goes-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Grace & Miguel \u2013 the dance goes on\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Pic1\"<\/a>Story by Christopher Hector & Photos by Roslyn Neave<\/h3>\n

Grace Kay had meant to work with her emerging FEI horse Karingal Jamiroquai, but when she led him through the door of Miguel Tavora\u2019s indoor, we all let out a little groan. The chestnut was lame. \u2018He was fine when I put him out this morning,\u2019 said Grace. But he was lame, just a little lame, but lame. By the time the vet arrived, he was lame lame, hoof abcesses do that, so they don\u2019t just miss the training session, but also the Sydney CDI, two days later. Horses do that.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luckily Grace has two horses and Celerity Park Faberge was soon saddled up and the working session was underway. Grace has been training with Miguel for some time now, and has been working at Miguel and Di Tavora\u2019s equestrian centre for the past two months.<\/p>\n

Fab was at the SIEC showjumping last weekend, jumping in the 1.25 classes, and this is his first dressage session in a week, but he and Grace know the routine by now.<\/p>\n

Those signature circles around the forehand, little tight circles, always with the outside shoulder moving forward, the horse is put into balance, into a degree of collection right from the start, and then the dance of the laterals begins, because in Miguel\u2019s system, the balance and the collection comes from the movements, not from the rider hauling the horse\u2019s nose to its chest while spurring at the same time\u2026<\/p>\n

Miguel\u2019s voice is soft, re-assuring, \u201cCircle, get the neck a bit more down but not longer\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNow he can come up a bit, perfect, and now down again on the circle. Figure eight, change rein, counter shoulder in, and circle\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the circle lower the neck, up the neck, up and down with the poll. That\u2019s brilliant, now keep him right down, more down, release his neck, then pick him up, collect and canter\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cGood he is very engaged, you didn\u2019t disengage him with the jumping. Now canter shoulder in on the long side\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCircle, a little haunches in, collect a little, then down again, then collect again, diagonal, flying change to the right\u2026 Canter shoulder-in on the wall, circle, a couple of strides, haunches in, collect and go. Collect and go\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNow to trot, collected, now rising, round and down\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic7\"<\/a><\/p>\n

more exercises below<\/em><\/p>\n

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It is a pattern that is repeated over and over, always using the lateral work as a tool for collection, always asking for the horse to be in balance and self-carriage. Grace is such a tactful rider, so attuned to Miguel\u2019s system, that you are not aware of her at all, until Miguel pays her a compliment and the smile lights up her face. Consider the preparation for piaffe\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Pic8\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cCollect the trot, counter shoulder-in on the circle, shoulder fore down the wall \u2013 refresh, rising trot, collect, counter shoulder-in on the circle, half halt, half halt, half halt. Shoulder-in down the wall, walk keeping the shoulder-in, and trot straight.”<\/p>\n

\"Pic9\"<\/a><\/p>\n

“Rein back. Now very straight down the wall, sitting half halt, lengthen, counter shoulder-in circle, get him higher. Shoulder-in down the wall, counter shoulder-in down the wall. Collect, up, collect and walk. Long reins, and have a break\u2026”<\/p>\n

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\"Pic10Reinback\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBack on the little circle, now down the wall, travers \u2013 very small angle \u2013 on the next wall, renvers \u2013 very small angle.\u201d<\/p>\n

more\u00a0<\/em>exercises follow<\/i><\/p>\n

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\u201cNow on the 20 metre circle very very small travers, and very very small renvers. Now into medium trot rising. Collect again, renvers down the wall, very collected. PERFECT. Half pass left, renvers down the wall, travers 20 metre circle, Renvers down the wall, rising medium trot circle. Collect the trot in shoulder-in down the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHaunches in on circle, very straight walk. Halt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miguel taps gently. \u201cVery small haunches in around me, now on the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pic13\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cNow go trot medium trot\u2026 Enough, he has a big day coming up and we don\u2019t want to make him tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

We talk to Grace and Miguel below<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

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\"Grace2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Grace has recently come to spend three months working full time with Miguel:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here for two months, one more month to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miguel says you are doing six horses a day, and eight when he\u2019s away\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, it\u2019s a lot to do (I wish you could hear Grace\u2019s laugh as she says this)<\/em> It\u2019s been really good to have the different horses to work with, different problems with them, different ideas that come from each of them. I\u2019ve definitely enjoyed it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got Gerry, Fab, who you saw today, Sorrento, Maggie Hitchcock from up our way bought him from Andrew Buckley, he\u2019s a five-year-old, Sir Donnerhall out of a Belissimo mare, he is going to be a real superstar. I\u2019m riding Federa, one of Jo Keyte\u2019s stallions, she has just had a hip operation so I\u2019ve been riding him, he\u2019s by Rubinstein. I was very lucky, she had the operation the same time as I came down here. He\u2019s five years old and he\u2019s really good, his canter is just phenomenal. I\u2019ve had a really nice time on him. Then I\u2019ve got the young mare that I am eventing, by Fab\u2019s sire out of a Holsteiner mare, I think she could be a three-star eventer, but those fences are too big for me, so she is for sale. I\u2019ve also been riding Miguel\u2019s Weltmeyer, I took him down to Melbourne and he was a star. Fourth outing, and he didn\u2019t look at anything in the indoor, or the outdoor arenas, he was reserve prelim and novice champion down there. He\u2019s coming on very well, he is very correct, he\u2019s 16.1 so he feels too little for me (the laughter is bubbling over again)<\/em> but I think one of Miguel\u2019s clients is going to buy him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sorrento<\/a><\/p>\n

Simba (EBL Sorrento) is a 5yo by Sir Donnerhall out of Bella Carmina (Belissimo M) and owned by Maggie Hitchcock<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

You are addicted to giant horses\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI know I don\u2019t like it when my feet go past their tummies, they are just too small.\u201d<\/p>\n

What do you think you have learnt having this range of horses to work with\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it has been really good because most of the time I can feel things that are wrong and I know what to do to fix them, but it is more of a reaction than something I have thought through. I need this time to understand what I was doing to fix what I was feeling. It is one thing to be able to get on and feel it, and do something to make it feel better, but it is another to understand the process of what you are doing and how that is affecting the horse\u2019s body, and what the action I am taking to fix it, is actually going to achieve.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u201cWorking every day with Miguel, with him explaining, and showing me diagrams, where this is affecting this part of the body and how this follows on to here, and when you do this, this is actually what is happening. That has been really really good, I am getting a greater grasp of what is going on under me, I\u2019m not just going off feel, and fixing things to make it feel better, I\u2019m starting be able to think it through \u2013 okay, this is what is happening, this is what I feel I should do \u2013 is that going to really help it? Or is it going to be temporary?\u201d<\/p>\n

Has he got you reading all those old books of his?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t read French or Portuguese, but I do have a steadily growing collection of books, and I do like to read \u2013 plus I\u2019ve got a few memberships on line. Mum keeps asking what these bills are for… I think that it is really good to read and then I can ask Miguel about the things I\u2019ve read, and it\u2019s incredible how deep his knowledge is. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever come to him with something that he didn\u2019t know about. I\u2019d like to be like that one day. I am reading.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Miguel\"<\/a>Miguel:<\/strong><\/p>\n

What has your apprentice been like?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFantastic to have her working here with me. When I am away she rides eight horses and when I come back they are going better than when I went away.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says that she now thinks she has a better theoretical understanding instead of just riding by feel\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cShe is learning why things happen. There are very talented riders, they have that gift of feeling and even if they don\u2019t understand, they instinctively go there to solve the problem. Or they control the problem. But of course they stay all the time in doubt as to exactly what they did. If they understand more what causes the problem, then they can work directly on the cause. Working every day with six horses is fantastic because every horse is different, every horse needs to be understood, and we need to be able to explain why they react the way they do, once she understands the \u2018why\u2019 that is a tool she can use all her life. Then if you have a problem that is a bit similar, you can connect one problem with the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DSC_4971\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Was your education more theoretical or practical?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cVery practical, but it depends on the person. I was always interested in the theory, trying to understand why the horse reacts like this, why some horses react differently to the same question, give completely different answers, that made me research \u2013 made me ask Nuno Oliveira, to ask some of the older students of Nuno Oliveira with more experience than me. I read many books perhaps because I was never a very talented rider, I was not so gifted, I needed to work hard to achieve what I did, and that makes me read more and think more. If we understand what we do, we enjoy it more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reading has gone out of fashion, but if you had to recommend one book to Grace, which one?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cActually she has already read Reiner Klimke\u2019s book of the young horse, that is very important to understand because that is very much what we do here, that is how we train young horses. Of course she will read Steinbrecht \u2013 I think that is the most important. Steinbrecht was really the only one who was able to adapt le Guerini\u00e8re to the sport horse, to make them more useful, not just going around on the carousels. He was able to make la Guerini\u00e8re practical and effective with the modern horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we see modern equestrian competition, of course we see good, and we see bad. Those things were all in la Guerini\u00e8re, nothing is invented, no system, no technique. Some people come out with their new theories, but I guarantee I will find them all in my books, written two or three hundred years ago when the horse was a question of life or death, not just to go and compete at the weekend.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he is not lame, do you think Jamiroquai is going to make it to Grand Prix?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor sure, he has a beautiful flying change every stride, piaffer, passage is there, and the work in the canter is going to be very spectacular, the trot is very good, he is going to be a very competitive, modern horse. He is a bit difficult, a bit hot, but he is catching up with his body and getting stronger every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tavora, Miguel<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n