{"id":24377,"date":"2015-09-10T15:51:52","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T05:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=24377"},"modified":"2017-02-09T16:47:16","modified_gmt":"2017-02-09T05:47:16","slug":"worldwide-pb-making-a-gold-medallist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2015\/09\/worldwide-pb-making-a-gold-medallist\/","title":{"rendered":"Worldwide PB – Making a Gold Medallist"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

with Joann Formosa and Manuela McLean<\/em><\/p>\n

Story by Susan Mackenzie &\u00a0Photos by Roz Neave<\/h3>\n

After a little detour when Roz allowed me to navigate (foolish move) we arrive at the Australian Equine Behavioural Centre in Broadford to meet Paralympic gold medallist Joann Formosa, her lovely stallion Worldwide PB and their trainer Manuela McLean. Surrounded by peaceful gum trees the big, cruisey stallion is dressed in his Australian Olympic Team rug and is waiting for his forever-keen rider.<\/p>\n

I introduce myself to PB and have a quick pat. The very cool stallion just stands there while Joann is given a leg up, he doesn\u2019t need to be held, he is happy to stand peacefully until Joann is ready for him.<\/p>\n

I later learn that PB has very clear rules with himself about when he is a stallion and can act like it, and when he is required to \u2018behave in a more gentlemanlike manner\u2019\u2026 It all is to do with nudity\u2026 If PB has his rug off and is having a shower, and a pretty mare is next to him who is also \u2018naked\u2019 then he gets to behave like a stallion, but if he has a rug or a saddle on then he has his mind firmly on being a dressage horse!<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s so cool,\u201d says Joann, \u201cAt the Sydney CDI we didn\u2019t even really warm up, we just jogged up from the stables! Real professionals just wing it,\u201d she laughs.<\/p>\n

\"1<\/a><\/p>\n

Jo says her life would be a lot easier if she could have a little truck to travel with.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt would be so much easier, I wouldn\u2019t have to put the float on, I could take my electric scooter with me and not have to hire one each time, it would just be so much easier getting around. Overseas, all the riders have sponsors for their trucks but it doesn\u2019t happen here\u2026 But I can\u2019t be too greedy, at the end of the day I have got the best thing; I\u2019ve got my horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d only had him seven months when we won gold. We retrained him in seven months and won gold. He\u2019s very cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s not just me and the horse, it\u2019s the team, it\u2019s all the work up to the competition at the Games. We all won it; it\u2019s ours, everyone who worked towards it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing, something I\u2019m so passionate about, how it has affected people in real life ! I rode because I just wanted to go after my dream, but it has inspired so many others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Joann has her sights firmly set on the Normandy WEG and is already thinking about the next horse for the Rio Olympics\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cPB will go to Normandy, we\u2019ll do that next year. But he\u2019s 19, Normandy will be his last year. I wouldn\u2019t want to take him to Rio, the climate there is hard on them, it\u2019s a lot of travel, I\u2019d rather keep him here and keep riding him. I couldn\u2019t handle it if anything happened to him.\u201d<\/p>\n

I ask how she found the cruisey chestnut\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWell he wasn\u2019t what I was looking for at all. I thought, oh no not a stallion, not another chestnut [at this point I interrupted with a scolding sound indicating my very chestnut hair!]<\/i>, but I think I saw four horses in 24 hours and when I saw him there was just something about him. I went to see him at Claire Seidl\u2019s and he gave me a hug to start with. Then his rider rode him and I was like, \u2018hurry up and get off, I want to get on!\u2019 There was just an electricity with him, I still get that each time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I fall off and land under him, he just stops and waits and he\u2019s like, \u2018what are you doing down there?\u2019 He\u2019s happy being dragged off my scooter, and used as a packhorse. But when you\u2019re on him you feel every bit of muscle and power.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this point Manuela brings PB across, \u201cYour sturdy steed awaits\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"4<\/a><\/p>\n

I remember watching the Paralympics and wondering how the horses were trained to respond to different aids. Well, that\u2019s what Manuela and Joann have figured out with PB\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all about whip taps. Exact, gentle and precise whip taps in conjunction with seat and rein aids.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s two distinct taps with the long whip on his hindquarters to go up a gait; PB bounces into trot. And it\u2019s two subtle taps on his shoulder to go down a gait; this aid is very clear and PB pops back from walk, trot and canter with just two clear taps
\non his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\"2<\/a><\/p>\n

This aid started when Manuela first worked with the pair and she worked with him on the ground. She initially tapped him on his chest to make him go backwards from halt, to halt from walk and so on. Once this was established Joann pointed out that she couldn\u2019t reach his chest so the aid was adjusted to a tap on his shoulder. \u201cI just touch him, it\u2019s light, I just touch him and he comes back,\u201d
\nsays Joann.<\/p>\n

Manu says it\u2019s just the power of positive reinforcement, \u201conce he reacts to the aid, it\u2019s a pat and a scratch and \u2018good boy\u2019\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough your trial and error learning they learn that you tap and you tap and they move and you stop tapping. So it\u2019s the release of the tapping that trains, that\u2019s the important thing to remember, the tapping just tells him to do something. So when you release, you might have been releasing at five taps, you just keep practising until you get it down to two taps and to go up a gait. And then what we\u2019ve done is introduce the seat cue to move to the walk or move to the trot. So you go, bum, tap tap, or a word, you go walk on, tap tap. But I mean you can say \u2018walk on\u2019 all day and nothing happens so you need something to make it happen. I always see riders pushing and pushing with their bums the whole time, and I say no, we actually want to stay neutral once we\u2019re in the gait. So if it doesn\u2019t work on two taps, and you stop tapping, then you\u2019ve just taught them not to go, to ignore you and that\u2019s not so good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe talk about what Jo can do, for instance the chest tap was too hard for Jo, so it became a shoulder tap. She can\u2019t use the whip in both hands so we have to work around that and our training is just with the whip in one hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

I expected some clever work like this, and PB and Jo to look really good, but then Manu asks Jo to shorten the trot, this aid is just one tap on the shoulder, a little wake up call to say, hey, we\u2019re going to trot properly. The horse collects himself and does the most amazing trot, it has lovely cadence and he comes into self-carriage easily. Joann does the same in walk: a very nice medium walk transforms to an impressive collected walk with one tap on the shoulder. Joann isn\u2019t whacking by any means, it is a clear aid that Roz and I can see and wow can the horse walk!<\/p>\n

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

Manu tells us how important a good walk is in para-riding: \u201cthere is a lot of walk in the para-test so they can get a lot of good marks. He can get long at times so we\u2019ve tried to get the walk at 55 beats per minute.\u201d At one point in the lesson Manu actually gets out her iPhone with a metronome app and sets it to the correct speed so Joann can hear it.<\/p>\n

Joann emphasises that para-riders have to be perfect with their execution and accuracy: \u201cIt\u2019s the circles, the tempo, and the walk! We have to be so straight. We can\u2019t be crooked even though we\u2019re crooked people\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

They continue working in the trot, moving in and out of collected, medium and extended trot. It looks like any warm-up at a competition except that they\u2019re using whip taps in the place of leg aids\u2026 To get the extended trot, which brings oohs and aahs from both Roz and I, \u201cit\u2019s just a little lean back, a little shove with the seat and then she is neutral until she wants to bring him back with the tap on the shoulder,\u201d explains Manu. \u201cNeutral is really important, you wouldn\u2019t want to keep shoving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jo clearly enjoys playing with her horse\u2019s power in the trot:<\/p>\n

\u201cI always feel like I\u2019m lining up on the runway about to take off, you can just feel all his power!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen she shortens she uses her body and her rein a little first,\u201d says Manu, \u201cand if he doesn\u2019t shorten then she taps. It has to be very clear though and we work on this a lot. What makes it clear is never using two aids at once, we\u2019re not pushing and pulling, we\u2019re keeping it clear and aiming for true self-carriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQuicker is little tickles, longer is one tap. If he doesn\u2019t go longer you repeat the tap every three strides. In para-riding you need true gaits and great tempo. You have to have his poll at the highest point, he\u2019d be caned if his poll went low. The taps on his chest started bringing his poll up, that was a real turning point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"6<\/a><\/p>\n

The importance of keeping the horse\u2019s poll high seems standard, but then Jo points out that if gets too low her joints can dislocate! \u201cHe can\u2019t pull, otherwise my hip and shoulder will dislocate. I blow tendons in my arms and when I ride I have my shoulders and back taped up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI need someone to tell me, I don\u2019t feel that he\u2019s doing it, that he\u2019s getting long and my reins are getting long, so I need someone to point this out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jo rides with two different sorts of reins, one set has large knobs on the reins to keep her hands there, and another set has loops to hook her fingers through, \u201cWe\u2019re always told \u2018thumbs on top\u2019 but my thumbs don\u2019t know where they are!\u201d<\/p>\n

When I ask Manu how long it took to retrain the stallion she grins, \u201cA week! A week and he had it. He\u2019s 19 but he\u2019s so trainable, he doesn\u2019t get tense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"7<\/a><\/p>\n

Manu also rides PB with the \u2018tap aids\u2019. She says she could get on and use her leg aids, but it\u2019s better to work the same way. Because of her injuries Joann is weaker on one side than the other and only uses the whip in one hand. So if there are a few issues happening Manu can get on, clarify what they want for Joann, and hand him back. So the horse is tuned in and ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Jo asked me to train her I didn\u2019t know much so I decided to check out what she needed to do,\u201d says Manu, \u201cAll Jo had said was, I want to beat Lee Pearson! [which she did] I went on to YouTube and clicked away and thought, yeah, she can do this!\u201d<\/p>\n

Just when I\u2019m wondering how they get PB to move laterally Joann shows off PB\u2019s leg yields! \u201cIt\u2019s the hips first, she asks with her hips, then she asks with the whip on his hindquarters if she needs more\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

They switch sides and there\u2019s a bit of confusion, \u201chang on we\u2019ve got the wrong button there,\u201d but Joann and Manu clarify the aids, try again and off goes PB.<\/p>\n

Joann can only use the long whip in her right hand and her left leg doesn\u2019t work as well as her right so they find one side harder than the other. Joann also says she has to work hard to be straight, \u201cI\u2019ve got to pretend I\u2019m falling to the right so I\u2019m actually straight. I feel straight here [Joann is leaning to the left] so I\u2019ve got to lean to the right. You know in the movies when the character is leaning off the building and about to jump? Well, I feel like that when I try and be straight! It\u2019s a leap of faith!\u201d<\/p>\n

PB gets a bit strong in the trot and is looking like getting strung out but Jo just taps once on the shoulder and he\u2019s back, he\u2019s gentle and he is listening.<\/p>\n

They continue to impress us with a few baby piaffe steps even and move on to the canter. Manu points out that it is a little strung out and needs more oomph, but that it works for the pair at the moment and they\u2019re working on it.<\/p>\n

Jo shows us walk-canter transitions with ease and then canter-halt transitions with just that gentle tap on the shoulder; smoothly back to halt. I ask how PB knows to canter from walk and not just trot as there are two taps\u2026 \u201cHer seat,\u201d explains Manu, \u201cher seat is the main aid, the tap just helps say go up a gait, her seat says canter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jo is having fun with the canter and they do a serpentine of three loops, throwing in flying changes. She has an infectious grin and you can see how much she enjoys this big horse and all that he can do.<\/p>\n

Their last big thing is to show us PB\u2019s free walk. Jo has the stallion in a lovely big trot before bringing him back to walk with two shoulder taps. She walks half a circle before letting the reins out and moving her body longer. PB strides out, lowers his head so he\u2019s almost kicking his teeth and just marches along.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got a lovely walk,\u201d says Manu, \u201che actually got a 10 for his walk at the Games!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a Weltmeyer walk,\u201d comments Roz. The stallion is by the Weltmeyer son, Weltb\u00fcrger out of a Brentano mare.<\/p>\n

Manu was in London with Joann and PB but team coach Julia Battams warmed her up:<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there and I gave him a bit of a tune up and then I left it as Julia had had a lot of time with her. It was nice for Jo as I was there for support and we\u2019d talked about keeping him bright so she\u2019s got me in her ear all the time anyway. I didn\u2019t have to ride him before her, but we did lead him quite brightly because the first test he walked in and he was like, \u2018oh yeah there\u2019s a grandstand, lots of people whatever,\u2019 and he was a bit blas\u00e9 in that first test, even though she came third, and then for the second test I said, \u2018you\u2019ve got to razz him up, we won\u2019t make him piaffe on purpose but let\u2019s get him feeling a bit joggy so when we get him in the arena you\u2019re going to trot in, trot\/halt\/trot\/halt, now you can go into the test, because otherwise he\u2019ll go to sleep,\u2019 he\u2019s a classic! And that\u2019s where she went so well, it was a lovely test, they had that bit of adrenaline going, we got him on his toes and dancing a little and head up high, because his major thing is don\u2019t let his poll go low, because if his poll goes low he just drags her out of the saddle.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

And that\u2019s just keeping him short?<\/p>\n

\u201cKeeping him short in his body but keeping him quick, because he\u2019s got a long back, so he can look a little too long. But it\u2019s an ongoing process I think we can still improve it. She\u2019s good fun to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s quite flashy and he is regular as clock work, if you put him in \u2018x gait\u2019 he will stay there. He used to start off quite quick so we had to teach him to just start off in what we call the \u2018little trot\u2019, just a rhythm trot. Get that beat and get Jo feeling secure and then make it quicker or longer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since Jo will be looking for a new horse for Rio I ask Manu what she would look for, in PB version 2.0\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cYou look for trainability, for a good walk because that\u2019s so important in the test, for rhythm and for a horse that catches your eye. We want another PB!\u201d<\/p>\n

Jo goes on to tell us that she is planning on breeding her own version of PB and getting a Hanoverian mare in foal to her stallion\u2026<\/p>\n

So, what does this pair need to do to secure a spot in the team for
\nthe\u00a0 WEG?<\/p>\n

\u201cFor grade 1B it\u2019s 65%, but I am always aiming about 10% higher, so I\u2019m aiming to get 75%…\u201d says Jo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m aiming for 80%,\u201d interrupts Manuela, \u201cshe won in London with about 76% so I think she can make it to 80%. Before the Olympics they just got better and better. I think the turning point for them was getting him out of the double bridle and into a snaffle, retraining to get him as light as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always been able to ride,\u201d says Jo, \u201cbut riding him I feel like I can do anything. I have grown into a more mature rider. Confidence wise I don\u2019t have to prove anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the end of the lesson I comment on how popular the Paralympics were, about how so many non-horsey people were so interested in the para-equestrian\u2026<\/p>\n

Manu agrees: \u201cI\u2019ve spoken to a lot of people and they were more fascinated by the para-riders than the able-bodied athletes. Just because the things they go through to actually get there. And a lot of them, apart from medical problems, a lot of them are injured by horses, but it doesn\u2019t put them off.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it certainly doesn\u2019t put off Joann Formosa, she is working towards Normandy and beyond!<\/p>\n

This article first appeared in the July 2013 issue of THM.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a little detour when Roz allowed me to navigate (foolish move) we arrive at the Australian Equine Behavioural Centre in Broadford to meet Paralympic gold medallist Joann Formosa, her lovely stallion Worldwide PB and their trainer Manuela McLean…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[516,1297],"class_list":["post-24377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dressage","tag-joann-formosa","tag-worldwide-pb"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24377"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32246,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24377\/revisions\/32246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}