|
|
|
March, 2006 | By D. J. Carey for USDF Connection Magazine
USDF Third Level Horse of the Year
Rondo-1997 Chestnut 16.3 hand Westfalen gelding
Sire: Rhodos Dam: Sabrina
Breeder: Albert Ronne
Rider/Owner: Jennifer Hoffmann, Carlsbad, CA
Median Score: 72.334%
 When Rondo arrived in the barn of California horsewoman Gay Walker, the gelding was five—and, says trainer (and now owner) Jennifer Hoffmann, neither she nor Walker felt sure where his suitability lay. Not long afterward, Hoffmann—a certified Bereiter whose husband and coach, Reitlehrer Jürgen Hoffmann, imported Rondo for Walker—rode him in the FEI Six-Year-Old test. He scored well, but Hoffmann recognized that "he was very immature; he needed time to grow, mentally and physically."
With Walker’s assent, Hoffmann kept him home for most of the next three years. There she came to see that he was "a very hot, sensitive horse, a little more difficult than your normal Warmblood"—but also that "he had a really good mind and a big heart, which you need for upper levels."
Last May, Hoffmann decided to bring Rondo out again. For his first show, "all I wanted to do was get on, get him around and stay in the dressage arena." They did two Third Level tests "and ended up with a 75 percent and the high-point award."
About that time, a couple of potential buyers came to try Rondo. Hoffmann realized, "I was worried about him; I’d grown really attached to him." Then Walker stepped in. "She told me, ‘You know, you should have Rondo’—and she made it possible for me to buy him. She was very generous, and I am very grateful."
Hoffmann is also grateful that Walker let her give Rondo "the time to grow into himself, doing nothing but strengthening exercises and basics. That’s what’s made him as strong as he is. Now, when I go to do upper-level movements, they’re very easy for him. If he’d been pushed, he might not have come so far."
Jürgen Hoffmann is "always very constant about correct riding," says his wife. "Before I start any movement, the basics have to be 100 percent. And if something happens, the problem is always in the basics somewhere. Fix that and you can come back and ask for the movement again." She adds, "The most important thing he’s taught me is that everything you do is for the horse. If something’s not working, he says, ‘Take a break, think about the mistake, and then let’s go to work again.’ That’s made me a better rider for these hotter, sensitive horses."
Confirmation for Hoffmann’s work with Rondo has come from U.S. dressage-team coach Klaus Balkenhol. "He told me that the horse is mentally and physically ready for the FEI work; he’s strong now, I can push him a little more. Klaus said the horse has everything he needs for a good Grand Prix horse: the perfect gaits, the perfect mind, absolutely no problems anywhere. So it’s my job now to take that and form it into a beautiful Grand Prix horse."
This year, Hoffmann plans to do "a little bit of Prix St. Georges/I-1; do a couple of tests to see what we need to work on. Then, if all goes well, I’d like to ride Rondo in the USET qualifiers at PSG and I-1 for Gladstone. I’ve been playing a little with the upper-level movements, but not drilling. One-tempis, full pirouettes, passage—nothing’s a problem for him."
back to top
February 2006 | By Jennifer Hoffmann for Ride Magazine
Dressage-Preserving the Natural Beauty of Our Sport
We, as riders, trainers and judges, need to protect our equine partners and the sport of dressage as a means of showcasing their athleticism and natural beauty. If we want to teach them to perform movements of the highest level of difficulty while preserving their brilliance and nobility and keeping them from harm’s way, then we have no choice but to return to the basic principles of riding on which dressage was founded.
First and foremost, this means that we must take our time. In general horses should only be worked in periods of up to 20 minutes at a time without a rest break. If towards the end of one of these work sessions, a horse should develop problems, then the answer could possibly be muscle fatigue. The answer is not “pushing the horse through the problem. That would be an incorrect response. The correct response would be to give the horse a short walk break and then begin the work again.
Similarly, with our FEI horses, we need to be careful not to make them overtired when we ask them to meet the highest demands of our sport. The highest degrees of collection (piaffe, passage, caner pirouettes) should not be drilled for long periods. Rather interrupt schooling periods with frequent walk breads. Additionally, instead of riding the movements like pirouettes, tempi changes, piaffe and passage on "traditional" FEI lines (e.g., long diagonals), try riding different lines or patterns around the arena (e.g., short diagonals, K to A, or from B to E) to encourage the horse to concentrate on the rider and eliminate the tension that often results from repetition. Alternate difficult exercises with less challenging ones, or short walk breaks. The importance of this cannot be emphasized enough. Fatigue is one of our biggest enemies, and it can lead to permanent damage. The aim is a horse that responds to light aids so the appearance is that of a horse doing most of the work on his own with ease and lightness, and that is possible only through patience and a correct foundation.
Patience also applies to starting a young horse. Maturity refers to both the mental and physical condition of the horse-this is particularly important t remember when deciding whether or not a young horse is ready to begin work. A horse with more muscle mass is not necessarily stronger and better prepared and/or able to work. We want our partners to shine brilliantly; we don’t want to smother or enslave them, so we must guard against pushing them ahead more quickly than their developing musculature is prepared to accept. This is particularly a temptation with the sensitive horse that learns quickly-a result, we see many three and four-year-old horses been presented as if they were seven-or eight years old horses with piaffe and passage already established. This is wrong. Too many of them later end up at the vet clinic with injuries and do not live up to their initial promise because their musculature was not strong enough to sustain that level of work, and so the strain was transferred to their tendons, ligaments and bones.
It is with these young horses that mistakes can most easily be made. The FEI five and sic-year-old tests are very good programs for the young horse but they must be understood completely. Most five and six-year-olds are able to do the work, but there are some who are not yet strong enough. We bear the responsibility of determining which horses those are and then allowing them the additional time they need to build more strength and to grow into themselves. When we force our horses to perform on a predetermined timetable, it merely results in injury and tension. Correct work with an eye towards suppleness always benefits the horse, and supple horses should be able to perform the five and six-year-old test with ease.
The training scale places top priority on rhythm and suppleness – the purity of the giants must be kept complete. Los of purity in any gait due to tension is a major foundational fault, and should be penalized, not rewarded. Even in international competitions, we need to keep our eye on the correct principles and the correctness of the
 gaits. Looseness and suppleness must remain of paramount importance.
Contact with the bit must also be addressed continually throughout the horse’s training. The horse’s nose must remain in front of the vertical, since when it is positioned behind the vertical, the horse cannot properly bring its back and stretch into the contact correctly, making it impossible for the hind limbs to swing freely forward under the horse’s body and carry weight. If, during a training session, the nose goes behind the vertical for a moment, either intentionally or unintentionally, the rider must be able to bring the horse’s nose back in the correct position in front of the vertical. If not, then there is a clear problem in the training that must be addressed with a return to the basics.
No matter how far along a horse I sin his training, we can never stop checking our foundation. I find this particularly true with my Grand Prix horses. On the day before my Grand Prix tests, I may not ride any movements at all, but instead only work on foundational basics, focusing on lightness to the aids, suppleness, looseness and straightness. Any tension will cause irregularity in the paces, which could be fatal to our tests. When schooling, educating the horse is the number one priority-not making the horse tired.
It helps to remember that mistakes are part of the learning process. Mistakes are okay. We learn from them, as do our horses. It is our responsibility to figure out why the mistake occurred, and to learn from it, so we can try not to repeat it. When the horse makes a mistake, it can be for a variety of reasons. Our job is to figure out the root of the problem and to correct it quietly, so that we can show the horse the correct way.
In summary, the correct training program will allow for a patient, systematic gymnasticization of the horse, using classical training principles first described by Xenophon centuries ago. These are training principles that have not changed for several hundred years and which will not change for the next 100 years. European professionals have referred to this system as their "Training Bible." It is our duty to treat our horses with the utmost degree of respect, both at home an in public, particularly in the war-up arenas. We must adhere to these principles so that our partners can continue to bring us joy, and so that we can, in return, continue to demonstrate their beauty and lightness to the world through the art of dressage.
Jennifer Hoffman owns German Dressage, Inc., a training, breeding and sales business, with her husband Jürgen Hoffmann in Encinitas California. Jennifer has her degree as a German Bereiter (FN), is a USET Long-Listed Rider, has taken several horses to Grand Prix both in Germany and her in the USA, and has competed and won several titles with young horses in the five and six-year-old FEI Classes. Her horse Rondo won the USDF HOY Title at 3rd Level in 2005.
back to top
September 29, 2004 | By Beth Rasin for The Chronicle of the Horse
Excerpt from "Sexson Has Plenty To Celebrate With Twin Rivers Win"
...Tiffany Silverman, who finished second in the intermediate and claimed the Area VI Intermediate Championship, hasn’t had a long history with her horse either. She imported Never On Sunday from Australia last year, but her husband, veterinarian Mark Silverman, had to talk her into the purchase.
"This horse surprised me," she said. "I thought he’d come along later. He’s a little sportscar, and I usually like the bigger, flashier types. But my husband saw a future in him."
Since "Felix" was slightly aggressive to the fences when they purchased him from Shane Rose, he spent a few more months in Australia, with a jumper trainer, before Silverman brought him home.
Silverman, of Valley Center, Calif., started competing the 16-hand Thoroughbred in February. "We’re learning each other’s buttons, but, for the most part, he’s point and shoot," she said. "It’s fun to just pat him on the landing side and keep going. He usually makes good decisions."
The Twin Rivers venue, new this year, was a welcome addition to the calendar for Silverman.
"It was exciting to go somewhere new," she said. "The choice of events is limited in California, and the footing here was spectacular from the start box to the finish flags. The jumps are solid and inviting and beautifully decorated. Every jump had a different feel and required a different type of riding."
Starting with a series of skinnies on a hill at fence 3, Silverman thought the course demanded a lot of accuracy. "It was really exciting to ride something like that," she said. "You had to jump a big jump, then come back and be accurate."
Silverman started off in fifth place after dressage, thanks to help at home from Jürgen Hoffmann in Encinitas, Calif. "He’s helped me take a sensitive horse and drive him into my hands," said Sexson. "Now I can really ride him in the test."
She also trains with Sarah Baldwin in show jumping, and eventer Jil Walton "puts it all together for me," she said.
A clear show jumping round moved the pair from third to second overall. "He’s been a one-rail horse, so it was a thrill to jump clean," she said. "It was his type of course—just keep coming forward. As his fitness level is up, getting ready for Galway Downs, he wasn’t feeling the effects of Saturday [cross-country]."
Silverman, 32, likes "quirky" names, although she isn’t sure how Never On Sunday got his moniker. "It’s a nice twist of fate that he did do it on a Sunday—he left all the rails up," she said with a laugh.
She hopes to compete Felix at the advanced level next year, and over the winter, she plans to settle into her new farm, which she bought two weeks before the event. "Packing for the event, I didn’t know where half my stuff was," said Silverman, a County Saddlery representative and master saddle fitter.
back to top
July 23, 2004 | By Nicole Lever for The Chronicle of the Horse
Hoffmann’s Boys Collect Blue at Pebble Beach
 Jennifer Hoffmann loves her boys, and they both delivered blue ribbons at the Pebble Beach CDI*** and open show.
Herzberg and Pik’s Pride, both stallions, earned small-tour scores in the high 60s and low 70s, Herzberg in the CDI division and Pik’s Pride in the open show at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, Pebble Beach, Calif., July 8 – 11.
"I was just delighted with Herzberg," said Hoffmann. "He was very clean, very correct, and I was able to push some of the movements to up my scores. We got 9s on our canter pirouettes; they were beautifully on the spot."
Hoffmann rode in Germany for 12 years, where she earned her Bereiter FN status and met her husband, Jürgen Hoffmann. The couple now live in Carlsbad, Calif., and stand the stallions at their training farm, German Dressage
Herzberg, a dark bay Trakehner, has all the qualities that the Hoffmanns seek in their breeding stallions.
"They must have rideability, quality of character, and, of course, the movement and the talent," said Jürgen. "We really focus on horses who have beautiful minds, because the beautiful movement doesn’t mean much if the mind’s not there."
Jennifer said she really enjoys riding Herzberg because, as a lady rider without a tremendous amount of strength, Herzberg "is quick to the aids, with a little more go," she said. "The French judge, Jean-Michel Roudier," commented that he really liked the horse’s forward style and that he liked the risks I took in my Prix St. Georges test."
Pik’s Pride, 8, a truly black Oldenburg, showed in his first Prix St. Georges at Pebble Beach to earn a 68.75 percent, despite being tired from consecutive days of showing. "What he did for me today is one of the many reasons I really like riding stallions, "said Jennifer. They will fight for you and never quit if you have them on your side. Having a partnership with a stallion is very rewarding."
Jennifer also showed Petit Danseur, whom she competed with at the USEF Intermediare I Championships last month, for the first time at Intermediare II. They scored above 70 percent in both, earning 7s and 8s on the passage and piaffe.
back to top
July 24, 2004 | By Nicole Lever for The Chronicle of the Horse
Dainer Takes Team Liberty To Top Of USEF Junior Team Championships
Jennifer Dainer swept all three classes of the U.S. Equestrian Federation Junior Dressage Team Championships to propel Team Liberty to a gold medal and earned herself the kudos of top junior dressage rider in the country.
Held at the Pebble Beach Equestrian Center, Pebble Beach, Calif., July 8-11, the top 12 qualified juniors, representing states as far flung as Kansas, Georgia and Washington, faced off in team and individual competition. Team Independence (Renna Idnani, Clare Marie Hove, Maya Dalla Valle and Eloise Aud) earned the silver medal, and Team Freedom (Ashley Schemp, Emily Mitchell, Vanessa Simon and Elizabeth Wilson) claimed the bronze.
 This junior competition is one of only six junior competitions granted USA Junior Olympic status by the U.S. Olympic Committee.On her own Gable, a Hanoverian-Thoroughbred cross gelding, Dainer, riding in her second consecutive team championship, rose to the top like the proverbial cream. But she didn’t win the team gold all on her own. Teammates Susan Walker and Chelsea Seburn tied for third place individually, and even though Erin Magbee’s competitive weekend started out a little roughly, she finished strongly to place fifth in the individual test (64.10%), which moved her up to 11th individually.
To qualify for the junior championships, riders aged 14 to 18 needed five qualifying scores. Once at the championships, they were assigned to one of the three teams based on a handicapping format that tries to start the teams off on equal footing. The team and individual tests were worth 50 percent each. The competitors ride under FEI rules and in front of a panel of five international judges, and it’s often the first time many have ever ridden in front of more than one judge. They work with a chef d’equipe—this year’s chef was U.S. Olympian Charlotte Bredahl—and emphasis is placed on the team competition. "As chef d’equipe, I get the juniors to focus on sportsmanship. Before they started the competition, I gave them a letter on what it means to be a winner, and not the blue-ribbon kind of winner," said Bredahl. "I try to take the pressure off by helping them focus on the team aspect of this competition. I think it helps set the tone for the whole weekend."
Never Unmanageable
At 14, Walker was one of the youngest championship participants. She was also the only junior mounted on a stallion. Facet, a chestnut Dutch Warmblood, was imported for Walker’s mother to ride, but she and the stallion "had an immediate chemistry," so Susan took over his riding duties in January. Facet stands at Jürgen and Jennifer Hoffmann’s German Dressage stud in Carlsbad, Calif., and Susan and her mother each train with the Hoffmanns.
USEF rules don’t prohibit junior from riding stallions, and Susan said Facet isn’t too difficult because his temperament is so kind and steady. "He never, ever does anything that is unmanageable. He’s very sensible all the time," she said. Dutch Olympic rider Ellen Bontje trained Facet to the small tour, and Walker said Facet goes as well as she can ride him. "Whatever I can do, he can do. Knowing that he’s so well-trained does put a little extra pressure on me. I can get really mad at myself because I know if we make mistakes, that it’s pretty much my fault," she said. Walker improved her fifth-placed preliminary ride and her sixth-placed team test to finish third in the individual test, which moved her up to tie for third individually with Seburn and helped her meet the goals she set for herself. "I didn’t want to finish last, and I really wanted to try for a top-three individual placing, so I was pretty happy with the way things went," said Susan. "My teammates were great too. In just one week we bonded so well, and we’re really good friends now. I know we’ll stay in touch—once a team, always a team!"
Junior Program Comes Of Age
Almost all the junior riders who participated in this year’s USEF Junior Dressage Team Championships said they were considering moving up a level to compete in the young riders division, proof that the junior program is fulfilling its mission of both promoting dressage and encouraging youth participation. "This year the juniors have really come of age. Their riding is very correct and their basics very solid," said Anne Gribbons, who judged this year’s championships and who was extremely influential in getting the junior program started. "The scores don’t just reflect better horses, they reflect better riding, and all you have to do is look at the narrow point spread from the gold-medal team to the bronze-medal team—just 3 points—to see how competitive these riders are. I know I sound like a proud, clucking mother right now, but we saw some good riding this weekend," added Gribbons.
Cara Whitham, an I-rated Canadian judge, agreed whole-heartedly. She added that what she really appreciated about the junior riders was their ability and willingness to "fix" any problems they encountered in the ring. "These riders are extremely accomplished and very ring savvy. I rewarded them for really trying to make their horses stay up and stay focused, even on the third day, when it was easy to tell that everyone was a little tired," she said.
French I-rated judge Jean-Michel Roudier added his own accolades. "The quality of riding I saw equals what I see in Europe when I judge young riders there," he said. "These were very professional riders."
back to top
June 2004 | By Erin Gilmore for Riding Magazine
The Dressage Affaire
The Dressage Affaire, held the weekend of April 17 – 18 at the Del Mar Horsepark just outside of San Diego was a beautifully staged event, and highly successful in its first year. Show manager and organizer Kim Keenan wanted to host a different type of show to expose amateurs to the kind of upper level features that they aren’t often able to experience at lower levels. Reminiscent of a popular dressage extravaganza that used to be held in the area, but hadn’t been for many years, Kim strove to resurrect that show’s elegance and popularity. During its run that show was loved by all. "It brought a very elegant experience to our area, similar to shows in Europe," says Kim. "So we expanded on our spring show, made it into a three day, and added new features to create that elegant atmosphere again."
The extensive efforts paid off, and plans are already in the works for next year. All of the amateur classes were $500 classes, and with division champions in both Open and Amateur divisions, riders were competing not only for the title of first, but for valuable prizes (of $100 to $300 value) and cash. Although next year the format may be tweaked a little, this year division champions were decided by averaging their scores in two classes (such as Training Level Test 4 and First Level Test 1, or First Level Test 4 and Second Level Test 1).
Kim decided it would be neat to have an additional, unique award that would grab the attention of spectators and competitors alike. The Most Classical Rider award was decided by the judges on the rider’s overall performance over the weekend. Jennifer Hoffmann of German Dressage in Encinitas took home the title and a beautiful relief sculpture along with the Déjà vu Memorial Award and the FEI High Point for the 3-day show.
Last June, show organizers learned that the Dressage Affaire would also include Olympic Qualifier classes. That addition raised the show up another level of prestigiousness. The show subsequently drew a very high caliber of riders hoping to move on to the Olympic Selection Trials (to be held in San Juan Capistrano in June). Guenter Seidel and his two mounts, Aragon and Metropolitan, took the top two placings, respectively, in the USEF Grand Prix Olympic Qualifier and the USEF Grand Prix Special Olympic Qualifier.
With a lot of support from sponsors, the show was able to provide some very special and unique features that had competitors raving. All stalls were bedded and ready for competitors when they arrived, and each barn was greeted with welcome bags of carrots, apples and product samples. The show featured a wine and hors d’ouvres party on Saturday night for everybody. The part was donated by Del Mar Dressage and included a D.J. On Sunday, 250 spectators took part in a champagne brunch while the freestyles were taking place in the elegantly transformed indoor arena. Next year Kim hopes that the party and brunch will be even larger. Another fun feature was the Del Mar Team Challenge. Competitors named their teams, which were made up of one Open rider and three Amateur riders or four Amateur riders, and competed for a $3,000 top prize over the weekend. Competing in a team added extra excitement and became very popular, and the awards ceremony included neck sashes and flowers. The Dynamic Divas were the winners of the Del Mar Team Challenge, with a score of 66.58%. The team included Christina Clemons riding Analiese, Pamela Vendetti riding Absolute Joy, Susan Walker riding Facet and Elizabeth Ball Cousyn riding Raphael. The "Boys of Color" team placed second, and "Amateurs Anonymous" were third.
With 145 horses participating, and competitors traveling from all over the Western United States, the Dressage Affaire was a resounding success. In a time when the dressage community is coming together to present their sport more appealingly to the public, the elegant touches and unique features made the Dressage Affaire come together in a beautiful, spectator friendly display of the sport.
back to top
February 20, 2004 | By Sheri Scott for The Chronicle of the Horse
Excerpted from "Kingston’s Learning Curve Increases with L.A. Winter Win"
Morse almost won an open Intermediaire-1 class on her other stallion, Tip Top, but she finished second after the judges broke a three-way tie. They awarded the blue ribbon to Mette Rosencranz, on her new Danish Warmblood gelding Basqueville because she had the highest collective marks. Jennifer Hoffmann on Herzberg finished third. All three riders scored 69.75%…
After two years of riding Herzberg, Hoffmann is also just discovering how much her horse has to give. Preceding her third in the Intermediare I class, she won Saturday’s Prix St. Georges on the 11 year-old Trakehner stallion with a 72.75 percent.
Herzberg, by Leonardo, was a jumper when Hoffmann and Gay Walker purchased him two years ago in Germany. Last year, he debuted in the dressage arena and at Prix St. Georges.
"He had a lot of energy, and he was a lot rounder and more powerful than last year," said Hoffmann. "He’s very sensitive, and we’ve just really bonded this year. He’s listening more to my seat aids, and everything’s quieter and prettier. Because he’s gotten so much stronger everything is a little more fiery and a little more energetic. But it’s still very pretty, very elegant. I think this is going to be his year."
back to top
October 31, 2003 | By Sheri Scott for The Chronicle of the Horse
Excerpted from "…Great American/USDF Region 7 and CDS Championships"
Jennifer Hoffmann, Carlsbad, CA, won the USDF Intermediaire-1 Open Championship (67.87%) on Petit Danseur, owned by Georgia Griffiths of Encinitas, CA. Petit Danseur also placed second to Tip Top on the CDS Intermediaire 1 Open Championships with a 68.25%.
"He’s very powerful and very sensitive," said Hoffmann of the 8 year-old gelding. "He can go off in a second and be a bullet. You always have to be on top of things with him."
On Thursday he was bouncing up and down and bucking around in the warm-up ring. But by Friday he had settled. "We had an absolutely perfect test, no mistakes, very big and bold and expressive," said Hoffmann of the CDS class.
Hoffmann could feel that Petit Danseur was a little tired by Sunday’s USDF Championship Class.
He went in and was flawless," said Hoffmann. "It was the first time I felt him tired, but yet he still fought every step and pushed himself to the limit. I was still able to ride his trot extensions as bold as I did on Friday. I could feel him at the end of the test when I let the reins go, ‘Oh, thank God it’s over.’ He has a heart of gold."
Hoffmann and her husband Jürgen found Petit Danseur on a buying trip to Europe in February. The bay has no papers or brand, but was raised in the Netherlands and had a short show career in Germany at the lower levels.
back to top
back to News Page
|
