Horse and Rider Spotlight: Artie and Carmela!
Artie, who usually holds the “cutest face in the barn award,” is a 2004 QH x Russian Warmblood owned and loved by Carmela Wilbur. I met Artie in 2013, coincidentally, the same year I met Carmela. Carmela began riding with me when I still owned my facility in North East PA. She would drive down from Syracuse and lesson on my horses once or twice every month. From the beginning, it was clear that horses and dressage were Carmela’s passion. From her very first lesson, she showed she wanted to know as many details as she could, soak up as much theory as I could give her and practice as much as possible. So basically, the best kind of student!
Artie originally came to me from Ohio to be sold. He had been bred by a colleague and was owned by a few teenage girls who tried eventing with him. In the way of young horses and teenagers, it eventually wasn’t a match. I immediately fell in love with Artie. He is honest, always tries his heart out and is very athletic. The combination of the warmblood and Quarter Horse created such a positive result. He has the sit-down and power engine of a Quarter Horse, with a reaching stride and suppleness of topline from a warmblood. My longtime friends and students, Danielle Rice and Robin Pelham, purchased Artie from me after about half a year of training. So he stayed in my life in the form of clinics and occasionally in training. Danielle first and then Robin both developed Artie and learned SO MUCH from him. He was really their first dressage horse. Eventually, we decided it was time to let Artie find his next partner, but we knew he needed to stay in my sphere.
He came up to my training program, where he got a tune-up and started to teach some lessons when Carmela got another chance to ride him. (She had ridden him a few times way back in the day). And she loved him once again. The rest is history.
Carmela and Artie became an official pair in December 2020. I have been a witness to the entire process as Carmela and Artie have become the unstoppable couple they are today. Artie was patient but had high expectations and Carmela respected him so much, that she worked tirelessly on the topics in our lessons to learn how to harmonize with him. And oh my! Did that ever work!
Carmela is not a competitive rider, but she is continuing to work at developing his and her skills as high up the levels as she can. His half pass flows like water, his powerful haunches create beautiful extensions and allow him to sit towards the piaffe. Artie’s the horse that makes everyone’s day a little brighter, it is that FACE!! But he makes Carmela’s life glow the most, if you ask me!
Carmela feels that Michelle's patient guidance and her high level of expertise has been the ingredient that makes this partnership work. With the help of Michelle, Artie has let Carmela learn how to learn, stop criticizing herself, and respond to the horse instead of reacting. She says Michelle believes individually in the horse and rider and brings out the best in both as she passionately advocates for every pair. Artie tries so hard to make Carmela happy, making himself a true highlight of her day. She often says, “I made it to the barn today, so it’s a good day.”
Kathryn Bieler and Zack!
I met Kathy Bieler in late 2007 in East Aurora, NY, where I originally started LaBarre Dressage after leaving my post at the Atlantic Dressage Development Center in Nova Scotia, Canada. When I met Kathy, she was already a very accomplished eventer competing at the Prelim level with her horse, Silver. Kathy came to me for lunge lessons to improve her dressage skills, and we got along great. In her lessons, Kathy was extremely focused and very disciplined. She absorbed, took home, and practiced the principles we discussed together; always coming back with fresh insights and new skills that she had developed on her own. In 2008, I relocated to NEPA, which was close to 5 hours from Kathy. During those years, we met regularly at my Rochester clinic locations. Our focus was on developing the second and third level dressage skills of Silver. Our work then moved on to her young eventer, Monty when Silver retired. During all of this time, Kathy competed both in the Eventing and Dressage arenas.
Enter Zack. Zack is a 2008 beautiful black bay Danish Warmblood (Sired by Blue Hors Zack) who was originally imported in 2019. Kathy met Zack in the summer of 2021 at a horse show. She happened to see a flyer indicating that Zack was at the show and for sale. Kathy was able to watch Zack compete at the PSG, and because he lived very close by, she had the opportunity to ride Zack several times to see how they clicked. Kathy wasn’t searching for a dressage schoolmaster for herself, but she just couldn’t stop thinking about him. We discussed what a partnership with a horse like Zack could offer to Kathy and what sort of program it would take to help them gel, and Kathy decided to go for it. So in August 2021, Zack and Kathy became an official pair, and the next month Zack moved into my training program.
Zack needed a total physical reshaping to unlock his athletic potential, but his generous spirit and honest try have always been something to marvel at. Kathy could go on and on about the amount of heart in this horse, and the effort he puts in for her is clear. He’s a very attentive horse, with one ear on Kathy and one ear on me the entire ride. I am so grateful that Kathy has allowed me to develop Zack’s athleticism and unlock his potential for his sake. Kathy drives 3 hours one way every week to ride Zack and develop her dressage skills from second level to Intermediate 1! Zack taught Kathy to change her understanding of the driving aids, the use of her pelvis in the saddle, and how contact works. And just like she did when I lived in East Aurora, she takes what she learns home and practices on Monty and does visualizations and a tremendous amount of thinking. Kathy earned her Bronze medal on Zack in 2022 and her Silver in 2023 and this summer she has earned her first score towards her Gold in her one and only test thus far. Zack has been a horse that required Kathy to learn the finer points of dressage. Though he is kind, he does not do the job for his rider, not for a single step. This past weekend at HITS, Kathy rode her first Inter 1 test. This is a hard test. A big jump from the PSG in skills but also in the speed at which things occur. And people, Kathy Bieler and Zack gave me goosebumps! Watching them in some serious heat, in their first Inter 1, talk to each other and work together on the short sides was enough to make my whole summer! They were in a little mind-melded bubble, and to be on the side lines-knowing how hard all 3 of us have worked-watching it all come together, was a great reminder of why I do this. I just love seeing a horse and rider pair find their stride, find their rhythm, and find it together.
Coming from Kathy, she’s truly never had a bad ride with Michelle. Some of this is due to the number of visual pictures and multiple ways of explaining things Michelle uses, giving her a complete understanding of the concept. The other part comes down to Zack, who she would describe as a total sweetheart. She says Michelle’s discipline and attention to detail are reflected in her students, giving Kathy the tools she needs to be successful in her solo rides by making her a softer and more effective rider. As she competes at higher levels and generates more success, she noted that “Michelle keeps showing you there’s always more.”
Ruby and Harry!
This week I would like to feature a horse and rider pair that is very near and dear to my heart, though not a live-in pair. Ruby Fowler and her horse ‘Sir Franklin’ known as Harry. Harry is an 11-year-old Oldenburg/Tb cross that Ruby bred, foaled, raised and trained herself. They are currently competing at Third Level with the goal of making it to the FEI levels.
Ruby has her own piece of paradise which she calls Dream Catcher Farm in Constantia NY. She boards 12 horses and gives 10-15 lessons a week from little tykes all the way up to adults. I often get an opportunity to meet the young people Ruby is inspiring since she regularly brings one or two with her to her weekly trailer in lesson. She has done all of this while being an RN working in various fields of nursing over her 50 years in the role!
Ruby, Harry and I met in 2020 at a clinic in Fulton. What struck me immediately about the pair was how well their natures suited each other. Ruby and Harry go together, belong together; it is immediately evident. Ruby works tirelessly to be the best she can be. She is brave about learning. What I mean is she naturally gravitates towards what she doesn’t understand and takes a deep dive into that area. That is a rare quality. She is comfortable working through the uncomfortable, and work she does. She is disciplined and always does her homework; this is where Harry is so vital to the pair. Harry makes sure that Ruby does not get too intense and too focused on improving. He has an amazing amount of try and terrific focus, but I think he needs regular reminders that his efforts are appreciated and that the journey is as important as the destination. Harry makes sure Ruby stays grounded in feel. Ruby keeps teaching Harry to give the effort with his whole body, not just his heart. They are currently hard at work really understanding a deeper concept of throughness and how that applies to lateral suppleness at Third level. It has been interesting to really get into the nitty-gritty here with Ruby. It has required a lot of in-depth conversations. Harry is one of those horses that once he is truly laterally supple, he will be a profoundly better mover. His natural affinity towards piaffe and pirouette levels of collection will be highlighted in the upper levels and these skills are already developing and will be very exciting to watch when polished. But the discipline they are both demonstrating to make sure that other, oh so vital component that goes hand in hand with collected power-that elastic suppleness-is something they are having to really work for. In my own training, it is usually the thing that I most struggle with that I become most expert in over time. And I think the very same will be true of this pair. Those coat tails that Ruby is dreaming of will be a reality!
I think another thing I love about working with Ruby is I know I am in the presence of a mentor. She displays to her students, to her fellow clinic participants, her fellow competitors and to me, an upbeat attitude around the notion of ‘No excuses’. Things that are hard are exciting and the challenge is what makes it worth it. I love hearing her guide and coach us all in that reminder and I absolutely love knowing she is instilling that in her young charges.
As Ruby says, “Harry is my true partner, he knows me as well as I know him!” He’s a very willing horse, giving his all with anything she asks of him. This trait has allowed them to grow so much under Michelle’s guidance. Ruby commented on how acute Michelle’s senses are and how she can see such fine details to be tweaked. This has helped Ruby gain the ability to totally feel and understand Harry, aiding them as they work up the levels. Aside from training, Harry loves teaching little ones the ropes. Ruby puts all of her little kids on him to ride and he is great with them! Sometimes Harry gets jealous when Ruby rides the other horses in the barn, but knows he will be last. She always saves the best for last!