Phillip Dutton shares his wisdom

Phillip Dutton will be riding Z this week on the U.S. eventing Nations Cup team in Aachen, Germany, one of the world’s most prestigious competitions.

But last week, it was business as usual for the Olympic individual bronze medalist, who came to Tewksbury to share his knowledge with riders at varying stages of development, from Advanced down to the lower levels. He gave a clinic at the Heron’s Landing stable, run by Heather Gillette at Ruby’s Meadow, the old Hill & Dale Farm that is now owned by eventing competitor Jacques Foussard.

But what, I wondered, do you do when you only have 45 minutes or so to work with two or three riders before moving on to the next group?

With an emphasis on correctness, Phillip said he tries “to do a little bit on the flat; simple stuff, where you get your horse to ride through a turn, keep  him off your inside leg and adjust, being able to go forward and back.” Then it was time to do the same with the jumping.

“There’s a common thread between the dressage, the show jumping and the cross-country. You don’t do your dressage work and forget about it for the jumping,” said the two-time Olympic team gold medalist. “We do some cross-country exercises with fall-down jumps, and some basic show jumping.”

A serpentine exercise involved three jumps, coming from an oxer (think of it as a corner on a cross-country course) to a vertical in three or four strides, “holding a line on the horse so you’re coming into the jump (vertical) on an angle to make the line work,” as Phillip put it. After that, it was three strides to another oxer.

“The difficulty is holding the line and the horse understanding he can come into a jump on an angle and stay on the line that the rider brings him in on,” Phillip told me. That involves “the horse trusting the rider (so) they’re doing what they’re asked to do.”

He believes, “Most horses want to do the right thing. It’s just a case of getting them to understand. Most of the time, it’s usually not enough understanding from leg to hand. Your horse can’t ignore you when you say, `Okay, move forward’ or when you say, `let’s shorten up,’ because if they do (ignore you) and the jump’s there, it’s a problem. You’ve got to get that communication and trust going. I find with horses, it’s all repetition. It’s also coordination with the horses as well, that they have to learn to do it athletically.”

I often heard Phillip calling out the word “travel” as he worked with the participants, so I asked him what that was about.

“It means you’ve got to keep coming forward,” he explained.

“A lot of riders’ natural tendency coming to a jump is to be tentative and hold back. Our job as a rider is to give the horse confidence. The analogy is if you’re in a car with someone who’s driving, you get a feeling whether you’re safe in that car or not. The horse has to get this feeling from you, that safety, security and confidence. Coming into a jump, traveling or going somewhere and being definite about your ride in is what you’re trying to get across to your horse. Coming in tentatively or holding back, that doesn’t send that good message to your horse.”

As Phillip noted, “If you gallop on, get the horse going forward, it’s much easier to see a distance because your horse is in front of you or thinking forward, rather than holding back. Especially at home, you’ve got to get away from just relying on your hand to get to the jump, but rather, riding up to the jump.”

The first to work with Phillip were Heather, on Vincent Chase, an off-the-track thoroughbred, and Meg Kepferle on Anakin, third last month in the Advanced Division at the MARS Essex Horse Trials. Meg and Anakin will be following up their debut in that section at the Millbrook, N.Y. event next month.

“I need to be better than I am because my horse is better than I’m riding,” said Meg, explaining why she’s going to put an emphasis on lessons like the one she had with Phillip.

“My horse felt a lot more tired jumping 2-6, 3-foot rideability questions than he would jumping a big track. Jumping big is easy for him,” said Meg.

“You don’t have to jump big jumps to get better; you have to make an adjustable horse. You want these tools available for you, not just luck and an honest horse.”

Meg, who was the head groom and barn manager for international rider Sinead Halpin before opening her Mountainview operation in Long Valley, noted straightness has always been an issue for herself and her mount.

“He has a wicked right drift and I have a bit of a weak right leg,” she explained.  The antidote? “All day long, square turns.”

“Phil’s the best of the best,” Meg said. “He knows how to read the horse and rider and the situation really well. It’s a privilege to be able to ride with someone like this. It’s kind of nice that he’s come to New Jersey. I hope he comes back.”

When I asked Meg if there was anything else she wanted to share, she replied, “People should know they don’t have to be wanting to go to the Olympics to ride with an Olympian. It’s important that they think they are approachable, because they really are, and they have a lot of good things to say.”

Heather wanted to bring Phillip to the farm because she rode with him when she was working with other horses. It was time for Vinnie, who has competed once at Preliminary level, to crank up, “so call Phillip,” she said, noting she also wanted to share his expertise with her students.

Since she is a judge and technical delegate, Heather is juggling a lot of things, which meant she was happy to have Phillip come to her instead of having her go to his place in Pennsylvania. Heather also is busy with lessons and barn renovations.

“We’re bringing the old farm back to life,” she said.

She told me that one of the things she learned from working with Phillip is that the serpentine line needs to be incorporated in Vinnie’s training. And “Instead of whoaing and turning,” she needs “to sort of keep coming through the turns and use a more open rein.

“I have a very nice young horse who wants to try hard but needs to be a little more rideable. I have to challenge him a little more, I need to be less of his protective mom and more, `If you’re going to be a big boy, step up and do it.’”