By Claire Wheeler
I’ve done a lot of crazy things for horses, but driving 24 hours round trip to try a horse described as “extremely sensitive and hard to ride” might be at the top of my list.
For some background, I started riding essentially as soon as I could walk. Coming from a horsey family is a huge advantage and something I feel really lucky to have. Over the years, I slowly went from pony hunters, to eventing, to jumpers, and now I find myself a professional dressage and hunter rider.
It’s been a real journey with so many horses over the years, and almost all of my best horses came with some kind of “quirk”; some bucked, some took off with me, and some were just unstarted and inexperienced. When you have a tiny budget, you work with what you can be given. Most of the time, I’ve found these things can be fixed, whether it be with veterinary help, or just training and patience.
I had made my way up the levels to the FEI Juniors in dressage when I suddenly found myself without a competition horse. I desperately wanted to get back in the show ring, and my ultimate goal was to compete at Prix St. Georges.
One night, I was scrolling through a horse sales website – not expecting to find anything – when an ad for a gorgeous imported Danish Warmblood came up in my search, Ferreo Elton (Blue Hors First Choice x Fama Elton – Matador; Harry Hansen, breeder). He checked every single box: excellent bloodlines, super training, incredible show results at Third Level, starting piaffe, and, not to mention, he was stunning. Here’s the kicker – his sale price was just barely in the five-figure range. Immediately, my thought was, “What’s wrong with him?”
His listing description was super honest: “quirky, hot, sensitive, bolts, can’t ride with other horses…” You get the idea. So, of course, I immediately sent a message to his trainer, explaining my situation, and seeing if they thought we would be a match. They explained some more about him, and I begged my mom to drive 12 hours each way with me and the horse trailer to go see Elton.
So, over Fourth of July weekend, we went to try him, and it was just a perfect match from the beginning; he was sweet, incredibly athletic, and had all the fancy movements I always wanted to do. So I bought him and brought him home the next day, while pretty much everyone thought I was insane. I could say our journey was sunshine and rainbows, but we had some rough patches, especially at the beginning. At our first show, I could barely get Elton through the canter tour without him bolting or trying to rear. After that, I decided to really buckle down at home and wait to show him until we had developed a genuine partnership.
So, I worked hard to make him MY horse; I taught him to jump, rode him down to the creek, rode him bareback, and started leaving him in turnout 24/7 with my other horses. Slowly, he tried to take off with me less and less, stopped trying to rear and spin, and actually became rideable at schooling shows. Through all of this, he also became my best friend; he comes when I call him and loves to be brushed. That’s not to say he’s a completely beginner-safe horse now. To this day, if a warm-up ring is too busy, I can’t do much there, and we have days at home where he’s too nervous to do new things. He’s not for everyone, that’s for sure.
I have had to completely adjust my thinking on training, especially for Elton. I have to reward the first tiny try; if I drill and drill on one movement, he gets too stressed. These same ideas have helped all my horses – keeping the pressure low and focusing on the basics. I really only practice movements from our tests maybe once a week and mainly do simple exercises to improve the basics. It’s been really important to have trainers who understand Elton, and Barbara Strawson and Hannah Irons have been really helpful.
Elton tries so hard for me, and this year he’s helped me achieve more than I ever expected in the show ring. Being strategic about which venues to go to and how often to show has been really important. We moved up to Fourth Level this summer and qualified for the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Regional Dressage Championships his first time out.
Our biggest achievement, though, came at the end of July, when we completed two Developing Horse Prix St. Georges tests, scoring over 60% in each, and earning my USDF Silver Medal scores! This was both mine and Elton’s first time at the level, and getting to ride in my tailcoat was such a dream come true.
Ironically, Elton has improved my confidence as a rider and trainer, and he’s pushed me to be better and braver when it comes to training horses. There is so much I have learned from him that can be applied to my young or green horses. Our next big adventure will be competing at the Region 1 Dressage Championships at Third and Fourth Level. Next year, I would love to do the FEI Young Riders.
Overall, Elton has given me so much, from achieving big goals, and helping me grow as a trainer, to just being there for me when I need him. I feel so lucky to have found him.
