By Jacqueline Ely
This article received an honorable mention in the 2024 GMO Newsletter Awards for general interest articles for GMOs with 75-174 members. It appeared in the June 2024 Three Rivers Equestrian Association newsletter, TREA Branches.
I am constantly seeking ways to learn and grow as an equestrian. I strive to not only do my best personally but to also help each horse that impacts my life to be their best. It is possible and often probable that at some time in the horse’s life a human interaction has had a negative influence on the horse’s health and wellbeing. It is easy to put our own goals and aspirations over the horse’s needs and desires. I am sure most horses are not begging their owners to load them onto trailers and traipse all over the country showing for scores, ribbons and accolades. These majestic creatures do however allow us to follow our dreams and graciously withstand all that entails. Don’t get me wrong, I certainly enjoy showing but it should never be at the detriment of the horse. There seems to be a divide starting in the Dressage community. Classical Dressage versus Competitive Dressage. I believe every equestrian wants to do right by their horses and really want what is best for them. I am sure there are many answers one would give as to why Competitive Dressage is not always Classical Dressage. My focus is to study and train my horses with true classical Dressage principles and learn from the Masters to improve my skill set. I started on this journey in 2019 when I traveled to Portugal to learn from Master Luis Valenca. Then in October 2023 I had the pleasure of auditing a weeklong clinic with Master Manolo Mendez in Texas. Most recently I was chosen to ride in a three-day clinic in Virginia with Master Manolo Mendez, May 2024.
I have admired Master Manolo Mendez for many years. His training begins with extensive groundwork/in-hand work and this intrigued me. It always made so much sense to teach the horse from the ground to prepare for ridden work. The training journey for a horse is not one made up of months but years. It should not be rushed and should go at the horse’s pace. No matter the instructor you will hear about the importance of the basics, the foundation. You begin to build that foundation from the ground and then transfer that to ridden work with the same care and preparation as from the ground. When I first found out about Manolo Mendez coming to Sa Raeda Ranch in Texas I was eager to attend. This experience truly changed how I work with my horses and my client’s horses. Watching Master Manolo Mendez work with a horse is absolutely beautiful. He made the comment during the clinic that when you ride you and the horse become one. This is certainly true for when Manolo rides a horse. He is always with them and they with him. He would say his job is to make the horse “comfy” and it showed. They would relax under his touch and seek him for comfort and guidance. To say he has a way with horses is an understatement.
Master Manolo Mendez’s approach to training is about meeting the horse where they are. He is gifted at recognizing what it is they need to feel better and to be their best. He doesn’t just ride the horse, he evaluates the whole horse, he transforms them. My hope is to continue to train my eye to be even half as good as him at recognizing what I can provide for the horse to make them more comfortable and improve their work. I knew from that moment on that any time he was in the United States I would attend his clinics to continue to learn more. His approach felt so right to me and was exactly what I had been seeking.
One of the biggest differences between his approach and others I had seen was how he incorporated bodywork into his sessions. He would often pause during training and stretch a certain area on the horse or massage an area.
Then he would go back to work and almost 100% of the time you would see an improvement in the horse. I was very interested in this but did not feel I had the knowledge base to put this into practice without guidance. I had to share this information with Mandy Collier of Optimum Equine. Mandy works on all my horses monthly and I asked if we could try something a little different based on what I learned from the Manolo clinic. Since then Mandy and I have continued to explore these concepts and incorporate it into my training program.
In January 2024 I found out Manolo would be coming to Frying Pan Farm Park in Virginia. It was a long shot but I decided to apply for a rider position. They were only accepting 6 riders. Since returning from the clinic in October 2023 I had changed my approach to training. All of my horses had improved their posture and Mandy and I were noticing so many improvements to their weaker areas. I was taking things at their pace and was not sure if we were ready for a clinic but was eager to submit a video to Manolo showing what I had learned from him already and my eagerness to continue. I was chosen to ride in the Manolo Mendez Symposium! I took my 6 year old Lipizzaner mare 116 Valdamora X. The experience was life changing not only for me but also for my horse. Not only did Manolo help us tremendously to further improve our bond and enhance our potential together, I had the pleasure of meeting other individuals to help us on this journey. The support and love from everyone at the symposium was incredible. The icing on the cake is Mandy Collier attended the clinic as well. There is so much I want to share regarding this experience. I will continue to improve my skill and do right by each horse I work with. Here are some quick takeaways I would like to share.
- The horse must first have a good clear walk, tracking up and in a good neutral neck position before moving onto trot. The same must be observed in trot before moving onto canter.
- If the movement is not good or the body position is not right, do not continue, take the horse back to something they can do well and/or utilize a different exercise to improve the posture before moving on.
- The position/angle of the horse’s head should match the slope of the shoulder. The horse’s front feet can only reach as far as the nose. Behind the vertical is detrimental to the horse’s movement and wellbeing.
Mandy Collier of Optimum Equine shares her experience at the Manolo Mendez clinic:
The more I learn, the more I realize how true this saying is. Ignorance is bliss. It is a burden of responsibility to learn about our influences on the horse and the very true and very uncomfortable truth that sometimes our work with them can be detrimental to their bodies. As a bodyworker, I’ve been blessed to gain knowledge about what healthy bodies move like, and what healthy bodies look like. Through the years I’ve taken a deep dive through anatomy and biomechanics and I can wholeheartedly feel that saying. Ignorance is bliss. And yet, the truer saying is that when we know better we do better. My life’s work is helping horses feel better, move better and live better through bodywork. So I was ecstatic when Jacqueline came home from auditing Manolo Mendez in Texas October 2023 and started speaking the truths that I knew about proper mechanics and self-carriage in dressage. I had been seeking these truths for some time but was starting to feel at a loss for answers.
But when she came home and told me about this person who understood about the proper position for the neck and correct and balanced dressage, I knew I had to learn more. She told me the ways that he would stop a session to perform some bodywork or to balance a foot before continuing the training. He had discovered an essential truth.
That no good training is going to take place if the body and the mind are not comfortable.
I knew I had to witness this training for myself and I am overwhelmed with inspiration for having seen it. This master horseman demonstrated before my eyes that we can indeed improve the horse through our riding. But we must be correct and thoughtful and ethical when we do so. It must be grounded in healthy mechanics and an understanding of the horse’s body and what it can and cannot do while carrying a rider. I feel like I could feel a novel with what I have learned, but if I needed to distill it into one take home point it is this: do you not ride your horse behind the vertical.
As a body worker, I had understood this point from a mechanical perspective. I understood the compression it was causing to the joint between the second and third cervical vertebrae. I understood that it placed excessive force on the nuchal ligaments attaching the atlas to the withers, causing strain and even injury to the structure. I understood the way that it took away the correct and effective function of the horses neck muscles and impaired the body’s balance through the thoracic sling. I understood the way that this posture stops the action of the hind legs and impairs the horse from lifting his back. But until I learned from Master Manolo Mendez and functional anatomist Jillian Kreinbring, I did not know the other repercussions this could lead to. I did not know that the junction of C2 and C3 was also home to the larynx and the pharynx. I did not know that when ridden behind the vertical horses can neither breathe correctly nor swallow. And until listening to a lecture by osteopath Janek Vluggan, I did not know that the junction between C2 and C3 is also the location of the horse’s thyroid gland. And that when compressed, it decreases its ability to produce a hormone the liver uses to remove toxins from the whole body. Heavy information. I look back at pictures of myself riding and I feel the weight of what I did not know then but I know now. Ignorance is bliss. And knowledge is responsibility. I feel passionately about gathering and spreading knowledge in order to help equestrians and their horses. Dipping my toe in these waters has only made me hungry for more.
There is a vast ocean of knowledge out there to explore if we are brave enough to receive it. Ready to dive in with us? Join Jacqueline and Mandy on Tuesday, June 25th at 7:00 pm for a review of the knowledge they gained at the Healthy Dressage Up the Levels Symposium with Master Manolo Mendez and functional anatomist Jillian Kreinbring.
Jacqueline will share insights from the training side and her perspective after riding and working with her mare 116 Valdemora X aka “Vee” in the clinic and Mandy will share new knowledge she gained while auditing from a bodywork and biomechanics perspective. We will then open up the floor for questions and a discussion.
Why are we so excited about this and why is this so important, you ask? Because Manolo’s training philosophy rings so true for us. He highlights the partnership and collaboration between horse and rider, creating a space for both to flourish and heal, and achieving a horse’s full potential through understanding and respect. We feel passionately about gathering and spreading knowledge in order to help equestrians and their horses, because when we know better we do better.
Feel free to get your questions on the radar ahead of time by dropping them here on the event page! This event is free and open to all interested in learning. Email elyequine@gmail.com or mandy@optimumequinellc.com for the zoom invite!
