By Paige Zimmerman
This article received first place in the 2025 GMO Newsletter Awards for first person experience articles for GMOs with 175-499 members. It appeared in the Eastern States Dressage and Combined Training Association newsletter, Collective Remarks, May 2025.
Ducati and I wrapped up this past winter and headed into spring with some big ambitions. I signed up to ride in the ESDCTA Fix-A-Test at Sara Schmitt Dressage on April 5… and I signed up to ride the PSG! I also entered the D4K Benefit Schooling Show at the BCHP on April 13, again riding the PSG. Things were getting real! In addition to regular lessons and prep with Olivia, we had another opportunity to ride with Silke Rembacz at the end of March. It was perfect timing to participate in this clinic the week before the Fix-A-Test, giving us one more chance to feel more prepared for this big jump to a new level.
This time, Ducati was relaxed and attentive, unlike the last clinic, where he was cold and distracted. Instead of the rain and freezing weather we had previously, this time we were met with an odd 80˚F day. A little warm for my taste in March, but still, we had a great lesson.
We started with a warm-up focused on suppleness and responsiveness to the leg. A great exercise Silke had me (and also Olivia) do involved a counter-canter all the way around the ring. On the long sides, she had me leg yield to quarterline and then half pass back to the rail, making a zig-zag while maintaining the bend. It was a fantastic way to get him responsive to both legs. Though it’s a simple exercise, it was definitely not easy, so it was a fun challenge!
Next, working on the pirouettes, Silke had me canter in a small 10-meter circle around her. She told me to leg yield in and out of the circle to test that he was listening to both legs, but in this exercise it was very important to maintain the jump and forward energy in the canter. Then, once he was feeling ready, we collected the canter and asked him for a large working pirouette, making sure that it didn’t get too small or too slow. Silke also had me prepare for the pirouette in a tiny bit of a shoulder-in feeling so that he could get his inside leg engaged underneath his body. And she told me to think that I was riding a medium canter in the pirouette so that I could maintain the activity behind the saddle.
Ducati really likes to do pirouettes and sometimes I lose a little control of the size and tempo in them. Making them more active and slightly larger helped me regain that control and support him through every stride. It was a great feeling! In the trot, we really got him powering in front of the leg. The exercise we worked on for this was that we would do a medium trot down the long side, and then turn slightly early at the end of the long side to do a half 20 circle through the short side and leg yield out in that large turn. This made sure that I could still half-halt through the turn and check his attentiveness to my leg and seat, and then ask for more power again on the next long side. After just a few rounds of this he really was powering! I need to have that power to do well in the FEI ring.
I always know that that trot is in there. I don’t worry about that. My struggle is in being able to recycle and half-halt that energy into collection without making him tense, nervous, or short in the neck. In this lesson with Silke, and more and more in my lessons with Olivia, it’s becoming easier to find the timing and feel for that “big trot” while staying with it and maintaining our composure. I’ve never really felt that before, so it is a very exciting step forward.
We ended the clinic on some walk pirouettes, which are always a fabulous exercise to work on to fine tune the aids. I also love that they aren’t physically hard on the horse: it’s good mental and physical work that doesn’t exhaust the horse or rider. It was a perfect way to wrap up, especially on such a hot March day. All of our winter education with Olivia, Felicitas, and Silke culminated in the Fix-A-Test, the first real test of how our PSG goals were coming along. I rode conservatively and made some mistakes, but we still earned a score of ~60%, which I was incredibly proud of! The judge, Lisa Schmidt, had great feedback and offered tips to help improve our ride next time. We did even better at the schooling show, scoring slightly above 61% with lots of room to grow.
These low-pressure outings really helped us rip off the band-aid and just give it a try, even though the PSG is still green for both me and Ducati. Neither of us have done this before. They gave me the confidence that maybe we’re more ready than I thought: two scores over 60% on our first tries is pretty darn promising. I’m incredibly proud of how this past winter has gone. It’s not perfect, but if Silke, Lisa, Olivia, and Felicitas (among many other friends) all believe the PSG is in there and that we should keep chipping away at it to get even better, then I trust that it is. I’m thankful to have had such a great winter of education and I am excited to continue the show season with Olivia Steidle Dressage. Here’s to new beginnings and the exciting new chapter ahead in our journey!
