Case Study: Neapolitano Catrina & Constance

In September of 2004, I bought Neapolitano Catrina, a Lipizzan gelding of 9 years. Ari was terribly thin and underdeveloped, with thrush, ringworm, and truly nasty saddle sores. He was recently gelded, barely rideable, with no formal training. All he had going for him were heavy duty bones, a good temperament, and moments of fabulous movement. He was a huge project, and I could not have taken him on safely without the help of a professional like Jane.

When I first spotted Ari, I engaged Jane as a trainer because I had seen and been impressed by her ability to improve a horse's muscular development and gaits, and because she was gutsy. Only later did I come to fully appreciate and understand the importance of Jane's knowledge of equine behavior and psychology.

Ari was not a sudden infatuation. Jane and I did a lot of research to make sure that he was worth rescuing. We took field trips to look at quality Lipizzans from reputable breeders, and closely compared Ari's movement and conformation on video to that of highly rated breeding stock. We also had our hometown vet review Ari on video, and had him examined by a vet in his locale who discussed his findings with Jane by phone. We did all this before we ever even petted Ari's nose. Even so, buying him was an enormous risk - Why did I do it? In spite of Ari's glaring deficiencies, I pursued the purchase because of his breeding, potential, and maturity - Lipizzan geldings of riding age are rarely available. I figured I'd rather grit my teeth through a year of retraining than wait 2-4 years for a youngster to grow up.

After a 10 hour haul we got Ari home at 2AM. He had never been in a stall before, so he had to spend the night standing outside in the rain - with a giant pile of hay to keep him warm. The next morning we started teaching Ari all the stuff he should have learned as a youngster. Simple lessons, but Ari was a powerful and very clever adult horse with a healthy slug of leftover hormones to boot. It was a good thing for everybody that Jane's training method always allowed Ari a chance to comply by choice, and avoided direct confrontations. At the same time she taught me how to work with Ari as well. Ari was certainly the most challenging horse I'd ever dealt with. My horsemanship had to go to a totally different level if I was going to be involved. "Fortitude" was the mantra, and in the early days I needed all I could get.

Fall 2004: Respect, trust, obedience, self control. Ari learned to lead properly, stand in the cross-ties, go in a stall, and pick up his feet. Ari's scruffy little health issues required daily fussing, so ready or not we had to get in there with the squirt bottles and goo. It was tough. I remember hanging on to Ari's front foot with one hand and a bottle of iodine in the other while he hopped backward on three legs all the way down the barn aisle. After a month of basic handling, we started lunging. Ari was clumsy, inhibited, and easily distracted - especially by the feed cart. As Ari learned to organize himself on the lunge line, I found that learning lunging technique was as challenging as any riding lessons I'd ever had. The most important thing Jane taught was the art of observation, how to truly see and correctly interpret a horses actions. Training sessions were very short, since Ari had the attention span of a gnat. Also, Jane DID NOT want Ari to become really fit - we were glad he got tired easily. So we let Ari be a couch potato and just gain weight while he learned his manners. He looked like a cartoon pony with a skinny neck, paunchy tummy, bony ass, and those big bambi eyes. We hid him under a blanket to avoid negative comments.

Winter - Spring 2005: Muscular development and introduction to work under saddle. Now that Ari knew some basics, Jane started working him in loose side reins to develop back muscle and self carriage. After 2 months Jane started riding him for short periods gently at the walk. Ari had little confidence in the whole saddle thing, so Jane had me walk at his side or stand in the middle to reassure him. Then as training sessions lengthened he got a sore back. The problem was saddle fit, a common issue for Lipizzans, which is why old pictures often show them wearing cruppers and breast plates. This was a real set-back, Ari's previous experience under saddle had been bad, and we'd just confirmed his worst opinions on the subject. To keep him going while he recovered, Jane started working Ari in long lines and at liberty in the round pen. This was very successful. Ari showed a startling natural talent for this work, and accelerated his physical and mental development. Re-starting with his new saddle was done gradually for very short periods on alternate days. By now Ari had become a fairly solid citizen and looked much better.

Summer 2005: Work under saddle. Ari's routine was now about 50/50 between work in hand and under saddle - gradually increasing the under saddle work. Still limited to the walk and trot under saddle, training emphasis was on being through and straight. Schooling sessions got longer. Ari began to muscle up and grew wider through the chest. Now sleek and shiny, he'd gained a lot of confidence and stopped being worried by other horses in the arena. As his strength increased he began to show his heritage in beautiful lift and suspension. By now I was riding Ari for lessons, and even going out on sedate little trail rides. Ari did very well at his first clinic in August, were he was introduced successfully to lateral work and the preparatory exercises for piaff in the long lines. In September Jane began to canter Ari under saddle with no serious issues, and we began to see glimpses of lovely self-carriage at the trot.

Where we are today:

Neapolitano Catrina is now a healthy, happy, well behaved, and highly respectable representative of his breed. He is an extremely clever and sociable horse who likes people and interaction. The next year should see him convert his remaining pudge to muscle, and consolidate at basic training level. My own accomplishments now include a much revised concept and practice of horsemanship, and a greatly expanded understanding of the horse. Going into our second year, I'm pleased to find myself a competent horsewoman with an exceptional dressage prospect, instead of a middle aged madwoman with a dangerous pet.

I count Project Ari a success. Ari has the potential to excel at the highest levels of dressage and be a good trail buddy too. I plan on riding him well for a very long time, and will certainly become a shameless show-off before I'm through. I thank Jane for all she's done for us, and especially for respecting Ari and I for who we are, and for what we might become.

Constance Radke

Jane and Ari at Winter Pond Stables

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