755: Dressage at Devon 2024 and Rider Biomechanics

This week’s guests, Lauren Chumley and Kymmy Pullen share their experiences from the recent Dressage at Devon, highlighting the electric atmosphere and the personal milestones they achieved. Lauren recounts her journey with her horses, including her triumphs and challenges, while Kimmy reflects on her grand prix freestyle performance and the promising future of her young horse Mojito. The episode also features a segment on rider biomechanics with Jennifer Kotylo, who offers practical tips on how to enhance your riding through body awareness and movement training. Listen in...

GUESTS AND LINKS DRESSAGE EPISODE 755:

• Co-Hosts: Reese Koffler-Stanfield and Megan McIssac | Instagram | Facebook
• Guest: Lauren Chumley | Facebook | Instagram
• Guest: Kymmy Pullen | Facebook | Instagram
• Guest: Jennifer Kotylo
• Dressage Radio Show: Website|Facebook
• Please visit our sponsors, who make all this possible: Kentucky Performance Products, US Rider and Equestrian +

Time Stamps:

8:20 - Lauren Chumley's Eventful Summer

33:48 - Kymmy Pullen's Devon Experience

43:30 - Biomechanics and Movement for Equestrians

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
You are listening to the Horseradio network, part of the Equine
Network family.
This is episode 755 of theDressage radio show on the Horse
radio network, brought to you by
Kentucky performance Products.
On today's show, we go behindthe scenes at the 2024 dressage at
Devon with Lauren Chumley and Kimmy
Poulen.

(00:29):
Then we had a greatconversation with Jennifer Tillo
onrider biomechanics for all types
of riders.
This is Reese KoeplerStanfield in Georgetown.
Kentucky, and I am MeganMcIsaac from Oregon, Wisconsin, and
you're listening to the dressage
radio show.

(00:57):
Hi, Megan.
How are you tonight?
Hey, Reese.
I'm crazy.
I'm getting ready for regionals.
I know.
See, we.
I had this panic, like, lastmonth, and now it's your turn.
So what are you.
I know.
Yeah.
What are you guys up to?
So, we just had a warm up showto get the.
The dust off the boots, and Ijust kind of wanted to give a little
tip out to everyone.

(01:21):
Do not bring new products.
Do not change the tack.
Don't do anything new.
Keep it the same, girl.
Preach it.
Oh, my God.
That's, like, my.
My biggest pet peeve is whensomeone's like, I brought a new.
Ah.
What?
Don't do it.
Don't even.
A saddle pad.
Like, I'm, like, riding it before.
I know you think it'll beokay, but what if it isn't and it's
different and it is not and it's
not okay?

(01:47):
No, I'm totally with you.
So, I had three horses.
My grand Prix horse is.
It gave me the ride that Iwant to have at regionals.
Yeah, buddy.
So that was fantastic.
I'm figuring out my hot, spicy mare.
That's my small tour horse.
Love it.
And then, unfortunately, mylittle baby horse got new product
andbroke out in hives, so we had a pretty
rough show.

(02:12):
Oh, no.
Yeah, you know what?
That's a thing.
New products, because younever know if they will have an allergy
or something.
Nothing like, you don't know.
Same products.
I mean, I.
Yeah, I'm like, use the same soap.
Like, I'm really weird aboutit, too.
Oh, I'm superstitious.
So, Wednesday, we leave for regionals.

(02:32):
We're going to Missouri.
The truck is going in for anoil change.
I'm checking the tires, andthen we pack.
So I'm a little crazy right now.
Not with it.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're crazy.
I get it.
I get it.
We got lucky because it wasjust down the street.
So we're good.
So everything here, I'd liketo say it settled down.
This week's a little biteasier, but we're getting ready for
the thoroughbred makeover here, here
in Lexington.

(02:55):
So that's next week.
So same thing.
Like, obviously our hearts aregoing out to everyone in the hurricane
and North Carolina and Tennessee.
We had some hurricane damagehere, but obviously nothing.
We lost some trees.
I haven't actually, I don'tthink ever at my farm have I taken
aday off for a weather event like
that, other than like, really cold
weather or something.

(03:18):
But, I mean, it was crazy windy.
So we're really sending ourprayers to everyone in North Carolina
and our listeners, please know that
we're here.
And I, you know, we weretalking before the show.
There's lots of charitiesthere to donate.
I actually donate to worldcentral kitchen.
I always have.
So I sent some donations there.
I think that's a fantastic organization.

(03:39):
So there's lots oforganizations that are there on the
ground and we're sending our love
there.
So please know that we'redoing that.
We're talking about a horse showing.
But I had horses that had goneto an event in South Carolina and
got stranded.
I mean, it was, it's just been crazy.
Yeah, there was an event here,and I think that does go to the question
of.

(04:00):
And it was tough.
It was, it was hard because itwas our championships for the Avengers
last weekend.
I just talked.
I had, I had four riders to goand I just said, listen, I mean,
thisis, this is crazy.
They did not cancel.
They canceled the crosscountry, but we had really bad wins
here on Friday.
And I just told him, I said,look, I.
If it's me, I'm not.
It's.
Ribbon isn't worth it in anatural disaster.

(04:22):
So always take a deep breath.
That's where your coach comes in.
I mean, it's tough.
You've worked for it all year,but our footing in that part of the
horse park isn't great.
And honestly, just having atrailer out and the amount of trees
that we're falling, like, I, we brought,
we had our horses in by 08:00 like,
it got started getting really windy.
It was supposed to come in atnine, but around eight things were
flying around and, and we brought
ourhorses in and we were able to do
that.

(04:46):
So, yes, just, it was tough,but I think that's the other tip
islike, really, if a natural disaster
iscoming, it's a horse show, you know,
really safety first.
And so my horses are all happy sound.
They didn't go you know, Ithink the riders, you know, it was
so bad at the end of the day, they
were glad they didn't go, but it
was, it was hard.
So, so anyways, that, that'sthe not fun part of last weekend,
but wedo wish everybody well.

(05:12):
We can't wait to hear aboutyour show.
I love that tip.
It's true.
Don't use anything new tech equipment.
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
Don't do it, people.
Don't do it.
So I love it.
So it's fantastic.
So also a couple other things.
The USDF convention ishappening in Houston.

(05:33):
Yes.
Megan and I are going to bethere and we're really excited.
So the registration, I got anemail today is open now for anybody
that wants to come join us at convention.
We're going to do some stuffwith the book club and we have a
very exciting announcement, USTF
book club that was recently launched.
We have done an interview withNancy Jaffers here on our show.
But the first webinar for thebook club is coming October 8 at
08:00 p.m.

(05:57):
if you have any information, Iam literally getting this from the
USDF Facebook page and come join
us.
We will love having everyonejoin us for the book club.
And we have a new book, right,Megan, what's our new book for the
book club?
It is Janet Foy's dressage forthe not so perfect horse.
I'm really excited to readthis book.

(06:18):
Yeah, we are excited.
We're going to be, that'll bewhat we'll be leading when we are
at convention.
And you also get to meet Meganand I and chat with us.
So we're really lookingforward to it.
So we have a great show foryou guys tonight.
We hope you enjoy.
We have lots of fun ridersright after this break from Kentucky
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This nutritional minute isbrought to you by Kentucky performance
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(08:11):
Well, our first guest tonightis Lauren Chumley.
And like she said in our pregame, she said, oh, we've known each
other for 100 years and we have known
each other a very long time.
She's from Cincinnati, Ohio,and she is going to tell you all
about her amazing summer and at time
at festival and dressage at Devon.
Well, tonight we are soexcited to have Lauren Chumley back
on the show to hear about her crazy
girl summer.

(08:34):
Hi, Lauren.
Welcome to the show.
Hey, what's up?
Oh, my gosh, girl.
I mean, obviously, I have been.
I can't even follow you anymore.
You have been all over the place.
First of all, tell everybody alittle bit about yourself.
Well, let's see.
I grew up in Cincinnati, whereI methadore Reese.
Yeah.
A million years ago, we were kids.

(08:54):
You were doing young riders,and I was doing training level test
four in a really wicked chair seat.
It was a good time.
On a third track.
Yep.
Yeah.
Look at where we are now.
Where even are we?
Where even are we?
I love it.
Oh, God.
So now I'm in New Jersey.

(09:14):
I've been in Jersey for like18 years or something.
Crazy.
Wow.
Yeah.
You moved there for a workingstudent job, right?
Yeah.
I got hired as Silke'sassistant trainer, and I was with
her for four years.
And then I went out on my own,which, I don't know, that seemed
likea good idea at the time, but, like,
what was I thinking?

(09:35):
And I'm still, like, trying tofigure that out.
I was like, who's gonna payfor the toilet paper?
Oh, it's me, right?
I have to.
So, yeah.
Yeah.
So I'm out here trying to be ahorse trainer, and we do a lot of,
we do a lot of attempted horse training.
I show some horses sometimesand we do a lot of sales.
And I have a huge workingstudent program because I love to
help young professionals because
I justthink they're really cool and it's
the future of the sport.

(10:01):
And I think we really have tofocus on how to train young horses
togrand Prix in this country.
So that's kind of my dream andmy goal.
And sometimes they make somemoney, but not a whole lot.
But I do have a lot of fun.
You and this summer, you havehad quite a lot of fun.
Yeah.
Yeah, we had.
This is a crazy summer.
I've had, like, a really coolyear, actually, and started out in
Florida, and it's just kind of kept
rolling and it's been super fun.

(10:28):
Tell us about your cool year.
Well, in Florida, so I got.
They put me on the emerginghorse list, and my older mare is
now on the development list.
So I got, like, double listed,which is pretty cool when you're
usedto riding third bridge from Ohio
andyou're like, okay, this is cool.
So, you know, I had a littlebit, you know, I did a lot of training
this winter with.

(10:51):
On my row with MichaelBragdell, and it was great because
hewas, you know, 25 minutes away.
So I rode with him.
I had, like, six lessons aweek with different horses because
Ihave a whole string of horses that
are all, you know, we bought them
all as foals.
We started them, and nowthey're all, you know, they're all
growing up.
So a few of them are at Grand Prix.
We got sort of small tour,fourth level, third level.
Like, they're all over.
It's just been really, really fun.

(11:11):
So we got to work a whole lotwith him this winter.
I got to work with ChristineTraurig and Charlotte Bradal, who
was amazing.
They're both so helpful this winter.
Being on the developmentprogram has been amazing because
youget access to this, like, amazing,
incredible coaching.
Tell us how you get on thelist for our listeners that may not
know.

(11:33):
Well, I've been doing inhorses my whole life because, like
alot of people, there is no money
togo buy an FBI horse.
There is still not money to doreally anything.
We make it work.
But, yeah, so we were, youknow, I was always riding young horses.
And then I started to buy somebabies because, you know, I'm really,
really, really close friends with
Alice Tarzan, and she was buying
babies, and she's like, you gotta
buybabies cause they're cheap, and then
you can train them, and if they're
notquite quality enough for what you
need, you can sell them and make
money.

(12:03):
And I'm like, oh, that sounds easy.
Like, I'll do that.
So I bought some babies, and Ididn't sell them, I kept them.
And now they're all at Fei,which is really cool.
And then the first full I everbought is the Lilu Dallas.
That's my first.
I call her my oldest child.
We started her.
I bought her off a video.
I never go and see them.
I just buy them.

(12:24):
Wow.
Yeah.
Off their lines.
Because I kind of feel likeyou can't really go wrong.
Whatever you get, you cantrain everything to Fei, and if it's
not going to be what you need, you
can always sell it and use that money
to invest in something else and do
it again.
But what you need is obviouslydepends on the individual.

(12:45):
Like, I'm looking for something.
I can do 70% CDI grand Prixeventually, but not everybody needs
that.
Maybe you just want to get asmall tour and get your silver or
do young riders or something.
So there's lots of goals.
But I figured I would just buysome lines that I liked.
And I liked Lilius mechanic,and she was really cute.
She was black with four white socks.
And I was like, that'sperfect, right?

(13:05):
Like, who doesn't want that, right?
And so I started with her.
It was the first one, andshe's been just really, really a
great horse.
Like, she's really cool.
She was not a big young horse winner.
I did the young horse stuffwith her because I think it's really
good exposure for the horses, and
it's always nice.
You know, you get as muchpress at Lamplight as you do winning
aCDI at Global.

(13:27):
So I think it's a really good.
I think it's a really goodcareer thing to do is to do the young
horses if you can.
And I like the whole processof it.
I like the feedback from the judges.
I just like the whole thing,and I still do the young horse stuff.
So, you know, she wasn't a bigwinner at the young horse.
Like, we didn't.
I didn't even try at fourbecause she wasn't really trained
enough.
And then at five, I don't.
I didn't.
I didn't go to lamplight withher at five.

(13:48):
She didn't make it.
She was like, rank, you know,150th or something.
Like, you know, because she'snot, she's not a spectacular mover.
You know, she's got an oak,you know, an average walk, a pretty
cool trot.
Like, she had a good mechanic.
So I was like, that's kind of fun.
Maybe that'll be cool.
And then the canner is like,kind of not the best.
But I just kept training her,and we didn't make it to lamplight
at sixyear olds.

(14:13):
And we were dead last.
We were dead last because wewere, like, four beating in the canner.
And I was like, oh, this isprobably not good, but we did it
anyway.
And we got.
We got a neck ribbon.
So that was fun.
And then I went back at sevenyear olds last year and we were dead
last.
And, you know, I was fine.
She was green.
It was like 3000 degrees lastyear at lamplight.

(14:33):
And she was awful.
Yeah.
And she's kind of, like,really round and kind of fat and
black and hairy.
So she was like, it's hot.
So it was.
It was hot.
I kind of like, come on, wegotta do it.
We did it.
It was not the best, but wedid it.
And then.
And then this winter here, youknow, we started last year, like,
with the basics of Pia passage.

(14:53):
I was like, oh, that's whereyou're gonna shine.
The Pia passage is like.
It's gonna be.
It's incredible.
She's such a good mechanic forPia passage.
And her, you know, her cannonsare for average, but her flying changes
in her pirouettes are really, really
special.
So you pick up a lot of pointsif you can do a can of pirouette.
I've learned.
So I've been trying to learnhow to do tanner pirouettes for a
really long time.

(15:15):
Because, you know, Michael'slike, hey, if you can canter pirouette,
you can walk for a six and a half.
Because her walks pure.
But it's not, you know,there's not a lot of overtrack.
It's very average, right?
So I'm like, okay, well, Iguess I better learn how to canter
pirouette because I can't make her
walk bigger.
I've been attempting to learnhow to canter pirouette for a really
long time.
And poor Michael is like that.

(15:36):
That man deserves, like, amedal for trying to teach me how
topirouette on, like, 27 horses.
But I think I'm getting thehang of it.
Clearly you are, because youall look okay at Devon.
You just had a good devon.
Pretty good.
Yeah, I had a great devon,but, yes, you did.
Yes.
So.
So Lila went from, like, lastplace and all the young horse stuff.
And then last year, she was seven.

(15:57):
Last year, regionals, and wedid a pre St.
George, and it was pretty good.
And I was like, that was apretty nice test.
She got, like, a 70.
And I won the championship.
And I was like, that's kind of cool.
So I guess I'll go to Kentucky.
So then we toodled out toKentucky, and I had a pretty nice
test out there, too, and I was like,
oh, I think that was a good pre St.
George.
And then I won that.
Oh, that was really cool,because she's only seven and she
won all this stuff, so she was already
on the emerging horse list.

(16:25):
And then at seven, when theyturn eight, they age out of the emerging
list.
And then we went to the.
They had a development clinicover at, I think, what, January with
Charlotte and Christine, and they,
you know, it's like an observation
thingthey teach you, but I think that,
youknow, they kind of see where you're
atand if you're ready to move on to
the development list.
So they moved me onto thedevelopment list, which was, like,
super, super cool, you know, if you're
me, like, that's like, yeah, I'm
super excited.

(16:49):
I'm still excited about it.
So that was really fun.
So that's how she got on thedevelopment list, and hopefully we
can continue, because her love it
visage continues to develop, and
her ones are really, really cool.
Like, it's going to be a greatgrand prix horse.
Yeah, I love it.
Well, and you have some youngones coming up.
I mean, you won the breed showat Devon, girl.

(17:10):
Holy smokes.
I love the breed show at Devon.
I know everyone's like, whyare you there?
I say, I go to Devon fromMonday to Sunday every year, and
Ifreaking love the breed show.
And basically material,because material is, like, my favorite
class and no joke.
My entire goal in life is togo to Devon and do at the same show.

(17:31):
I want to ride the three yearold material and the CDI grand Prix.
That's, like, my goal in life.
Do it, do that.
You're on your way.
I'm getting there.
I just need a little bit moretime because I had to grow them.
But they're coming.
They're coming.
You got it.
And so you're still.
Yeah.
I don't normally do the inhand stuff, but I had him last year.
I bought it.

(17:52):
We bought him as a foal, myclient, Joe Kosick, and I bought
himas a baby.
He is out of a jazz mare thatis the same.
It's the mother of mymasterful dream horse, who is on
the emerging list.
I love the mare.
I've had a bunch of her.
I basically buy everythingthat comes out of this mare because
Ithink it's a fantastic mare, and
she's a great producer, like, incredible
hind leg, great mechanic for the
piafasage, and I love that.

(18:18):
And they're jazz, they're alittle bit hot, right?
Which, you know, if you canhang on to it till they're six or
seven, you're going to be great.
But, yeah, so I bought.
We bought this cult because Iwanted to have one cult.
I want to have one stack.
We have stallions at the farmthat our client owns.
Stallions.
But I want to have one.
That was my one stallionbecause more than that's a lot of
stallion, sort of one.

(18:39):
And we were like, this is the one.
And we bought him.
And then at two, I was like,oh, he's really pretty.
Maybe we should put him in thebreed show.
Like, he's like feral out inthe field, right?
And I'm like, I think weshould maybe take him to Devin.
That could be fun.
And everyone's like, what areyou doing?
And I'm like, well, he'spretty, and I think he trots nice,
right?
And he has a good walk.
So, you know, we would, like,put a bridle on him and ran him around
a little bit.

(19:00):
And I was like, I think thiswill work.
My poor working students aretrotting this two year old feral
monster up and down the arena.
They're like, what are you doing?
And we hate this job.
And I'm like, just trust me,it'll be great.
So we took him to Devon and he got.
He got our grand champion last year.
That was pretty cool.
And we won some money, and thebreeder was there.

(19:20):
It was like, the whole thing.
Yeah, it was pretty cool.
We won a bunch of money.
Like, where do we win money?
I thought that was fun.
Like, I actually got a check.
I was like, whoa, breeder, cool.
I would have faded.
Yeah, I would just.
I did.
I did.
I, like, sent it straight tothe vet bill.
And then this year, I waslike, you know what?
I'm going to take him againbecause he's really pretty now.

(19:42):
Like, he's beautiful.
He's just like, beautiful stallion.
And I took him this year, andthen I was trying to lead him around
on Monday, and I was like, I don't
think I like stallions anymore.
Like, he's like, he's big andhe's like, I really love this.
So anyway, poor turtle, BruceGriffin Turtle.
He handled him for me.
He's a beautiful job.

(20:03):
He won the whole thing.
And it was.
He was awesome.
It was fun.
And he would.
He would be like, do you wantme to come get him in the stall?
I'm like, I'll get himhalfway, and then you take it yes,
please.
Oh, that's awesome.
I said, this is a good boy job.
This is a job for boys.
Take this horror.
Yes, please.
Yeah, it's wild there.
Devin, you're brave.

(20:23):
I love it.
No, I love it.
It's so fun.
It's, like, just the rightlevel of chaos for my brain, so it's
just so.
And I love the three year olds.
And I didn't have a younghorse to ride in the material, so
I literally made a post on Facebook
thatI wanted to catch, ride something.
Okay.
That's the level of nuts I am.
And then my friend Hannah, myfriend Hannah sent me a four year
old to ride, like, a great four year
old that she'd bred from her program.

(20:47):
And I showed him, and he gotsome ribbons, and it was super fun.
So it was great.
But I did.
I catch rode to material at Devon.
It was a blast.
Oh, my gosh.
I love it.
So fun to hear.
I mean, I kept seeing theFacebook posts, and you had Nicholas
there, which Nicholas, like, Nicholas
always asks a vacation man.
Nicholas did everything thisyear because they called me, you
know, because the people who run
Devon, they know that I'm, like,
upfor all kinds of craziness, right?

(21:16):
So they're like, we need it.
Last year, they're like, weneed a horse to dance off.
So I was going to takeNicholas, but he actually got sick,
like, three weeks before Devon.
I had to scratch him, so Iended up subbing in Lilu, which was
hilarious.
Yeah, exactly.
My seven year old, I suppose,before grand Prix, and I was like,
Ican sort of pee off, but not really.
But it was fine.
But like that.
And then they had.

(21:37):
This year, they.
They call me back and they'relike, hey, do you want to ride in
the dance off?
I'm like, oh, yeah.
Is the pope Catholic?
Yes, I do.
I've never seen it.
Yeah, I've never seen it.
What's.
It's ridiculous.
It's so fun.
So this year, there were four.
It was always four of us, andthere's always me and Jim Coford,
because, obviously.

(21:57):
Right?
Like, who are the, like,idiots of dressage?
Me and Jim.
So it's always.
And then we had Lauren Samus,who won last year, and then they
hadSilva this year, who was.
Silva won the whole thing.
She was amazing.
She did a great job.
So it's like a collaborationwith this string quartet and these
breakdancers, and it's like this
whole.

(22:21):
It's so fun.
And this year, we all had atheme, and they were, like, decades.
So, Jim was the seventies,like, obviously.
But I was the nineties, obviously.
Yes.
And Silva had the sixties, andshe had the best.
Like, she had.
Obviously, they have a littlebit more resources than some of us.
She had a whole team.
She had this costume on, this horse.
There was, like, a pinkbreastplate with flower power all
over it.

(22:44):
Oh, my God.
She did amazing.
It was awesome.
Awesome.
So, yeah, then you go in andthey play.
They play music from yourdecade that your.
Your theme is related to.
Right.
And you are basically supposedto do.
You're supposed to, like, makeup a freestyle on the fly.
Oh.
So it's only, like, it's like60 or 90 seconds, so.
And then.
And then, like.
So Jim and I go first and wedo trot.

(23:06):
We do.
Our stuff is supposed to bethe trot, right?
So, like, I did, like, piafacage, piaf pirouettes, big old
half passes.
I tried to do extension, butit's pony.
So it was a pony extension,but I did it, you know, and then,
youknow, Jim did his thing, and then
they vote on who.
Who wins the trot round.
Right?
So then that person advancesto the final.
Now, we ended up having to cutthe final last week because the award
ceremony had run late and we couldn't
start the grand Prix late, obviously.

(23:33):
Right.
CDI.
So we had to cut the final.
So we just did, like, we allwent once, and then they voted, and
it was fine.
Yeah, but it's just so much fun.
It's just kind of fun andentertaining and, like.
Yeah, yeah, it's fun.
It's like dressage fun.
And I, you know, I love doingthings that are fun with dressage
because I think we need more of that
if you want to, like, you know, draw
in people from the outside world
thatthink we're stuck up jerks because
it'skind of how it looks, you know, in
our penguin suits in 95 degrees.

(24:04):
So you come to your party andglitter and do a PF pirouette.
Like, he had a hat on his head.
Like, all kinds of stuff.
Like, love it.
It was hilarious.
Yeah, it was great.
Oh, my gosh, it's so much fun.
It's so much fun.
I love that stuff.
We have to back up because youhad amazing Devin, but you went to
the Olympics.
I mean, girl.
What?
You've been all over.

(24:25):
Yeah, I got to go to Europetwice this year, which is amazing.
I basically spent most of mylife following Alice Tarzan around
theworld, which has been really fun.
That sounds fun.
I'm just, like an emotionalsupport animal, which is great.
I also braid sometimes.
And you braid and you groomand you get the horses ready for,
you know, often.

(24:45):
I love.
Yeah, I love to brush horsesin Europe.
It's fun.
So it's the best fun becauseit's no pressure, you know, I'm,
like, just gonna go and observe and
have fun and support and be part
ofthe team, and I love that.
And you get to be in thebarns, behind the scenes, on the
sidelines of the ring.
I love it.
It's so cool.
I got to pick up CharlotteDujardin's horse's poop last year.

(25:07):
It was amazing.
Yeah, you did.
Yeah, you did.
You're like, I got this.
I got it.
I did.
There's a picture of me doing it.
I'm pretty sure it's on myfacebook somewhere, because I was
like, we're going to find it.
I have to know, though, whatwas your favorite moment at the Olympics
behind the scenes that no one knows
about?
You know, I didn't.
So I didn't actually groom atthe Olympics.

(25:29):
The Olympics, you have to doyour credentials for, like, months
and months.
Like six.
That's a different ball.
So I didn't.
Yeah, it's totally different rules.
So I didn't actually groom atthe Olympics, but I was there all
the time.
But watching the freestyles,like, I watched the whole freestyle.
My friend Kim and I went and.
And we hung out with AliceMarcus, and it was awesome.
But, like, just to see thatlevel of dressage and to see the
best in the world, to watch, you
know, Isabelle on Wendy and, like,
just awesome.

(25:58):
Like, so cool, you know, andHans, Peter, all these incredible
riders,just to see them do, because watching
itunclip my horse from my kitchen table
is cool.
Seeing it in person is, like,you get that.
You get the presence of thehorses, and it's just awesome.
I'm so glad I got to go.
Like, I didn't, like, reallyhave time or money to do it, but
Iwas like, the opportunity comes,
youtake it, right?

(26:23):
Yeah.
So, yeah, I know.
I'm always doing that craziness.
You are.
You're really good about that, though.
But, no, that's such a big thing.
Probably rein it in a bit.
But I love to do that stuff.
Yeah, but when you're going toget this opportunity again, you know,
never.
Yeah, you may never.
Yeah, you may never.
So I'm.
You know, and, like everyonealways tells you, tomorrow is never
promised, so I'm gonna do it today.

(26:48):
Right.
So I'm a big fan of that.
And that's something I'velearned from Alice, so, you know,
with her, you know, cancer history
and everything.
So I'm like, let's do it.
Like, we're gonna go.
We're gonna do it.
It's gonna be great.
And it was great.
It was awesome.
It was such a great time.
Versailles is an incredible time.
I've never been to France before.
Oh, my God.
And we were in Versailles mostof the time.
We did go into Paris, whichwas cool for what we had one day
that we didn't have tickets to anything,
so we went into Paris, and we did
little touristy things.

(27:13):
I got to see all the stuff,you know, Eiffel Tower.
It was so cool.
Like, what a great week we had.
It was just.
It's just like, I.
I don't really go on vacations.
I go on horse show vacations.
Like, I go over to Europe withAlice, and that's on vacation, but
that's my dream.
Like, I love that I'm notgoing to sit on a beach.
I mean, listen to me talk.
Do I sound like I'm sitting ona beach?

(27:33):
You're driving a horse trailer.
I love it.
I love it.
And you were at Aachen, too, right?
You did Aachen, and I didn't go.
To Aachen this year.
I didn't go to Aachen this year.
I was going to go to Aachenthis year, but then I had an opportunity.
Michael had Morton come intoHilltop, so I rode with Morton for
that week, which was amazing.
Yeah, that was amazing.

(27:54):
You know, he's so great, sohe's been just really helpful for
my ride, and, you know, just there's,
like, the next level that I'm trying
to get to, you know, unsuccessfully,
butworking on it.
Absolutely.
You know, he and Michael havebeen amazing, and I didn't want to
pass up that opportunity.
And plus, you know, I've beento aken twice.
I'm kidding.
Yeah, I've been to Aachentwice with Alice already.

(28:17):
I was like, okay.
This time.
Well, I didn't think I coulddo Aachen and Paris, you know.
Sure.
So I stayed here.
I rode with Morton.
I'm super glad I did.
And then I got to go to Paris,and that was amazing.
And then we went to Airmelo afew weeks ago.
Airmelo?
You went to Airmelo?
That's what it was, yeah.
Yeah.
Cause I've been stalking you.
Yeah.
Well, yeah, it's not hard tostalk because I just.

(28:39):
I think it's cool to, like,kind of chronicle all this craziness
ofmy life because it's so fun.
Yeah.
And I know you're going, soI'm watching.
And I have, like, through herfacebook page is awesome.
I love it.
Well, I started, like, photoblog these trips because I'm, like,
in the bathroom in the Barna hawk,
and I'm like, look at this cool german
toilet.

(29:02):
Like.
Well, it's fun for the random boo.
Yeah.
So tell us about Amerlo.
What was Airmelo?
So, so cool.
Like, the timing of Airmelo was.
Was a little tricky for mebecause it's, like, right before
lamplight, and I was like, I probably
shouldn't go, but I did groom at
Airmelo, and I was like, screw it,
I'm going.
So, again, opportunity.

(29:23):
So it was.
It was just like, to beimmersed in that level of competition
withthe young horses was so cool because
Igot to see, like, all of these up
and coming stallions.
Like, I'm sure you're going tosee some of these horses at LA, like,
100%.
And just to be out there and,you know, at Airmelo, the horses
arebased on their.

(29:45):
I think.
I think their nationality isbased on, like, either where they
live or their breeder lives.
Yeah.
So, like, lottie fry is ridingaround in the dutch orange jackets.
Like, she's got.
She's listed as Dutch.
So I was, like, totallyconfused because I'm like, well,
shewrites for Great Britain.
I'm confused.
And then I figured it out.
I was like, oh, that's so cool.

(30:06):
Right?
But it was cool to watch.
Like, to watch these.
These are Olympians that areriding four and five year olds.
Yeah.
So cool.
Like, yeah, but I'm like,that's the thing.
Like, that's really coolbecause that's not so common over
here.
No, you know, that's right.
But I think it's going tostart to get more common because
Ithink it's the only way we're going
to be competitive on the global stage.

(30:29):
But that's a whole other hill.
That's a whole.
That's a whole other discussion.
Girl, we'll hop you back ontothat hill.
That's a different discussion.
Worth the discussion.
For sure.
Worth the discussion.
Yeah, for sure.
For sure.
Like, you're doing.
And I think, you know, Meganand I are doing, like, we're all
trying because, again, we can't afford.
I can't go also.
But the world brings me.
But it's not the same.

(30:50):
It's not the same if you.
If you are buying it.
It's not the same as making it yourself.
And it's, like, you know, andthat's the thing.
The comment that I get fromjudges and other, you know, the feedback
I get from people when I'm riding
Lilu, which is not perfect.
Like, I'm not perfect.
I'm very, very, very far from perfect.
The horse is not perfect.
We're working on it.
But they're like, there'ssomething about the pair of you together
that's magic.

(31:13):
And I'm like, yeah.
Because I made it, right.
Yep.
We broke that horse.
We started that horse, you know?
And that's the thing that Ithink makes the magic, you know?
So that's what.
Yeah, it's cool.
It's really fun.
It is so cool.
And we could keep you here all night.
You are so exciting, andyou're just infectious and how excited
you are about our sport.

(31:34):
And if anyone wants to followyou on Facebook because.
Or Instagram or any of theplaces, how do they find it?
Because I love watching you.
It's so much fun.
And seeing.
I'm literally.
How is she doing this?
Love it.
Because she doesn't sleep.
Like, I.
Clearly.
You don't sleep.
Yeah.
I'm gonna go home and editsales videos tonight when I get off
this freaking highway, but, yeah,
soI have my.

(31:58):
I don't have a business pagebecause I'm too lazy to maintain
multiple Facebook pages.
So I just have my personalpage, which is like, my business
page,because there really isn't a difference
atthis point.
My personal life and businesslife are the same.
So I am this.
So you can find my Facebook page.
I'm on it all the time.
I post horses for sale there.
I post stupid, ridiculousthings and german toilet pictures.

(32:21):
Like, I post lots of things.
That's great.
Yeah.
So I'm there.
I'm also on Instagram becausesomebody connected them, which is
great when you're like, an elder
millennial and you're like, Instagram
is stupid.
I.
So it's not actually stupid.
I just don't have time for two.
But then they hooked themtogether, so that was kind of fun
for me.
Yeah.
So, yeah, I'm there.
And then I have a websitethat's also equally ridiculous.

(32:42):
If you go to my website, just,Lauren, tell me.
Dressage, if you want tolaugh, because my website is, I think,
hilarious because that's the vibe
that I live with.
It is not your averagedressage regime.
I love it.
Well, Lauren, thank you somuch for your time.
This has been so fun.
And, girl, we're going to keep.
We're going to keep tabs onyou because we're thrilled with all
your success, and it's so fun to
watch it.

(33:06):
Well, thank you so much forhaving me.
It's always a pleasure.
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(33:34):
Join [e-mail].
well, tonight we are veryexcited to have Kimmy Poulen.
She is an international grandprix rider and trainer based in New
Jersey.
Kimmy, welcome to the show.
Thank you for having me.
Well, we are thrilled to have you.
And you.
First of all, we want tointroduce you and we want to talk
about your amazing Devin.

(33:57):
So, first of all, can you tellus about yourself?
I work for Lauren Chumley, andI've been riding since I was eleven.
I started with hunter jumpers,but quickly fell in love with dressage
just because of the detail oriented
nature of it.
And that was in Texas.

(34:18):
So I moved to the east coastin 2010 and I've never looked back.
I love it here.
So, yeah, awesome.
Well, you had an amazing Devon experience.
I want to hear what yourfavorite moment was.
Definitely the grand Prix freestyle.

(34:40):
That was incredible.
And what was it like riding inthe lights and at Devon?
Tell us all about it.
I love Devon.
Oh, my gosh.
Devon is my favorite horrorshow ever.
There's this atmosphere andthis vibe there that's just, you
don't get it anywhere else.
And it's, I don't know, itfeels very close and like it's a
family thing and not just like you're
going to horror show and everyone's
serious and, you know, it's really
cool atmosphere.

(35:12):
But my favorite thing,definitely this year, the horse,
thegrand Prix horse I was riding.
Hot date.
He can be a little bitvariable in his performance.
He can sometimes get nervousand not do all the things I know
hecan do.
And this last weekend, he was phenomenal.

(35:34):
He blew my expectations out ofthe water and just far exceeded anything
anyone ever thought he could do.
So that was amazing.
Especially since I've decidedafter this year, after regionals
andhopefully finals, that I'm letting
himstep down to our working student
andletting him do young riders with
her.

(35:56):
Wow.
So for him to have that kindof finish was just perfect.
So perfect.
Well, tell everybody a littlebit about dressage.
Devon Wyatt's historic, and ifyou've never been there and kind
ofwalk us through what it's like to
ride there at night and be a part
ofthat whole experience.

(36:16):
So it's a very old showgrounds, and it's super famous for
the hunter jumper show that they
have.
And I think it's a spring,they have several different ones,
but it's.
You definitely have this oldtraditional feeling and the riding
under the lights, there's always
a tonof people in the stands.

(36:40):
And especially this year, theGrand Prix had, the Grand Prix for
the freestyle had 21 riders, so that
might have been the biggest Grand
Prix class that they've ever had.
I'm not sure, but certainly upthere, if it's not the biggest.
So there's always a lot ofpeople in the stands and they're
cheering for you and they get really
into everyone's performance, and
itjust, like I said, it feels like
you're there with family and everyone's
onyour side, and it's a really great
feeling.

(37:16):
I'm so glad you had that asyour last CDI I just think, because
I've been watching you on facebook.
Big fan since we met atregionals, and I'm just.
I'm so excited for you.
So congratulations.
Tell us about your youngster.
You also had an amazing showwith him at Devon.
Yes, he is literally perfect.

(37:39):
There's not one thing wrongwith that horse.
He a pleasure to have, and hewas incredible.
He was very good at festival.
We had a great result atfestival of champions, and then we
came to Devon and he just stepped
it upa whole nother level.
And I'm, as we all do in thisjourney, we figure out the horse
moreand more.

(38:03):
So I've figured out a betterpreparation for him.
He's a pretty hot horse, so Iusually pre ride him.
Nothing crazy, just stretchhim and get him loose.
And that seems to really helpto then pull him out later and warm
him up, not for a super long time,
and go in and he's really focused
andrelaxed right there.

(38:28):
He looks so great.
I love that horse.
Tell him, what's his name?
What are his bloodlines?
Did you breed him?
Who's the breeder?
Tell us all the things about him.
His name is mojito and hissire is grand galaxy Wynn, and he's
out of a rodeamare, and he was bred
by Labara stables.

(38:52):
I'm probably saying thatwrong, but that he was actually bred
in Belgium.
And then he.
I got him from Denmark and Ibought him sight unseen.
I actually fell in love withhim over a video of him lunging as
a two year old.

(39:14):
Isn't that great?
When you look at that two yearold video, what did you see?
I get a feeling, and thatfeeling seems to have done me well
so far in the future, so I started
trusting a little bit more, but I
just got a feeling, and I couldn't
gethim out of my head.
And he was actually three atthe time when I got him, but the
video that I saw of him was when
hewas two, and, yeah, I just couldn't
gethim off of my mind.

(39:43):
And then it was crazy.
I get that, like.
All my best versus I've ever gotten.
I just met them.
I guess I got that feelingwith my husband, too, I will tell
you that.
But, you know, I mean, it'sjust like, yeah, okay.
And it's the same with my best one.
It's true.
I'm the feeling like, I am, too.

(40:03):
My mom always says, like, yousee the horse, and if you cannot
sleepthat night and you think only about
that horse, then it's.
It's the right one.
And I'm with you.
So I get that.
That's why I asked thatquestion, like, what made you do
it?
And I think a feeling is, Imean, there's a lot of connection
that hasto happen in this sport.
There's a lot of beautifulyoung horses.
But, like, why are you connected?
So I get it, but I love it.

(40:25):
Kimmy.
Yeah.
That story, and he wasn'tactually for sale.
I just pestered the owner overand over and over for probably a
month or two, and then she's finally
like, okay, fine, I love it.
What.
And what are your plans forthe future with him?

(40:45):
I want to get him to grand Prix.
I'm at the moment, I'm justwaiting to see where he's at.
He gets pretty hot in the changes.
Not crazy, but he gets.
He wants to do perfect all thetime, so he overachieves, and I want
to make sure I don't over face him,
which would be a very easy thing
todo because he tries so hard.

(41:09):
So I'm letting him tell mewhat to do next.
I would like to do developingpre St.
George next year for.
In hopes for festival, which Ithink is doable.
But whatever he is up for,because I do not want to get greedy
and blow his mind, because that would
be a very easy thing to do.

(41:31):
He's pretty hot and sensitive,so, yeah.
I love it such a good way witha young horse.
You know, it's like, let's.
Let's see where this journeytakes us.
And I think that that's so cool.
Yes.
And what speed it takes you.
That's the important thing issome people are like, no, no, you
must do this now.
And then the horse is notready, and then it backfires.

(41:51):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I think it's great.
I think it's awesome.
Well, Kimmy, how can ourlisteners follow your adventure with
him and follow you online?
Because it's going to be sofun to see how you develop this guy
as well.
I post a lot, almost every dayon Instagram and Facebook.
My Instagram iskimberlyraydrasage and then I'm Kimmy
Pullen on Facebook.

(42:16):
So that would be a great way.
I always post stuff on mystories and in my feed.
That'd be a very easy way.
I love watching you on Facebook.
I have been rooting for yousince we met each other, I think
in2014 regionals.
So I'm so excited.
I can't wait to see you atLamplight if he's ready next year.

(42:38):
Yes.
Yes.
We're going to be cheering you on.
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(43:04):
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This week's trainer tip willbe from Jennifer Cotillo, talking
aboutrider biomechanics.

(43:30):
Well, tonight we are soexcited to have Jennifer Cotillo.
She is a movement and bodyawareness specialist for equestrians.
Jennifer, welcome to the show.
Thanks so much for having me, Reese.
I'm excited to be here.
We're thrilled to have you.
Well, tell us a little bitabout yourself.
Well, I have a really weirdbackground that will probably take
up too much of your show to really
tell the whole thing.

(43:54):
But I have loved horses andridden my whole life, but I'm also,
Itell people, the world's worst athlete.
And so riding never came easyto me.
So I really had to reallytrain my own body to be the athlete
that I finally figured out I needed
tobe in order to ride well.

(44:14):
And so that started me down awhole path of discovery.
It's really been lifelong learning.
So I finally figured out thatI needed to find a way to make my
body better to be the athlete that
Iknew I needed to be.
And once I discovered how todo that, I thought it would be a
great thing to share with other people.
And that's how I got involvedwith what I do.

(44:37):
And, Jen, can you tell usabout Eckert Minor?
Because I love that part ofyour story and how you shared it
with myself.
Sure.
I'm actually going to startback a little before that.
So how I really got into allthis work was I started doing Pilates.
Now, in today's world, Pilatesis all over the place.

(45:00):
But when I started it,especially in the midwest, it was
not.
And I really learned thatPilates back in the day was body
re education.
But it takes a lot of time anda lot of dedication and a lot of
precision.
And fast forward a few years,and this man named Eckert miners
cameinto the picture.

(45:21):
He is a german physiologist,excuse me, who works on movements
andreally worked mostly with their racquet
sport team.
So their Olympic ping pong,badminton, tennis, all that kind
of stuff.
But his wife was a rider, andhe used to watch all the ladies that
ride and kept thinking, you know,
Ithink I could really help these people
and sort of started along that path.

(45:49):
And what he really works on ismind body connection and neuro connections,
and how to really make a body remember
all the things that it really knew
how to do back when it was a little
kid.
But we've sort of forgottenalong the way.
We, if you look at littlechildren, they sit up with a very
lovely, erect spine.

(46:13):
We all know they can put theirtoes in their mouths.
They're very flexible.
They can reach forwards andbackwards and up and down.
And to be a good athlete, youneed to be able to do all that.
Maybe not put your toes inyour mouth, but you need to be the
best athlete you can possibly be.
And so he opened up a wholenew world to me, that you could do
some funny little things to reconnect
your brain and your body and make
huge, profound differences.

(46:46):
So, one, I love to show peoplethat, to really explain how powerful
this is.
We all know as riders that ahorse, to feel really good in your
hand, needs to be supple and soft
inyour pole.
And one of my theories is thatwe mirror our horses, and our horses
mirror us.

(47:07):
So if my pole is stuck, and wehave a pole, too, that our occipital
joint, if it's stuck, that our horse
is going to mirror that as well.
That lack of throughness thatwe feel when our horses.
When our horse is stuck in hispole is the same thing with us.
Our movement isn't going tofollow beautifully through our bodies
if our pole is stuck.

(47:30):
So how can we do that?
Well, one funny little way todo it is to sit and just move your
eyeballs left and right and left
andright and left and right and left
and right.
And if you do that for threeor four, I'll say three minutes,
theamount of pole suppleness that is,
you can look right and left can increase
easily, quickly, in three minutes
by50% to 70%.

(47:56):
I mean, it's really amazing.
If I could figure out a way toget horses to hold their head still
and have their eyeballs left and
right and left and right and left
and right, I'd really be on to something.
I haven't figured that outyet, but I love.
I think that's awesome.
New training tips.
New training tips.

(48:18):
I love it.
I love it.
So, Jennifer, tell us, like,okay, I can totally feel what you're
saying, because I am not an athlete.
Like, at the end of the day,like, we have a joke in our family
because my dad tried to make me play
tennis, and I can't run.
Like, I really can't.
I'm not very coordinated.
I'm clumsy.
And my dad's like, well, thankGod you can ride a horse.

(48:38):
And I tease him because I'mlike, look who became the professional
athlete of the family?
Me.
And I'm actually the leastathletic off the horse.
So, yeah, it's a big joke inour family.
And I literally hate tennis, y'all.
I just hate it.
I can't smell of tennis.
Makes me anxious.
The dad tried to make me sevy graph.
Like it didn't happen well,for me, but.
So I know what you're saying,because, you know, when I'm on a
horse, I'm trained.

(49:02):
I've been on a horse since Iwas little.
I can.
I'm very athletic on a horse.
But talk to.
So I felt to my soul what yousaid, like, I'm not an athlete.
So obviously, I started when Iwas really young.
I was, like, nine, so, orseven when I started riding.
But tell us a little bit moreabout, like, how you help riders.

(49:22):
You know, now I'm now midforties, and I couldn't do, if my
body didn't know what it was supposed
todo, it wouldn't do it.
So how do you make people like me?
Right.
Well, so everybody.
So everybody has their bodiesage, their bodies have accidents.

(49:42):
Their bodies morph from whatthey were when they were little,
little kids.
So I think what for mepersonally, one of the reasons why
I was probably not a very good athlete,
I didn't know it at the time, didn't
know it really, until I was almost
30,was that I have a really good scoliosis.
So that makes me extraordinarycrooked on a horse.

(50:03):
So I have to use what I do tohelp me maintain straightness.
So that's a big thing for me.
But the other thing that I seewith many, many people is it all
starts, I'm a pelvis all the way
person.
If your pelvis isn't set upcorrectly on the horse, it's going
tohave no way to follow correctly.

(50:27):
So you see people in chairseats, fork seats, those are the
two basic ones, but there are a whole
myriad of others that as soon as
your pelvis gets into that place,
itcan't swing properly.
And so there are basicallyfive joints in your pelvis.
There are your two hip joints.

(50:47):
There's your sacral lumbarjoint, and there are two si joints.
And all of those, to be areally good rider, but also to be
a really good athlete, need to work
to their utmost.
And for that to happen, allfive of those joints, especially
three ofthem, the two hip and the sacroiliac,
haveto be in what's called neutral.

(51:09):
So it's not overextended, it'snot over flexed.
It's right there in the middle.
So you have the ability tohave your full range of motion.
So that's, for me, super key.
If you've always ridden andyou've ridden well, I'm going to
say that more than likely, your pelvis
is pretty in.

(51:30):
Pretty much in a neutral position.
It's pretty much upright.
So if it is.
Sorry, can I ask real quick,like, okay, we're sitting in the
chairs right now.
I mean, Megan and I aresitting in chairs, and I'm sure a
lot of people are either driving,
somemay be riding, but in general, like,
if we're sitting in a chair, how
doyou talk me through this exercise?

(51:50):
Like, you're telling us aboutour pelvis, but, like, I'm, like,
wiggling my tushy.
So how do we, how do we findthis neutral spine?
So this neutral place is whenyour pelvis is absolutely perpendicular
tothe ground.
So if you can envisionyourself right now and get rid of
all your flesh, you're just a skeleton.

(52:12):
Just a skeleton.
You want your.
Your pelvis and you can getrid of your arms, you can get rid
of your legs, you can get rid of
all of it.
Your pelvis to be at 90degrees to the ground.
All right.
So most people either are,they're tipped a little.
So the top of their pelvis istipped forward and they're sitting
moreon their, the front part of their
pelvis.

(52:41):
And so they have a little toomuch arch in their lower back.
Yeah.
See that line right now?
Yeah.
Okay.
Or if you're, if you'reslumping, you're kind of feeling
likeyour tailbone is tucked under and
your back is a little rounded and
your chest is down.
That the chest is down becauseof the way your pelvis is.
Okay.
So if you are in the slumpedposition when the horse.

(53:07):
So let's pretend we're all onour little bit more on our tailbones.
We're slumped.
But that is not a horrible,horrible way to be riding if you're,
ifyou need to do something sitting
in thesaddle, if you're a hunt seat rider
or if you're a saddle seat rider,
notso important.
But for a dressage rider whowants to have their buns in the saddle
and follow and not hurt their lower
back or their back at all.

(53:30):
So if you're tucked under andyou're sitting on your tail, it's
not really pretty, but let's just
gothere for a second.
When the horse pushes with itshind legs, it can push your pelvis
forward like a clock, like a doggy
door.
I'm going to use my doggy dooron you, my doggy door analogy.
All right, so if the horse'shind legs push your pelvis, your
doggy door is going to go forward,
right?

(53:56):
Mm hmm.
Yes.
Can every, everybody can see that.
All right.
Yes.
Let's just hold that for a minute.
Hold that.
But because the doggy door,when you're slumped, the doggy door
is slightly already pushed forward.
So it only has a little moreways to go.
But the dog can get through, right?
Yep.
All right, now let's flip thepelvis the other way.

(54:17):
And so now you're sitting onthe front.
Your back is too arched.
All right.
Okay, now.
But now the horse pushes, itpushes into the doggy door, but the
doggy door kind of rams down into
the floor.
It can't swim through.
It gets stuck because it's inthe wrong spot.
Is that, can you see that inyour mind's eye?

(54:39):
Yeah.
If the doggy door, that isyour pelvis, is at 90 degrees, when
the horse pushes that doggy door,
that pelvis has the maximum opportunity
toswing through, and that's what we
want to be able to sit our horse.
Does that make sense?
Yeah.
Yeah.

(55:00):
I love it.
I'm going to use this on my students.
Right.
Oh, it's a good, and it's agood analogy, but now let's pretend
fora second that, so the doggy door
really in the writing.
It's a good analogy.
And it's that sacral lumbar joint.
Everything has to swing there.
But your doggy door is alsoattached to your hip joints, to your
legs.

(55:24):
Right.
So let's pretend there's,there's like a little, you know,
ifthe dog can get through, it's no
problem because your hip joint moves
so the dog can run through, the horse
can go through you.
You're a conduit to let thatenergy go through.
But let's say for some reason,one of your hip joints is tighter
thanthe other.

(55:47):
Now the dog runs through, butnow one side of the doggy door moves
more than the other or vice versa.
Okay.
Can you, I hope you can seethat in your mind's eye.
Yep.
So now let's think aboutflying changes.
Oh, yeah.
If I have one side of my, if Ihave a doggy door that swings more
through to the left than the right,
how is that going to affect my flying
changes?

(56:14):
When I go from left to right,let's say my right hip isn't working
aswell as my left.
When I go from left to right,I'm going to have a short change
because the dog can't get through.
Yep.
On the other side, it's goingto be a lot bigger.
So, you know, I'll look at arider I'll use, I'll throw Megan
under the bus.

(56:34):
Are usually, are really even.
But you'll see horses that areshort, long, short, long, short,
long.
And they're like, oh, it's the horse.
It's, you know, it needs to bestronger on the right hind left,
whatever.
No, no, no.
Maybe somebody's pelvis isn'tworking so well.
Maybe it doesn't swing so much.

(56:55):
So let's take that same doggydoor analogy.
I would suggest that you coulddo a, let me think here, a right
eight meter voltae much more easily
than a left because I need that pelvis
to swing evenly to be able to do
that.
So these are the kind ofthings that I'm looking at to help
a, let's just first get somebody
to beable to sit the trot.

(57:22):
I need that upright pelvis.
I need it and I need it to beable to swing.
Then I needed to swing evenly.
And from there, I keep working up.
I'm so focused.
First, fix the pelvis.
If you fix the pelvis, veryoftentimes, uneven shoulders, a collapsed
waist, a leg that hikes up, all those
things, usually, not always, but
usually are ancillary to pelvis that
isn't working well.

(57:56):
So I'm going to use all thetools in my toolbox to try to find
that, fix that and help you be more
in sync with your horse is what I'm
trying to do.
So what are some tools, youknow, if our, you know, you're thinking
like, what are the tools for that?

(58:17):
What, what are some thingsthat you can do to help writers from
this point?
All right, so I'll just giveyou a couple of easy ones that I
can explain pretty easily.
Call like this.
So I think one of the easiestthings you can do is lay on the floor
with your knees bent and your knees
bent, feet flat.
And you always want to makesure that your ankles, your knees
andyour hip joint, which is in the middle
of your groin and not on the outside
ofyour, your pelvis, it's in the middle,
are lined up so you're nice and straight.

(58:49):
So that's the first thing.
And then rock your pelvisaround however you want.
There's no really right orwrong until you feel like you land
flat.
So I like to imagine when I'mthere, I like to envision that my
pelvis is like a dinner plate, right?
And it's a flat dinner plate.
And then I'm going to start torock it.

(59:11):
I'm going to rock it.
So the front tips down andthen the back tips down in the front
and the back in the front and the
back.
And try to get that moving easily.
I just let it happen.
Then I'm going to rock it fromside to side.
I want it right and left,right, left, right, left, right,
left.
And what you want to feel isyou should get equal motion right
andleft and pretty much equal motion
upand down.

(59:35):
You're in.
This is a pretty small movement.
You just go, okay.
I can feel that.
It's all, it's all, it's all working.
Now what you're going to do isyou're going to start to slowly,
you'regoing to lift your tail, curl your
tail under so your pubic bone will
come up.
And you're going to start toslowly roll up one bone at a time,
basically to, I'm going to say the
bottom of your ribcage again, not
really far.

(01:00:05):
And then you're going toslowly lay it back down.
So you want to start to beable to get some spinal mobility.
A couple things are happening there.
Your hips are getting motion,your all your spine is getting motion,
your lumbar is getting motion, motion.
Then what you want to be ableto do, and I think this is a great,
great, great exercise for riders
fromthat upper position.

(01:00:29):
So now your buns are up in the air.
You want to try to keep yourankle and your knee in alignment
and justtap your right bun down and lift
itup, and then your left bun down and
right, left, right, left, right,
left.
So, so if you think about itagain, when we're riding, our legs,
in a perfect world, stay still.

(01:00:52):
And even on the side of thehorse and our bottoms, our pelvis
follows the motion of the horse,
right.
And more than likely you'llgo, oh, it's a lot easier to get
myright bun down as opposed to my left
or whichever.
Acknowledge that and know thatyou have to work.
Acknowledge that your upperbody is going to stay still when
you're doing this right, because
that'sjust in the position you're in.

(01:01:19):
So I think that's a fantastic exercise.
It's simple.
Anybody can do it.
You don't need any special equipment.
You don't need to go to the gym.
You can, you know, be in anyclothes, and you can work on this.
I think it's absolutely asuper one to do.
Awesome.
I think when you come to myfarm next, I want you to show me
how to do that.

(01:01:42):
My next next question wasgoing to be, well, I just wanted
toshare with everybody.
You also take people off thehorse and you have a ballamo chair,
and can you tell us about that really
quick?
Yeah, sure.
So Eckert miners developedthis Balamo chair, and if you envision
alittle stool, I can change the height
of it, but a little stool that sits
on, like a big ball bearing, so there's
no flat place on it, it can move
360degrees all over the place, and it
is set up to help people learn, again,
proper pelvic movement.

(01:02:23):
So you can sit on this chairand push forward and back and forward
and back.
And I always, whenever anybodyfirst gets on it, I warn them that
it will buck you off.
So you need to be very, very careful.
People don't believe me.
And I've caught many, many aperson, many, many a person from,
like, falling off of one of them.
But again, it really helps explain.

(01:02:44):
It is.
Well, it's not funny when yousay, yeah, don't do it, but it really
does start to, again, re explain
toyour body all the ways your body
could move when you were two and
three years old.
We don't do this stuff.
You know, we're in a verylinear world.
We walk forward and back.

(01:03:05):
We don't twist a lot.
We don't go side to side.
But again, to be a greatathlete, your body has to be able
todo that.
You know, I'm old enough.
I'm old enough to know.
Think of what my favoriteathlete of all time is.
Michael Jordan.
I'm not even talking about a rider.

(01:03:25):
But if you watch that body inmotion, the way it can move and react,
and it's graceful, it's athletic,
it's awonderful thing to see.
And I'm not saying that Icould ever be Michael Jordan, but
there is in us, and I truly believe
this, because I have come back to
that, that everybody has that innate
little child ability to move, and
we can find it again.

(01:03:55):
And that's what's so excitingabout record.
So then, to go back to Megan'squestion, one of the things that
Ido in a clinic was, I love to have
auditors, because I like people to
really find their eye.
I want them to go, oh, yeah, Isee what she's saying.
I see how this is affecting x,y and z.

(01:04:17):
And we'll look at somebody andsay, so what do you see here?
What's stiff, what's notworking well?
And I will get the person offthe horse.
I might do acupressure on them.
I might do a little mini massage.
I might put them on my Bellamo chair.
I might get them little exercises.
I might teach them to skip,which is a great way to teach people
how to canter.

(01:04:38):
People who can't canterprobably can't skip.
Check it out.
I know, I know, I know I'm right.
And then we'll, and then we'llput them back on the horse.
And we watch the horse go.
And over a course of 45minutes, I might get somebody off
four or five times.
The horse is standing aroundmost of the time, right?
We're not working on the horse.

(01:05:00):
But over those 45 minutes, thehorse will get better and better
andbetter and better and better and
better, simply because the rider
isletting loose, usually letting loose
things loose of things.
So that again, they swingthrough the right hip and the left
hip equally.
Waist is of equal size.

(01:05:21):
Their occipital joint, thepole is working.
Their Achilles tendon isn'ttight and rigid.
So if you have a tightAchilles tendon, the motion can't,
themovement, the energy can't flow through
your body.
We're going to look at all ofthat stuff.
Yeah.
I love it.
I love it.
Well, this is so cool.
Jennifer, if our listenershave questions and want to find you
online, how do they do that?

(01:05:46):
This is such great visuals andsuch great information.
Yeah.
Unfortunately, I have a reallyhard last name and all my stuff is
under my last name, so.
But anyway, I'll give it to you.
So my website is jennifer cotillo.com.
so it's jennifer.
J e n n I f e r.

(01:06:06):
Here's the hard part.
Cotillo.
K o t.
Ydehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe so
jennifer.com, i also have a facebook
page.
You can messenger me if you want.
And good stuff.
I'm gonna, I'm gonna work the buns.
The right down, left down.
I'm gonna try that tonight.
That was awesome.
So thanks so much.
It's fun.
It's really, it's really good.

(01:06:28):
And it will help your lowerback, too.
So.
And here's the other thingabout what I do.
I do it for horse or horsepeople, but all the stuff I do is
good for every body.
Not everybody, but everybody.
So anyway, well, thank you so much.
Thank you, Jen.
Well, Megan, we wish you andeveryone else that are going to the
regional finals, there are a couple
happening this week and a couple
happening next week.

(01:06:52):
We wish you luck.
I'm not going to lie.
I'm glad I'm done and stayinghome, but I'm wishing you guys luck.
And as always, you can findour show notes and links to today's
guest on our [e-mail].
dot Search dressage radio showlike us on Facebook.
Just search dressage radio show.
My website is Maplecrestfarmky.com and my.

(01:07:13):
Email isreeceorsradionetwork.com and my website
is lindenhoff.com.
and my email is lindenhof llcmail.com.
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If you'd like to support ourshow and the Horse radio Network,
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(01:07:39):
keep on kicking on until thenext show.
Talk to you soon.