Willy Arts on Young Horses by Patti Schofler

What Willy Arts likes about working with young horses is the continual evaluation of their development. The big reward, he believes, comes with the long view that reveals how the grown horse has been shaped by its training as a youngster.

Breeder, trainer, competitor, co-owner of DG Bar Ranch and chair of the KWPN NA (the North American Dutch Warmblood association) explains that when you breed to produce a horse of the quality for Grand Prix, the horse is born with a certain expectation. Then the selection trial starts immediately.

“With the horses from foal to age five, I like learning what I see in the young horse and how it affects the horse later. As you develop experience, you learn that certain criteria in a young horse are important later, some are not important and some you can ignore.”

The young horse’s future is equally dependant on its breeding, training and how it grows up. “You try to create that exceptional horse through breeding the right stallion to help with your mare’s weak points. But there are a lot of really nice horses born that don’t make it to their full potential. You hope that they land at a place where they will develop to their full potential, but that’s not always necessary. Not every rider brings out the horse’s full potential, but that rider enjoys the horse and the horse gets the true potential out of the rider. Then that’s a good deal. The horse is there for a purpose.”

A native of Holland, Willy rode the reserve champion of the 1982 Stallion Dressage Competition and the champion of the 1983 Stallion Competition. While still in Holland, he trained the champion of the 1983 Hundred Day Stallion Testing and the 1982 reserve champion in 1982. Willy also rode the Under Saddle Champion in 1982, 1983, and in 1984.
Following five years of intensive training at the Nederlands Hippisch Centrum in Deurne, Willy moved to California and began an association with DG Bar Ranch in Hanford, CA, where today he manages the horse operation. His extensive show career includes dressage, hunter-jumper and eventing. He showed stallions Wanroij and Volckmar at Intermediare I and Grand Prix levels.
Willy oversees the breeding operation at DG Bar Ranch and because of his knowledge of the Dutch Warmblood horse and pedigrees, he has successfully produced top sport horses. He prepares approximately 20 young horses for the keuring each year and has presented several successful stallion candidates.
Young horses at DG Bar Ranch begin training as foals with halter breaking and handling. At age two and a half, all the youngsters have their joints x-rayed.

“X-rays at that age give you a baseline. If you sell the horse at age four or five, you make a better presentation to the buyer if you have the baseline x-rays. The buyers can see there are no problems. If you find problems at two years old, you can make choices about surgery which is advisable because the horse has time to develop. If you wait longer, it’s harder because the horse would be out of work.”

The youngsters’ work starts with introduction of the bridle and longeing five days a week. “I prefer more often than longer, even if it’s only 15 minutes, for the first month. This way the horse gets into a routine. If you work only two or three times a week, each time you’re starting over.”

Longeing usually does not include side reins on the theory that with side reins, the young horse learns to drop behind the contact. After the horse is ridden, it’s easier to establish a nice connection with the bit and a better result when you do add side reins. Instead the horse starts longeing with the halter and chain over the nose. Eventually the bridle is put over the halter so the horse can get used to the bit. Next the saddle is added.

Willy might use a jumping saddle to start the horses. “You can go with the movement easier. You ride in shorter stirrups and you can stand up better.”

If you use a dressage saddle, he recommends starting the horse in medium tree and, if necessary, making adjustments. For example, a young horse with a tight back may do well with a breast collar so you don’t need to girth the saddle so tight and the saddle stays in place.

Unlike the usual patter, Willy doesn’t find cross training with jumping necessary for young horses bred for dressage.

“What matters is how you work with the horse, that you don’t over-face and push too much. Let him be a young horse. From age three to five, just walk, trot and canter in natural balance. The horse doesn't need to learn lateral movements at this time. He needs to go forward and come back to build strength. If that’s done for the first year and a half, then the horse is ready to start second level work and move up the training scale.”

Willy points to the FEI four-, five- and six-year-old tests as training guides. While some feel that the FEI four-year-old test is too challenging, Willy finds the test straightforward. “You need a horse that is broke and behaves, but the test doesn’t have anything more than walk, trot and canter.”

He compares the FEI five-year-old test to second level, and the six-year-old test to third level.

“By the time the horse is seven it will be a nice fourth level horse; by eight, a Prix St. Georges horse. That schedule is not easy, and you have to hustle, but it is a good guideline. If your horse starts late or is immature, or something happens, you don’t have to think ‘I have to do this test and it has to be ready by March.’ If the horse is not ready for competition, keep schooling at home, and hope you have a horse that can school that level at home. Or if you need to catch up and it does not work for the four-year-old test, wait until the horse is six. The program is good and the standard is good.”

To work with young horses, the trainer should have a good understanding of horsemanship and, most of all, patience. The person should not be afraid, and should know when to move on and when to move up. You can only develop this knowledge through experience, he says.

A professional, as opposed to an amateur, is not automatically the best person to work with young horses. “Today you have very talented amateurs. An amateur is different from a beginner. And a person could be a beginner in dressage, but have lots of experience with horses. However, it’s not advisable for a beginner with horses to start a young horse.”

Willy points out that a horse might be dubbed a professional’s horse, but that description often means is that the horse is difficult. “Professionals don’t prefer difficult horses,” he laughs. “Amateurs and professionals want the same kind of horse.”

When considering a trainer to work with your young horse, look at the person’s history, what he or she has produced and how the horses go. And don’t ignore your instincts.

“If you have a good gut feeling that the person will do the right thing, everything else will fall in place. If you’re worried, you might make a list of ‘dos’ and ‘don’t’, but that means you already have a bad feeling,” Willy advises.

“Check out if the person knows herself well. Ask what are her specialties, short comings, and limits. Then you know you’re dealing with someone who is realistic. Have good common ground and good communication. Then you can be part of the decisions about the horse.”

www.dgbarranch.com


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