One of the nicest things about living here in the Wellington area is that we are surrounded by so many incredible farms and an entire community of elite trainers. During the season, you can go sit by the warm up ring at the horse show and watch the world’s top riders and trainers to your heart’s content; it’s like being able to go to the Olympics every day, right in your own backyard. But even during the off season, there are some incredible educational opportunities here and we are so fortunate to be able to learn from some of the best classical trainers in the world.

Dream has come a long way since he arrived here in Feb. 2022, just before his 5th birthday. We had a bit of drama just before his arrival, and were lucky enough to be saved by the truly awesome team at Diamante Farms Dressage, who welcomed us with the kind of generosity of spirit that you just cannot describe with words. Lucky Dream got to experience a *very* fancy introduction to the US! Devon and Kevin were kind enough to support the beginning of our partnership and set us on the path to success. (Dream would still like to live in a fancy barn with chandeliers.)

Fast forward to 2025 and Dream has grown into a real dressage star. This is the first young horse I’ve ever had that I put into full training to start; previously I have always done the riding (with great support from my fantastic trainers.) He is such a quick study! Devon called him the Baby Genius and he really lives up to that billing, going from basic Training level work to now easily producing tempi changes and starting to get strong enough for more advanced collection and movements like pirouettes, so when we were invited to a clinic at the beautiful Belltower Farm, where world renowned master Ernst Hoyos introduced Dreamy to the art of the piaffe, I was beyond thrilled.

Ernst spent almost 30 years at the Spanish Riding School, where he achieved the role of Head Rider. His philosophy is both classical and extremely horse-friendly. The lessons started with proper basics. Softness, throughness, going forward and coming back, and maintaining a soft, elastic contact were all areas of focus. “The outside rein is your control,” he said often. “The inside rein is for relaxation.” He believes in low, soft hands, quiet half halts, working always to maintain good balance and a forward thinking attitude. It was beautiful to watch.

When it came time to introduce the concept of piaffe, Ernst walked out into the arena, gave Dream a friendly pet on the nose, and lightly touched his leg to ask him to lift it while staying more or less on the spot. Of course it took Dream a minute but he got it! I was so proud of him.

Ernst was very complimentary and invited him to come back for a few more lessons, which we really enjoyed. Dream thought it was fun but a lot of work. Here he is telling his friend Special all about it and enjoying a good scratch.