Riding Refinery
Re-Define The Way You Ride
Dan Gillie
I was born with an innate love of horses. Some might call it an obsession, but I prefer the term "passion". Since owning a horse was definitely out of the question and most definitely beyond my parent's budget, my only solution was to read and learn as much as I could about horses, preparing for the day when I could finally grow up and afford my own horse. My quest to satisfy a voracious equine appetite, led me to discover the writings of Alois Podhajsky, the Lipizzaner horses of the Spanish Riding School, and an artistic form of riding called dressage.
Many years later, I was finally able to afford my first horse. To improve my riding and develop my horse, I scoured the internet for Spanish Riding School trainers. It was my feeble attempt to somehow form a connection with classical dressage and make some claim of specialized horse training knowledge (beyond just words on a book page). I was lucky enough to stumble across an advertisement for a Karl Mikolka clinic near my grandparents home in NY. Unbeknownst to me, the flier was misleadingly simple, and belied the depth of what I was about to encounter. From the first lesson at that farm in Saratoga, NY, I was hooked even more deeply. My obsession turned into a full blown additiction. There was no curing me any longer. I doubled my efforts to learn as much as I could, only now I focused exclusively on studying the writings and teachings of the Old School as taught by Karl Mikolka, which led me to some of Karl's students (such as Thomas and Shana Ritter).
I have now been a disciple, follower, and practitioner of the Mikolka Method of riding and training horses for over 20 years. Karl generously shared with the world his knowledge of the training techniques, traditions, and beliefs of the Old School as taught to him by his mentors from a long standing line of Viennese riding masters going back to the birth of classical riding. My dream is to keep the flame of Viennese riding alive and pass on the torch of the Old School by sharing and educating for the benefit of horse and rider. Before I knew what it took to train horses, I started a career in biological and medical sciences to help people; however I have often found horses to have a much greater impact on the lives of their humans. My goal in life is to improve the health and harmony of horse and rider; and enable both horse and human to live life to the fullest.
The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart. Proverbs 17:3
As fire refines precious metals by removing impurities, so too does the trainer refine the horse by daily gymnastic work in the arena.
The time tested gymnastic training process of the Old School improves the horse by imparting mobility to joints, strength to muscles, and refinement to the intellect.
