• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • About Siobhan
  • Services
    • Training
    • Lessons
  • Horses
Qualia Dressage
  • Testimonials
  • Gallery
  • Contact
  • About Siobhan
  • Services
    • Training
    • Lessons
  • Horses
Qualia Dressage

Qualia Dressage

  • Testimonials
  • Gallery
  • Contact

Horses Personal Thoughts

Competidor V, 1995 – 2015

to live in this world you must be able to do three things to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and, when the time comes to let it
Continue Reading

Personal

Siobhan and students at the 2015 BLM Finals

Personal Shows Students

2015 Recap

Siobhan and students at the 2015 BLM FinalsIt was great to finally be back in the show ring after spending most of 2014 on the sidelines due to a riding accident. As always, my students never cease to make me proud.

Sarah Borns earned her First and Second Level scores for her USDF Bronze medal on her pony, Cordelia’s Dreamgirl. I also showed “Haley” at Second Level, and she did great in her first year of showing, with scores over 65%. Sarah and Haly moved to North Carolina at the end of 2015, and they are missed.

Debbie Olsen earned a 70% at a recognized show with her beloved Kasey, her goal for 2015.

Marsha Mason rode her Third Level freestyle this year on her homebred horse, Rulet. This has been a goal Marsha has had for a very long time, and it was wonderful to see her achieve it. I also brought “Rudy” out at Prix St. Georges and while he had a difficult time with the atmosphere at Dressage at Lexington, he had many highlights, including earning 7s on both canter pirouettes. I’m looking forward to getting him out more in 2016 to get him more relaxed so he can get the scores I know he is capable of getting.

The icing on the cake was the BLM Finals, where my students earned Champion (Shera Solomon with Sharon Pinchler’s Merlin), 5th (Shera Solomon with her own Dolce) and 10th (Debbie Olsen with her own Kasey) in the Training Level A Final, and 6th and 8th (Shera Solomon with Dolce and Merlin) in the First Level A Final.

A huge thank you to all of my wonderful clients who are so supportive. Here’s to great things in 2016.

Richard long lining Bee

Horses Personal Training

Long Lining with Richard Malmgren

Richard long lining BeeEarly this month we were lucky to have a very talented friend of mine, Richard Malmgren, come to the farm to do a long lining clinic. Richard has studied with Bo Jena, of Flyinge Stud in Sweden, and in addition to being very talented in address straightness and connection issues, he is also very kind and patient with the horses. His goal is a positive experience for every horse.

We had an interesting group of horses, from a very green three year old to a PSG/I-1 horse. As most of these were horses I either rode or gave their riders lessons on, it was interesting to see the same evasions present in the long lines.

My own mare, Samsara, had a very productive session. “Bee” is pretty tricky in the connection. She likes to avoid the right rein, and avoid using her right hind leg correctly. She also carries a lot of tension in her lower back. Richard skillfully worked her through these issues through work on a diamond shape and lateral exercises, and it was very cool to watch her get straighter, more even, and taking longer relaxed strides. While I am certainly no where near Richard’s skill level, I have committed to long lining her myself once every 7-10 days, and it has definitely been a very positive addition to her training program.

Huge thank you to Richard for coming out to work with us. We plan to have him back regularly—if you are interested in participating or auditing, please contact me.

Horses Personal

Welcome Home, Mouse

Last week, a wish came true for me: I was able to bring my old horse, Mouse, back to me to spend the rest of his days.

Mouse came into my life when he was 6, he is 22 now. But make no mistake, he is still sassy as ever. Mouse saw me through many hard times in my life, and I am so glad to have him with me again. Every time I see his little face peering at me over the window, it makes me smile.

Mouse is still sound and quite the fancy mover, and will be available for lessons and half lease (with option to show) once he gets a bit fitter. He is trained through Prix St. Georges and is a wonderful confidence builder with his small size (15.2) and kind disposition.

Personal Thoughts

Taking Responsibility for Your Own Education

Rebekah and Lizzy
Rebekah McCormick and her mare Lisianthus. She earned her USDF Bronze medal doing one lesson a week and riding outside year round, even walking on gravel roads to maintain fitness when her ring was too frozen to school.

I recently had a discussion with a fellow rider and trainer about teaching. We both recognized that our most successful students (“success” defined as progress in their ability/education, NOT strictly show ring success) have one thing in common: they take responsibility for their own education.

Before I start, let me first say that yes, of course there are also responsibilities that trainers have to students. Trainers need to be invested in educating themselves, so that they can become better teachers. Trainers need to make sure that they are giving their students their full attention during lessons, and they need to be willing to work to help a student understand a concept, if their usual ways aren’t getting the job done. They also need to teach students the theory of dressage, and how various exercises help shape the horse as an athlete. But even the best trainer can’t be there when you’re riding on your own—and that’s when taking responsibility for your own education becomes important.

Discipline is crucial. After a lesson, do you take the concepts and exercises you have worked on that day and do your best to apply them in your future schooling sessions, experimenting with your aids and noting your horse’s reactions? Or do you simply ride around by route, with no plan? If you ride a bad transition, do you analyze what went wrong and ride it again, and try to fix it? Or do you just ignore it? By choosing the latter in each example, progress will be slow to nonexistent. It is incredibly important to take the time to school on your own, to put into daily practice the things you have learned. I know that at the end of a long day at work, finding motivation can be hard (especially if you live in an area with real winter weather)—but that is where discipline comes into play. It is better to ride for 25-30 minutes with discipline and focus, than to ride sloppily for 45 minutes to an hour. And for those who may think, “Easy for her to say! She rides horses all day long!”, I will let you know that I have a day job that helps pay the bills, so I have been there and done that.

I see a lot of riders who have no idea how to ride without their trainer present and directing their every move. What happens if you go to a show and you and your trainer have conflicting ride times, and now you must warm up on your own? If you do not understand the theory behind the exercises you are doing, and you haven’t spent time putting theory into practice on your own, you will probably find the prospect of warming up on your own daunting. From my prospective, I have succeeded when my students can confidently warm themselves up when I’m not there—I know I have been successful in giving them the tools to be able to judge what exercises will best help their horse in that moment. To be fair, many instructors tend to be light on theory, for a variety of reasons. If you don’t understand why you’re doing an exercise, ASK!

Some riders mention a fear of “doing the wrong thing” while schooling. This is nonsense. As long as you are treating your horse fairly, the best way to learn is by experimenting and, yes, making mistakes. I made a ton of mistakes with the first horse I trained to FEI—and learned a tremendous amount in the process. And I still make mistakes to this day! Rather than getting worried or upset, learn from your mistakes and move on. Horses are incredibly forgiving.

Your trainer can give you a roadmap and guide you along the way, but ultimately YOU are responsible for working on improving your skills through dedicated practice and experimentation. Not even a world-renowned Olympian can put in the blood, sweat and tears for you.

Samsara and Siobhan

Personal Shows Students

VADA/NoVA Summer Show Recap

Samsara and Siobhan
Katie King and Shine had another great show this past weekend. With solid mid-60s scores at First 2 and First 3, Katie earned her second USDF/GAIG qualifying score at First Level. She is now completely qualified for both finals shows. And last but not least, they won their First 1 class on Sunday with a 70%, including a score of “8” on harmony. Very exciting, but this team is definitely not resting on their laurels. They are hard at work to be able to try dipping their toes into the water at Second Level later this year.

I brought along my mare Samsara (“Bee”), as a non-compete. Bee can be emotional, so she is going to shows this year just to hang out and school. She was a really good girl, and we had two super lessons with JJ Tate which lead to real breakthroughs. She’ll be coming along to Dressage at Lexington for more exposure. This mare is really talented, and I think she’s worth taking the slow approach.

Mom and Schluffi

Personal

Yay Mom!

I am not the only dressage rider in the family – my Mom rides as well. She just competed in her first show in 15 years! Congratulations, Mom. Here she is with her adorable PRE gelding, Hungaro 10, fondly known as “Schluffi”. Note how impressively white he is! I need to make her come groom for me.

Mom and Schluffi

Footer

Qualia Dressage LLC

qualiadressage

Siobhan Byrne
Grand Prix Rider and Trainer
USDF Gold, Silver and Bronze medalist
Poolesville, MD
https://linktr.ee/qualiadressage

If you have a horse prone to scratches, like my cu If you have a horse prone to scratches, like my cute friend with three white socks here, I highly recommend @medicaequine products . Hans has extremely sensitive skin, and is very prone to scratches. Last year, I struggled to keep them in check despite trying everything in my arsenal—keeping legs clipped, chlorhexidine, stints on antibiotics, and other topical treatments—including ones that have usually been successful for me.  @jeremy_steinberg recommended I try Medica Equine, and the treatment wash and salve did an amazing job of clearing his legs up entirely. If you are struggling with skin issues, check this line of products out. 
.
.
.
#dressage #dressagehorse #dressagehorsesofinstagram #kwpnhorse #equestrian #horsegrooming
A little @dressageatdevon dreaming for #throwbackt A little @dressageatdevon dreaming for #throwbackthursday . 
📸: @bethanypphotography 
.
.
.
#dressageatdevon #kwpnhorse #dressage #dressagehorse #dressagehorsesofinstagram #marylanddressage #dressurpferd #handsomehansi
Grateful for the amazing people we have here at th Grateful for the amazing people we have here at the Locks Edge. They got me a set of these beautiful director’s chairs with my logo on them for Xmas (I guess no one showing with us was impressed with my $10 chairs from Target 😂). I’m so lucky to have an incredible group of kind, generous people here at the farm. ❤️
.
.
.
#dressage #dressagetrainer #horseshowlife #equestrian
Waki doing his first I-2 in 2018 for #throwbackthu Waki doing his first I-2 in 2018 for #throwbackthursday . Always such a photogenic boy. 🖤 
📸: @richard.malmgren 
.
.
.
#tbt #dressagehorse #dressagehorsesofinstagram #dressurpferd #hanoveriansofinstagram #hanoverianhorse #equestrian #squawkiwaki
So proud of this little super star! Vamilja got to So proud of this little super star! Vamilja got to do her first jumping lesson today for some winter crosstraining, and she rocked it. Great riding by my right hand girl @cassidy_hageman , and great instruction by my friend @kmhsporthorsesllc . Thanks ladies! 
.
.
.
#danishvarmblood #crosstraining #dressagehorse #dressagehorsesofinstagram #equestrian #mightymilja
I always enjoy having a break from competition to I always enjoy having a break from competition to focus on training. Hans can get tight easily, so we’re working on consistently having a looser, more expressive trot. 
.
.
.
#dressage #dressagetraining #dressurpferd #dressagehorse #dressagehorsesofinstagram #equestrian #roadtograndprix #kwpnhorse #handsomehansi
Now, for a belated report on the VADA Fall Show/Re Now, for a belated report on the VADA Fall Show/Region 1 Finals in October. 

Congratulations to Lucy Tidd on a win in the GP AA championship, and top placing AA in the GP Freestyle. 

Grace Lotsikas was 6th in the Jr/YR Second Level championship on my Wachenheim—they had amazing trot work, but unfortunately Waki decided that he needed to spice things up with some piaffe and flying changes in the walk and canter tours. 🤪 Grace did a great job riding tactfully on my (as the judge commented) “talented but spicy boy”! 

Sierra Stewart’s Furst of All and I did his first Second Level tests. He got a bit overwhelmed in the coliseum on Thursday, but came back strong Friday and Saturday, with scores of 70 and 71%. 

Last but certainly not least, Jessie Ginsburg earned her first Gold Medal score at GP on her Vodermus. Incredibly proud of this team. ❤️
.
.
.
#dressage #dressagetrainer #equestrian #usdfregion1
Just another spectacular fall morning in the Lock’s Edge driveway. So lucky to be able to work in this special place. 🍂🍁
.
.
.
#fall #dressagetrainer #happyplace #marylanddressage #equestrian #driveway
My most amazing Hans tries so hard for me. Two sup My most amazing Hans tries so hard for me. Two super lessons with Jeremy Steinberg this weekend. 🖤
.
.
.
#dressage #dressagehorse #dressagehorsesofinstagram #dressurpferd #roadtograndprix #kwpnhorse #equestrian #dressagetraining #handsomehansi
“If you look at any field, whether it’s in bus “If you look at any field, whether it’s in business or sports, the best of the best all have one thing in common: they are students and always learning. If you are a good student you will never truly ‘lose’ a competition. One of two things will happen when that competition is over: either you’ve won or you’ve learned something, and if you’ve learned, you haven’t lost. You need to always have that mindset because success tends not to be a great teacher. Failure is a much better teacher. Accepting and utilizing that is a quality of a good student.” - Ian Millar 
.
.
.
📸: @susanjstickle 
#dressage #dressagetraining #dressagerider #dressurpferd #festivalofchampions #kwpnhorse #mondaymotivation #handsomehansi
Little Milja was a rock star for her first field t Little Milja was a rock star for her first field trip! Huge thank you to Cassidy Hageman for giving her such a confidence-building experience—it’s so important for the youngsters. Really excited about this little mare, and can’t wait to get her in the show ring next year. 
. 
.
.
#dressage #dressagetraining #younghorse #danishvarmblood #equestrian #mightymilja
That face! Sweet Vamilja (Vitalis x Sir Donnerhal That face! Sweet Vamilja (Vitalis  x Sir Donnerhall II). 🥰 
.
.
. 
#dressage #dressagehorse #danishvarmblood #mightymilja
Follow on Instagram

Get In Touch

Qualia Dressage
Poolesville, MD
732.406.9606
siobhan@qualiadressage.com

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Phone