12-19-2024 12:22am

Dark Horse Dressage Angela Carter and Romeo

WARREN COUNTY, OH -- Horses have been around a long time; and humans have been observing and interacting with horses for many millennia. Depictions of horses can be found on cave walls in the city of Lascaux in France dating 17,000 years ago. Humans and horses have had a varied relationship throughout the ages. We, as humans, have hunted, eaten, milked, and domesticated horses; and they have pulled our chariots, wagons, artillery, canal boats, and carted our dead.

Horses have been there alongside us throughout history doing things for the benefit of mankind; but who are the people that can compel these large beasts to our bidding, even when it means going against a horse’s primal instinct?

The ancient Greeks had Xenophon of Athens the philosopher, historian, and military leader, to teach them the Art of Horsemanship over 2000 years ago. Xenophon is considered the earliest dressage author , dating back to the 4th century BC.

Today, the Fédération Equestre Internationale in Lausanne, Switzerland, governs many equestrian disciplines, including dressage.

What is Dressage?

Dressage is - the training of a horse to perform special, carefully controlled movements as directed by the rider, or the performance of these movements as a sport or in a competition.(Cambridge Dictionary)

Also

Dressage, the highest expression of horse training, is considered the most artistic of the equestrian sports and can be traced as far back as ancient Greece. The horse has to perform at a walk, trot and canter, and all tests are ridden from memory and follow a prescribed pattern of movements. The only exception is the Freestyle which is specially choreographed for each horse and is performed to music. (Fédération Equestre Internationale)

Meet Warren County's Dressage

On a placid Warren County farm, a few miles from Fort Ancient in Oregonia, Ohio, Dark Horse Dressage, is managed, owned and operated by Angela Carter, a United States Dressage Federation Grand Prix gold medalist and lifelong Warren County resident. Angela’s horse, Romeo, who will be 17 years old this year, is a Percheron/ Suffolk Punch with an inquisitive curiosity, a desire to display his talents, and an inspiring crowd-pleaser.

Angela started her experience with horses, in earnest, at the young age of 8-years old when she started riding at the old Cincinnati Polo Team Field that used to be on Mason-Montgomery Road, at the corner of Irwin-Simpson. As she got older, Angela started working as a groomer for the polo team horses.

This included grooming, tacking, cool down, as well as loading and unloading of the horses to away games. On weekdays, she would be found after school at the polo team field earning a few dollars and gaining valuable experience exercising the polo horses.

“I am so much a hands-on learner,” said Angela, adding, “that’s why, I think, I really excel at this – because that’s what riding is – it’s all about 'feel' and being sensitive enough to feel the horse’s body underneath of you and knowing what to do and when.”

Angela was also a member of the Warren County 4-H Horse Program, which is a very active program. During 4-H, she showed horses at the Warren County Fair and really started to focus on dressage at age 14. When she had to leave 4-H at 18, Angela found employment on a dressage farm in Loveland, Ohio on Ward’s Corner Road - which is now a subdivision. Here she worked and trained in dressage with a trainer as a young adult.

Today she competes and trains serious young adults to be dressage champions at Dark Horse Dressage. The following is a list of some of Angela’s achievements:

Romeo is a male, 17-year-old black Percheron/ Suffolk Punch. He is a muscular horse with an air of intelligence and curiosity and seems very happy and content. Romeo arrived on the farm when he was 4 years old. Originally, Angela wanted to find a lesson horse and found Romeo on craigslist.com.

Romeo had been working the Civil War reenactment circuit with his previous owner. He became accustomed to the crowds, new environments, and the firing of the muskets and cannons. This was the kind of horse she needed – good, quiet, not too expensive, young, and not easily spooked.

Despite not having a proper canter, Angela started Romeo on the introductory tests. (The horse's canter is a 3-beat gait with a clear moment of suspension. It's an important gait for the competitive dressage rider since so many test movements, such as flying changes and canter pirouettes, require a quality canter.)

“An Intro Test in dressage is the very beginning first test; and there’s 3 of them, but the first 2 tests do not have canter. It’s just walk/ trot,” Angela explained.

She continued to work with Romeo and taught him how to canter and which leg to lead with. This is important for it helps the horse to gracefully navigate turns in the arena according to the direction horse and rider.

Angela

“If you are riding in the arena, and you are going counter-clockwise, you’re going to be on the left lead. In dressage, we teach them to do both (left lead and right lead) because the balance and the strength is important.”

In the dressage arena, one will notice letters on the walls of an indoor arena, and the same letters on an outdoor arena marked by decorative flower pots. The letters don't seem to follow any order or logic. No one really knows where the letters came from for sure. But according to www.equestrianmovement.com, there is a theory....

The most plausible of the theories is to do with the Imperial German Court. Before 1918, markings where found on the walls of the stable yard of the Royal Manstall, which was used as an exercise yard and coincidentally measured thrice the length as the width – 60m x 20m! It appears these markings where to indicate the spot the groom would hold the horse in anticipation of his rider. The riders where (with the exception of A, which stands for Ausgang (exit) and C, which has no correlation):

K – Kaiser: Emperor/King
V – Vassal: Squire
E – Ehrengast: Honoured Guest
S – Schzkanzler: Chancellor
H – Hofsmarshall: Lord Chancellor
M – Meier: Steward
R – Ritter: Knight
B – Bannertrager: Standard Bearer
P – Pferknecht: Groom
F – Furst: Prince

There are no definitions for the centre line marker letters.

These letters mark specific points around the 20x60 meter arena, and riders perform various movements in relation to them.

Romeo

As Romeo got stronger and learned more, Angela noticed his eagerness, his ability and excitement, and capacity to learn more. Perhaps, Romeo could do more than be a lesson horse.

“He was the only horse I’ve ever owned, that when I got on him the next day; I felt like I didn’t get off of him. He remembered and could pick up where we left off,” she explained.

The different levels in dressage are increasingly more difficult from one to the next. The success of the team reflects the hard work, trust, and communication between horse and rider. The teamwork paid off; Angela’s knowledge and patience combined with Romeo’s intelligence and zest for performing took the pair all the way to gold medal in the Grand Prix competition.

The Grand Prix

The Grand Prix is the pinnacle in horsemanship and has many complicated movements like pirouettes, lead changes, and the piaffe – when the horse maintains a cadence while in one spot like “running in place.”

To see Angela and Romeo perform the piaffe, click the photo below.

“Horses are just like people, they’re all different and unique – and Romeo is definitely a performer. The more people are watching him, the more he lights up,” Angela said.

Today, Angela is still competing and training the next generation of champions; both horse and rider. Angela is focused on teaching serious minded young adults. She is also excited about young Rolls Royce, a 2022 colt awarded High Score Colt from the Vanessa Scheiner Inspection at ISR Oldenburg North America. Angela Carter is a true horse-master and equine artist and represents a fine example of the horse community in Warren County, Ohio.