Kermit - What a special horse. He taught me everything I knew already again and then some. He taught me not only to become a better rider, but also a better listener. He taught me to be patient and he showed me that you can achieve a lot if you only try hard enough. 

He arrived at Horrell Hill in September 1988 with a big heart and a stiff body. His jumper days were more or less over, now he was to become a dressage horse. Patience, patience. He improved so fast; he was so easy to work with. He was sensitive and intelligent. He showed us all what a Thoroughbred can be like. 

He won and he tried. He was always a terrific teacher. You had to get it just right. Or he just wouldn't do it. How many incidences can I recall today where I learned something from him. We participated in clinics in Florida and Georgia, in regional and national instructor seminars with Major Anders Lindgren, Bill Woods and Robert Dover. We rode with Charles de Kunffy and Maryall Barnett. He always was a prince. I don't know where the frog came in. Maybe when he stole himself out of the barn and wreaked havoc on the property. Or when he hurried home on the second leg of a trail ride. Or when he showed you that he just about had enough of all this silly trailering (usually about 1 mile into the trip). But whenever he saw an open trailer he was in anyway. 

And what a ham he was when he had an audience. In April 2000 he was 30 years old, we had an open house and just wanted to show how healthy he was looking. So we brought him into the arena where we had set up some fences for free jumping. I just wanted to show them how powerful he still can move around, he however,  wanted to show off and took the harder route over the fences. No whips, no clicking, no urging. He just was showing off.

In May 2001 I rode him the last time as a demo in a "Dressage Concepts" seminar. They were all still there - the changes, the pirouettes, the sensitivity. Was he more stiff now? Maybe a little. 

Claudia Garner
Bereiter and Judge, German Equestrian Federation (FN)
Horrell Hill Dressage Center