In the early days, when I had just come down to North Carolina in 1988, after graduating from UConn, I stumbled upon the farm that I have now; Cedarhill Farm. The farm then was owned by Nora Cooke who was looking for someone to take it over. Long story short, not only did she sell me her farm, but she introduced me to Danny Robertshaw. I was instantly drawn to his quiet but charismatic demeanor, and the way he was with his horses and I ended up buying two chestnut thoroughbred fillies from him: for a grand total of $2300. Full sisters by Absolut the youngest, a yearling, was $1000 who I named Rossi, and the eldest, a two year old; Martini was $300 more because she was broke to ride. It was through these two mares that I discovered the genius that is Danny Robertshaw. Martini ended up being a lovely 3′ horse who I sold to one of my riders- Tara Huber, as a children’s hunter. They did well in the local circuit. Rossi however was the one that brought me the opportunity to work with Danny far more extensively; watching him grow her into a nationally ranked show horse and all the education that came with it. A lovely, kind, sweet horse, she would never had been what she was without Danny in the irons, as I discovered afterwards. It was not unusual during that time for us to return home winning every class we had participated in, at any show; local Camden, Kentucky, Middleburg Classic, Palm Beach… This trend started in the baby green and didn’t end until he stopped riding her in the Green Conformation hunter division.
I gave myself way too much credit in those early days, assuming that with dedication, good intension, and hard work that the success was guaranteed. It was only when I ventured out for myself, attempting to replicated what I had done with Danny, bringing along what I felt was equally talented young horses and used the same ingredients; the dedication, good intension, and hard work that I discovered the true value of what was missing; Danny Robertshaw…
Danny Robertshaw gave me the foundation that I have and use today to train my horses and riders. Any and all of the success thus far is due to watching and absorbing all that I can and could from Danny. Some of it can’t be expressed, although I have tried. When training my own riders I have attempted to teach them the way that Danny galloped up to the jumps. With hip closed, hands soft and following, giving just the right gap in front of the jump to support and encourage them to jump up, Danny created in all his rides a slow, relaxed, beautiful jump, seemingly drawing their arms through their chin as they balanced themselves off their hind end and exploded…fluid and seemingly effortless. As worthwhile a concept it was, it is certainly a hard concept to get across since all of it is a feel of where to be at the right time, encouraging the horse to believe in themselves and after helping to set them up, getting out of their way and allowing them to do it on their own. In those early days we were watching confidence, trust, and a willingness to please in the making when watching Danny ride a green one.
Also in the early days we would go down to Beaver Rider Farm to look for horses for my customers. We would watch Danny ride them for us and I would tell my riders; as beautiful as they were going with Danny in the irons, this is how they will go for you a year from now, maybe longer. We were seeing the raw talent and a glimpse into the future when watching Danny ride the green horses that we were looking to buy.
It is thanks to him that I always side with the horse if there is any confusion that arises between horse and rider, knowing that the horse cannot speak for themselves, other than what they are expressing by avoiding, or refusing the task on hand.. Thanks to Danny I feel like in all of my lessons the horse is truly the teacher, I am merely attempting to act as the interpreter. It is thanks to him that I always am drawn to the pure athletic beauty, talent, and scope of a horse when given the task of finding a mount for my rider, sometimes to the detriment of my rider who finds themselves now riding an incredible horse that only someone as talented as Danny Robertshaw could ride. It is also thanks to him that my life as a trainer, farm owner, and breeder turned out as well as it has. Any success I have had and have has directly come from the early education of Danny. I will always be grateful to Danny Robertshaw.
I am therefore very excited to be able to host a Show Clinic with Danny Robertshaw and Ron Danta next month; June20th and 21st. With perfect timing, The Chronicle of the Horse; a great horse publication has just written an article about Danny; Aptly titled : Danny Robertshaw- Living Legend… apparently I am not the only one who values this man… 🙂 See link below.
Danny Robertshaw – Chronicle of the Horse