Wellington, Fla.—Dec. 30

There’s an elusive moment all dressage riders are searching for when they swing into the saddle. A space within the movement where their horse is producing as animated and perfect a gait as he can without slipping from the extended trot to the canter, from the piaffe to jigging backwards—the tipping point.

On the final day of the Robert Dover Horsemastership clinic, trainers Dover, Debbie McDonald and Michael Barisone encouraged their riders to boldly fall to the wrong side of that tipping point—they invited their riders to make the mistake.

Wellington, Fla.—Dec. 29

The riders and auditors at the Robert Dover Horsemastership Clinic expected to watch and learn from top caliber instructors such as Olympians Dover, Debbie McDonald and Michael Barisone, but Dover had another vision in mind.

“I’ve asked a lot of the riders here, I say, ‘What are you seeing?’ And they say, ‘Nothing,’ ” Dover said. “If you’re only seeing with your eyeballs you’re just seeing what’s happening. You need to use your inner vision to see what you’re about to ask for.”