"What truly makes him a professor to me is his ability to pass on my feeling to others."
Da Vinci is often described as a true showmaster. What makes him so special to you?
Da Vinci has been with us since he was a foal, and from the very beginning he has been a special, highly sensitive little character. He certainly comes with his own instruction manual, but the moment he gets the chance to work or perform, he gives nothing less than 100%.
What truly makes him a professor to me is his ability to pass on my feeling to others.
What has working with Da Vinci taught you about observing, feeling, and listening to what a horse needs?
Da Vinci has an incredible gift for making the invisible visible. He senses exactly what someone needs, with an astonishing level of detail. That's why I love working with him whenever I want people to feel something rather than simply understand it through words.
At the same time, he constantly teaches me to break exercises down into even smaller steps. Because he always tries so hard, he sometimes starts to compensate too quickly. That challenges me to make every movement smaller, clearer, and more intentional.
Da Vinci is naturally extremely supple. While that's a wonderful quality, it can also make strength-building exercises more challenging for him. In movements such as the piaffe and canter, he sometimes finds it difficult to maintain enough rhythm and carrying power. By patiently working on these skills year after year, always in small achievable steps, we've watched him become stronger and more confident.
The beautiful thing is that these exercises give him so much more than simply learning a new movement. They challenge him, give him purpose, and continue to build his confidence.
The Spanish Walk is our next milestone. Even developing a beautiful jambette took a great deal of time. He has now mastered one leg, while the other is still very much a work in progress. My hope is that this journey will help him become even more aware of carrying his body and using his shoulders and forelegs correctly, ultimately having a positive effect on his piaffe as well.
Da Vinci seems to do more than teach students, he allows them to experience something. What do you hope they take away from working with him?
Above all, I hope students take home the softness, connection, and attention with which Da Vinci approaches every exercise, and that they bring those qualities into the relationship with their own horse.
Every horse teaches me something different. Together, all those lessons not only make my horses stronger, but also deepen my own feel and continue to shape me as a trainer.
His favourite exercise? Walking on his hind legs! That's when he is truly in his element.
And of course, Da Vinci is now creating new adventures together with Sunnery. After his wonderful "education" alongside Jolie Lune, it's time for a new chapter, making beautiful memories with Sun.
Da Vinci also plays a very special role in Sandeloria. There, he becomes Vinjar, the Shadow Pony.
He appears when you least expect him and disappears before anyone truly understands him. A mysterious presence, quietly guarding secrets hidden deep within the heart of Sandeloria...
