CAROL BOUDIER
When I’m training horses or teaching someone, the priorities are always the same: the horse needs to be happy, supple, on the aids and through their bodies. It is far safer and rewarding to ride a horse that’s soft and happy than to ride a horse that is under control but not clear on what their job actually is.
Right from the very beginning of my riding career, including before I turned professional, I was taught by all of my mentors over the years how to get my horses soft and adjustable. I’ve been blessed with very good teachers and mentors through my riding life.
In every discipline I’ve ridden, whether it was cross country, riding hunters, reining horses or dressage horses, my teachers installed the value of your horse being in front of the leg, on the bit. The finished product may look different but they are all through their bodies in self carriage.
My philosophy is quite straightforward, although not so easy sometimes. Horses challenge us as thinkers and require us to be calm, consistent and relatable. We need train each horse with consistency, clarity. They really do want to know what we expect of them!
I love my job and I look forward to every day that I get to work with horses and their people. I look forward to many more years striving and training horses to be the best they can be.
-Carol
Horses are fascinating. Some young horses are quite sure of how they want things to be, and some older-aged horses can be completely open minded. It’s up to us to find the road in and teach each horse exactly what we want them to do, and how we want them to do it.
Biography
1990s
After competing in hunters and breed shows with my TB mare, whom I adored, while also showing my wonderful QH gelding on the AQHA circuit in the late 80’s/early 1990’s I started to ponder a professional career in teaching and training horses. I had been teaching and assistant training with my mentors in both disciplines for quite a few years and loved the business, the healthy hard work, and the results of consistent dedicated training. So, in 1994 I got my level 1 and became a certified coach with our national federation.
I had a wonderful bustling business in the 1990’s, I was so grateful to all my clients that supported me and the people I met through the years. I had a barn full of pony riders, taught pony club, and developed a good grasp of what it took to be a successful professional.
In the late 1990’s I could feel the need to grow, and in 1998 two things happened: I went to Equitana in Kentucky and met Reiner Klimke, who gave a clinic and lecture I’ll never forget. I also rode for a week with Jane Frizzell in Arizona in her program called Dressage Del Sol. I went with a client to Pheonix Arizona for a one week “training camp” and I rode with Jane on her wonderful dressage school masters. I will never forget the feeling of my first piaffe. To this day, the energy, power, balance and calmness of her exquisitely trained Faruk 41 (Mike) remains in my hands and seat. Jane encouraged me so positively to explore a career in dressage.
In the late 90’s I also started riding and training with Patricia Deptford at Canterbury Farms (she stood the Oldenburg stallion Lynx). I started by riding her broodmares, young horses, and pretty much any horse she would put me on; I had always ridden TBs and QHs and was focused on over fences. At Patricia’s I started to train in Dressage. Patricia had a wonderful breeding program, importing many high quality horses/broodmares. The mares carried bloodlines of Ferro, Predendent, May Sherif, Espri, Alme, Utopia, Hurricane: all foundation blood from the best horses in Europe. Patricia operated a thriving training business as well as selling many many top-quality young warmbloods. The system, the consistency, and the steady progressive training appealed to me. I had the opportunity to train and compete Lynx offspring.
I will be forever grateful to Patricia for arranging for me the first of many riding opportunities with Col. Christian Carde, whom I visited in 2003 in France to train with and immerse myself in the French riding culture - to this day I still consider a mentor and a friend. Patricia also introduced me to the legendary Charles DeKunffy, and many more clinicians whose teachings and influence are with me today.
2000 - 2010
In 2000 I was feeling the need for growth. I was inspired by the change in discipline to dressage and I wanted to see what the world of dressage looked like at the top-sport level, the international level.
Lisette DeRooy approached me about an opportunity in Holland. In November of 2000 I got on a plane and started work as groom for Coby van Baalen and Olympic Ferro. Talk about hitting the ground running!
On top of my grooming duties for Coby and Ferro, traveling to shows and training in Germany with the stable, I rode and had a lesson everyday, immersed in the workings and training of an Olympic level stable, with a work ethic and success I had never seen before. I learned more in those 4 months than I had learned in many many years at home. I rode breeding stallions, championship medal horses, young horses, steady amateur horses and everything else in between.
I had 2 young horses to start and work with, one by Jazz and the wonderful Pasternak by Gribaldi.
The last weekend before I returned home in 2001 we took Ferro to the stallion show in Den Bosch where the highlight of the stallion auction was a young Ferro offspring called Rambo, who of course was renamed and went on to be the wonderfully successful Rousseau (pref).
In 2003, as well as returning to Holland, I also traveled to Italy and France to experience different high performance programs.
I spent a week as a guest of Col. Christian Carde in Saumur and I will be forever grateful for that time we spent touring the Carde Noir, the French Military Training centre and visiting the huge training centre for eventing. Col. Carde and I spent hours discussing dressage and the training of horses. I’ve learned so much from Col. Carde over the years that I use in my daily training. Words cannot describe my gratitude for the time I spent with Christian and his family. I continued to train with Col. Carde in Canada, when he came to give regular clinics; what a gift those lessons were.
I returned to Dressuurstal van Baalen to work and train in 2004, 2007, and 2010. Coby instilled in me the importance of knowing every hair on your horse’s body in order to have the relationship and partnership to do the GP.
Through the 2000’s at home I began to train with Karen Pavicic. What an opportunity to continue my education and experience in dressage. Karen worked on my seat with regular lunge lessons and taught me how to feel throughness on all the different horses I rode. Watching Karen ride and teach, I was immersed in quality dressage training everyday.
I was really fortunate to have very nice purpose bred horses to train and compete in the 2000’s. The education I gained through the decade of 2000-2010 was incredible. I still ride and teach those principles in my daily training and teaching on every horse and with every client.
2010 - present
I made my last trip working in Holland in 2010, and when I returned home I got busy setting up and establishing my home base, as well as traveling with Karen Pavicic as groom on the quest to compete in international major games.
I trained and competed my Hanoverian mare River Run up the levels to PSG; I co owned this mare with Yvonne Darcel.
I coached many partnerships around the lower mainland and traveled to give clinics. I had horses come from across Canada into training with me, and I took the responsibility of training horses with absentee owners very seriously.
I had, and continue to be blessed with, many different kinds of horses in training. Mainly dressage horses but also Lusitano, Andalusian, TB and so many different breeds of all training requirements.
Over the decades of traveling to work and train, I developed relationships with fellow equestrian professionals around the world that I could count on for professional development, for my clients to expand their equine experience and of course to source horses from reputable sources I could trust.
Some of the highlights:
Being the 3rd level demonstration rider in the EC Up the Levels symposium with Cara Whitam and Ellen Bontje at Thunderbird Show Park 2013 with my mare River Run
Grooming for Karen Pavicic for the Nations Cup event in Florida in 2014
Grooming for WEG team Canada member Karen Pavicic at the 2014 world championships in Caen, Franche
Grooming for Karen at many CDIs in NA as she embarked on her qualification for Rio in 2016, achieving reserve status and staging in NY 2016
