Gary Lung wanted his first masterclass in Tasmania to involve real grassroots horses and riders. The result was an engaging display of a master teacher in action and a richly rewarding experience for the students and spectators.

Dressage Tasmania’s Southern Zone committee entered 2023 in extended canter by inviting Gary Lung to the pristine shores of southern Tasmania. Staged at the exquisitely designed and beautifully engineered Coal Valley Equestrian Centre (CVEC), spectators and riders were in for a very special evening in an indoor architectural masterpiece.

Gary’s fascination with horses goes back to his childhood in Papua New Guinea. He was at an ag show in Port Moresby when he saw other kids having fun on their ponies in the main arena. With the fearless courage of a seven-year-old, he wandered into the arena, said hello and asked where they got their horses and how much they cost. $100, he was told.

Armed with this, he told his mother he wanted to buy a horse. Mum, in her wisdom, had every logical reason as to why it would not be possible, and cost was one of them. Unperturbed, Gary raided his money box and counted every cent. Triumphantly believing he had $100, he took the coins to his mother.

Mum smiled and hugged him and said quietly, “Gary, that is not $100, that is $1.” Gary had counted 100 1c coins for the grand sum of $1. The dream bubble to own a horse had been popped by a factor of 100!

It is generally held that if you aspire to be someone or achieve something, you need to create the environment around you to support your dreams and desires. Gary’s dream of owning a horse may have been popped, but his dream of riding had not. He made friends with the kids who had the horses, and quickly immersed himself and developed lifelong friendships, one in particular with Tim Lindgren and his mother, Del.

Del offered her own Thoroughbred, Tom Thumb, for Gary to ride and, well, the rest is everything that you can imagine when a young boy’s dream comes true. Gary rode at Pony Club, polocrosse, point-to-point races, mustered cattle and developed the horsemanship skills that have influenced his whole riding career. When the family moved to Queensland when Gary was 18, any opportunity to ride in any discipline was fully embraced.

It is Gary’s profession these days –as a leading learning and development consultant for large organisations –that comes to the fore when teaching in a clinic or a masterclass. His experience and deep understanding of the principles of adult learning and communication styles make for an inclusive, constructive, and supportive environment for the riders.

Gary’s request for the masterclass was that it involve “real life horses and riders”. Being a grassroots rider himself, he likes to share knowledge that is accessible to the majority. It was this style that stood out at Gary’s masterclass at Brisbane CDI last year.

“This masterclass showcased a number of off-the-track horses that I have been working with and I shared my training methodologies on how to turn a rigid and tense horse into a soft and willing partner,” says Gary. “Karen Allen of Dressage Tasmania saw this via Equestrian Life’s live-streaming and approached me later on to present a masterclass similar to this and possibly coach a clinic in Hobart. I loved the idea because I’ve coached around Australia and Tasmania is somewhere I’ve never taught at.

“When I met each of the applicants for this latest masterclass, I loved how each of them – horses and riders – were so different on an educational level and the way they each handled training. I loved their diversity and chose to use all of them in my presentation instead of a few. What each of the riders and horses presented was exactly what I experience in all the students I teach around Australia, so what better way to show real horses and how to work with them.”

Let’s see if that is what transpires.

MEET THE PARTICIPANTS

The opportunity to be involved in the Gary Lung Masterclass was exciting. Like any event of its kind, it begins with horses being quietly plaited up in the yards, chairs and tables being moved into position in the main arena, floors being swept and boxes of wine and catering arriving in the kitchen. It was a good moment to chat with some of the riders before the evening gets underway.

First up is Freya Haansen and her sweet bay mare, Rotherfield Saffron, also known as ‘Saffi’

“I’ve only recently started competing in dressage,” says Freya after explaining that she used to do eventing. “At first I laughed about getting into the masterclass as I didn’t think I would get in, and now I’m actually doing it it’s very exciting. We had a really good lesson yesterday and another this morning. I’m hoping tonight will continue that. It’s a been a really good experience and a positive one.”

Next in the yards is Abbie Bessell and her striking bay mare, Devine Gypsy, aka ‘Wendy’

Wendy is certainly impressive, but like all young horses is only at the beginning of her journey. “Wendy has just turned four and we’ve had great feedback so far. She can be very hot and busy in the brain,” says Abbie. “She could be a dreamboat tonight or a hothead, so I have to be really diplomatic in the way I ride her. I have to take a breath. She will be worth it in the end and she’s a beautiful, quality horse.

“She finished racing at the end of last year. She came from CRT Racing in Cressy, but she was never interested in racing. She had all of the ability, but her heart just wasn’t in it. I worked trackwork there and I fell in love with her from the start – I was very lucky to get her after she’d finished racing.

“Gary’s been super in getting good work out of her by just focusing on the basics. She’s really surprised me; both times she has been in the indoor she hasn’t been worried by the people sitting up there watching us. I’m hoping that she copes well tonight with the bigger atmosphere.

“I’m also hoping that people can relate to a young horse like this. A lot of people get horses off the track and might think they can’t do it. I’m hoping that if they watch me, they think ‘if she can do it so can I’.”

Next is Sharen White and the black gelding, Evergreen Hullaballoo, known fondly as ‘H’

H is an individual and totally incorrigible and although different from Sharen’s previous show and dressage horses, he is clearly her best friend. “H is a Welsh D and designed to pull whatever was needed including Welsh mine carts,” she explains. “He’s built like a 16hh Warmblood but with corgi legs!

“H has been out in the paddock for 12 months as I did a rotator cuff, so we’re working on getting fit. We’re Elementary and working towards Medium. We need to learn to sit more, especially in the canter. We’ve been working on bending and moving him around and getting him to give more and be more supple off the leg. I hope that tonight everyone can see that we’re having a ‘boogie’ and you don’t need a Warmblood to do it with!”

Next along is Gemma Morrow and Balliamo, aka ‘Mike’, a tall, elegant Warmblood bay gelding

“I’ve been fortunate enough to have had a couple of lessons with Gary in NSW when I used to live in Armidale. I really enjoyed his lessons and a masterclass like this is very exciting to be a part of.

“Mike is actually Mum’s horse and she has been very kind to let me be able to ride him. I might steal him one day! I’m really enjoying him and he is a lovely horse to ride. I hope he behaves himself and we have a great session. He always tries his best,” says Gemma.

Our last rider to chat to before the show begins is Michelle Milne and her Small Tour chestnut gelding, Wembleybrook Sergio, aka ‘Sergi’

“It’s always good to ride in front of a crowd,” says Michelle, who is recovering from 10 months of long Covid. “Since Covid I’ve been exhausted, and I’ve had to change the way I do everything. My fitness is through the floor and my fatigue is ridiculous. To be back riding again is really nice. But every time I ride, I have to have a sleep afterwards. It’s better than not being able to ride again – but it’s been a long ride back.

“Sergi is awesome! The break hasn’t done him any harm. He has a bit more of a relaxed approach about it all now. I’ve always been a perfectionist and now my body says I can’t do it and I have to take it easier. I’ve had to change the way I do things. He’s softer, happier and more relaxed. He’s really enjoying being back in the arena again.”

LET THE TRAINING BEGIN

Gary’s approach is warm and welcoming. It’s friendly and approachable. Having worked with the riders over the last few days, the work is a consolidation of what they have been doing, focused on achieving a supple, pliable horse and delivering a simple, easy system for riders to take home with them.

For us spectators, it’s the first time many of us are seeing Gary work with each of the horses and it’s inspiring to see them soften and improve.

Enter Freya and Saffi

Freya is our first rider with her mare Saffi. To make it a super horse-friendly atmosphere, the other two riders, Abbie and Sharen, are also in the arena with their horses, patiently awaiting their turn. This is a subtle but clever approach, as many of the riders and horses have never been in this atmosphere and it gives them time to get used to the crowd and to build confidence.

Freya is a junior rider and has only just turned her attention to the dressage arena with her Warmblood Thoroughbred cross. There’s a lot to admire about this combination and the future looks bright. The work is centred on building a better connection to the bridle and teaching Saffi to soften and accept the contact.

Gary starts with the halt and asks Freya to gently take her nose to the outside, until she yields to the contact and softens. Then it’s a release and a pat. It’s clear and gentle, and then a repeat on the other side. It’s the same system in the walk, and finally into the trot. Gary is keen to explain that we do the trot work in “bite-sized pieces and we are training her a bit at a time, adding layer upon layer”.

It’s great to see Saffi begin to change the way she thinks about the contact and to see the moments when she starts to transform and stretch over her topline.

How does Freya think the session went?

“It was really good and I’m really happy with how she went. She wasn’t affected by the crowd at all and it was really positive. I’m very excited to be able to put everything I’ve learnt into practice,” she says.

Next up is Abbie and Wendy

It’s clear that Abbie is a very capable rider and watching her ride Wendy is like reading the beginning of a great novel, where you just know the story is going to be a good one.

Gary worked on the flexion to the outside to get control of the shoulders. “You need to ride the horse you have today,” he says. “If you are going to train a horse to Grand Prix they have to learn how to deal with pressure. There is friendly pressure, good pressure and bad pressure. We show them some pressure, wait for them to soften, and then we release the pressure. We go there and then bring it back. We give them exposure to the pressure.”

Wendy is impressive and it’s not long before she is showing us some super soft and supple work. This was a big atmosphere for a young horse, but Wendy worked calmly through the exercises and listened to her rider.

After the lesson we caught up with Abbie to see what she thought

“OMG Wendy was amazing! I’m really, really proud of her and she worked beautifully tonight. It was really good to represent off-the-track horses that have had no experience. It’s also really nice to get so many positive comments from everyone. I’m on a high and I’m so proud of her!” she says.

Next into the arena is the noble H

It’s clear that there is a good partnership here and that Sharen has H working confidently and calmly in the arena. The work is the same, but now a little more sophisticated and more subtle. Gary works on getting H to lift up into his withers, sit more behind and carry himself. It’s moving the flexion to the outside, getting control of the shoulders and then moving the flexion to the inside then going straight.

“We straighten the horse and then the shoulders come up through the wither. We get him to pick up the front end and sit him on his bum and then he trots like Valegro! He’s very proud of himself!” says Gary at the end of the session.

Sharen is really pleased with the lesson

“It was fantastic and it felt really great. I had a wonderful time. All of the horses handled it so well. It was really good to consolidate what we were working on. It was good to see the reaction of everyone to all of the horses. There is method in the madness,” she says.

I saw H on the long side – was he taking snacks from the crowd?

“Yes! H was on the long side getting treats. I had some carrots in my gloves but then we ran out. He was getting a bit bored waiting for our turn so Barry went back to the float to get some more carrots and apples. I think he might have even had a glass of alcohol while we were waiting!” she says with a cheeky grin.

Next into the spotlight is Gemma on the big bay Warmblood, Mike

Gemma is another very lovely rider who Gary thinks is well suited to the sensitive Warmblood. “Mike is a big Warmblood and we need to show him gymnastic exercises to get him sharper, more pliable. He can get a little strong. He’s quite a big horse with a lot of power,” says Gary.

“The gymnastics we do really improve the lateral work. People think that all this is fancy work – the renvers, the travers, the shoulder-in – but really, it’s all just ‘sideways’. We want him to learn to yield and soften to the pressure. Add pressure, yield, then pressure off.”

Gary then takes us through a gymnastic exercise, making it clear that if it goes well you go to the next stage; if not, you go back a stage.

• Step 1 – trot with the nose on the outside shoulder and we put the quarters in. Then we straighten up and create the sensitivity.
• Step 2 – we take the quarters in in trot and then we make a walk transition, keeping the same angle. Now back to trot with the quarters in.
• Step 3 – we take the quarters in, we do slow trot then big trot and then slow trot.

“We need to turn them inside out like a pretzel,” Gary says. “We teach them to expand and contract and they learn to handle the pressure. If you can compress and expand them, then they are learning how to handle the pressure. When you start to do the flying changes, so many horses can’t handle the pressure. Every horse can do a flying change. It’s about preparing the canter so they don’t lose their marbles.”

Gemma is then given an exercise to help build the canter in preparation for changes. It’s counter canter down the long side, a walk transition before the corner, and then true canter on the short sides.

“They can all start off a bit uncoordinated, but then they start anticipating the walk transition and start to do it themselves,” says Gary. “When they can move through the body, then they can do a change. We don’t want them hard through the barrel like a 44-gallon drum or a sumo wrestler, but we need them to suck up their guts and bend through the ribs. So we put the shoulders in, and out, quarters in and out and we make them soft like a bean bag.”

After the lesson we catch up with Gemma

“I was really pleased with how it went and how he coped with the atmosphere,” says Gemma. “It’s fantastic to have Gary come down and it’s really lovely to have an event like this here in Tasmania.”

Next into the arena is the impressive Michelle and Sergi

Sergi is looking very consolidated and very confident in the space and Michelle is riding him so well. Once again Gary has them moving through the same gymnastic exercise.

• Step 1 – we take the quarters in and then we ride them straight.
• Step 2 – we take the quarters in and then we do trot and walk transitions.
• Step 3 – we take the quarters in and we slow the trot then go to the big trot.

“This gives you gears in the lateral work,” explains Gary. “The half-pass is double points and you always see people start with this big sweeping trot and halfway across the arena they die, they get a little ‘sewing machine trot’ and it gets tight. You need to start small and end big. That’s how you get the big marks.”

Sergi shows us how it should be done, with some great crossing of his hindlegs.

After a short break it’s on to the canter work and Gary has them start with cantering a square, but the corners are corners! Michelle is asked to turn the shoulders and then go! Accelerating out of the corner with full power. This is a great exercise that gets his hindleg under him and thinking forward from the corner.

“This teaches them to sit and turn the shoulders,” Gary says. “It gets them more reactive. They must learn to canter softly.”  Then it’s on to the counter canter square, a difficult but beneficial exercise for an Advanced horse.

After the lesson Michelle was really pleased

“It’s really enjoyable to be riding in front of people and it’s our first time riding in a big atmosphere. There were lots of good exercises to get us back and better than before, really, really great exercises that I will be incorporating into our training,” she says. “It felt like tonight we were more on the ball. It was a really good tune-up. It’s good to have more building block exercises. You can never be too strong or too flexible.”

Although Gary told us early on that “he could talk all night with marbles in his mouth”, unfortunately, all too soon the night was over. From the wonderful catering boxes, the cheeses, the wines, the fabulous venue, the great collection of horses and riders willing to share their training with us all, and the brilliant and hard-working organisers from Dressage Tasmania, it was a wonderful summer night’s entertainment with so many pearls of wisdom on offer.

Gary was equally thrilled. “I cannot fault the riders; they all stepped up to mark and rode their hearts out,” he said afterwards. “What a venue! It made it so easy to present to the crowd. The crowd, they were engaging and made me feel very welcomed. So much so, Karen and I have set some more dates through the year for me to come back for clinics.”

Rumour has it that Gary was so enamoured with the place that he has asked Amy Griffiths, owner and manager of CVEC, to adopt him so that he can call the beautiful venue home. While granted he does have a cute face, unless he can transform into a schnauzer or a beautifully bred dressage prospect, I would say Gary’s chances are close to zilch. Oh, and by the way Gary, there is a line, a long line…

It takes vision and courage to pull together a masterclass of such high quality. Karen Allen, your vision was true and strong and the team around you can be proud of their achievement.

Gary, we can’t wait to have you back in Tassie. EQ

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Courage Compete, Courage Repeat – Equestrian Life, February 2023