Charlotte Pedersen is an extraordinary dressage coach, a Grand Prix rider, trainer of many successful Grand Prix horses and has been intrinsic to so many riders achieving their dreams. As a former long-term client, I will admit that I am completely biased. Why? Let me tell you a short story.
“From my first lesson
with Charlotte,
I was hooked.”
I was in the stands watching dressage classes in the indoor at Werribee National Equestrian Centre in the early 1990s, and my eyes were drawn to a petite lady riding a palomino; her position was perfect, and she sat so quietly, she sat so still. The horse carried itself with grace and power. Together they were mesmerising, the soft expression in the horse’s eyes matching the soft yet steely gaze of the rider.
There was an energy, a confidence, a subtlety to her aids that I had not seen before. I was attending the event with my then coach and equestrian mentor, Cheryl Lawrence. Cheryl saw what I saw, and it wasn’t long before the elegant, petite rider was in Tasmania teaching at Cheryl’s equestrian enterprise, Kingston Agistment, on a regular basis.
From my first lesson with Charlotte, I was hooked. Quietly she assessed where we were in our training and set about showing us the way to riding with the heart and the soul, the body a conduit searching for softness, responsiveness, and a lightness. Her philosophy: to teach so that the rider can understand how to ask the horse to go well, to build on the knowledge and provide a plan, and homework, to enable the ongoing learning from each teaching session.
Charlotte’s simple system, building the capability of the horse and rider through the sharing of knowledge, is the essence of why her clients achieve their dreams and continue to thrive in the saddle. Developing rapport and providing a safe environment enables the rider and the horse to try new skills, and step into somewhere new knowing that the foundation already developed will support them in asking bolder questions. On my own road to Grand Prix with the talented Sunbury Lodge Toronto, Charlotte was a key member of my “dream team”. Charlotte is the rider’s coach, and it is in the depth and breadth of her clientele that you recognise that Charlotte embraces rider diversity.
All of this is intrinsic to who Charlotte is, so join me in discovering how a girl born in Denmark came to be a leading Grand Prix rider and highly sought-after coach on the other side of the world, on the sun-kissed continent of Australia.
Charlotte grew up in Holstebro, a beautiful and quaint municipality of approximately 60,000. On the banks of a picturesque river, the area has a rich agricultural history with records dating back to 1274. The city’s coat of arms depicts St George the patron saint of the city on a rearing horse.
PASSION IGNITED
When Charlotte was 11, her friends dragged her to the local riding school for some fun. Whether it was the sounds, the smell, the feel or the sight of the horses is unclear, but Charlotte was hooked. Any other interest at that time was forgotten. Her father, a vet, cheered her on, and when it became apparent that the passion ignited in his youngest child was only growing brighter, he bought a farm next door to the riding school to support Charlotte.
Her mother was not so keen to see her little girl with these large animals and she feared she had lost her to a future that was not on the preferred options list. Her message of the importance of an education kept Charlotte grounded and she held on to hope that her daughter would see sense and get a proper job.
With the riding school over the back fence, Charlotte spent every possible moment learning all that she could about how to ride and how to care for these magical animals. Her brothers teased their younger sister incessantly about her riding obsession. They told grand stories of how they were going to a riding school and could ride better than her, and Charlotte was often reduced to tears. They were incredibly mean, so revenge was sweet when Charlotte challenged them to a ride on a horse and they didn’t have a clue what to do. There was a little laugh and a smile as Charlotte recalled this memory.
I shared with Charlotte my memory of first seeing her and being in great admiration of her position. Charlotte credits this to being able to ride a variety of horses and in different disciplines at the riding school. Time out on the field jumping fences is as important as time in the manège or time on the lunge line developing balance and the foundation of an independent seat.
AWAY WITH THE CIRCUS
Listening to her mum, Charlotte persisted with school and finished at 16 and tried another study course, to no avail – the horses kept on drawing her back. The opportunity to work in a circus in Copenhagen over the summer holidays saw Charlotte packing her bags and leaving home. After a couple of months at the circus, Charlotte returned and decided to give study another chance.
With an interest in biology and an aspiration to become a vet, Charlotte stopped riding and tried again to further her education. However, her heart wasn’t in it, which was reflected in her grades. The halt and rein-back to the horses was too strong to resist. Lasting an agonising four weeks, Charlotte headed back to the circus for a year. The circus travelled Europe and in 1974 was in Berlin to celebrate the World Cup soccer, an incredible adventure for a young woman.
The circus had all the wild animals that you could image from that era, including elephants, and there were 30 horses, travelling in trucks from destination to destination. Charlotte was given six Lipizzaner stallions to care for, feed and groom, and she learned how to brush a horse so that it shined in the circus ring. She also started honing her training skills, training horses to jump over horses that were in sulkies – what a hoot!
When the circus returned home, Charlotte moved on to working at a horse stud and continued to gather more knowledge and experience. A riding instructor at the local riding school where this story began encouraged Charlotte to undertake the intense Danish Riding Master Course, a six-year-course, so in 1980 she immersed herself into the world of horses to successfully gain the qualification in 1986.
At the same time, on the other side of the world in the Yarra Valley in Victoria, a family friend was searching for a coach to help at their equestrian establishment, Glen Brae Equestrian Centre. With her qualification completed, Charlotte didn’t need any convincing and the flights were booked, and Charlotte was on her way to share her vast skills and knowledge at Glen Brae. In the short time in Australia, Charlotte established a core group of loyal clientele.
Visa restrictions required Charlotte to return to Denmark, but it didn’t take long for the paperwork to be completed and she returned to the wonderful warm weather, the beautiful property, and a group of very happy riders. That is a long story to end with “and the rest is history”…
Chance: “The occurrence of events in the absence of any obvious intention or case.”
It was the chance encounters with horse owners that led to further extraordinary experiences. Charlotte’s first horse that she trained to Grand Prix was a part-Arab Palomino called Carillo that was agisted at Glen Brae. Describing him as a bit quirky, Charlotte took over the ride when the owner moved to the US. The training started with exercises of poles and jumps, encouraging Carillo to move his body and challenge his mind. Slowly, and drawing on the skills she had learned over her career, Charlotte transformed the quirky Carillo into a Grand Prix horse.
Another chance came when an ambitious young rider, the daughter of Lady Susannah Clarke, had won lessons with Charlotte. There was a goal in mind and the newly formed rider and coach team set a plan in motion. The goal was to win the Aachen Challenge, a prestigious dressage event ridden at Prix St Georges level, where the top three riders are required to swap horses and ride the Prix St Georges test. The prize is a trip to CHIO Aachen, Germany, and an opportunity to train within a system that has produced extraordinary riders and horses.
Lady Clarke promised Charlotte that she would take her to Aachen if her daughter won. It was a nail-biting final as the three riders swapped horses, and Charlotte’s talented and hard-working young rider won! Aachen is an event on the European calendar that captures the imagination of every horse lover. Travelling with Lady Clarke and her daughter, Charlotte remembers the time with great love.
SUCCESS WITH TOMMSE
It was the extraordinary success enjoyed by Charlotte as the rider of the stunning bay gelding Come To Me (Tommse) – owned by Lady Clarke and imported through Charlotte’s friendship with Per Skjaerbaek – that catapulted them into the Australian dressage consciousness. The combination won many Victorian and national titles, including the Grand Prix Special at the 2009 Nationals.
While Charlotte was enjoying great success with Tommse, she bred the next generation for her to train. A bright bay filly by Jazz, Charlotte trained the sensitive mare – aptly named Jazzmine – with great compassion and skill. Hill Cottage Jazmira (her competition name), is currently supporting the dreams of young rider Isabelle Luxmoore. The relatively new combination competed at the Sydney CDI-U25, scoring a very credible and exciting 69.3% in the Grand Prix Freestyle, an outstanding achievement.
Charlotte’s current Grand Prix horse is Baunehojens Diamond Dancer (Dan). She has trained the young breeding stallion through the levels, and he continues to gain the confidence and strength required at this exclusive level. This year they competed at Willinga Park’s Dressage by the Sea and the Sydney CDI.
There have been so many horses in between, great horses, inspiring the hearts and minds as the Warmblood breeding programs found a foothold in the Australian breeding lexicon. You may recall names such Northern Greta, Timbertop, Ilse of Hinton and Guy Noir, to name only a few of the horses that flourished under Charlotte’s well-considered training system. I wonder what the odds are that a trainer can consistently produce horses to Grand Prix.
After 26 years of living and training at the boutique equestrian centre Hill Cottage Dressage in Macedon, Victoria, Charlotte has moved Tommse and Dan to CJP Warmbloods, 24km north-east at Rochford. Both horses are flourishing in their new home.
“There have been so many horses…
inspiring the hearts and minds.”
“It is the same concept
as horse training, using
positive reinforcement.”
It is common to find that horse trainers are also small animal trainers: dogs, cats, chickens, guinea pigs… the challenge is enticing. In her spare time Charlotte has dipped her toe in to the high energy world of dog agility. Mini the Border Terrier loves the stimulation, and while she may not be the fastest, there is a lot of laughter and fun to be had.
The connection between dog agility training and horse training is uncanny. The concept of waiting and going from a command is true for horses and agility dogs. There is even a common thread in the language, both disciplines sharing the terms “extension” and “collection”. It is the same concept as horse training, using positive reinforcement, and unsurprisingly the dog agility community is as obsessed as the horse-riding community. Charlotte shares that when the dog listens to you it is the same feeling as when the horse is listening to you. It is very rewarding and a lot of fun!
A PASSION TO PASS ON SKILLS
So, what’s next for Charlotte? Dan will be competing at the Australian National Dressage Championships hosted at the fabulous Boneo Park in Victoria in October and soon after he will be ready for his next dance partner. While retirement from riding is not on the cards for Charlotte, Dan was always the horse she wanted to train to Grand Prix and pass on to the next aspiring Grand Prix rider. She wants to share her passion with someone who will love riding Dan as much as she does.
Charlotte is having a great time passing on her skills and knowledge from as far afield as Western Australia all the way to Tasmania. Seminars, clinics and warming-up clients at competitions brings Charlotte great pleasure – to share her passion for the training of not just the horse but educating the people as well.
I know only too well that Charlotte will ask for more, for better, to persist until the moment of softness comes. Her focus, and she is sometimes perceived as strict, comes from truly believing in the horse, the rider and her own experience. I used to think “will I ever get off this 20-metre circle?” The answer is yes, when you have achieved the purpose of the exercise. Believe, trust, and keep trying and that moment of flow when horse and rider are as one, comes. Charlotte is the conduit to help you reach whatever goal that you have set for yourself.
Embracing her own philosophy of “let’s see what happens”, I wonder where the next horse will come from. For now, Tommse is the king of Charlotte’s heart and Dan the prince. With her riding commitments reducing, Charlotte now has capacity to take on new clients, a rare opportunity that doesn’t come along very often. A coach for all riders, and all horses; if you have the desire to learn, that is all you need.
When she moved to Australia, all anyone was interested in asking her was, are you going to ride in the Olympics? It seemed that if you didn’t have that aspiration to ride at the Olympics then why would you choose to ride Grand Prix? I think the times have changed since then; each of us are on our own very personal equestrian journey that is as unique as we are.
For Charlotte the Olympics had never been her personal benchmark. All she wanted was to compete at the highest level and train horses to Grand Prix. I think she can be incredibly proud of her achievements. If you aspire to ride at the Olympics, then surround yourself with the best coaches who intrinsically understand the pathway to Grand Prix, in which case you can’t look past Charlotte. If you aspire to ride an awesome 20-metre circle in sit trot, then Charlotte is in your corner to help you achieve that and most likely much more. If it was true for me, it can be true for you too.
You can find Charlotte at CJP Warmbloods in Rochford, Victoria. EQ
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