4 CHATS WITH LAURA CONZ

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By Giulia Iannone (the images taken by Giulia Iannone were kindly enabled and granted by Laura Conz, whom we thank) * We have translated an excerpt into English from the original interview with Laura Conz Last weekend, in Rome, we were lucky enough to meet, in the warm up arena , Laura Conz, Olympic italian rider, coach, iconic face of Italian dressage... back at the helm of Italian dressage as Team Manager, for the new four-year period Olympic. Always available and smiling, she made herself available to have a chat, touching on various technical and conceptual topics. I observed you, once again on the test pitch, always smiling, positive, cheerful, engaging with the boys. You exudes joy and enthusiasm in what you transmit, you seem to be riding with all your students. But how do you do it? Better when you was a rider or now? " They are two different situations, but they complement each other. When you are a rider, you are more responsible for the result. You are the one who enters, everything depends on your ability to execute what you have been told or the strategy that has been thought of. As a coach , I find the most difficult moment because when the students have entered the pitch, you are helpless and you have to watch what the kids are up to and sometimes it's complicated, because you maybe see some mistakes that are about to arrive, but obviously, you can't do anything" In your technical instructions on the arena , I listened to you well, you are very clear. you constantly repeats 3 points: external rein, position before the leg especially with a young horse, and energy or good rhythm. So, if you say it carefully, what are the "focal points" of Laura Conz's style, which leave an indelible mark on the equestrian and interior life of those lucky enough to be followed by her? "I believe that one of my main technical points is to make the horse "comfortable", both in terms of gait and attitude, for example, of the neck. Not all horses can be, let's say, "up" because perhaps they are young and not they still have strength, other horses still have to stand a little longer to be able to move freely with their backs. What I always look for is that the horses move well, correctly balanced, with energy and "comfortable". I care a lot, it's not make them work hard for a long time when doing exercises, whatever they are. You must always interrupt them, perhaps with a relaxing circle or with a pause in pace or something else Obviously, when the horses get tired, they no longer perform, and then it's not right. It's like going to the gym to do gymnastics and always making an effort." Satisfy my curiosity! During the warm up, you asked some pairs to perform extended trots. you gave, as a preparatory indication, to "turn up the weymouth". But what did you mean? "I'm sorry, but I never said to raise the bit! What I mean is that some kids anticipate the time to give in. It's like when you go to jump and you have to move forward with your hand, and it shouldn't be done before the horse takes off. You have to go together. If you give the indication of medium trot, and clear in front, it's like doing a throw on the jump. You have to keep contact, maintain contact and then, when the horse is in balance, let's say. in the draw you want, then slowly move forward with your hand and allow the horse to stretch its neck. It is a problem of "timing", especially children, or they catapult backwards with their shoulders, and in this way they hang in the mouth, producing a throw, making the comparison with show jumping, because they are behind the movement; or they go forward, ask but empty with their hands."