1873 pictures commissioned by Leland Stanford and taken by Eadweard Muybridge of famous trotter Occident to settle the question of whether at any time while running, horses have all hooves off the
ground, an idea sometimes called unsupported transit. While Muybridge's work seemed to support this concept, he and Stanford knew that better images were
necessary to convince the public. So the experiments continued.
Muybridge's subsequent photos would bring him acclaim as a pioneer in
photography and as a chronicler of animal locomotion.
Aside from the commercially available videos that Bill has produced over the years, he has put a number of informal ones up on YouTube and linked them to various parts of this site. Here they are all on one page to explore at your leisure.
THE NEWEST:
Four short videos Bill shot at the CHIO at Aachen, Germany, back in 1995. Filmed the day before the competition in the closed warmup area, they feature the premier riders of that era schooling their Grand Prix horses.
RECENT:
Two videos of Bill on
Lisa Gramyk's Dutch Warmblood mare Rubinesque (below) working on the way Rubi should relate to the aids -- quicker off the leg but carrying herself, not anticipating, and staying within the boundaries her rider establishes.
Bill
has helped Gail Redinger from the ground with Mitras since
the horse was
young. It is fairly rare that a horse would come
all the way to
the brink of Grand Prix--at age eleven--having only
been ridden by a
single person. Thus, the "experiment,"
not really a schooling
ride but a sampling of his wares by Bill and a chance
for Mitras to
feel a familiar "language" but with a different
accent and inflection: A Riding
"Experiment."
Bill and Dirigo (owned by Susan Petrillo and Mary Pelovsky) showing at Canterbury in Training Level in April of 2010. After the fact, Bill judges along with commentary:Dirigo's Test
A special video created by Bill to explain your riding passion to your spouse. Show him this to help him appreciate your schooling sessions and what to look for in the show ring:
STANDARDS:
A typical lesson from Bill,click here. This
was unrehearsed, unsolicited, and originally posted without our
knowledge but it's pretty decent (we think) and representative of what a
lower level rider might hear from him.
Bill working with a much more advanced rider: FEI
trainer Gail Redinger in Sandpoint, Idaho. Gail is on Mitras, her
Trakehner gelding who was competing at PSG/I-1 when this session was
held in July of 2009. The subject is Improving the Balance and
Collection through lateral work and transitions. Click for the link.
For more of Bill teaching Gail on
Mitras,click here.Topic: canter pirouettes.
Bill riding under
the instruction of Herwig Radnutter, Bereiter at the Spanish
Riding School of Vienna.