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Thursday, August 17, 2006
Horse Trainer Teaches 'Ballet of the Riding'
By Matt Gomez
Mountain View Telegraph
German-born Ulla Hudson moved to the United States in 1979 and brought with her a passion for horse training.
In 1984, Hudson opened the Windsong Dressage and Equestrian Center in Cedar Grove, where the business continues to operate today.
Although Hudson has operated the center for more than two decades, she hasn't settled down any.
Hudson announced in May that the equestrian center had acquired an additional 40 acres adjacent to its existing land, bringing the size of the center to 80 acres.
A month later, Hudson was awarded Germany's top qualification for equestrian trainers, a "Trainer A" ranking in jumping and dressage, after a month of intensive training and examination in Europe.
Hudson also holds bronze and silver performance medals in dressage and jumping from the German National Equestrian Federation and has been awarded silver and bronze medals for dressage by the United States Dressage Federation.
In dressage, riders and horses perform complex movements like the passage, a slow, powerful trot; the piaffe, a trot in place; or a pirouette, where the horse rotates 360 degrees with its rear legs remaining close to the center of the circle its body makes. Horses respond to nearly imperceptible commands from riders, making dressage movements appear effortless despite their complexity.
"It sounds really complicated— what it really is, is you want to gymnasticize your horse, and your goal, really, is that you turn this horse into an obedient athlete," Hudson said. "Dressage means nothing but training, but it's a little bit, the ballet of the riding."
"You should not be able to see what the rider is doing, and yet the horse will do remarkable things," said Patrick Hudson, Ulla's husband.
When Ulla Hudson moved from Germany to the U.S., she brought with her something she said New Mexico had never seen before— Icelandic horses. Hudson grew up with the breed and has been importing them to the United States for years.
Hudson said Icelandic horses are easygoing, sure-footed and smooth to ride, and Windsong sells one or two domestically bred Icelandic foals a year. She also has connections in Iceland to help her students and clients find the perfect horse for their needs and budget, Hudson said.
Windsong features an indoor riding arena, horse-boarding facilities, an outdoor arena, space for horses to graze, a walking circle to exercise horses, and a riding track for owners to take their horses on rides around the property.
Ulla said owners of horses that board at Windsong are from a wide variety of locales, including South Dakota, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Cedar Crest.
Kirsten Romney, a Sandia Prep senior who lives about five minutes from Windsong, said she used to train in the hunter/jumper discipline of horse riding, but after moving to the area she discovered Windsong and decided to give dressage a try.
"It's so much fun, my horse ... had, like, no confidence and he was always worried about everything and now he's like, 'Whatever!' and he really enjoys it," Romney said. "It's so much fun, it's so much harder. I always thought they just sat there but that's really not what you do."
Kirsten's mother, Debbie Romney, also takes a dressage lesson once a week, she said.
"Ulla is a great trainer— the facility is wonderful," Debbie said. "It was way harder than I thought. There's just a lot to it, but it's so much fun."
Hudson said dressage has always been her "first love," so it's not surprising she wants to continue in her profession.
"I enjoy teaching very much and seeing my students progress," Hudson said. "I have no plans to move or retire. I love what I am doing."
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