The Quest for Knowledge

Learn what entices midwestern dressage rider and trainer, Michael Kohl, to travel to Palm Beach, FL each winter.
An excerpt from The Sentinel by Sandy Kucharski.
While warm tropical breezes are what draw most midwestern "snowbirds" to Florida each winter, it's something quite different that leads Dr. Michael Kohl to load up 5 or 6 horses and trek from his lovely facility in McHenry County, IL, to the Sunshine State when the temperature drops. It's his personal quest for the knowledge of dressage and understanding of horses. He pursues his passion at the Palm Beach Equestrian Center, under the tutelage of one of the best; 5-time Olympian Robert Dover.
Why Florida? According to Kate Moore, a fellow disciple of Robert Dover, Kohl has been going to Florida to train with Dover for seven years because, "In this region of the country, there's really no one to work with of an international level, so we have to kind of rearrange our lives and go through all sorts of contortions with our businesses and families and homes to go somewhere else." She also addresses the fact that the discipline of dressage is still very young in the United States and it's harder to find properly schooled and skilled instructors. European countries require accreditation for dressage instructors, but that's not the case in this country. She adds, "Michael and I have made a commitment to classical training and the big trainer in this country for that is Robert Dover. No one else has done what he's done. He's on his 5th Olympics."



Moore goes on to explain that for her, the Florida circuit changed her whole perception of dressage. "When you get to see the best horses in the country, it changes your eye and your perception of training. You find that you're learning through osmosis." She describes the facility as large with lots of room. Kohl reserves an aisle of stalls there and he brings a group of clients with him, taking care of all the arrangements. "You're stabled 20 meters away from a five time Olympian. It's the best campus you could ever be on; like going to graduate school."

While the idea of migrating to Florida each winter to work with a master trainer sounds like a dream for anyone, it obviously comes with a hefty price tag. This is not an obstacle for Kohl, a Podiatrist, who retired from a successful medical practice ten years ago to pursue an equestrian education. Kohl has always ridden horses and had a passion for training them, but his parents encouraged him to get an education that would allow him the benefit of a better income. He commented, "I feel very fortunate to have that behind me. It allows me to pursue this midlife passion."
Kohl started his career with horses riding hunters and jumpers and successfully evented to training level in the 1980's working with Lisa Anderson, Ralph Hill and Jimmy Wofford. Then he acquired a timid Warmblood. After a few falls, he decided that this horse was better suited for dressage. He explains, "I had my practice then, and couldn't afford an injury." He started dressage training with Bodo Hagen, and discovered that, "It's an intellectual sport like chess as well as artful, like ice skating and dance." Those two factors in combination drove him to seek an education in dressage.

The Robert Dover Influence About seven years ago, Kohl started going to Florida to train at the Palm Beach Equestrian Club in Wellington, during the Winter Equestrian Festival. He could afford to go to the best school in the country and be taught by the best teacher. "It's not a secret," Kohl explains. "So many think that it's a gift? and some have a natural talent? but the knowledge is out there and you just need to be able to acquire it." Dover was known for producing both good horses and good students, and that's what turned Kohl on to his program.

Though Dover is a tough teacher, Kohl finds his teaching style encouraging, and he models his own style after it. "He's a tough teacher and demands a lot out of you, and you begin to demand it out of yourself. It's not intimidating the way he teaches, but encouraging." While watching a rider executing a movement, he says, "If you could see his butt muscles or my butt muscles while we sit in a chair and teach, he is on that horse with you, he is riding with you; sometimes he or I am even putting in more effort here on our seat then the rider is ready to give and that's the type of encouragement that comes along with the passion we have to make people better riders."

Throughout the course of his education, Kohl has ridden all movements through Grand Prix, the highest level of dressage, and worked successfully with the training of several horses. He is currently working with Regent, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood, owned by Vickie Szambathy and Susan Balkin, who he has brought from 2nd Level to Grand Prix. Regent was 11th in the nation's USDF standings at Intermediare I. Kohl's approach to training is most definitely classical. He feels his edge is that everybody wants to learn to ride and train horses, but not everyone wants to understand the animals, and listen to what the animal has to tell them. He gives the analogy that, "It's not as simple as a cookbook where you can create a plan and have it turn out a beautiful cake at the end. Horses are very giving, loving, respectful animals, but they are easily intimidated and fearful, and they get a lot of disrespect from human beings. If you really want to be a good trainer, you need to be a good listener. Get their confidence, their trust and their love for the sport." This is the Classical philosophy and Kohl's method of training encourages that.

In the course of his training, Kohl said he has seen many horses that don't know the difference between right and wrong, because no one has taught them. "If the horse does something naughty, they simply allow it to occur until it goes away. The horse never really understands. For the most part, the horse wants to be good, wants to be petted, loved and nurtured. They quickly adapt to reward and they do stuff for the gratification it brings them." Conversely he explains that, "So many riders don't tell the horse how lovely it performs something, so eventually the horses do things with a force of habit and not with the passion that really well trained and understood horses do it with." Communication with the horse is the key and Kohl uses tones of voice to "talk to" the horse. Praise should be awarded with the same voice you use for feeding sugar or treats. Likewise, a stern tone should be used for corrections, however, many take this to the point of violence or fear. Horses are very sensitive animals and there's no need to intimidate them past the point of "no."

"It's all about knowledge," Kohl reiterates. "A new horse is a whole new gift of knowledge that, that dance partner brings you. The problem in this area [of the country] is a lot of big fish in a little pond. [Trainer's feel they] have to prove themselves and they are stubborn and do it without help; do it without the knowledge." This attitude results in mistreated and misunderstood horses. Kohl adds, "I'm no better than anybody. I'm on a learning curve like everyone in dressage and I love to share the knowledge I've gained."

Although he tries to keep instruction to a limited number of students, Kohl explained that dressage is the fastest growing equestrian sport in the U.S. and students come with the territory. Comparing himself to Dover, he said, "We consider ourselves disciples [of dressage] because we've got the knowledge. It's hard to close the door on those who appreciate and are hungry for the knowledge."

A lifelong quest of Michael Kohl has been to make the US Equestrian Team, and he continues to increase his knowledge and work toward that goal. He admits though, that, "I won't lose any sleep at the end of the day if it doesn't happen. Along the way I've had so much pleasure in the simple things? the sport of dressage and understanding of the animals and the backyard horse shows I put on each day for myself and my clients? that if that occurs it will be icing on the cake."

Pistakee Bay Equestrian Club Wanting the best of both worlds (and in the position to get it), Kohl desired to spend winters in Palm Beach, and the summers on Midwestern lake property. He got together with Andrea Michna, who also wintered with her horse in Palm Beach, and they sought to develop a facility that had the standards of horse care and arena footing that they had become accustomed to.

Kohl found the farm, 13 acres in Pistakee Bay, IL, a community on the Chain of Lakes, in McHenry County, and he loved the real estate. Although the buildings were in need of some repair and remodeling, they decided it would be the perfect site for a "summer home" for their horses. A three-way partnership was formed (Michael Kohl, Andrea Michna, and Marc Ulanowski), the facility was purchased in the summer of 1999 and renovations began. Horses were moved in, in October and then the barn was closed up for business for most of the winter after all the horses left for Florida. Renovations continued and Pistakee Bay Equestrian Club was opened to the public in the spring of 2000, when everyone returned from the south.

The facility is fashioned after prestigious Eastern stables? well kept, clean, always open to the public? and it is run like them too. It features 27 stalls, 11 individual grass turnout paddocks, a regulation size outdoor dressage arena with quality footing and a large indoor arena, also with new footing as well as mirrored walls, and a built-in stereo system so you can ride to classical music. In reference to the cost of board, Kohl said, "The owners pay so much for these beautiful horses and they give us so much, that the cost is not prohibitive in terms of keeping them in a clean, comfortable environment. You wouldn't buy an expensive broach and throw it in a cardboard box. You'd clothe it in velvet and put it in a pretty place with a spotlight on it and polish it. These are our pretty broaches."

The farm has space available for boarders for both full and part-time training. They are looking for people who are seeking the knowledge and horses that need to be understood, at any level. Michael Kohl also has openings for riders who wish to join him for any length of time and in Florida for the winter season of 2000-2001. For more information call 815/759-9070 or 815/341-6028.