GoHorseShow.com in partnership with SmartPak are pleased to bring you GoSmart with Charlie and Jason. Team SmartPak riders, Charlie Cole and Jason Martin have achieved success beyond compare. Since founding Highpoint Performance Horses in 1992, they have trained over 100 World Champions and 200 Congress Champions.

Exclusive to GoHorseShow.com, GoSmart with Charlie and Jason gives our readers access to Charlie and Jason and the secrets to their success like never before. In this installment, Charlie takes us on his recent trip with Jason to Italy where they put on a very successful clinic and traveled through Italy in search of great food and shopping.

Jason and Charlie's European Adventure
By Charlie Cole

Our trip to Italy started with a three-day clinic just outside of Milan in Zanica. The clinic was held at the training facility of our friends, Matteo Sala and Jadasa Jablonowski. For those of you who don’t know Matteo, he is a European all-around trainer who recently won the Junior Trail at the 2011 Congress. Jadasa, more commonly known as Dasi, is a talented graphic designer who designs ads for some of the top American competitors.

Unfortunately, my three previous trips to Europe don’t rank at the top of my list of adventures. However, I did meet Matteo and Dasi on my last trip to Italy when I judged The Italian Championships. That was where, thanks to Matteo and Dasi, I finally got to taste what real Italian food was on the last night. Prior to that, I had survived on gelato (ice cream) due to the fact that the horse show committee apparently felt the judges did not need to eat dinner.

This year, the clinic was well organized and a lot of fun! Matteo and Dasi did a fantastic job of gathering a small group of talented riders and horses from Italy as well as from Germany and Switzerland. The horses were all well trained and the riders were very seasoned. I was impressed that almost every horse had a lead change. We worked on a lot of western riding but also trail, western pleasure, hunter under saddle, horsemanship and showmanship.

The facility had a massive and beautiful indoor arena made out of huge glulam wood beams that are definitely something you don't see in the USA. It also had a restaurant that overlooked the arena.

Jason and I have given a lot of clinics and the messages we leave people with are no different if it is held in our home state of Texas or as far away as Italy. Here’s my top-5 list of things we teach in a "Smart Clinic with Jason and Charlie."

1. Each horse is an individual, and while we use the same techniques to teach and school them, we ask more of some and less of others.
   
   
2. When practicing lead changes, try to have a realistic goal for each day. Don't try to do too much in one day. We usually practice lead changes for about 15-25 minutes a day on each horse.
   
   
3. When practicing changes going down the line, be careful not to correct your horse hard in the change area. Keep the change area a relaxed place.
   
   
4. A good cool down is to practice the jog log.
   
   
5. Pet your horse when he does something right. Horses understand praise and appreciate it!

After the clinic, we all headed to Venice, and I will tell you that Venice is one of my favorite cities ever. We stayed at a great hotel and took water taxis everywhere. They are really cool! San Marco is the main shopping area in Venice, and we found lots of nice ties (great for judging) and clothes. One morning we took the water taxi to Murano Island where they make amazing hand blown glass pieces. I left with several nice pieces of glass. We then headed to Milan for a few days. Milan is one of the fashion capitals of the world and another great shopping place.

Knowing my past issues with European travel, Dasi's goal for my trip was to insure that I did not have a bad meal. I will admit that I'm a picky eater. I particularly don't like it when something that I am accustomed to such as McDonald's has a totally different taste in another country. But Dasi did not disappoint and the food was great! My favorites were good ‘ole spaghetti with tomato and basil or with meat sauce. We also had an interesting meal one night. I couldn't understand the name but I called it “Beef on a Broomstick” which is exactly what it looked like! It tasted good and was served with great pasta called Casoncelli which is basically pasta filled with bacon.

When our trip was up, it was time to fly back to the States. We said “ciao” to our great host and hostess. Matteo went on to a show in Germany. He took a horse named Dillon who was one of the western riding horses that we had worked a lot with in the clinic. We had all focused on improving his lead change and general way of going in the western riding. Matteo was quick to let me know that he scored a 76.5 under all three judges at the show. I'm sure glad Matteo mostly shows in Europe as it's tough already here in the States!

After 10 days of being away from home, we flew out of Milan. The clinic was a success, and I did enjoy our vacation in Venice and Milan. The food was great, but I have to be honest…when I got home to Pilot Point, I checked the animals then went straight to Ernesto’s Mexican restaurant. Chips, salsa and a margarita never tasted so good!

Click here to view the slide show of their Italian vacation.