Callie Schott - Practical Horseman Podcast

0:00You were listening to the Horse Radio Network, part of the Equine Network family. I compare it to my grad school, that's what I call it, my grad school instead of actually going to grad school. I think I went to my grad school at John Madden Sales. No, I learned so much on so many aspects between horse care at the highest level, riding skills, riding skills, organizational skills, managing a string to compete at the highest level. But I would say one of the key takeaways, and it's still to this day, is so important, is really to just keep practicing the basics all of the time.

1:05Basic horsemanship, basic riding skills, because those are just the fundamentals for everything else. Like, correct position, because I think that is, and I still work on it, we all have position flaws, we all have this, and things that we have to always work on, but I'm so lucky that I have their help still today, and that I'm able to keep honing in on all the fine details that basically are, you know, the basic fundamentals. Welcome to the Practical Horseman Podcast, featuring conversations with respected riders, industry leaders, and horse care experts. The show is co-hosted by Practical Horseman Editors, and our goal is to inform, educate, and inspire.

2:05I'm Elena Harrison, and this week's episode is with Show Jumper, Callie Shot. Five star show jumper, Callie Shot, grew up in an equestrian family at River Mountain Farm in Versailles, Kentucky, with her dad, Trace Shot, who's an equine veterinarian and polo player, and her mom, inventor, and hunter-jumper trainer, Elaine Shot. After graduating from the University of Kentucky, Callie spent five years working with Beezy and John Madden, where she sharpened her riding and horsemanship skills, and learned various training methods that have made the Madden's some of the most successful riders and trainers in the world. Callie has established herself as a rising star in the sport of show jumping, as well as revisiting success in the hunter ring.

3:08She campaigned at some of the best shows in North America, earning top honors in prestigious competitions at Spruce Meadows, the American Gold Cup, the new Albany Invitational Classic, enter a equestrian festival, the Versailles Mont Summer Festival, the Hampton Classic, and the Kentucky Horseshoe Series. In recent years, Callie and KWPN Gelding Garant have had dynamite success. The pair began 2023 with top 10 placings at the Winner Equestrian Festival, and were third in the Grand Prix of Traverse City CSI 3-Star and at the Agero Grand Prix CSI 3-Star during the Traverse City Hort shows. In 2024, Callie made her Senior Big Team debut at the League of Nations Abu Dhabi with Garant,

4:16helping the NetJet U.S. jumping team to a six-place finish in a highly competitive international field. Shot in Garant were shortlisted for the 2024 Parasolimpic Games, and represented the U.S. jumping team in the FBI League of Nations Netherlands CSIO 5-Star in Rotterdam. After a brief hiatus from the competition ring due to an injury, Callie made her comeback debut with Garant last summer at Traverse City Hort shows Great Lakes Equestrian Festival, where they won the CSIO 3-Star Grand Prix during Nations Cup Week. They also took top honors at the Go Rentals CSI 5-Star Grand Prix at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California this past December. In our podcast, we talk to Callie about her partnership with Garant, the wisdom she learned

5:22from working with the Maddens, how she keeps her horses fit for show jumping, and why she's so passionate about the sport. Every horse deserves to feel their best. That's why veterinarians trust Decra veterinarian products, a global leader in equine health, from joint comfort and mobility, to reproduction, skin and eye care, and essential fluid therapy, our solutions support horses through every stage of life. When your veterinarian recommends Decra products, you can be confident your horse is receiving high quality proven care, because at Decra, we're dedicated to helping your horse live healthier, longer, stronger. To learn more, go to Decra-Hyphen-US.com. That's D-E-C-H-R-A-Hyphen-US.com.

6:42Hi, Callie. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to chat with us today. We are so excited to have you. Ah, yes, I'm excited to be here. Thank you for having me. Excellent. So, Callie, in recent years, you and Garant have had a dynamite success and were shortlisted for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Can you tell us a little bit more about him and figure partnership with him? Yes, so we acquired Garant in 2022, from Beasy and John Madden, and that in itself was just a very lucky situation to have the opportunity to get to try him and see if we were a match. And yeah, it's just been a kind of a fun story from there. We spend some time getting to know each other and then have just been, yeah, I've been getting experience doing my first five-star

7:51level with him, and yeah, he's been a really great teacher. And can you tell us a little bit more, what he's like to ride in Crane? Yes, every day he is just so lovely to ride. He's really has great flat work skills and is really chill day to day. To compete, he really gets into the game and he loves his job. He gets super fired up. I describe it a little bit like a rocket chip once we let's we go through the timer. It's like, okay, here we go. I love it. I love it. And what's his personality like behind the scenes? He's a little mischievous. He's put very playful, but he's just a super. He's a very good natured horse. He, you know, he knows his people. He kind of

8:56knickers to, he knickers to me. He knickers to his groove. Like he knows when we're around the corner and he talks to you, it's really sweet. Like the other, yesterday I just had been gone from the bar and for a couple of weeks. And it was so cute when he came into this, when he was in his stall and I hadn't seen him yet. Like he went into me. Oh, I love it. Is that not the best feeling ever? No, I just, I said, I said, that literally just made my day. I was like, he really missed me. I love it. No, that absolutely makes your day for sure. And Kelly, we understand that two of you returned to international competition this past summer. When you won this CSI, I have three star Grand Prix during Nations Cup Week at Traverse City. Can you tell us a little bit about what that win felt like, especially since you and Garant won your first five star Grand Prix at Traverse

9:58City in 2022? Yeah, it was, um, it was a really, really great experience this summer. I felt like we had just come back. I had been out with injury and it was our first big competition back. And I think he was feeling super fresh and fantastic. And, um, just to be able to have that time with him again in the ring was, was just magical. Amazing. And, um, Hinder's game, you were returning to competition after an injury and subsequent shoulder surgery. What you mind telling us a little bit about that injury, Kelly, and what your recovery looked like? Yeah, so it was just, um, I actually injured it. I did not even have, it was not a fall. It was, I was, um, in the air over a jump and the horse I was riding, let their head like straight down between

10:59their front legs looking at something in the air and it pulled my shoulder out of the socket. Um, so we just decided to, you know, do find out what was happening for my shoulder to be doing that. And, um, found out that I needed to have my labor and repaired as well as my rotator cuff and vice-up attachment. So I, um, had a pretty extensive shoulder surgery and, um, you know, it was, it was a good, a lot of physical therapy and you just had to do the proper like, you know, wait for it to heal enough to then go through all the steps to get yourself back up to level. Yeah, was it, was it hard getting back in the saddle? Um, or, you pretty much like fully healed by that? I mean, getting back in the saddle was not the hard part.

12:02It was just, you know, I really tried to keep myself as fit as I could. But there's just nothing like spending time in the saddle. If I would say it took me a while to get really physically back to be on my best performance. Although, I mean, I, I did well and like, even won my first, you know, Grand Prix back, but it still just took a little bit to get everything really back to what I felt great doing. Right, you know, for sure. And like he said, sometimes even you try to stay as, uh, you know, fit as possible. There's just nothing like saddle time. Right. Um, and what, uh, what's next on your radar for you in Garant? So I'm actually going to go up to Waco Cala this week and do a four star there. And then, um, I'm going to be taking another horse to represent U.S. at Abu Dhabi. I guess my goal is to either ride as an

13:11individual or for the team for both the Wellington Nations Cup and also the one in Okala at the end of the year. And then, um, I would say a big goal is to make the shortlist for the leg this summer. Excellent. We will be sure to be on the lookout. And, uh, Cala, which might tell us about any other influential forces in your career and what you learned from them? Oh, I feel like I've had so many, but, um, one, probably one of the most was my pony. His name was Touken Play. And he was a very, very fancy large pony that his breeding was a little bit all over the place. But, um, he was extremely talented, but also extremely particular. And if I did not get him to the perfect distance, I would usually fall off.

14:14So, I think he taught me one, just the importance of accuracy, but also the termination grit and, you know, what a humbling sport it is, because I think one day you walk out the winter and the next day you'd be walking out with your pony right next to you. Low true. So true. And we, of course, know you spent, uh, five years working with Bayesian John Madden. Can you tell us about that amazing experience and can you take away as you learn from your time with them? Yeah, I really, um, I compare it to my grad school. That's what I call it my grad school instead of actually going to grad school. I think I went got my grad school at John Madden sales. Um, no, I learned, you know, so much on so many aspects between, you know, horse care at the highest level, um, riding skills, riding skills,

15:22organizational skills, managing, you know, a string to compete at the highest level. Um, but I would say one of the key takeaways and it's still to this day is so important is really to just keep practicing the basics all of the time. Basic horsemanship, basic riding skills because those are just the fundamentals for everything else. Like correct position, because I think that is, and I still, you know, work on it, we all have position flaws, we all have this and, you know, things that we have to always work on. But I mean, I'm so lucky that I have their help still today and that I'm able to keep honing in on all the fine details that basically are, you know, the basic fundamentals. Exactly. And I think that's something we all

16:24appreciate about our sport is that it's always evolving and you're never perfect and there's, there's always opportunity to improve. Yes, for sure. In addition to the maddenes, were there any other notable mentors or coaches, Halle, who were formative and shaping you as a rider? Yes, definitely. One bolt my parents are very involved. We're very involved in my career, my mother, you know, grew up, I grew up learning how to ride for her. And at a young age, I started riding with David Wright, who is no longer with us anymore, but he was a very, very influenced, influential person in my career. I do not think I would have gone down the path that I have without him. Was there anything in particular, Kelly, out of all the equestrian sports,

17:30because I know I believe I'd write to your mom did a venting in 100, 100 jumper? Yes. Is there anything in particular that just drew you to show jumping? I mean, I would say my time at John and BZ's really solidified my passion for show jumping and learning about it at the top of the sport. And I don't, I've always wanted to be involved with horses somehow, some way, like whether it was, you know, doing 100 jumpers, equitation, helping my family in polo, doing the massage, like, venting, like, I was down the hunter jumper path. But really seeing how the matins, I think, developed horses and competed in the top of the sport,

18:34really influenced the path that I wanted to do. Yeah, for sure, learning from the best. And Kelly circling back to your roots again, because I understand that your dad was also a polo player and a veterinarian. Can you tell us a little bit more about what it was like growing up with your parents as riders too? Yeah, I mean, it was just, it was really a family affair and I think it made a lot of things very second nature to me. Just growing up with just part of life every day. I mean, I grew up in the barn. We, on holidays, we spent them every single holiday, we would take the family trail ride. We would be in the barn ourselves, because we would always give all of the help, you know, time off. And I mean, there were many times in our lives that we

19:37didn't have help and that we just did it ourselves. And I just really feel like it was just how, how I was raised, the horses were just part of life. What a special experience. I love that. And even like care, you know, just my dad's also a veterinarian. So I was very lucky just to learn very early on with a lot of different, you know, situations, how to handle them. Yeah, for sure. And I assume Kelly is using the flying veterinarian? Yes, yes. Yeah, I bet you certainly learned a lot from. And Kelly, would you mind speaking to your overall training philosophy and teaching style? My overall training philosophy and what? Teaching style, teaching style. I would say I tried to emulate very much the method that John and busy use. And again, it's a very, an American system

20:40forward riding, lightsy. But I think what that really is is just trying to be able to clearly communicate with the horse in the best way possible, which comes from a very good position. You know, giving them cues that are very clearly communicated to them so that the horse isn't confused by what you're asking. And at the end of the day, riding is basically just having a conversation with the horse. So very true for sure. And Kelly, do you have any favorite training exercises that you feel like your horse is consistent and benefit from the temporary? I mean, I think really making sure

21:42that they do a couple things very well. One, go forward and backwards, length and in short. You can do that by setting points, you know, giving yourself without any say you don't have any poles to practice between. You can just give yourself like points in the arena. Like, okay, I'm going to go from this point to this point forward. At this point, I'm going to then collect to this other point. And then just you can just do that. Or just say I'm going to go forward five strides. I'm going to come back five strides. Just changing gears and making sure that the horse is very responsive to that, I think is probably the most important thing for the jumpers. Is that changing in the gears? Right, that adjustability for sure. And also, I think, you know, being flexible to go left and right. So just practicing, you know, lateral work. But I think if you can go forward

22:48and back and left and right, you're good to go. Very true. And Kelly, what do you mind telling us what your courses at this schedule look like? Yeah, I mean, I think when it just, it changes, it varies throughout the year depending on what they're doing. But when they're in full competition, they get ridden six days a week. They go on the horse walker a couple times a day. They go out in the paddock. And I would say they get exercised around 50 minutes with schedule walk breaks in between. And each horse just depends a little bit on where they are in their career. How often we jump them or do, you know, poles and Cavaletti exercises. And Kelly, do you struggle with composition nerves? And if so, would you mind telling us how do you

23:52deal with those in the moment? Yeah, I mean, I would say, I think everybody who does the sport at some level has competition nerves. I am usually pretty good at handling them, but I do, I do a couple techniques to really help them. And I think the first thing that I do is identify that I am nervous. And then the signs that I am nervous, the signs usually are like yawning is the sign that I'm nervous, also kind of shivering. And instead of being worked up about these, I try to take them and turn them into like, oh, this is exciting. This means it's something important. I am nervous about this. And just really trying to get into the moment and find, you know, yourself in the present moment. I do some box breathing to really

24:56focus and center. And I really just kind of repeat the pattern of the course in my head over and over until it's a little bit second nature. Excellent. Would you mind telling us a little bit more about the box breathing? Yeah, so it's, you can do different numbers of breaths, but like for instance, you inhale for five breaths, like five counts. And then you can hold it five counts. And then you exhale five counts. And just doing that a few times in a row, like really it lowers your heart rate. And it really kind of centers you from thinking about really anything else that's going on. Yeah, for sure. So many of that, Holly, I think I also yawn when I nervous. Yeah.

25:56It's funny how it manifests differently in people. No, like every, so so many people are like, how are you tired right now? No, no, no, that tired. I'm just nervous. Right. And Kelly, do you have any competition superstitions? Um, I do like swearing some part of article that's blue. Like a lot of times are my socks. Excellent. Any particular shade of blue or will any blue do? Any blue. I love it. Is there any reasoning behind the blue? Uh, blues. One of my favorite colors, but also, you know, first place is blue. Your yeah. Yeah. I love it. And in this sport, uh, things often don't go as planned and you have to learn how to deal with those moments. Can you speak to any lower points in your career or or disappointment and how do you handle those? Oh, you know, we just quite a few. We all do. Um,

27:05yeah, I would say one of a recent disappointment would be a couple of years ago, I had, it was my first night class competing for my owner here, um, at Wap on Garant. And you know, I think I maybe got a little tight under the pressure of the situation and didn't, you know, ride my best, ended up in a, we ended up retiring from the round and, um, but instead of really dwelling with that, I tried to learn from that in one, recognize that when I am getting nervous, like, how can I still ride like the person that I know that I can ride and not let the nerves get in the way? In addition to riding, I mean, you obviously spend so much of your time in the saddle, but we all know, you know, how in shape you have to be. Any other specific

28:05exercises or workouts that you do or recommend to people to help stay in shape for riding? Yeah, so I do circuit training with the trainer and when I'm not able to work out with him, I try to do, you know, a basic rotation of exercises that are, you know, full body circuit training and then also yoga, a lot of yoga. I feel like yoga, especially in the older I get yoga helps so much. Yeah, I think the flexibility, but also like a lot of the power yoga really, you know, you need so much core strength to do it, but also I think like just following the sequences of patterns and flowing, like it really helps your brain connect in that way that I think helps for riding courses too. Yeah, no, I see exactly what you're saying, and honestly, I feel like it

29:08helps me like I tend to hold my breath and I ride and it helps remind me to bring you. Yeah, and Kelly, you've experienced so much success as well over the course of your career. What would you attribute to your consistent success? I would say honestly, just showing up every day, trying to be the most professional person that I can, and I mean that in a way, like for my horses, like trying to show up in a way that is the same and open to learning every single day, learning from them, learning to other, learning from others, just being very open for information all the time. For sure, you'd say constantly a learning process, and Kelly, what's the hardest part of this sport for you? It's just the hard sport. Jumping big jumps is hard, and you know, I think keeping a very

30:14positive attitude and being able to take your failures and use them to help what comes next. I guess taking the failures to turning them into positive things, and I don't, that's not hard for me necessarily, but I feel like that's, that is a challenge that I think everybody faces is being able to take, not get caught up in what goes wrong, but using that to really like help shape and do better in the future. Yeah, for sure. And what advice would you give your younger self? I would give my younger self advice is to really, really enjoy the ride while you're on it, and life goes by quicker than you think. And also, I think, just try to really open your eyes

31:20to everything around you. And Kelly, in your opinion, what makes a good horse person? I think someone who listens to what the horse needs and puts that before anything else. Excellent. And I know we talked a lot about the ramp, but are there any other horses, Kelly, on your radar right now that you could tell us about? We have, we are so lucky right now with an incredible string of talented horses in the barn. Ironics as a young horse, as a horse that we got when he was young, and he's really turned in to be a super competitive 150 horse. Diamond Touch is another horse that I've gotten her to the two star level, but I think she's going to be another one for top sport. Your weakest is also a famous stallion that we bought

32:28last year, and I've just been doing him in some of my first five star competition, and he's absolutely unbelievable. I have another new eight-year-old that we acquired recently who were super excited about his name's Aggie, and yeah, and then we just have a few others that are also really talented that we're hoping to see make it all the way. Awesome. Sounds like you guys are going to be very busy with a lot of talented horses for sure. I mean, Kelly, what do you mind? Just because a lot of times people are allowed to know and are interested, just kind of like what a day, daily, a day in your life, I guess it looks like as far as getting up and training and schooling your horses and all that stuff. Yeah. Yeah, usually wake up.

33:31I do some red light therapy on my body, yoga, and some yoga before I go to work, and then I go to the bar and usually it just depends if it's a show day or not anywhere between 630 and 730 and ride. On a non-competition day, we usually try to feed the horses around 3 and then I go home and usually exercise whether it's you know going for a run or doing circuit training or yoga class and usually then just cooking dinner, hanging out with my husband and my dog for a little bit and then going to bed. Excellent. Sounds like a pretty awesome way for sure. Yeah, no, it is. Every day I wake up and I just get lucky to be usually in

34:38very nice weather too, so that is a big bonus for sure. And Kelly, we've had some final kind of fun questions for you. If you could go back in time and relive any ride of your lifetime, what would it be? Any ride of my lifetime? Right. Like any favorite ride, whether it was a competition or I would have to say probably the when I add when I was in December in thermal at the five star at the major league foreshow. Excellent. I love it. And then Kelly, do you have a favorite type of jump? Like just something you love to go over whether it's an ox or... Yeah, I would say I would prefer an ox or do a vertical. I agree personally. And then we're going to ask about any four-legged animals, the size horses that you had. It sounds

35:42like you have a dog. Yes, I have a dog named Harp. Harp? Harp, H-A-R-P. Oh, I love it. What can I do? He's a paternal terrier. Oh, super cool. And it's about to say mayors or helvings. Oh, that's a tough one. Good mayors, a good mayor, I would say. I don't know a mayor. That's a hard question. Um, and Kelly, when you're not riding, where can we find you or anything about you, people might not know. Oh, where you can probably end the barn. Most likely, if I'm not riding, I'm probably in the barn. It sounds probably about right, I'm pretty sure. Well, we've covered so such a broad range of

36:48topics today, but if there anything, I just didn't think to ask you that you'd like to share today or do you feel like we covered it? I think that's good. Excellent. Well, thank you so, so much, Kelly. Thank you for listening to this week's conversation with Kelly shot and a big thank you to the episode sponsor, Decra. You can subscribe to the practical horseman podcast on Apple podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you listen. While you're there, please rate and review the show. Thanks again for joining us. I'm Alana Harrison and you've been listening to the practical horseman podcast.