Showtime training Centre Four years into their venture, Schiltz and her sister, like Kondas, realized that although they were successful, they needed more education in their field. They shuttered the business and went to work at Petroglyph for a year, learning from Greg Harris, before moving on to Texas, where they accepted positions with Gordon and Wendy Potts at The Brass Ring. For Schiltz, it was a rewarding tenure, an intense concentration in the western division that prepared her for the next step in her life. A couple of years later, she got to know Kondas and the plans for Showtime were born. The ApproAch To horsemAnship Kondas and Schiltz may train in different disciplines, but the basic principles of their approach are the same. Growing up, they didn’t ride “made” horses, or even horses with obvious, fabulous talent; they had to listen to their mounts, watching for the cues that would unlock what made each one tick. Now they do get in wildly-talented prospects, but the technique of paying attention to the individual lingers. “Some of my most winning horses have been those diamonds in the rough,” Kondas explains. “Vicki used to tell me, ‘what we love the most about you is that you think every horse is going to be a national champion, and a lot of times they are, because you believe it.’” Jeanne Kowalczyk, whose PF Emotion accompanied Kondas to her first U.S. National Championship, nods. “I think you could say that about her. Tish could train anything to a national championship; I’ve seen her take horses who weren’t very bright and can’t have been easy, and make national champions out of them.” It is the challenge that fires Kondas’ drive. “I pride myself on having an individual program for each horse and rider,” she says. “I believe training is the balance between physical and psychological sides of a horse.” PF Emotion was a psychological challenge when Kowalczyk brought her to Vicki Humphrey Training Center in the spring of 2000, but it became clear within days that the 6-year-old mare and Tish Kondas were a natural fit. By fall, when Emotion appeared at Louisville in Half-Arabian park, the pair were a sensation; as they exited the ring, tri-color flying, the crowd leapt to its feet in a standing ovation. Kondas had channeled the mare’s
PF Emotion and Jeanne Kowalczyk. quirky energy into a pursuit that worked for her, and the result was a horse who practically danced through the show ring for 10 years, racking up five national championships and six national reserve championships in both park and English pleasure, open and amateur. “‘Quit’ was never part of her vocabulary,” says Kowalczyk, who now maintains the mare in retirement. “She had one of the longest-winning careers in park horses, carefully guided by Tish.” At Showtime, the basic technique is consistency in managing and training a horse. “We take an old school approach,” Kondas says. “No short cuts. You don’t just rinse a horse off; you groom it thoroughly, curry it, and rub it down to make a great coat. You take a horse out to work, you walk it around first, check for lameness, run your hands down the legs before the leg wrap goes on. And when we need to, we try different things. We’re about having a program open enough to be unconventional, to be able to try whatever works for that animal.” Talking about what is most important, the word “selfcarriage” emerges often, because in her view, the well-
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