SHOWTIME
Showtime Training Center: The Clients Speak Out by Mary Kirkman Just six years ago this October, the Half-Arabian Park final at the U.S. Nationals reflected a curious phenomenon. Five riders in the class—four in the top ten, or nearly one-third—were on horses trained by Tish Kondas. A year later, when she and partner Carla Schiltz opened Showtime Training Center, in Newnan, Ga., those riders all continued as clients. And the ribbons kept coming. Now the operation accounts for approximately 50 horses, with a show string that hits an average of 15 competitions annually. And the young stallion VJ Royal Heir, whose talent and Arabian type are rapidly establishing him as a hot property, stands there at stud. When asked how they have achieved this kind of success, Kondas and Schiltz just shrug. “Ask our customers,” Kondas says. “Let them tell the story.” “Tish and Carla have created, in essence, a horse show family,” says Colleen Boylan, who has been on the roster for more than 10 years. She was one of the 2007 top tens. “We love going to horse shows, because Showtime is a team. We have so much fun.” Of course, it is more than that. Both Kondas and Schiltz are extremely qualified for their work. Kondas, who grew up among Saddlebreds and Morgans before switching
to Arabians, was tagged as a child by observant horsemen (including, in a childhood clinic, the legendary equitation instructor Helen Crabtree) for her ability in the saddle. That translated to a professional career and 15 years at Vicki Humphrey Training Center. Now recognized as one of the top English trainers in the country, she has logged a list of champions that increases exponentially, many now ridden by Showtime’s amateurs. Schiltz, in the meantime, grew up primarily in western and hunter, although her experience, like Kondas’, now spans the show ring. Best known for the national champion western specialist Noble Splendor, Schiltz began her Arabian involvement with Rick Gault, and worked for him for nearly a decade before moving on to Petroglyph and The Brass Ring. “She’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever had work for me,” says Gault. “She was able to get on and, in her very first lesson, comprehend what the whole process was trying to be. Some people are inherently natural seated, and Carla was that. Her balance is impeccable, and she has very, very good hands—very quiet, but controlling—and her timing is impeccable. So, she has that great one-on-one with the horse where they pick up exactly what she wants to teach them.” As nearly a dozen Showtime regulars spoke up about why they choose to ride with Kondas and Schiltz, a pattern emerged in their answers. What is important is no one aspect of the operation, they say, but the sum of its parts. Elizabeth Tyler, who has been riding at Showtime for five years, defines the picture. “It’s not about that one ride or one pass,” she says. “It’s about the whole journey.” “IT’S THE INDIVIDUALIZED TRAINING.” “I love that Tish trains each horse individually,” says Colleen Boylan. “She adapts the training program to each horse’s needs. I feel very comfortable knowing that our horses are going to develop under her guidance, according to their own timeline.”
24 | ARABIAN HORSE TIMES
Judi Alvey, who grew up with Quarter Horses and whose daughter, Jordan, now rides at Showtime, nods. “A lot of trainers will take a horse and try to make it be what they want it to be, versus taking a horse and finding its true talent and growing that,” she observes. “Sometimes when you do that, you have a horse that may not perform to its fullest potential because it’s not doing the job that it was meant to do or that it wants to do.” When the horses are given the best opportunities to be happy in their jobs, the results are impressive. “I’ve never seen an individual that can get on a horse—including, obviously, the more challenging ones—and make such a difference so quickly,” says Betsy Haas. “And she does it in a way that they love her.” She just tries to keep her work positive, Kondas explains. “What I like to do is say, ‘I’m going to incorporate something new today, but I’m going to follow up with something they’re confident in,’” she says. “I let the horse build on that.” Pam Harris, who began working with Kondas eight years ago, mentions that her Connected To Huck had a
Volume 43, No. 11 | 25