Most of you may remember Dom and Jimmie Schramm’s Evention TV, where they shared riding exercise videos, tips about grooming, and let’s not forget the very humorous videos like “Dressage Skillz” and “The Difference Between Regular People and Horse People.”
People have been asking for Evention to come back after almost 10 years since their last video, and now Dom and Jimmie are back with a new training series: the Winter Warrior Series.
The inspiration came from the rut that a lot of riders face during the winter months after the holidays. While some flock to warmer weather, not everyone can leave their families and jobs behind. Since most trainers have gone south, riders still need help and inspiration during the short, cold days.
Jimmie and Dom spent January in Florida, and went back to Pennsylvania in February and March a few years ago. “It is dreary and sort of depressing when you’re up here, kind of on your own, so we wanted to try to build a community for people during those couple of months,” Jimmie says.
The Winter Warrior Series is for a rider– just coming off the holidays– and a horse– most likely feral and hairy– who want to get going again for the new season.
“This program is designed to take them from that horse and progressively over the course of 10 weeks into March, prepare them so that as the weather starts to warm up, they’re ready to hit the ground running,” Dom says.
What does the Winter Warrior series look like?
It’s a 10 week program, starting January 20. Each week, there are three main ways to learn and gain value from it:
Weekly Training Videos
Every Monday, a video will be released, walking you through a flat exercise which lends itself into a jumping exercise. Dom and Jimmie demonstrate the exercises from different perspectives, such as from the ground or while riding. To pull it all together, an animated overview will show you how the exercise works together with the measurements and dimensions that the session requires.
If you want to set it up ahead of time, they even have a downloadable course map. “When they go out to the barn and they want to ride the exercise, they can whip out their phone and watch the video if they need a refresher,” Dom says.
Better yet, Dom and Jimmie have made these videos easily adjustable for riders and horses no matter the level. “Throughout the video, when we’re explaining it, we talk about how to make it more simple or difficult. We show different ways to do the exercise that might lessen or increase the difficulty so that anyone can do it,” Jimmie says.
They thought about these exercises through the lens of what they could do in the winter months with limited room and jumps, making it easy to set up with what you have at home.
Dom and Jimmie will more than likely be doing the exercises right alongside you each week, since they are so adjustable from a green horse to a highly experienced one, making them perfect for their barn full of horses that range in experience.
“The exercises are very practical when it comes to rideability, building strength and muscle, and getting ready for the upcoming season,” Dom says.
Wednesday Night Webinars
Dom and Jimmie will host a different equestrian expert on a call each Wednesday, ranging from individuals like Julia Krajewski, Dr. Kevin Keane, and more.
“We’ve got all sorts of different professionals with different elements of the equestrian world doing a Zoom call each week,” Jimmie says.
These weekly calls will give you an opportunity to have unparalleled access to the best of the best. You’ll be able to pick their brains to not only learn but also be inspired!
Don’t fret if you’re unable to attend these calls, as they will be recorded and uploaded for you to watch at any time!
Barn Hours
My personal favorite part of the Winter Warrior Series is the weekly “Barn Hours” on Fridays. Dom and Jimmie will hop on a Zoom call and you can ask any questions or discuss any issues you have about your rides from the week.
“I think the biggest challenge with learning online when it comes to horses is that everybody’s horse is different. There’s an individual tailoring that’s missing if it’s just on the screen,” Dom says.
Because of this, they wanted to make it possible for them to answer your specific questions, so you get the most out of it. “At the end of the day, the goal for us is to have these people feel supported and that they can actually progress over the course of the 10 weeks,” Dom says.
There will also be private WhatsApp and Facebook groups, where riders can ask a quick question if they are unable to make it to Barn Hours.
How much will it cost?
In terms of buying the package, you have a few options. The Winter Warrior Series can be purchased up front for $480, saving 20% off the regular price of $600.
You can also buy it in two monthly payments of $270, saving you 10%.
Or, you can choose to be a weekly subscriber, paying $60 per week and it can be canceled anytime.
How does this compare to Evention TV?
While you can still expect to have some relatable and helpful dialogue from Dom and Jimmie, the increased capabilities of technology today have made for a series that people will be impressed with.
“We’ve had tons of ideas over the years on what we would do differently, and as technology has gotten better and things have changed since our Evention days, we can actually do some of the stuff that we couldn’t do before,” Dom says.
All in all, you can expect to see new, fun ways of explaining training exercises on video. These videos will also go more in depth than the ones on Evention.
“If people wanted to have Evention, but a bit deeper and getting more out of it, that’s what they can expect from the Winter Warrior Series,” he says.
As far as filming goes, Dom and Jimmie say that it was nice to be doing it again after a long break.
“We’re kind of falling back into our old ways and habits and it was basically like history repeating itself. Dom was getting his stuff in one take, and I was forgetting everything and having to repeat myself 10 times,” Jimmie says. “We’re really excited about it. I think it’s a good first project that we’ve done in a while to open up the doors to do a lot more in the future.”
While filming, the weather for them was cold, windy, rainy, you name it. “We’re dealing with the very real winter things that other people are going to be dealing with at the same time,” Jimmie says.
Overall, this series is meant to be flexible, so that riders can work it around their work or school schedules. “We want this to be useful for people. We want it to fill a gap there that has been missing for a while, so I hope it does that,” Dom says.
If you would like to look into being a Winter Warrior with Dom and Jimmie, click here. Hang in there this winter, you got this!
