Training
Training always involves 3 things:
- Your Seat
- Your horses mental willingness and understanding of how to learn
- What you physically expect from your horse
Each time we are around our horse we are training ourselves and them. We must be aware of our day to day handling of our horse, ground work, longeing and riding. We need to be kind and set boundaries, teach our horse how to search and learn, nurture the “try”, and most importantly, strive to become the best rider we can be for our horse.
We specialize in training a versatile horse that can perform a dressage test as well as hack out in the field and comfortably take a jump or negotiate an obstacle.
“Anything forced and misunderstood can never be beautiful” -Xenophon
"The object of the classical art of riding is to train a horse not only to be brilliant in the movements and exercises... but also to be quiet, supple, and obedient, and by his smooth movements, to make riding a true pleasure. This clearly shows that in every kind of riding we strive for the same objective. Whether it is a dressage horse, a jumper, a hunter... he should always be quiet, supple and obedient. These qualities are the basis for every kind of riding. Performances of the greatest brilliance can be built up only on this foundation." -Podhajsky
Exercises are not the goal of training. Exercises are merely a means of developing “throughness” and rideability. The exercise itself isn’t the important factor, but rather how it is executed. -Dr. Gerd Heuschmann