Background
I completed my Trainer C exam in 2011 at the Westfalische
Reit und Fahrschule (see previoius blog entry) I had gone there with my friend
Tracey. As she was now working and living in Germany, she had asked if I fancied doing the Trainer B exam with her. This would mean I could register with the BHS as the
equivalent of the BHSII. However, in Germany you can specialise in either
dressage or jumping, which makes more sense to me as I don’t intend to teach
jumping. The Trainer B is focused strongly on teaching, with written and oral
presentations at the end.
You will probably have gathered by now that I don’t do
things by half. The day before leaving for Germany was my birthday and also the
day my house sale was completed. So it was spent running around to the dump site whilst also trying to reply to text messages, pack and to top it off we had a close friend come to stay. So it was a rather hectic time with plenty of drama, and I hadn't had much time to even think about Germany, or do as much preparation as I had intended.
Saturday 7th September
I witnessed the most amazing sunrise as I headed to the
airport and as soon as I was there, was back in travelling mode, and getting that feeling of only looking
forwards and not back... felt really positive. Linda Christie, the course organiser, kindly picked me up from Munster
airport and we headed to the riding school. It was strangely familiar yet also felt different to be back there
after two years. I was allocated a huge room with en suite. I had shared two years ago with a lovely
German girl called Katherina, but it was nice to know I would have my own space
to just study and chill out.
I then met Rebecca from Australia who was doing her Trainer C and also squeezing in some horse hunting. So us and Linda headed
over to Warendorf to watch the Bundeschampionate (Young Horse Championships). We parked at the stables
where Linda’s horse is kept and managed to sneak in to the show for free
through the back, shhh!
Linda and her lovely boy
The weather was so bad that I ended up leaving my good camera in
the car, then kicked myself afterwards as it became a lovely sunny day. We met some of
the other girls from the course there too; Eva from Sydney, Tracy and Dara from Dubai, Kjersti from Norway. It is so lovely being part of a truly
international group, with people from all different disciplines. We are a smart
bunch of girls this year, with two lawyers, an architect and a dentist ;-) Shows that career women can balance it all!
We watched the six year old Championship, ate good old pomme frites with mayo and browsed the stalls, but mainly we chatted and got to know each other. In the evening there was a big celebration and
party. There was an interesting display of horses through the ages with some
serious vaulting and puissance jumping, bizarre dressing up and even a goat. So this is how Germans entertain themselves! Everyone was
pretty tired after a long day of travelling and we left quite early. A few people were disappointed we
missed the “fun” part of the party (think tall, good looking model-esque German
guys everywhere! Ok, probably not straight but still!)
Sunday 8th September
Last day to relax before all the hard work started. A few of
the girls went back to the Bundeschampionate, but Kjersti, Rebecca and myself
stayed in the dorm and chilled. It is
nice now they finally have wifi in the bedrooms and kitchen, so no trapsing
over to the breakfast room all the time. So we were facebooking and looking at
horses for sale online, as they are both looking for youngsters.
Linda very kindly brought us round cake and coffee and we
had a good chat and a laugh. I can feel that the obligatory student diet is now commencing!
I was really over the moon to see my friend Tracey who arrived in the
afternoon with her young horse Bella. She is currently based at Hayley
Beresford’s yard and I haven’t seen her for two years, so it was great catching
up. I have missed having her around in England to "chat dressage" with, as we both had the same trainer, the lovely Eileen O'Connor.
In the evening it was back to ordering takeaway pasta (yes,
takeaway pasta!) from the usual Italian place in Handorf. Spinach tortellinis
washed down with red wine, perfect. I was reminded how tricky it is finding decent vegetarian food in Germany. I was not feeling as apprehensive this
time the night before the course started as this time I knew what to expect... hard work but a lot of fun! The main talk was which horses we would be allocated
the following day. I was also trying to get as much information about the new dressage trainer, as I was of course going to be specialising in dressage for the exam. He had only joined the school last year and all I knew was that he was young, and firm but fair.
Nice hot shower and then a good rest in a comfy bed,
Monday 9th September
Last lie in for a while, we only had to be up for breakfast at
8am then we had a
briefing at 8.30am by Linda. We finally met the new deputy manager and dressage trainer, Stefan
Wolff, who seemed really lovely, approachable and organised. He had previously
lived and worked in the US for several years so his English was perfect and he even cracked some very amusing jokes! He had trained with Klaus
Balkenol, so no need to even sing his praises. He gave us an overview of the
course then allocated us horses based on our riding experience. I was given
Damjan, who I vaguely remember from two years ago as being quite a nicely schooled bay
gelding.
So Trainer B involved the following, if I was to specialise
in dressage. I would need to ride in front of the judges at L (Elementary)
level and also show that I could teach at that level. We also found out the essay we had to write
needed to be around 15 pages long and on a very specific topic, yikes! We would
also have to critique someone else teaching, present a theoretical session and write a detailed lesson plan.
You also had the option to specialise in jumping or producing young horses. We would still be taught in all disciplines during the course no matter which option we chose.
Quite a few girls had brought their own horse. We even had
an international showjumper on the course from the Czech Republic who had
competed in the World Cup and brought two of her horses.
The school horses looked in tip top condition, all the saddles had recently been checked and replaced as necessary - no mean feat in a riding school with over 60 horses. Generally everything seemed much more organised than two years ago. Even the new apprentices looked happier ;-) The whole feel of the place just seemed really positive, plus our group was just the loveliest ever.
We managed a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up
essentials such as pot snacks, chocolate and wine! Quite funny for me as I generally eat well at home, but I could handle three weeks of this, I've got many years of student experience under my Pikeur belt.
Then it was back for our first dressage session with
Stefan. In my group were Tracy G, Eva and Kjersti. We were in the outdoor school where I remember the horses were
generally a little on the spooky side. Damjan was slightly bigger than I
remembered, and looked like he had a fair bit of TB blood in him so not too
chunky. He was also much more forwards going than I remembered. At times he became quite excited and would want to lean on
my hands and speed up making it difficult to get him off the forehand, and
Stefan got me to half halt him, keep the tempo really slow in
walk and trot, and just work on transitions. He commented that I was very
upright which was good, but almost too upright! Wow, Eileen will be impressed
by that!! He had a very good analogy of pushing my seat towards the back of the
saddle and imagining the wind blowing my stomach back. This totally altered how
I sat and how the horse responded. He also told me to be careful not to ride too much on my thighs, as Damjan had a habit of making people do this as he is so forwards going. It is always so interesting with a new
trainer, let alone just being on a totally new horse. I thought Stefan was
really effective with his comments and to the point, making me really think about the session and go over it for the rest of the day.
Kjersti’s horse Ilja was fairly new to the school and a little on the excitable
side!! So overall we all had a pretty exhubarant first lesson on our allocated
mounts. Hopefully things will become calmer when we ride inside.
I was glad to get that first lesson done as there is always that feeling of when you come to Germany that you really cannot ride and may as well go home! The standard is incredibly high and its taken me a good few trips to become really accustomed to the German system. In fact I felt a lot stronger and confident than
last time in what I was doing. You just need to take in everything they tell you and not have any barriers, plus let go of whatever you do at home with regards to competing, training etc. The school horses are a very good leveller as they aren't as push button as you would imagine.
Another chilled takeaway and wine evening with the girls,
probably the last free evening before all the essay writing and studying would
commence.
Deja vu...student diet
Tuesday 10th September
So, first day of yard work, starting at 6.30am!.Somehow I
managed to wake up before my 6am alarm. I was working with Eva putting in the
silage, hay and straw for the horses, then sweeping afterwards. Everyone was
allocated different jobs and different stalls to take care of. Breakfast after
that is always the most amazing meal ever.
Our first session was riding theory in the classroom with
Stefan and we discussed the rider's seat in depth. He is fantastic at using precise
terminology, because as we all know, there is rather a lot
lost in translation from German into English. It was really great to be back learning all this again, I had forgotten how much I had missed it in fact. People may argue that it is quite possible to be a good rider without knowing all this information, but wow does it come in useful when you teach and you have a structured system to follow with clear language and definitions. And as they say, an effective teacher reduces all the white noise and can just say the bare minimum.
Our first riding session of the day was jumping. Whilst I wasn't to be examined in jumping they still wanted us to have a good allround experience, plus it all helps with dressage riding and balance. I
was glad to see I had been given Spocky, a dark bay gelding who I knew was very willing and honest. We were lucky to have Herr Plewa himsefl teaching us in
the jumping. Spocky turned out to be a little spooky today! However I managed
to get him round everything and Herr Plewa was pleased, and said in a few more
sessions he would start to settle more. Some people had trickier horses than others, and someone had a fall when their horse stopped (nothing serious luckily) so quite an eventful first session.
For the dressage I tried a different horse today, a
Rohdiament mare called Redonda. She was very pretty, very dark bay, and not too
heavy. I liked her as soon as I saw her. She was not as forwards going as
Damjan and a little stiff, but she was easier to put together. There were
three of us in the dressage session today. Stefan lets us all work in open
order on whatever we feel is necessary for the horse, sometimes asking us to ride certain movements, like
today we all worked on improving the canter and also on turn on the haunches. He
said he preferred me on this horse, and got me to supple her with a lot of flexions. Stefan has such a great way of describing the halt halt, and especially important is how you shouldn't drive more coming out of the half halt than coming into it. Something we may understand but do we actually do this? We then had time to watch some of the other lessons which I find really helpful in training the eye.
Herr Plewa then gave a lecture demo about long reining, and
showed us how he trains young horses in piaffe. It did make me compare this correct, classical way to what you sometimes see with people using
whips in the wrong way and often losing the relaxation and producing stiff, incorrect and often croup high
movements. Of course Herr Plewa makes it all look so easy. He really can do what he preaches ie train according to correct principles. That seems to be a rare art these day and makes me even more glad to be training here.
Ashamed to say that six of us went to McDonalds and had a
big calorific dinner!!
I still haven’t confirmed with Stefan what I will be doing
for my essay and presentation so can’t make a start on it this evening. So just
going to chill in my lovely warm room while it pours with rain outside, and get
some reading done. Brought a few riding theory books to get stuck into.
Wednesday 11th September 2013
We managed to get through the yard work more quickly this morning. One of the horses had escaped in the night
and gone for a bit of a wander!
We had lots of free time in the morning as the other group
was jumping. I watched Stefan teach some of the Meister students who were of course all very effective riders. We then had theory with him and we discussed the use of the
rider's aids. Stefan is really good at relating
the information to current and relevant situations in the horse world. For
instance when talking about getting the horse more off the leg, if you let
the horse just escape forwards too quickly it actually comes off the driving
aids and the rider gets left behind and ends up behind the horse’s centre of
gravity, often causing the horse to tense its back and lose its suppleness. Yet
how often do we see people do this, over exaggerate the driving aids, the horse
almost jumps forwards, then tension is the result. Really interesting to
discuss, especially when you are presented with the theory behind it and not just some vague observation and feeling.
I finally had a thought about which topic to do for my essay.
As I have been working with two horses this year who have broken necklines, I
thought it would be interesting to talk about how to correct this fault in
training. Stefan said it was fine, but also said it was a vast and complicated
subject and I would need to do it really well, incorporating both the training
and biomechanical aspects. Ok, a little bit scared now I might mess it up!
I was really pleased to see I had a dressage lesson in the
afternoon with just Eva (who is taking her A+ exam) as opposed to having three or four in the lesson. So, second ride on Redonda. I felt a bit under pressure
to get everything much better than yesterday. We really got to work on her
straightness today as she is really tricky. On the right rein she just
wants to escape the outside aids and hollow, so I did lots of transitions and
lateral work to try and get her more evenly into both reins. She also doesn’t
stay off my driving aids in the canter, as soon as I half halt to shorten her
stride or collect a little, she has a tendency to suddenly drop back into trot. So we worked on this, and also walk-canter-walk
transitions. Again, tricky due to her straightness issues. However, Stefan said
that today was better than yesterday. It all feels a little messy with her but determined to get things better.
Eva had a really good session on PSG horse Des Capado. He is lovely looking with great collected work, but
really sharp and quite explosive and she did a fantastic job with him.
To finish with we did some seat exercises on the lunge in a
GP, dressage and racing saddle. Always hard work but hugely beneficial! We had Bianca for this, it was
really nice to see her again and she gave me a big hug and said she had chosen
my jumping horse Spocky especially for me as he needed a nice quiet rider, aww. My back
and legs were aching by the end of the session! Luckily I had Tracy in my group
who used to work with racehorses and had some great tips for riding in the
racing saddle. This work is so useful for riders of all disciplines for suppleness and balance.
In the evening had good intentions to start my essay, but
ended up chatting in the kitchen with Tracey, Eva and Kjersti and reminiscing
about previous courses and people we knew. Bad students!
Thursday 12th September 2013
Yet another super day. It was out first session practising
teaching today and I was to teach Tracey R on her own 5 year old horse, Bella.
The session went fairly well, with Stefan saying I had a good eye, and we came
up with exercises which would improve Bella’s self carriage.
I was then taught on Redonda by Tracy G. Redonda felt more
stiff and crooked in the canter today, so we worked on that. Tracy has her work cut out! I do like this little mare though, she's very nice natured and willing. I think she will be fab once she becomes more supple.
We then had a long 2 hour theory session with Stefan.
Ketinka went and made everyone coffee in preparation! Stefan went through the horse’s gaits
and how to ride some different movements. At the end I confirmed with him what
I would do for my presentation, which would be introducing novice riders to
their first dressage competition. He said that was fine but I would need to make it practical also, so I suggested incorporating some breathing exercises too.
In the afternoon we went to the local tack store and all I
bought were some socks! Well, I spent hours deciding whether to buy a new Uvex
helmet, decided that I would, then found out they didn’t have the right size or
colour. Absolutely adore the tack stores in Germany. Will bring an empty suitcase next time ;-)
We then all went out for dinner at a USA style restaurant.
Despite the UHT chocolate milk shake, it was nice to have a meal that wasn’t a
takeaway or a pot noodle! Had a great time with everyone. Trying to
come up with a plan how I can stay here and not go home!!
Friday 13th September 2013
We started off in the morning with XC. Tried to forget the
date! Tracy G's horse Space became a little excitable on the walk down to the course and she had to change horse. I rode good old Spocky, and Rebecca and Kjersti were in my
group. I got picked to jump each obstacle first. Was great to be back here on the XC course (yes, shocking to hear a dressage rider say that!)
Spocky was absolutely excellent and flew over everything. He
rides very much like Colorado who I had two years ago, and he is just so straightforwards. We started off
gently with very small jumps, then went on to ride obstacles like steps and banks. We finished with the water complex which is
always great fun!
Watch out - dressage rider warming up for cross country!
Spocky and I through the water complex.
In the afternoon Trainer groups A and B had theory on double bridles with Stefan. It was an excellent session and I learnt a lot of new information about how to choose bits. The most memorable part was actually putting our arm in between the bits and feeling how little pressure on the reins was needed to cause rather a lot of pain. No wonder they say if incorrectly used, the double can be like a razor blade in the hands of a monkey. Tracy G ended up with quite a mark on her arm. We all vowed we would be very, very careful when using double bridles from now on.
In the evening Tracey and I attempted to make a start on our
essays accompanied by a glass of wine. Didn’t get very far, as first I locked
myself out of my room and had to run and get the key off Bianca, she was just about to leave to go home! Then, Tracy kindly drove me, Hege and Hannah to the store
as we had no food. This was to be a rather memorable trip for Tracy as she’d
find out tomorrow! Early to bed at 9.30pm.
I am love, love, LOVING the course this year!!!
Saturday 14th September 2013
At breakfast Tracey suddenly
remembered she had left her Principles of Riding book and all her course notes
on top of her car boot last night, prior to us driving to the supermarket!
She drove back to find them all, retracing her route… her Principles was in the gutter, absolutely
sacrilegious! That is THE Dressage Bible! Luckily she managed to retrieve it and dry it out. Unfortunately her notes were all strewn out which was a bummer.
But at least we had stocked up on food I guess :-/
We had jumping after that with Bianca, doing grids with no
reins which is always really fun. As usual Spocky was great and flew over everything whilst I concentrated on my position.
Then we had dressage with Stefan on Redonda. In my group today were
Tracey R, Ketinka and Kjersti. She felt much better as the other German trainer, Mr Jackel,
had ridden her yesterday. Just worked on getting her straight and
supple and it feels like we are starting to click now. Stefan said I need to trust myself and get her to accept my diagonal aids and flexion even more. Finished the session lovely and
sweaty again, love a bit of hard work.
Stefan watches Redonda and I.
Then we had theory with Bianca. Worked on my essay a
little but need some more textbooks. Shame I didn't have my entire bookshelf of riding books with me.
Bianca had mentioned that there was a party in the stables for
the riding school riders. So after doing 4pm stable duties we checked it out.
Had rather a lot of wine and punch, and ended up hanging out with Rebecca,
Kertinka and Kjertsi. We were all quite merry and came
up with the great idea to go clubbing Munster in the evening, so set about recruiting some more people.
So we ordered our takeaway, had a little rest, then got
dressed up ready to partayyyy! Usually we are in bed by 9pm. So as I went down
to the kitchen at 10pm as we had arranged, a little worried everyone would
have changed their mind and wouldn’t be there! However, Kertinka, Rebecca,
Heige and Sarah were still up for going. So we got a taxi
to Munster and started off in a cool little bar. We had cocktails and funny
discussions about whether we preferred uptight German guys or more relaxed
German guys!! As you do.
We then headed to the nightclub Heaven. Was a fantastic
night!! We managed the entire clubbing experience with crazy dancing, attracted
guys young enough to nearly be our sons (!), ate greasy chips after, then
returned back for a good three hours snooze time. Total success I would say!
Sunday 15th September 2013
So to bed after 3am and up ready for yard work commencing at
7am. Might have been easier to go straight from club to yard. There was lots to do as
well as there are few people naturally on a Sunday. Have never been so glad for
breakfast! Had a little snooze after that then did work on my essay. Am making good progress on it and
really hope its along the right lines. So much more fun than uni essays.
Really warm and sunny today. Linda arranged to pick us up at
5pm so we could all go for dinner in Munster. Despite being a tad tired, I
thought it would be fun to go. It was long (but very entertaining) getting
there, as we went to the wrong restaurant, walked for miles, and didn’t
eventually arrive until after 7pm. Ketinka had made a really good choice
choosing an Asian restaurant and the food was lovely and felt much
healthier than all the recent junk, they even had tofu, hoorah! Had a glass of Pinot and we chatted about all
sorts of funny stuff. We are already discussing coming back early next year to
do our Silver Medal course, which is required prior to the Trainer A exam.
Monday 16th September 2013
Argh another 8am dressage lesson! So mad rush, the bread for
breakfast hadn’t arrived so I shoved some cheese down my throat and tacked up
Redonda. I was warming up when Kertinka checked the list and said my horse had
been changed, I was meant to be on Wenturoso! It was too late to do
anything now, was hoping Stefan wouldn’t think I was a total idiot. He said it
was fine, he had just wanted to change the horses round a bit and see what I
thought.
So another sweaty, hard, lesson trying to get Redonda’s back end
following her front, getting her to accept the hollow right rein and basically
get her connected. We must have ridden for a good hour, it was a long, tiring but thoroughly enjoyable lesson. Really good for me to work on straightening. One interesting thing was that Stefan told me to shorten the reins and I automatically straightened the right, inside rein first then thought "oh no!!! Always shorten the outside one first!" but then he said I'd done the right thing to shorten the hollow rein first, so that she had to stay connected with it. I have never come across that before but it makes total sense with a horse who is extremely crooked - note, not for your average horse guys, outside rein first ;-)
The next surprise
was when we discovered we had to do our stable management presentations at 2pm.
Tracey and I were working together and hadn’t even started ours yet!. So in between
riding and during lunch, we managed to put some sort of Powerpoint presentation
together on Health Prevention. It actually went pretty well considering. Kertinka’s
presentation on the hoof was interesting!! Funny old afternoon though: balancing the laptop
on a hay bale, Stefan getting horse snot from Robert all over him, Tracey saying a good first aid
kit would contain pliers to remove the hoof! Think all the work must be getting to us :-p
It was Kjersti’s birthday today and I made her a card with
only the items I had with me, lined paper and highlighters! Poor girl! She was enjoying drinking red wine, eating marzipan chocolate and pondering over horse videos again, so quite a nice birthday really.
Early finish at 4.15pm so we could work on our coursework. We
had takeaway pasta to celebrate with Kjersti, and Linda joined us for a glass
of wine.
Tuesday 17th September 2013
I always prefer to start the day with jumping rather than
dressage as it involves a bit less brain power and sweat. Tracey, Kjertsi and myself
were in a group with Herr Plewa. I did have to think slightly more than I’d
expected as I was the first rider to go out of us, and I’m not great at
memorising courses quickly. Spocky was so much better today. He
had a couple of looks at jumps but overall I really loved the whole experience.
I do find courses easier as once you've got a good rhythm going everything flows nicely. Somehow during this lesson I managed to pull something in my lower back
which was painful for days after, but as long as I can ride dressage, that’s
all that counts right ;-)
Herr Plewa then did theory with us in the school, and we
watched one of the apprentices ride Damjan. These sessions are always so
interesting and some of my favourite as you can see theory in action. We talked about the quality of the paces and the
influence of the rider’s aids. Damjan is not the most supple horse so we watched how specific exercises could improve this.
After lunch it was more teaching practice. Yet again, I was
first to go!!! What is with this?! Hadn’t prepared as much as I should have done which showed. The
plan is now that I need to develop the concept within Tracey’s lesson more and integrate counter
canter and simple changes, as well as all the rest, in my 20 minute slot.
No sweat :-/
I managed to get the right dressage horse ready today,
Wenturoso, who is a bay gelding by Weltmeyer. It was a bit daunting as I
wouldn’t be having a lesson with Stefan on him, but instead Tracy G would be
practising her teaching on me, and neither of us knew how the horse should go.
So I warmed him up on my own before the session started and was relieved to
find him much straighter and lighter to ride than Redonda. The session went really well, with
Tracy getting me to get him more supple over the back and maintaining the
forwards tendency in the canter-trot-canter transitions and not back off the contact. We
then started to work on collecting the canter with simple changes in mind. We were quite impressed how he changed from the warm up to the end of the session and became really ridable.
I was still worried what feedback I would get from Stefan
about riding this new horse though! At the end of the session he said “Anita,
come over here” and I thought eeeek, maybe he’ll drag me off the horse?! Thankfully
he actually said I rode him well, yes rode him well!!! Apparently he has a
tendency to come behind the contact but had been good today. Anyway, hope its not beginners
luck and sometimes I feel more worried after a good session. But still, really
pleased with that. So two great rides today.
I then watched some of the other lessons. Also managed to finish my
essay today finally. Knowing me I will probably still add bits until I am forced to hand it in.
Usual appearance of my desk. Yes, wine in a teacup. Must take a wine glass next year.
Wednesday 18th September 2013
Just about managed barn work today with my dodgy back. We had the
morning free to work on our coursework. Then we had another theory session in
the school with Herr Plewa, again talking about the gaits and training. He
always explains everything so clearly, and I love the fact that him and Stefan compliment each other perfectly and nothing is out of sync.
So second ride on Wenturoso, in a lesson with Stefan. Eva
and Tracy G were in my lesson today. Another super duper ride, really pleased
with how it went. Stefan commented favourably on our working, collected and
medium canters, counter canter, simple changes and stretching in trot. I kept getting stuck in the turn on the haunches and he helped me with a great visualisation. He held his
hand to my side (on the inside) and said imagine every single fibre in my body
is trying to get closer to it. This really helped me guide the horse much more
into the movement in a more flowing way, without needing to think about specific aids whilst riding it.
So we cooled the horses off, plucked them apples from the
tree, and then headed off for our next session. This was a discussion session in
the breakfast room with Stefan about how our essays, presentations and lesson
plans were going. There were a lot of question marks and doubts as we told him
what we’d done so far, was a very entertaining session actually! Very funny moment when I managed to blurt something out a little too quickly which prompted Stefan to say he had to really use his brain to understand me haha. Ironic as I'm the only person on the course who lives in England with possibly the most British accent! I handed in a
draft copy of my essay so will wait tentatively… hoping he won’t tell me to
choose an easier topic instead now that I have written a crazy amount of pages...
A few more people did their stable management presentations
and we didn’t finish until 6.30pm. takeaway pasta dinner. Yet again I’m “first
on” again tomorrow morning at 8am teaching Tracey so need to plan my lesson
properly.
Thursday 19th September 2013
I was pretty nervous before teaching Tracey this morning, I think the pressure to perform better and better is starting to get to me a little.
Stefan basically said I need to be more confident and trust my eye. If Tracey doesn't improve what she's doing enough, then I need to YELL, pretty much! Although Bella is only
five Tracey will aim her at Young Horse classes next year. So 1) Tracey is a
long standing friend 2) I have to teach her on her own, talented young horse
and not a school horse, and 3) she works and trains with Hayley Beresford!! All
of these factors add to my general nerves about the whole situation!
So Tracy G taught me on Wenturoso. He felt stiff to
start with and I always worry I won’t be as good as the previous day, but he
was really mega again. So good that we flew through the transitions, got him more
supple, did really good simple changes on a serpentine, and then finished with
medium trot. Stefan=very happy, and said “very good riding” again at the end, wahoo!
And I was pleased when Ketinka said that she’d never seen him do a medium trot like
that before. So left another session on a total high :-) Why can't life always be this amazing ;-) I am really latching onto praise as the first time I rode in Germany many years ago I barely left walk as my thumbs weren't even in the right position lol.
At lunch, Joan from Canada arrived and it was good to catch
up again. I’d met her two years previously and she’d come especially for the
Eckart Meyners clinic which started that afternoon. It was great to finally meet
Eckart and his lovely wife, having learnt about his techniques of improving
rider balance and co-ordination during my Trainer C course. He started by
giving us a talk, and I was very glad he brought copies of his book
Effective Teaching and Riding as I have not been able to get hold of a copy in
the UK at all.
Joan was the first rider on the clinic. Basically the rider
has their horse warmed up, then schools the horse in front of Eckart for about
5 minutes (or sometimes even less). Eckart has the most amazing eye to see
where they are blocked in their body and has a bank of over 600 exercises to help them.
He will also ask the rider what they feel they need to work on, and will ask
for feedback after he does the exercises. I have tried all sorts of rider orientated exercises from pilates to work without stirrups, but Eckart was about to revolutionise my seat and riding, and how I thought about it all too...
It seems that the typical rider is blocked through the
pelvis and this then affects movement throughout the whole body. There are also some key blockage areas that matter more than others, such as at the back of the head around the occipital joint. Eckart will make the
rider dismount the horse and work with them on the ground. Usually he
gives them exercises to do involving co-ordination or strengthening, and he has
a range of equipment he uses to help too, including the infamous Balimo stool (a stool that rocks in all directions that improves specific pelvis movement). He then gets them back on the horse
to see the difference. He will make them dismount and do exercises maybe 4 or 5
times.
So anyway, the difference he produced in every single rider
was just INCREDIBLE. As thinking trainers we all know it is not enough to simply
say “heels down” or “thumbs on top” as corrections because the origination of
the problem is elsewhere. But by starting with specific problem areas such as
the pelvis or stiff ankles/shoulders/whatever, you can produce a massive
influence on the seat. After just the first correction, every rider I saw got
back on and looked like they were swinging so much more in time with the horse
and with minimal effort...much more fluidity allround. Sitting trot truly became effortless when blockages
were removed. Has to be seen to be believed though!
You need to lose your inhibitions when you’re on a mat
sitting in front of an audience with your legs up in the air, as well as in
other undignified positions. I wasn’t riding until tomorrow and was a little
anxious what exercises I would be given.
Off-the-horse exercises
So it was a fascinating afternoon and every one of us was astounded by what we saw. Whilst I was a little familiar with the exercises I had never before seen riders on a horse before and after doing them. In the evening we all
went out for dinner with Eckhart and his wife at a local hotel restaurant.
I hadn't eaten much all day and drunk a little too much Pinot before the main
meal came! Seems to be a recurring theme here, hehe. There were very lively discussions, we had a great night, and I was buzzing
when I got home and couldn’t sleep at all. Which doesn’t bode well for early
morning starts!!!
Friday 20th September 2013
YET another utterly amazing day. First we had the theory of
straightness with Stefan at 8am which was really useful as straightness is a
subject that I cannot get enough of, it makes my brain feel like I'm doing algebra. I really understand what “riding in
position” is now having pondered on it for the last two years! You ride shoulder fore positioning on the horse's hollow side and riding in position on the stiff side (the terms hollow and stiff aren't exactly accurate but we won't get into that discussion right now!)
I was second to ride in the Eckart clinic. Bit of a panic as
I realised Wenturoso was in the field and had to rush to get him in and ready.
I warmed him up and we started. Eckart asked me what I wanted to work on. I said I felt like there was too
much movement in my pelvis and middle of my body, and would like this
stabilised. I also feel like I carry too much tension in my shoulders and would
like them more relaxed. So he set to work!
The first exercise was to stabilise the pelvis more. He got me to do a simple exercise that involves lieing on my back and moving my knees one way and my head the other. No
joke, when I got back on and did sitting trot (bearing in mind the horse isn’t
the smoothest or most supple), I felt like I was literally glued to the saddle
and could sit and absorb the movement without doing anything consciously at
all. Usually I can only get this sensation on horses/ponies with more flat movement.
I was totally shocked at how easy and effortless it suddenly felt. I didn't have to exert as much muscle power to sit still relative to the horse.
So I was on and off the horse a good few times. We
discovered my left shoulder is pretty bad in its range of movement and he gave
me specific exercises for that. I also did a gruelling one to strengthen
certain muscles which involved trying to balance on a sort of cushion on my
back, front and both sides with all limbs off the ground – not easy I can tell
you! Felt like pilates! But once back on the horse I felt amazing. My shoulders
felt so different, I can only describe it as my arms felt much lighter and no
effort to carry or hold at all, like they might just float away. I'm generally the biggest sceptic about new things until I can prove them to be true, and let me tell you, this guy is an absolute genius and we were so lucky to have had the opportunity to work with him.
More exercises with the guru that is Eckart Meyners.
And putting it into practice.
After that I had a cross country session on Spocky with
Tracy G (on Duval) with Bianca teaching. This was also a positive session, despite
Spocky having a spooky at a few obstacles, I felt really in balance with him and
feel like my light seat is pretty secure now. We finished with the good old
water complex. Bianca said I became a bit too upright in between the fences and
said it was probably because I didn’t want to get water in my eyes, hehe.
After this Kjersti and I watched Hege have a private lesson
on Daywalker with Stefan. The weather was lousy and rainy but I managed to get
some good photos for her as she very kindly always takes photos of us riding. Stefan's focus on the rider is exceptional, I am starting to like him as a trainer more and more.
Stefan instructs Hege on Daywalker
We were waiting for Stefan to go through our essays and I
asked him if he was done, but he said he’d only read half of mine! Eek, the deadline is 8am
tomorrow morning, printed out and ready!!! We didn’t want to harass him any
more so left it and headed back to the dorms. Linda hung out with us for a
while and discussed the day with Eckart and we suggested putting together a
plan of practice for everyone to keep up the exercises, as we still have all
the equipment to play with.
Stefan eventually made a little impromptu trip to our dorm to give us back our essays. Poor him having to deal with a dozen high energy females all eating takeaway and drinking wine, whilst practising our Eckart exercises! I was very very pleased to get good feedback on my essay :-D
Saturday 21st September 2013
Never want to leave, but really this stable work is getting
too much haha. We had a long and interesting riding theory session with Stefan
at 8am again. Then it was a dressage lesson with him. I was feeling a bit flat
and unmotivated today. I think because I really don’t want to make anything
worse before exam day. However good old Wenturoso was great as usual, his
collected canter is just fab. Stefan said I should do something more
complicated to get myself noticed more, like a 6 loop serpentine with simple
changes. Kind of tricky to practice with 3 other riders in the school! But
hopefully we should be okay with that.
After that we were free until Monday!!! Well kind of. Kjersti, Tracey and
I had went to Handorf to get our essays printed in colour and finally handed
them in, what a relief. We then went to the supermarket and discovered there
was a free wine dispensing machine at the back of the store. Yes really! Free
wine! No one even cared that we spent rather a long while trying out every
different wine. Wow, this would never happen in England! I bought 8 Milka
chocolate bars (as well as other junk) and we headed back.
Free wine!!!
Hege wanted to go to the tack store again so I thought I’d
go as I had nothing much planned. Linda took us and we had a good old catch up.
I really don’t seem to be much good at this buying lark, I just bought a Pikeur headband. Picturing a cold Winter when I return to England, eurgh.
Keep getting texts every other day from new clients back
home who want lessons which is great as I cannot wait to unleash all my new knowledge and enthusiasm :-D
For lunch I actually stooped to new student lows and
microwaved yesterday’s takeaway pasta! Spent some time working on my lesson
plan. Started to drive me insane as its so complicated!! I have everything in
it from transitions within the gait, to counter canter, to a simple change.
Need to remind myself that this is a lesson plan and not an essay! Plan on just
reading my new Eckart Meyners books this evening, drinking wine and eating
chocolate on my bed.
Loving the fact tomorrow is the first morning off from
stable duties.
Sunday 22nd September 2013
Did I have a lie in? No! I went down for breakfast at
7.30am, went round chasing laundry tokens, then did my washing. Spent the
morning trying to do more work on my presentation. Despite it only needing to
be 15 minutes long it seems to be taking me a very long time to make it. Have some
lovely colourful Powerpoint slides though.
At 1pm we all headed off to the stallion parade at
Warendorf. It was pretty cool, lots of upbeat dance music and highly exhubarant
stallions being shown off. I bought some new riding gloves, ate chips and drunk
hot chocolate. Took lots and lots of photos. There was a lot of energy at the show, really great.
In the evening we went for dinner in Warendorf, me, Tracey,
Sarah and Hege. Was the best meal I’ve had here, veggie wrap, more chips and
Pinot, yum. Great afternoon of not having to think about work!
Just back and its shower and bed for me.
Monday 23rd September 2013
Another awesomer than awesome day. Starting to wonder if
my perception of life is way off as things are going amazingly well for
once?!
As usual I was teaching Tracey at 8am. Felt more confident
today, although felt really really hot and wondered if I was coming down with
something! Went fairly well again, just need to remember to give Bella more breaks!
I then rode for Tracy G. Poor old Wenturoso was stiff today
after a day off yesterday. He was really difficult to get through but we
managed to do our simple changes and some counter canter. Thankfully Stefan didn't hold me responsible for Wenty's way of going and commented that he was a bit clumsy today. Lets hope he improves before
the exam!
Frantically finished my oral presentation at lunch time as
we were showing them to Herr Plewa in the afternoon as a practice run. I
am not the best at speaking in front of people! My topic is also a bit “unconventional” as
I've decided to change it, and its about the rider’s mind and some psychology and philosophy behind riding.
For the practical part I am going to lead two short meditation sessions based
around improving focus and concentration when riding.
I was second last to go and was a bit worried watching
everyone else’s presentations as they were all really good and practical.
Kjersti was doing rider symmetry, Tracey suppleness whilst lunging, Tracy
conformation and Ketinka the muscles. So it seemed mine was the only classroom
based Powerpoint one, uh oh.
Ketinka chalks up my Wenty to show where the muscles attach. Herr Plewa watches on.
Anyway I started it and got into a good flow and people
seemed interested. Herr Plewa stopped me after about 5 minutes and I thought oh
dear, either this is way off or 15 minutes has flown by! I hadn’t even got to
the meditation part!! But he basically said it was really good, I was
enthusiastic and he didn’t need to see anymore. Eeeeek!
Eva was the last to go for her Trainer A+ presentation and
it was really interesting as she talked about different training systems in
various countries, including the German system, Parelli etc.
VERY relieved to get that over with!!!
Funny not having much to do this evening as presentation and
lesson plan are pretty much done.
Ordered my new Uvex Perfexxion anthracite helmet today so
should be waiting for me when I get home. At least that’s one thing to look
forwards to when I head back. Also trying to organise my lessons for the weekend I get
back.
So all I’ve done this evening is drink more wine and
straighten my hair ;-)
Tuesday 24th September 2013
Slightly bitter sweet day I guess.
We had lots of theory in the morning with Herr Plewa, Stefan
and Bianca. Kind of nice to sit down for
a few hours. Hannah and Dara did their stable management presentation on
lameness which was really useful. Stefan made a joke about Ketinka’s hoof
presentation which I won’t repeat, but it was rather amusing!
Everyone hard at work.
At lunch I finished off my lesson plan and then handed it
in. Another bit of coursework done with.
In the afternoon we had our last dressage training session
with Stefan. I think we all wanted this session to really count. So I set off
all determined to get Wenturoso ready. Stefan was teaching and paused to tell
me he’d seen my horse “cantering around in the field” and I’d need to get him
in! Luckily one of the apprentices was just leading him in so I didn’t have to
panic. Can’t stand running late! Poor boy wasn’t impressed he didn’t get his
lunch though. He’s so sweet, he watches
me the whole time I walk off to get his tack and waits for me to get back then
licks my hand.
Today I warmed him up by walking round the big field. As
he’d been so stiff yesterday I spent a good 20 minutes walking, and hoped that
this might liven him up a bit more too. Sarah was riding Robert out there who
really is a transformed horse since two years ago, much leaner and works really
nicely now on the bit. Apparently they even use him for the Meister exam.
I warmed up with Tracy G and Ketinka in the jumping arena
and made sure Wenturoso was more in front of my leg than usual. Started the
lesson feeling really positive and it continued in a similar manner. Achieved the
best trot and canter I’ve ever managed with him. I was really able to pick him up in
front and ride him with even more collection. Was such a great ride with a
really good feeling. I just love this horse! Some random cyclists stopped by to
watch us ride and said “well done!” as I trotted past haha.
Stefan said it was a good session and I said I’d stop there
before I made anything worse!! I joked that I’d have to take him back to
England with me to help me keep riding like this, and he said it would
definitely be possible for him to hop across to England. Seriously?! Oh wow!!!
Something to keep my spirits up as the end of the course looms.
So I felt kind of happy, sad and excited as I walked my sweaty
boy off round the block. Afterwards we watched Hege do the last horse
management presentation which was on feed. Stefan cracked lots of funny jokes
and it was a really good, fun last session. He won’t be here for the last two
exam days as he’s going away.
Spent the evening cleaning my tack. There were lessons going
on until late. Our dorm kitchen was full of tack, boots and polish. Had a great
chat with Tracy G about life in general as I buffed up my boots with a pair of
tights, best secret to getting a good shine ;-) Kjersti has gone to look at more horses for sale with Linda and she
showed us the videos of some of the stunners she saw on her last trip out. It really is all about contacts.
So as I sit here the evening before our ridden dressage and
teaching exams tomorrow I don’t feel nervous in the slightest. I am looking
forwards to riding lovely Wenturoso one last time and making sure it’s a great
ride. I feel really sad that our dressage training is over and that the course
is nearly finished. I feel that usual apprehension about going home as I have a
whole load of things to sort out. But I also feel beyond excited that Stefan
will come to England!!! And he reckons he could fit in a visit fairly soon.
Better get planning this clinic then, CANNOT WAIT!!! I must say that Stefan has
really made this course.
So I guess it will be a bit strange thinking that I will be
carrying on this journey without him overseeing every session, and without the
companionship of the amazing friends I have made on this course. Sob sob. I guess I’d better get
my arse in gear, organise the clinic, and start planning ahead for my next
goals (if I pass these exams). Which will be the Silver Medal and then finally
the Trainer A.
Wednesday 25th September 2013
Its 9.45am and just killing time in my room. We did barn
work as usual in the morning and my first exam isn’t until 3pm. I turned
Wenturoso out in the field so hopefully he will be nice and loose again today.
Will get him in and plait up fairly soon. Just been catching up on Facebook.
Markus Bauer has started an interesting thread about not-so-great-judging and
there were comments afterwards from people saying they didn’t really know what
thoroughness was. So I told them to come to Germany where they will be forced
to write essays on it and ride decent schoolmasters :-P
Been making taxi arrangements and things to go home :-( What a transforming trip this has been.
So on to the exam. Tracy and I were riding together in the
first group. We got on and ready in lots of time, although I was a bit stressed
as my arm number kept falling down and the white saddlecloth didn’t fit
properly. Its funny how little things can set you off! We had a nice long warm up and I was disappointed that Wenty was
having more of a stiff day. Oh well, just had to work him as best I could.
We had been told the actual exam was going to consist of the
judges watching us school the horses for 15-20 minutes and we had planned
roughly what we would show in that time. It turned out to be much shorter than
this and I was really disappointed (more that I’d let Stefan down!) that I barely
got to do the movements we’d been practicing. I did some collection and
lengthening, and I did put in some simple changes, but didn’t get round to
doing the whole serpentine as the canter wasn’t “quite” ready, and did no
counter canter either. So felt a bit despondent when they said the time was up.
Riding Wenty in the exam
I then had to critique Ketinka teaching Kjersti. That went
ok, although they did ask a few unexpected questions about the horse as opposed
to the teaching that threw me for a moment.
I then had to teach Tracey according to our lesson plan.
Poor Bella looked tired from the start having already done her dressage
session. So it was difficult to get her where we wanted her and with more self
carriage, although we did get a good counter canter. The judges then asked me
questions about how I thought the session went etc.
Then finally I had to ride whilst Tracy G taught me. Somehow
the judges were running half an hour EARLY and I barely got time to canter or
loosen up poor old Wenturoso. So in we went again. Felt bad for Tracy as he
felt really tired and I was working hard to try and get him more in front of my
leg but nothing much was happening. Shame as yesterday had been super, but I
guess all the horses are becoming a little tired now.
So felt a bit deflated after all that, especially with the
dressage riding. But then I thought, would I rather have had an amazing lesson
with Stefan yesterday which I did, or had an amazing ride during the exam, and
actually yesterday meant more to be honest.
We all decided what we needed was some retail therapy!! So
we managed to get Linda to call Leo’s Tack Store to stay open for us in the
evening and Tracey, Hege, Hannah and myself drove over there. Managed to find
some bargains so was a little happier. And we stopped off at McDonalds too and
that also helped somewhat haha.
Stayed up late in the kitchen chatting as some people are
going home tomorrow evening. We spent hours analysing the day. Everyone seems
calm about tomorrow. All I have to do is the oral presentation now.
Thursday 26th September 2013
Last day of the course. After stable duties I actually went back and had
a nap as presentations not until the afternoon. Had lunch with Tracey, Tracy
and Kjersti and we discussed the course and how much fun we’d had, and planned
when and where we would be meeting up again.
I was last to go in the presentation. Became a little
nervous watching all the others do theirs. However it went ok. Very surreal
getting everyone in their show gear to meditate, not to mention the
examiners!!! Relieved when that was over.
Tracy presenting her talk on the horse's conformation. Lots of useful information about what makes an ideal dressage horse.
Kjersti's talk on rider symmetry. Sarah was an obliging model and we learnt a lot about how asymmetry is compensated for within the body.
Wenty being decorated again.
And yey we all passed!!!!!! Thank goodness after all that hard work. Mr Plewa had the champers
waiting as soon as we found out, and many photos were taken.
A really great group
In the evening we all went out for dinner in Warendorf with
Linda. Was a really lovely end to the course. Very entertaining and fun
evening, especially the taxi ride back home with Tracy and Dara, which involved a little spillage!! Absolutely shattered
though. What a trip.
Friday 27th September 2013
Amazing sunrise this morning, our very last day,
Flight wasn’t until the afternoon. Tracey and I headed to
Munster with the money collection from everyone to buy presents for Linda,
Stefan, Mr Plewa and Bianca. I felt really queasy from last night and looking at stripey scarves and things didn't help at all :-/
Lovely Sarah booked my taxi, and whilst I waited
I had coffee with her and Hannah. Was very sad saying goodbye to them, Tracey and
Rebecca as my taxi arrived. The taxi driver said to me “You really ARE sad” as I burst into tears!
And so it was back home to England to put everything into practice that I had
learnt, and hopefully inspire people along the way to train their horses ethically yet effectively.
Bye bye Germany for another year :-)
