Story: Rebecca Ashton & Photos: Rebecca Ashton and Kiki Beelitz
After watching Anna-Sophie in her role as the riding judge in the finals of the Hanoverian Society young horse classes at the Sydney CDI, I was looking forward to watching her teach. Anna gave two clinics while in Australia, one in Sydney and one in Brisbane.
The young German trainer is not one of those instructors who sits in the corner and tells you everything is good. Even after a night of Tasmanian wine, she was on the ball, calm and in the middle of the arena, cigarillo in one hand, coffee in the other, riding every step with the rider. Like most good Germans, Anna-Sophie is a stickler for the training scale. Rhythm was the first priority. When a young horse was struggling to find its balance, it had to be pushed on a little to find some momentum, but never rushing. And when the rider applied too much rein to bring the horse back, Anna helped out, “Don’t do it with your reins. Have a bigger seat and stretch with the body. When you use the hand you block the hindquarters. Step in the stirrup and just lift your weight slightly out of the saddle. Now he goes straight behind, not wide.”
The warm-ups were calm, soft and gradual. Once the horses were rhythmic with their minds on the job, it was time to supple them a little. On a 20 metre circle, Anna-Sophie got the riders to slowly and gently counter flex the horse, lifting the top line and letting the horses’ muscles loosen up. “Now we get suppleness in the whole body. Lower and stretch the neck without shortening it,” she instructed.
Although Anna- Sophie was looking for rhythm and then suppleness, she was always aware of the rider’s body and corrected the issues there first. With a couple of the younger participants, she even took the stirrups away. However, most crimes were committed with the hands. “When you sit up straight, it’s much easier. You feel the muscles of the lower back and you don’t need much hand. Just the outside hand. The inside just flexes the jowl a little bit,” she explained. And to another, “Leave your hands in front. You don’t need them. Just use your legs a little bit to ride him through to your hand.”
All the horses had to be sharp to the leg. With a more advanced combination, Anna- Sophie wanted a fast response, “He must be much quicker off the leg. Short back and then quickly out again but keep the rhythm. Use your hips and keep him in front of the leg.”
The half passes were preceded by a 10 metre circle in the corner to prepare for the movement. She stopped one rider to explain, “Open the horse’s ribs with the inside calf. Let him find the rhythm and then sit to the inside and feel the inside seat.”
Although the most consistent message was, “Take time”, Anna also demanded good concentration and attention to detail. When a rider was losing focus towards the end of her lesson, Anna encouraged, “Ride the extended canter across the whole diagonal for a ten, then the collection back for a ten and then the flying change for a ten. Really go for it.”
Most horses improved immensely by the end of their lesson. They were generally more relaxed in their body and more focused on their rider. This allowed for bigger, swinging strides with the rider doing less but having better control and sharper reactions from their partner. Anna really enjoyed the progress, “It makes me very happy. I love my job when a rider understands,” she beamed. It takes a knowledgeable coach with good communication skills for that progress to take place. Anna-Sophie is such an instructor.
It is always lovely to learn the background of such a talented professional and Anna-Sophie was more than happy to have a chat. And it really was a chat; I think we laughed our way through the whole interview.
At what stage in their training do you usually take on horses?
I have no time to break a horse so we get horses that are ready to go. But they are really green. We have to unbreak them. They don’t need to be on the bit; they don’t need to have a contact. I tell the horse breakers you only need to go on and go up. The rest I will do so I can begin at the lowest point of the scale, rhythm. It’s easier to teach them from the beginning than to undo mistakes.
Who do you train with?
I’m still training with Hans Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen and also with Heike Kemmer. She’s a good friend of mine. We started training just after the last time I was here (in 2011). They are both fantastic trainers and it is not possible for me to decide which one I want, so I go to both! Heike is completely in another way than Hans Heinrich. Hans Heinrich only has to look at me and I know what he’s thinking. It’s absolutely easy. I’ve never competed at Grand Prix because the horses are always sold. It’s ok, I love to train them and then I get a new one, but it is also interesting for me to compete in that tour. Heike now tries to bring me in the other way, from the top.
Heike does a lot of exercises off the horse with Eckhart Meyners (a German movement professor) and she tries to make me do it. I trained with Eckhart when I did my masters. He does fantastic things and you can feel after a little workout that you are deeper in the saddle and are more flexible. He’s an interesting man and he comes regularly to Heike’s to work her and to flex her riders also. I think that it’s important that every rider knows where he has problems because a lot of problems with the horse are from the rider. In Germany we have a lot of interesting studies. Ten years ago I had a problem where my right hip is half a centimetre higher than my left and I was wondering why, after a time, my horses would start to go a little bit lame in the right hind. It was because I had blocked them and it was not possible for them to bring the right hind forward. After I discovered the problem, I always knew that I had to open my hip in the corner. Once I knew that, I’ve had no problems. It’s interesting. If you know your own body problems, you can make it so much easier. I think a lot of riders need to think about that.
Hans Heinrich will even tell you if you are too fat. He hates it. There was a time I had breeches that fitted a little bit lower on the hip. I came around the corner at a championships in the training with the fat over the top of the waist band and he said, “Are you crazy? Go and change your breeches! I will not train you with those breeches.” It was funny. Everything must be perfect. Never ride without a belt, always wear fitted clothes. But it’s good. It makes a big difference. I always tried to be a little bit trendy; that was my problem! But I still have a lot of bling; my belt, my saddle blanket and I was the first to have patent leather boots. And my horses always have one big swarovski on the middle plait in tournaments. It’s for luck. I can’t ride without it.
Do you have Olympic ambitions?
For sure, the biggest dream for any rider is to ride the Olympics, but I love what I do. I love coming to the stable every morning and not knowing what will happen that day. Everyday is different and you can never plan because you don’t work with machines. I have 20 horses with 20 different personalities. So sometimes in the evening it is not possible for me to talk with a friend because I’m exhausted. I’ve had already 20 friends I’ve had discussions with to find a way where we’ll be happy together, so that’s my life. To work at each level is why I love my job.
I ride between 10-12 a day. But sometimes I might just ride five. It’s always what the horse needs, I’m not a rider that says the more I ride the better it will go. I often say,
“No, yesterday he was so super that today he has a day off, only to go in the sun, only to go in the paddock.”
And they all go into paddocks?
Yes, all the horses go out. We have big stallion paddocks and paddocks where the mares and geldings can go out together with lower fences so they can play a little bit over the fence. I have big balls in the paddocks as toys and every horse also has a big teddy in its stable. One even has a Sydney CDI t-shirt on! Benetton Dream rests his head on his teddy when he sleeps. The teddy is squashed!
I have two mares and they each have a koala but they are always fighting over one teddy. Between the bars, one has the head and one has the arse. Really, they are so funny.
If a teddy dies, often the stallions kill them, they get a new one. We have a big box with a lot of teddies. Everybody brings them to us. It is so sweet.
Tell us about your superstar Benicio
Benicio (by Belissimo M) is like my best friend. Before I left for the airport on Wednesday I was about one hour in his box and I need about two hours to ride him and then Sarah, my groom and well, my second best friend, came and said, “Anna, you have to go now. He’s the only one you will miss when you are one week away.” She is right!
He had a year off last year because of breeding. He had to breed a lot and he had more than 300 babies in Germany this year. I have two mares and they’ve both had babies by him. The first one is looking like him; a lot of white. She is three and a half weeks and moving so well; so beautiful like her father.
Benicio is not a horse I need to work with. I play with him. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated on him because he is always trying to be with you. Everyday he is trying his best for you. Every good word you can find you can use for Benicio.
With no breeding this year he should go Prix St George. If everything is fine and we have a good feeling this year perhaps we ride the Nurnberger Burgpokal and the final in Frankfurt. We have to qualify first, but it is a little dream for this year. I think I’m the luckiest woman in the world because I get to ride this horse and he has the best owner in the whole world also.
Every time when I say I’d like to compete, the owner, who is South African says, “Anna, no pressure, take your time. It is only important that the horse learns and that you are both happy together.” When I had to ride in the Federal Championships, the only reason the owner didn’t come was that he thought I would feel under pressure if he was there. He is fantastic. He only comes one or two times a year to see Benicio and he stands in the middle of the arena when I ride him and says nothing. The normal way in Germany is that there is a lot of pressure and you have to have a lot of success and the horse is sold after the Federals. There were offers for a lot of millions for this horse and I had to tell him but he got angry and said to me, “Anna, I love to hear from you but never call me again and ask me if this horse is for sale. Never. Whatever the price.” It’s brilliant. I know how to live with the pressure, it is my job, but with him I don’t have it. And perhaps he is my Olympic horse in a few years if he stays healthy.
Your Imperio story is a lovely one..
Yes, a few years ago I had the Trakehner stallion Imperio, owned by Stud Hoeren. He was second at the World Championships and was Federal Champion but really he won the hearts of the crowd. We had our last year together because he was six years old. It’s a sad story but a nice story. The owner’s wife had cancer over 20 years. She was always sitting in the arena and helping me. At our last big show together, she was there and three weeks later she died and Imperio was sold to Hubertus Schmidt. Now I ride his son, Schwarzgold. So, I’ve ridden Imperio’s father Connery, Imperio and his son Schwarzgold. He is like his father and I think we have a big future together. He is now four and I have had him since last year when we qualified for the Federal Championships.
So you have just stallions?
I love my stallions. I love working with them. I have a few good mares too, but it is much more difficult to find a way with them. It’s the same as in life!
We are lucky that Anna-Sophie took time out of her busy competition schedule to fly the long haul down to Australia. She was generous with her knowledge which has been garnered by years of training a variety of horses, competing at the top level in Europe and working with some of the best trainers.
With her good looks, great personality and fabulous talent, Anna-Sophie’s star can only continue to rise. And who knows, perhaps Benicio’s teddy will get that trip to Rio in a few years.