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Above – Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Checkmate in the KL Grand Prix…<\/em><\/p>\n Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum perhaps more than any other rider in the world combines quite literally, the jumping approaches of the United States and Germany\u2026 Meredith came through the equitation \u2018style factory\u2019 and was coached by that doyen of American stylists, George Morris before she came to Germany to ride with great success, and achieved personal happiness married to German jumping star, Markus Beerbaum.<\/p>\n And with Shutterfly at Aachen<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Meredith really is the ideal person to discuss the relative merits of the two national jumping styles\u2026<\/p>\n \u201cBoth worlds have their own positive high points and I have been able to successfully combine them. The American style of riding is a lot freer, the horses are a lot more forward, they use a lot of pace. And the German style of riding is really concentrated on control, and being very exact at the distances \u2013 and that is really important for the technical courses at the top level. A combination of both systems is not bad.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the German style of riding has also changed over the last 20 years and become a little more similar, not to the American style, but maybe the Germans have picked up this free, forward riding and combined it with the control, and that has made for a really strong system.\u201d<\/p>\n Is that because the Germans are riding horses with more Thoroughbred blood?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOver the past 15 years, the breeding in Germany has really changed. Horses have a lot more blood, and they require a little bit of a different style of riding. They used to be very heavy horses that required a lot of leg, and a lot of support. Now they are lighter horses, more agile, and they respond better to a freer way of riding and the Germans have actually transformed their system to accommodate the blood horse.\u201d<\/p>\n Did you change your approach to flat work when you got to Germany?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI definitely learned how to get a horse more broke, to use German dressage to get a horse way better under control, way more attentive to the rider. The German dressage worked really helped and I think that is something that is a little bit weak in the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking at your working sessions, what proportion are you doing on the flat, and what proportion over jumps?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn general, I\u2019m not a huge jumper at home. I try to jump my horses as little as possible. Enough so they stay fit and their muscles and ligaments are right for competition, but when they get to a certain point, they don\u2019t need to be trained about specifics, then I try not to jump them at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYoung horses obviously require more training because they are more green about fences, courses, combinations, and they require a lot more jumping \u2013 but in general, I am not a big jumper.\u201d<\/p>\n Shutterfly in Las Vegas<\/em><\/p>\n How complicated does your dressage work get?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI think my dressage work is very very simple \u2013 it is not complicated at all. It is just about asking the things that are required in the course: that the horse goes forward when you ask him to, that he comes back when you ask him to, that he turns right and he turns left. It is very very simple.\u201d<\/p>\n So you are not working on laterals, that sort of fancy stuff?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn general no. I maybe use some lateral work to help a horse that has a problem. A horse that hollows in on one side, a specific problem like that, but generally my flatwork is very basic.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think I have adopted my own system over the years. Learning from people like George Morris but also learning from the Germans. Now I have my own system and I can\u2019t really say it\u2019s copy of anyone\u2019s \u2013 it is definitely unique.\u201d<\/p>\nInterview \u2013 Chris Hector & Photos \u2013 Roz Neave<\/h3>\n
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