Brett Peel and the four-year-old Geordie Boy<\/em><\/p>\nStefan: \u201cHe\u2019s pretty good on the bit, but see if you can yield to it sometimes. Invite him to stretch the neck. Don\u2019t give too early, but when it\u2019s time to give, don\u2019t ignore it. Your hand needs to always be sensing what\u2019s going on, non-yielding when the horse is against you, but follow when he wants to stretch. Don\u2019t worry so much about the low, worry more about the long.<\/p>\n
\u201cPick him up just so you have contact, then use the leg, then follow when he gives. Have a leg that is not endlessly pressing him forward, but is improving the contact. If he stops stretching half way through the stretch, your hand should hesitate as well, ask more from behind and then give again.”<\/p>\n
“Stretch forward, even uphill sometimes, not down. Follow the line of the crest. That\u2019s the direction he should stretch.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYou drive from behind and the horse pushes forward into the long rein. Give to him, but don\u2019t let it get lighter. The better the horse is trained, the better the rider gives into the rein and not the other way around. The horse has to learn to place the rider\u2019s hand. Give the rein forward and see where he takes you. Listen to your horse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe next step is to realise is that it\u2019s not just to keep the horse on the bit but to get the horse reaching for the bit. If you can teach the horse that you can probably teach it anything. That is the thing that most combinations have trouble with, especially at the high levels. It seems like a small detail now, but really it is not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Next Stephan asked Brett to ride a turn on the haunches: \u201cHe should be on the outside rein, but the balance should go to the inside. Make sure he is stretching and then ride out. The important thing at the moment is not that it\u2019s small but more that you can keep operating up there. Next time, if you feel him come behind the leg, just ride straight out, prepare and ride another one. Most important is that he keeps accepting your aids and that he isn\u2019t just doing the whole movement any way he can. If it\u2019s just one stride for now, then that\u2019s what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll your aids are focusing on that you touch him with the aids and you get a response. You\u2019re not chasing him away. You get a reaction and then you can relax, check your position, sit perfect, smile at the crowds! Relax your face like you have nothing else to do. Exactly!\u201d<\/strong>![\"_k3a0957\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0957.jpg\")
<\/p>\nSheree Neilson and Forest, a big baby<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cProper steady contact is more important than the stretch. If it changes every stride you cannot even call it a contact.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cYou are giving before you even have a contact. It has to be measurable – that\u2019s why it\u2019s called contact. When he moves the head around it is because he is not on the aids. Place the bit and let the horse come onto it. If you\u2019re giving too much you\u2019re not placing it.”<\/p>\n
\u201cDrive him onto the bit and let your hand wait. Low hands, no fiddling, no helping out. Drive. No flexing. You\u2019re doing too much. Put the bit in one place and make sure he\u2019s dealing with it from behind.”<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you worry about long and deep and flexion, you have to have steady contact. Before that you cannot even use your aids.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n“Steer him like a boat with the rudder in the back, not from the front like a steering wheel in a \u00a0car…”<\/p>\n
Stefan had Sheree riding with one hand, and it worked! \u201cThat is contact. Keep the hand in the middle of the wither. Don\u2019t try and help him. Let him deal with things. Let him muddle around a bit.\u201d![\"_k3a0963\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0963.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Sheree rides one handed<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cYou can interfere as much as you want with the leg, but not with the rein. The rein should be boring. The hands should be constant on either side of the neck so the neck can stabilise.\u00a0The leg should tighten the rein. Work on the leg producing contact. That\u2019s the whole point of it; riding from behind to the bit. The hand is just the counterpart to the leg. It doesn\u2019t produce anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n![\"_k3a0864\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0864.jpg\")
Rebecca sat down with Stefan after the clinic<\/strong><\/p>\nI know you touched on it a bit in our interview last year, but it seemed like contact was a major issue during this clinic…<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cIt is fact, in the contact you see every strength or weakness of the horse being worked. You see the entire training scale in the quality of the contact. You see rhythm faults by uneven contact, you see suppleness problems, straightness, tilting, lack of or too much impulsion, against the bit or behind the bit, connection issues. So contact is the ultimate measurement of the quality of the state of thoroughness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you think we understand it here?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cI would not use the term \u2018here\u2019. It is not a national problem of Australia. It is a challenge for everyone. If you talk about contact issues, you talk about thoroughness issues. Everyone has that. I do find a few people get a bit lost in detail. Let\u2019s say, someone who wants to ride their horse long and deep, wants to do something good, fiddles around so much that they lose all contact, but the head is down. Then here riding on the long rein is of no benefit to the horse because there is no connection over the back. The neck is down but the back is gone so there is no connection so it\u2019s useless.\u201d<\/p>\n
Are there other training issues that might be useful to point out to riders?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cOne thing, from the very basic riding to the top it\u2019s always again the rider\u2019s ability to ride the horse from behind through the body, through to the bit. It is always again a struggle. That\u2019s the art of riding. Look at the really fabulous riders, you don\u2019t think much about it because the contact is there. You can always take it back to the driving aid, some connection problem to the head. Back to basics!\u201d<\/p>\n
We seem to be plateauing up at the high 60s low 70s in our dressage scores here in Australia. Do you have any tips how we can get through that level?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cLet\u2019s say Germany, for example, has a huge advantage that we have such a high density of trainers, horse people, last generation horse people, institutions and short distances to get to them. For instance, if you want to have a weekend seminar in Germany, no matter which weekend you pick, get in your car and drive. Within 30 minutes to a maximum of four hours, you are there. So, I think the problem is more exposure to knowledge, looking at different riders, being around good riding, listening to good riding, seeing good riding. That all helps to boost your skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously with a large country like Australia where there are good trainers, but they are spread out and there are fewer than at home, fewer weekend seminars and fewer knowledgeable people who may not be in the saddle, but on the ground, whatever. The exposure is not as dense as at home. I think that is what has the greatest impact. I don\u2019t think it has anything to do with talent.\u201d<\/p>\n
Focusing on your lecture tonight, do you think flying changes very personalised?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cGenerally I agree with that because generally it is reaction based and things are so quick and so refined that I do agree that changes are pretty much customised. But, it is not about whether I can do a change or not. I think a properly trained horse that can do a change when you apply the aid, even if it\u2019s not exactly a customised aid, should do the change. I\u2019m talking about the refined things like tempi changes where you might need a few rides to get with a particular horse. When I try horses with clients, when they have problems with the first change, it would never worry me or back me off buying a horse, for example, not when the horse showed under the usual rider that it can do changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
You talked about breaking the stride in the changes and ending up with a four beat canter. You see a lot of photos now with these horses with big canters and they\u2019re not truly three beat. Do you think that\u2019s just better technology that we can see it or the breeding or training or tension?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cNo, I think the breeding has advanced no question. The horses get better. I\u2019m living in the present, I don\u2019t know what it was like in the past. Some of the older trainers say it was better before. Some say not. I don\u2019t know if it has changed so much. People look more, you are right, with the media there are more pictures taken, more video, so that certainly means people look harder than before and analyse more than before.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut of course, it\u2019s not a secret, some trainers use tension to make things more expressive and that\u2019s turning into a system of riding. It\u2019s not just that on the day you use a little bit of tension to prop up the horse. That wouldn\u2019t be a problem. But the entire training system of a few trainers is based on producing tension and that is the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, why do the trainers feel that they have to do it? Well there\u2019s obvious reasons, pressure from the clients, money, fame, all those things. But certainly it\u2019s not a secret.\u201d![\"_k3a0857\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0857.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Does the public drive that then? If so, does there need to be more education?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cPartly of course. It\u2019s very important for any trainer to be mentioned positively somewhere in the media. It really makes big difference if you are mentioned positively or\u00a0negatively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you feel there\u2019s becoming a bit of a division in dressage because of this though?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cNo, I don\u2019t think this is true. I think we are very sensitised, all of us. We also have to realise that there are some really good, sensible trainers out there and we should not overlook them. There are a lot of excellent trainers, really.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a problem, the bad training, it\u2019s not a good thing, but I see it a little more relative. On the other hand I think horses are treated pretty well these days overall. Some of them live better than a lot of people. I\u2019m just trying to see it from a distance and be realistic and objective about things and not be drawn into one of these insane discussions where you take one side or the other. I think clear analysis helps the best. Like with the lecture tonight, showing the photos not to judge someone for being a good or bad or mean rider, but just judging a moment as being good or not so good and differentiate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you engage in alternative training with the horses?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cYes, we have a gallop track at home, which they go at walk and I also ride them out there in a jumping saddle to get up off their back and canter them forward. They also do ground pole work but not a whole lot. I should do more! That\u2019s about most of it. We so also have an eventing field. They are sometimes worked there as well, but the most part is the dressage work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nine or ten horses from memory?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cWe have 12 now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Any superstars in the making?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cMost of them I am training up as the business is only 18 months old. A few of the young ones, two five-year-olds, two six-year-olds, one that starts in Prix St George, I am hoping to get them out there this year. They were just not ready last\u00a0year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you try to keep things pretty straight forward with the work; forward and back, a bit of laterals or do you like really trying to put every lateral movement choreographed in every possible way?<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cLet\u2019s just say a good half pass is the result of good bend, good impulsion and good balance. The horse crosses its legs to the inside because it\u2019s bent, it puts its weight to the inside and pushes through forward to the bit. So, it is a movement that is the result of certain basics. Dressage movements are not there for their own purpose. They are there to check to give you feedback as to whether certain basics work, so we should not forget that dressage was invented so that we could survive in the battlefield.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s kind of the idea. It\u2019s just a check to see if it\u2019s working and I really see it that way. Obviously when you go to a competition it has to work, but again, you get the result when you understand how to gymnasticise the horse properly. So, I don\u2019t think you should start a half pass and hit all kinds of problems and then try and fix it. I ride a half pass when I think I am able to influence my horse\u2019s balance and able to push it through. You get it or you don\u2019t and you go back on your circle. Now that is also relative. Sometimes I will ride five half passes after each other and work the horse in the half pass. Once your horse does nice lateral work, it has a lot of benefits the other way around and shoots back on collection, impulsion and strength and dynamics over all. So when the horse is there and capable, I use the half pass to improve the next step. It\u2019s not that I\u2019m never riding a half pass, I\u2019m just not going to start a half pass when I have to labour it over. There\u2019s nothing uglier than a laboured half\u00a0pass!\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With contact being the main point of discussion, it can only mean one thing. We must be at a Stefan Wolff clinic. The young German trainer, a regular to our southern shores for many years now, was back at Lesley-Ann Taylor\u2019s property making sure this important concept was being well understood by Australian riders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1535,1243,919],"class_list":["post-29716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dressage","tag-clinic","tag-dressage","tag-stefan-wolff"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29716"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58006,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29716\/revisions\/58006"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"_k3a0882\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0882.jpg\")
Story and photos by Rebecca Ashton<\/h3>\n![\"_k3a0852\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0852.jpg\")
Gail Benson and Gracefield Stefan<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/AUS_THM_Bates_Artiste_SocialMedia600x600_Oct2020.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"_k3a0878\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0878.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Kohnkeenergygold.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"_k3a0900\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0900.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"_k3a0906\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0906.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/ARIATboots.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"_k3a0948\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/K3A0948.jpg\")
<\/p>\n