{"id":4133,"date":"2010-10-25T02:01:23","date_gmt":"2010-10-25T02:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=4133"},"modified":"2020-12-03T14:41:40","modified_gmt":"2020-12-03T03:41:40","slug":"dressage-is-never-boring-with-wolfram-wittig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2010\/10\/dressage-is-never-boring-with-wolfram-wittig\/","title":{"rendered":"Dressage is never boring with Wolfram Wittig"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Wolfram Wittig is one of a kind. If you\u2019ve still got a stereotype of the stern, hard German riding master in your skull, then you haven\u2019t met Wolfram. Despite having the responsibility of looking after some of Germany\u2019s very top horses and riders \u2013 including Isabell Werth and her team \u2013 Wolfram seems to find life one endless source of amusement, and the joke and the laugh are never far away, but he is also very much a thinker\u2026 a conversation with Wolfram is a bit like a roller-coaster ride, whooshing its way from training to breeding to dressage \u2018politics\u2019 and back again, at breath-taking speed\u2026 as you will discover before long.<\/p>\n

Wolfram and his wife, Brigitte, operate a state-of-the-art training centre in the heart of horse-loving Westfalia, where they train a team of top riders, and produce a seemingly endless supply of wonderful horses, bred through their own breeding program \u2013 headed up by resident Grand Prix stallion, Breitling.<\/p>\n

The day we arrived, there was a bonus in the form of one of Germany\u2019s most talented young dressage riders, Kyra Wildfering, who was working two very talented stallions, Revan and Rubinero, both owned by Gedula Vorwerk whose famous stud, has alas, been purchased by Austrian multi-billionaire, Sissy Max-Theurer, to use as a brood mare farm…<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Kyra and Rubinero<\/em><\/p>\n

Rubinero is very much a Vorwerk product. He is by Rubinstein, perhaps the most famous stallion discovered by Gedula, and out of a mare by Ex Libris, and in turn out of a mare carrying the blood of the two stallions that made her father, Georg Vorwerk famous, Furioso II and Inschallah.<\/p>\n

The stallion starts out showing his wonderfully clear walk, before Kyra seamlessly slides into the collected work, piaffe and passage. Sure, the movements are not perfect every time, but the rider keeps quietly asking, and every now and then, it comes, and then it is wow! It is the same in the canter work, collect, collect, collect, the stallion practically cantering on the spot before trying some half pirouettes, coming out and holding the counter canter through the corner. At the end of the working session, I remark to Wolfram how boring it is, that good trainers just keep doing the same old things over and over\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cIf a horse is four years of age or fourteen, it does not matter, every day you have to train the basic work. It is the most important thing. Once you have the basic work, then you can improve with the exercises later on. If the basic work is not well done, then you will have problems with each new exercise.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was interesting in the exercise with the half pirouette, holding the counter canter through the two corners, when the easy thing would have been to do a flying change \u2013 is that important, to keep control of the side of the horse?
\n<\/em>\u201cIf we train the half pirouette in that way, then we do four or five to each side, and not every time changing to the other lead. We have to make sure that this pirouette was okay, and then you start the next exercise. Because if the first to the left is not okay, and then you do the next to the right, for the horse it is quite difficult. First make sure that on the left it is really good, and then do it to the right, and when that is good, you can do one left, one right, then that is it \u2013 just to test.\u201d<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t do anything special with the horse\u2019s frame, it is all in a very natural position\u2026
\n<\/em>\u201cThat\u2019s how it should be. I like to work the horses with a normal snaffle bit in a normal frame. The horse has to carry the weight, not the rider. We are not here to carry the neck or to carry the head.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a very professional rider like Kyra, then it is easy?
\n<\/em>\u201cYeah, it is a nice job, the rider is very talented, and very willing, then it works together, we are very definitely not the enemy of the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is not a long working session?
\n<\/em>\u201cNo, it is probably 35, 40 minutes, that is the maximum. Then they walk down for ten minutes. They warm up for ten, fifteen minutes, then we do our job, 20 \u2013 25 minutes, then again make everything loose, so about 45 minutes in maximum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back to the arena comes Kyra with another of Mrs Vorwerk\u2019s stallions, this time Revan, by the Rubinstein son, Relevant, and one of Wolfram\u2019s up-and-coming stars, the mare, Biagiotti W (by Brietling out one of Wolfram\u2019s foundation mares, Diego) with Brigitte Wittig. Wolfram is rightly proud of yet another of his home bred stars:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Brigitte and Biagotti\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBiagiotti \u2013 she is a lady, really a lady she would prefer to go on the catwalk. She is now nine years of age, and look she is working with a breeding stallion, close to the mare, and nothing happens. Stallions should be like this, under saddle they have to know that they are under orders, everything is clear. Biagiotti will be the next Grand Prix horse for Brigitte.\u201d<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t affect the stallions \u2013 breeding mares as well as competing?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFor some stallions, it is difficult, it depends on their character, but if you are a breeder, a responsible breeder, you like to have horses with a good character because nobody likes to fight against the horses. If the breeding is better and better, it is easier for us. In breeding we should not forget about the character, we only think about movement, movement, movement, and if you cannot manage the movement and the character, then it will go worse and worse. Then we make new rules for the prize giving for these horses\u2026 it is the character that is wrong, or the training, but why is it not possible with the best ridden horses for them to come to a normal prize giving ceremony?\u201d<\/p>\n

We noticed when we visited you the first time, that when you bring your stallions out of the stable, you can drop the rein and they stand\u2026 we go to lots of studs in Germany, and the stallions there are not so well-behaved as your stallions\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a very good contact to my stallions. If I go into the stable and whistle, they start to paw with the fore-leg, I\u2019ve taught them that, they are okay with me. (As we walked past the horse wash, Wolfram whistled, and the young stallion in the wash pawed on cue). I think what is important with these horses is that I am the breeder, I know them from the first phase of their life \u2013 then you have really close contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Revan\u2026 like Rubinero, he is out of the breeding career because Vorwerk Stud is sold to Mrs Max-Theurer, and Mrs Vorwerk owns these horses and Kyra is competing them\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Kyra and Revan<\/em><\/p>\n

But that is the sad thing about the present, there are good stallions who get no mares, and there are bad and un-tried stallions, that get hundreds of mares, and the good breeders, like Mrs Vorwerk, they give up\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is public relations, and in the future we will get the penalty for this, we get the result in the future. But you cannot stop it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Because the local farmers no longer breed to local stallions?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, and every time you have less and less farmers. Some farms get bigger and bigger, and the others retire, then you have less mares in less hands. And there are less people with experience with horses, they need the old knowledge \u2013 but it is not interesting, you cannot make money with that. Breeding is now, money makes the world go round, and the stallion business shows us that it is just the money, it is not really a breeding system.\u201d<\/p>\n

But do you think people are going to realize this and say, we\u2019ve got to get back to stallions with more rideability, better temperament\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is difficult to turn a wheel back. Now it is a fact of life, and you have to accept it. If we only used the old and very successful stallions, in ten years we get the same question \u2013 there is no development \u2013 because you are only using the old stallions.\u201d<\/p>\n

But now we only use the new stallions\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNow we only use the new stallions, the licensing winners, and we have no experience of what their children will be like. Then in four or five years, you see the result! Some of them have covered more than two thousand mares, and you have all these horses, then it is too late. But the responsibility is with the breeder, the breeder selects the stallion, he owns the mare and it is his decision, and if he wants to sell the foal, then breed to last year\u2019s licensing winner!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Breitling – Wolfram drops the reins, and he stands…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

But you get a stallion like your Breitling and he has bred many FEI horses, but he is not fashionable\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNot everybody breeds for the sport, they are looking for sales. It takes a long long time to get your money back when you\u00a0 breed for the sport \u2013 better to breed for the foal auction. If you take all the responsibility for the horse, for its health, its management, its training, then that costs a lot of money, and you have to really have knowledge when you select for this \u2013 because it\u2019s your money you\u2019re spending. You take responsibility for the horse, and later you see, was it a good selection or was it bad? If I sell as a foal or as a two year old, I know nothing about the horse. But if I make my selection, and say, okay we try and train, that is something else.\u201d<\/p>\n

But you have been very successful doing this\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of luck maybe, I don\u2019t know. But I say, this is my selection, and we try and train them.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was good to see Revan again. We saw him worked many times at Vorwerk\u2019s, as a young horse when Lisa Wilcox was the rider, and he has grown into such a handsome horse. Once again, the work is ever so normal, no head on the knees, nothing special, just loosening up the horse, breezing along in the canter, the horse\u2019s mouth nice and wet, the bit, a simple snaffle, the horse\u2019s eye calm and happy\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And gradually it all comes together, the cadence starts to shine through, now the stallion\u2019s neck is flowing so beautifully out of his shoulder, the hind legs perfectly engaged, and now there are a few steps of wonderful lengthened trot on the diagonal, not one tiny bit faster, the horse still so soft and supple\u2026<\/p>\n

So what were you doing with Kyra and Revan?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cSome basic work, and then some exercises, the horse is now competing Prix St Georges and Inter 1\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you have a plan of what you are going to work on?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I have a plan, my horses show me the plan \u2013 what is possible and what is not possible. It depends always on the horses. You have to be flexible, if they are in a bad mood, and you ask for the same things like you did yesterday, you will have trouble with the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is sad for journalists because when you see good training, there are no exciting tricks\u2026 good training is boring\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNormally dressage is boring, but sometimes, like at the European championship, there is a horse like Totilas, which does a really good job, the crowd is happy because this is totally different to the work every day \u2013 if it looks so nice, and so many people are happy, then it must be right.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have never been a big fan of the Dutch system but the two horses that starred at Windsor, Totilas and Parzival, they didn\u2019t look scared or angry\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cAbsolutely, and they could come to the prize giving. I only saw it on the television but if we have new combinations, and more people focused on our sport, it is good for our sport. If they like that picture, we have to accept it but as riders and trainers, we should not work to make this picture more and more expressive, because this is not possible. So we have, in my opinion, to make a small step back to really relaxed horses, really loose \u2013 the happy athlete. For me this is a very important step.\u201d<\/p>\n

So you think we need to come back a little further to a more natural way of showing?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I think so.\u201d<\/p>\n

And this is the responsibility of the judges?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe judges give the marks, the riders do the job\u2026 it\u2019s not showumping, so if they like it, we have to accept it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think the judges could take a more positive role in looking for more relaxed work?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not only more relaxed or natural work because it would be very easy to focus just on one thing, but Windsor was really for dressage, a good show. It was like a new step and then we have to wait: what is going on in the future?\u201d<\/p>\n

Will the German team be able to re-organize itself in time for Lexington?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m pretty lucky not to be the German coach\u2026 Isabell is back in the saddle, so it looks definitely better for us. But honestly, if you only focused on Germany on what rider will deliver the medals, this is not a good development for us. At Windsor we were 10% away from the medals! That\u2019s a big gap.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what can be done?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cFirst we have to discuss, why that happened. Second, we have to definitely work harder, and then I think we can come back, but it is really hard, we have to accept that. I think we cannot do it in time for the WEG, I don\u2019t think it is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do the Germans need to give more chances to the up-and-coming riders?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely, now we have the new class, the young horse Grand Prix, from the age of eight to ten. So we are calling the ten-year-old Grand Prix horse, a young horse. The European Champion is nine years of age\u2026 we have to think why.\u201d<\/p>\n

Do you think it is because they are breeding better horses in Holland? Are they training their riders better? Or are they lucky?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely they are working together. The horse breeding is definitely not the problem \u2013 the German horses are 100% good enough. All of the Dutch horses have German breeding \u2013 two of them were Hanoverians, the others had German blood. Our horses are good enough, we need really good training, and to also be more critical, but if you are criticizing something in Germany, they think you like to fight against the system, but if the system shows us that we are 10% behind the medals, we have to ask, is this the right system?\u201d<\/p>\n

Revan has been sharing the arena with one of the tallest \u2018babies\u2019 you\u2019ve ever seen, the three year old filly by Breitling out of a Fabriano mare, is really spooky and finding it hard to find her balance, but the rider, trainee, Claudia Feldmann, keeps cool, just helping her find her way\u2026<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

With this very young big green mare, it was nice the girl just rides her and it doesn\u2019t matter if she gets a bit frightened here or there, she just keeps quietly riding\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some frightening things in there, some shadows, but nothing happens, we show her first in walk if it doesn\u2019t work in trot, then it works in trot and canter.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s harder for a tall young horse to find the balance?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, she grows and grows and grows, and it makes it more difficult for this horse to find the rhythm, that is normal. Just quietly ride, no stress, nothing. The important age is the end of four, start of five, then it starts to be important for the horses \u2013 here it is just a game.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Revan?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are preparing for the show in Oldenburg, Kyra is competing him at Prix St Georges, you see two mares and the stallion, all in the arena together and it works.\u201d<\/p>\n

And his mouth was so nice a wet just with a snaffle bit, and not even a whip?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was not necessary, he is a calm boy, very friendly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would you prefer to work them without a whip?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe whip is a normal aid for the horse, and we should not start to fight against the whip, better we should start to fight against bad riding, that\u2019s what we should focus on, not whip or not. If I see scared horses in the prize giving, they are all without the whip, so the whip is not the problem\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many dressage riders are asking for hotter horses, okay we can focus on that and breed in that direction, but if the horses don\u2019t reach the top sport level, and they are still hot, what are you doing with these horses? Then they are dangerous to the riders if they are not good enough\u2026 We must have really talented horses with good movement, good character for the top level, and if they are only hot with no movement \u2013 what are they going to do with them?\u201d<\/p>\n

But people say this often, that the horse for the Grand Prix must be a bit crazy and not a horse the normal rider can ride, do you agree with this?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNo. A good horse is still a good horse. A very good example is Satchmo. Satchmo is never scared. He goes in all prize-givings, every time, beautiful walk, he was never scared. You ask Isabell, if she would select one of her horses to go out on the field, she would take Satchmo.\u201d<\/p>\n

So you don\u2019t think there are two sorts of horses we breed for \u2013 the horse for the housewife to ride in the fields and the other, the horse for Isabell to win a gold medal\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe horse must be useful for everybody, and then depending on the quality of the movements, we can decide what to do with the horse.\u201d<\/p>\n

They don\u2019t have to be crazy to go Grand Prix?<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think so. If you want to reach a high level, you don\u2019t ask for crazy, because if you can\u2019t control it, it is like a bomb. The Grand Prix horse should be good in the mind, and we should be focused on breeding that, otherwise we are taking the wrong direction. If riding is dangerous, we will lose our acceptance in the future. If everyone says to ride we must have crazy horses, and everyone is saying, be careful, please be careful, it is not acceptable. If you cover a mare, you don\u2019t know what the result will be \u2013 you can have your plans, but if they want only hot horses, then they can ride Thoroughbreds \u2013 they are hot enough \u2013 but no-one is asking for that. They say \u2018oh no, the movements are not good enough!\u2019 \u2013 so we have to find the way in the middle, but the horse must be useful for everybody. Then it depends on the training, which classes they are reaching, but it is not possible to breed exactly a Grand Prix horse, definitely not possible. If you ask ten riders to describe a Grand Prix horse, you will have ten different horses. Taller, smaller, bigger, heavier, male, female\u2026 so for whom should you breed the horse? At the moment you are breeding, your client is not there!\u201d<\/p>\n

There have been a number of young Australians, smart enough to find their way to the Wittigs\u2019 stables: Larissa Chadwick, Kevin McNab\u2026 and just before we turned up, Queensland\u2019s Emma Flavell.<\/p>\n

You have just been training another young Australian, Emma Flavell\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cEmma and her black stallion. Emma did a really really good job, it was nice for me to see. You know Australia is a long way away, and if they come here, at first you are a bit careful. I had no knowledge of Emma, but now I must say she had a very good feeling on the horse, very good seat, good balance \u2013 it was really nice to work with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

He is right you know, the Wittig stables \u2013 and breeding operation \u2013 are truly an amazing place. We take our leave of Wolfram and Brigitte, thanking them once again for their hospitality, and for Wolfram\u2019s willingness to share his knowledge\u2026 and his jokes.<\/p>\n

Story \u2013 Chris Hector & Photos \u2013 Roz Neave<\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wolfram Wittig is one of the world’s most successful dressage trainers, he is also a very thoughtful – and funny – guy…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18598,"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":[20,391],"class_list":["post-4133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dressage","tag-dressage-training","tag-wolfram-wittig"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4133","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=4133"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4147,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4133\/revisions\/4147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}