![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/GlennisSteffen-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The baby of the clinic was Glennis Barrey\u2019s GB William, who is a frozen semen product, by Weltmeyer out of Saffron, the Trakehner mare, Glennis campaigned.<\/p>\n
The chestnut gelding has had an interrupted couple of months, he was badly affected by Equine Influenza and he has just come back in work \u2013 and is a bit full of himself\u2026<\/p>\n
Steffen is calming: \u201cIf he throws a fit, just keep going. If he picks up the other canter lead, just keep going. Do lots of rising trot, reinforcing him being in front of the leg. Take care of his mind, and his body will follow. Increase the contact slowly, give slowly. At this point it is all about truly accepting the bit and yielding to the contact. A steady hand doesn\u2019t have to be a stubborn hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps for his body you\u2019d say a stretching trot would be a good idea, but not for his brain at this stage. When he throws a fit, keep working instead of getting into an argument \u2013 sometimes they prefer to have an argument. If he wants to be silly in walk \/ halt, turn sideways into a circle.\u201d<\/p>\n
And at the end of the session, the pair were working so much better, and Glennis was wrapt in Steffen\u2019s help\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/GlennisPort.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no corners to hide in from Steffen! He was so good at reinforcing how important the connection is. I guess I was using deep and round because I thought it was safe and convenient, but actually it\u2019s not \u2013 he\u2019s a lot better when he is up. I guess I was never brave enough to put him in that frame, I always tried to follow what we\u2019d been drawn into thinking \u2013 deep and round with the young horses is better. I only ever put him up for competitions or test stuff. But it is exactly what Steffen said, he\u2019s learned to escape, to avoid being in the place I need him to be. So whenever it gets to a spot where it is difficult and I really need him in my hand, from behind, he knows where to go to escape. But it\u2019s not a real escape, it\u2019s actually harder for him because he\u2019s not in the right balance, and he\u2019s not in the right control, it actually works to his detriment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was very interesting to be allowed to do things wrong, but also given the chance to see it come better, and when it went really really wrong, to have a solution, not \u2018you did it wrong, he\u2019s not up to that\u2019 \u2013 there was always a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been to quite a few people for lessons in my time, but to me, Steffen is the best coach I\u2019ve been to. Bimbo, I\u2019ll give him credit for the rideability of his horses after he had ridden them, but Steffen has made it better for the riders to ride their horses. He\u2019s almost pushed us to make mistakes, so we are game enough to go outside the square and to let other ideas come into our head\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you\u2019ll get into a half pass and you will think, \u2018Oh look, I am so close to getting this, I could just keep going and make it\u2019, but the half pass isn\u2019t the problem, it\u2019s the horse, it\u2019s the connection \u2013 that was the theme the whole way through his lessons, the horse has to be in the best position and the best carriage and the best suppleness, then he will do the work. And always go back to the work, always fringe on it, but don\u2019t try to make it better in the work, go away from it and come back to it when the horse is right. That\u2019s the biggest thing, the horse has to be expandable, and contractible \u2013 to the end of extension and the end of collection, however much that horse is capable of at that level.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/DonnaRozzie.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
From the baby to the established superstar, the 14 year old Donnerhall mare, Donna Carrera, ridden by Rozzie Ryan, and now into her second year of Grand Prix, and selected to represent Australia at the World Cup Final in s\u2019Hertogenbosch. I guess it was the transformation of Donna that was the most amazing aspect of Steffen\u2019s work\u2026<\/p>\n
Now Donna has always had a bit of a problem with her half pass. Steffen set about tackling the problem in the subtle, quietly effective way I hope you are now anticipating.<\/p>\n
more follows<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cStart with the walk pirouettes, start with walk half pass. Make a difference with your legs, release, and get the bend again. If the sideways movements are difficult, teach them in the walk. Don\u2019t accept that you have to push every stride, never let them think they can get numb to your legs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn the left pirouette, she gets tight on the right rein, so I would not keep flexing her to the left.<\/p>\n As in all the other lessons, Steffen kept coming back to the issue of contact:<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t let her trick you into too much contact. Bring her back in a half halt, then have just the weight of the rein in your hand. Put together your hand and your legs to create the reason for her to let go of the rein.\u201d<\/p>\n And it was the same in canter:<\/p>\n \u201cShe tricks you into too much contact, the same as in trot. Get her back on her hind legs and then release. If you take contact fine, but a playful contact not a rigid contact. Never accept a rigid contact no matter what you do \u2013 in the warmup, in the work, don\u2019t accept it. Engagement and suppleness are equally important\u2026 better, now see if you can take that into trot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNever accept engagement without suppleness, never accept expression without suppleness. They need to be independent at this level, on the aids and getting the job done. Momentarily the amount of contact you have is okay, but make sure you don\u2019t have to work backwards with your hand.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cA little squeeze of the rein without working backwards, and soft where you can be. It\u2019s okay to squeeze with your hand but release after that \u2013 a playful contact not a stubborn hand. Always giving is your best friend, an allowing, manageable contact. People don\u2019t have to see, squeeze a sponge with your left hand, squeeze a sponge in your right hand. Get her rounder in the poll, not lower in the neck. School it, a playful contact, teach her to chew the bit and loosen through her body. Don\u2019t confuse this with see-sawing, just playing a tiny bit left \/ right. The sensitivity and suppleness is primary, collection is secondary. There must always be a forward tendency, no matter how much you shorten, no matter how much you collect. Increase the engagement and activity but keep her away from your hands.\u201d<\/p>\n Certainly the trot is looking better, bigger, more scopey, less artificial\u2026<\/p>\n more canter work follows<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n And in the canter again:<\/p>\n \u201cDo a couple of half passes, and you decide if you have a manageable contact that you want to take into a test. It is always what you can manage rather than perfect collection. School like this in the canter and the trot half passes will improve. In walk and canter, you can improve your trot half passes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn the half pass, think about cadence, ride it a bit in passage \u2013 you wouldn\u2019t do it like that in a test \u2013 but it can help the cadence. When you ride half pass, remind her, don\u2019t start holding every stride. That half pass got way too strong, you have to make your point but she tricked you into holding. You are riding too much every stride \u2013 tell her what you want, then leave her alone. Not so much sideways, more cadence, let it sink in so she knows cadence is an option \u2013 then ride the half pass in border line medium trot in the test! Just school it in passage, and go medium in the test\u2026 that\u2019s what Isabel Werth does with Satchmo.\u201d<\/p>\n It was time to work on the pirouettes, and another of Steffen\u2019s subtle distinctions emerges, the one between schooling and repeating: \u201cMake a difference in the pirouette. Don\u2019t repeat it, school it. Don\u2019t hold the pressure too long on the rein or the leg. It\u2019s okay to build up pressure, but ask them to do the movement on the lightest aid. I don\u2019t care if she makes a mistake as long as you school the movement. Think about an exit strategy in the pirouette, you be in charge so you can decide when to get out of it\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf the energy isn\u2019t there for a full pirouette, do a quarter pirouette. In pirouette and piaffe, you must always feel the energy. If you have to help her through a pirouette, don\u2019t do it. If they drop a tiny bit behind us in the training, it will be 20% in the test because there we can\u2019t correct it.\u201d<\/p>\n Working on the piaffe, was more of the same:<\/p>\n \u201cShe does everything, just make sure she does not trick you into supporting her. No compromises. It\u2019s tough to make piaffe perfect, but you can make the self-carriage perfect. It is okay for you to hold but make sure she responds, and you give.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever you start, follow through. If you push in the walk and she doesn\u2019t go \u2013 trot \u2013 tell her. Always be thinking about sensitivity to your leg, and suppleness. Never accept a movement without energy \u2013 create energy but make it with suppleness. If she loses the suppleness in her back, go to rising trot, activity can only happen when she is supple enough. Any day when I ride my horses, and the contact is not right, the suppleness is not right, that\u2019s when mistakes creep in. If you are holding a hot horse, then you get tension, if you are holding a cold horse, the brakes are on.\u201d<\/p>\n At this point Steffen said something about riding Donna and Rozzie practically fell off so anxious was she to hit the ground and hand over the reins. You can talk all day, but horses don\u2019t let you lie \u2013 what Steffen did with Donna was truly amazing. He got her longer, softer, yes, more supple, and swinging across those trot half passes in great style.<\/p>\n It was an awesome show\u2026<\/p>\n read on below<\/em><\/p>\n Back on board, Rozzie goes to walk and once again finds that Steffen is demanding finely tuned aids: \u201cUse longer aids, don\u2019t give her three little kicks. Don\u2019t compromise \u2013 there must always be a clear answer to every aid.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe biggest hurdle to riding a Grand Prix test, is to ride it like you ride at home. The first time you come into the arena at an international show, you grip \u2013 do the movement how you want it in the test, when she\u2019s on the proper aids.\u201d<\/p>\n In the flying changes, the emphasis was on straightness: \u201cIf she does the first couple of changes behind your leg, stop doing them, send her forward, otherwise she tricks you into taking your leg back, she tricks you into strong aids and naturally, you push the hind end sideways and the changes are crooked. Get her used to light aids and straight changes. Look up, look at the mirror \u2013 we always seem to find something interesting in the wither or the mane to look at. If your leg has to go too far back, you are giving a lateral aids, not a changing aid. Your outside leg should be barely behind the inner leg, they will make mistakes that way, but then when you get the changes they will be straight\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Rozzie leaves the session with a great big smile on her face, humming something that sounded suspiciously like \u2018California here I come\u2026\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cBrilliant \u2013 that\u2019s the best word to describe it,\u201d Rozzie enthused after she\u2019d tucked Donna away, \u201cI think having somebody who is completely in tune, not just with international competition but training horses every single day, who is a rider as well \u2013 we\u2019re unbelievably lucky. The changes that are being made are so subtle, so intense.\u201d<\/p>\n But not pressured\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNot pressured on the horse, sympathetic to the horse, but at the same time demanding a very correct response, not just from the horse, but also from the rider. It\u2019s intense pressure to be intellectually active whilst you are riding, and to be so concentrated, so aware of every single movement you make, and every single reaction to that movement. Being completely aware of every action and reaction \u2013 it is something that you think you are aware of, but this is bringing a greater awareness to it. It\u2019s like having somebody who is an artist \u2013 as opposed to just going through what should be done. It\u2019s completely realistic to every single second the rider is on the horse and the reaction the horse makes. It\u2019s absolutely in the moment, and it is very interesting to have comment on the slightest action you make\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n And the use of the concept \u2018supple\u2019 all the way through, he keeps saying I don\u2019t care if you\u2019ve got engagement, or collection, if you\u2019ve lost the suppleness it\u2019s not worth anything\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s putting everything together, putting the suppleness, the activity, the collection, and then the reaction all together. Sure it\u2019s something we talk about, and you might think that you are doing, but this is just taken to another level. It\u2019s fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n Do you think you can use it now \u2013 or do you need someone like him to keep reinforcing the message?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cIn the perfect world you\u2019d have someone picking you up on every single reaction that you make, that would be wonderful, but the reality is that most of us have to go home now and try to incorporate it into what we are doing anyway. It makes you doubly conscious of every moment you have in a lesson with Steffen\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen Steffen rode Donna, the feel when I got back on was very subtle, it was like somebody had got something that was a little bit rusty and put some oil on it, the feel was beautiful. I\u2019m searching for that feel the whole time, it\u2019s searching for a minute, elusive feel \u2013 and that\u2019s good because at the end I felt that her left half pass, which I find really difficult, and which he made look really good \u2013 I felt much better when I rode it. So I\u2019ll be searching for that feel all the time\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Two or three days is good, but I\u2019m wondering if something like 14 days, doing it every day, that your chance of internalising that discipline would be much higher?<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cOf course, you get good at what you practice but it\u2019s just not going to happen, but what will happen is that I will be searching for this every day when I ride, especially with Donna who I am getting to know pretty well \u2013 and who actually demonstrates what he wanted pretty well. Occasionally, before he even said anything, I was going \u2018no, I haven\u2019t got this enough\u2019, then you want to slap yourself around your face and say \u2018come on! What are you doing\u2026! You should know it by now.\u2019 It\u2019s so valuable having someone who is aware of these levels, levels above and beyond what you normally search for.\u201d<\/p>\n But it\u2019s the same old German Principles, nothing different, nothing gimmicky\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cThat is the difference though, if you could learn it out of a book, or learn it because we all think that we know it, then everybody would be a fantastic Grand Prix rider, but the difference is in those tiny fine levels that you are not sufficiently aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n Doing the tiny things perfectly\u2026 and they are all things that you can do, have done, but it\u2019s making sure you do them exactly at the right moment\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cEven if it was just knowing that, I think you would be able to do it, the thing is turning into a reflex that is difficult. And you are dealing with an animal, not a machine, you don\u2019t always necessarily get the same reaction, otherwise you would see Grand Prix tests with no mistakes from everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For more of Steffen Peters:<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/whos-who\/peters-steffen\/<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Want to breed a top dressage horse? There’s a range of best\u00a0<\/strong>stallions in Europe available at\u00a0International Horse Breeders – stallions like Foundation – you will find one to suit your mare – www.ihb.com.au<\/a>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/BatesArtiste_LaunchGraphic_600x600.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/SteffenPort-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/RozzieRtBend.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/kohnke-banner.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/RozzieDonnaHpass.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/GetOnSteffen-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/DonnaSteffenStraight.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/DonnaSteffenpretty.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/HANadseptoct-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/20_X_0069_Sprehe_Horse_Magazine_Australien-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/RamosAD-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Foundation-trot-3.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/IHB-Logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Ravel_J0D5749.jpg\" "\\"Ravel_J0D5749\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n