Philosophy

Wouldn’t you dream of not having to explain anymore which is the “harder” side of your horse, because there is no “stiffer” side to it anymore?
The first thing we have to conquer is the natural crookedness of the horse. To be able to have a horse moving with rythm and going straight, we have to straighten out our horses, starting on the ground and then by riding. I can teach you how to straighten your horse, if it is his first training or if it is a GP horse.

Our goals are to promote Classical Dressage, help you improve your seat, refining your aids and thus make your horse respond to very light aids. Our teaching is based on the principles of the old and new masters who aim(ed) for lightness, elegance and harmony through precise aids, effective communication and sympathetic awareness of the horse. Ride with harmony, feel the horse and experience immediate response. You and your horse can learn it. No gadgets needed!

The importance of CORRECT training of horse and rider:
I could not better describe it, as Paul Belasik has done in his new book “A Search for Collection” as printed on DressageToday.com in January 2010:
He is clearly and vehemently against the training trend du jour. "Some competition dressage riders promote systems and theories of training that are in complete contradiction to the classic theory of collection, forcibly pulling and holding their horses' heads to their chests in complete subjugation, justifying it with the explanation this 'stretching' is good for the horses," he writes. It does not seem to matter, he adds, that this new system contradicts some of the oldest dressage theory that the whole object of the dressage horse is to rebalance it upon the haunches. He finds this approach one of unrelenting aggression against the horse, as demeaning as it would be to do the same to a human. "There have always been extremes in riding but rarely have they attained such a strong hold of center stage," he adds.

Another exerpt says:
"Classical riding is all about the process, not goals. Along the way you are learning emotional control, patience with insight and physical fitness," he says, which is how he defines "collection or centering" for the rider, a necessary parallel education to that of the horse.

My mentors:
Nuno Oliveira
Georg Wahl
Arthur Kottas
Charles Knuffy
Silvia Loch
Paul Belasik
Kurt Albrecht
Walter Zettl

In my teaching I follow the classical principals, that is just the way I was taught and makes sense to me. I always have the best for the horse and rider combination in mind. Susanne Vogt