h Contented Horses
h Systematic Training
h For the Benefit of the Horse
h Transparent Instructions
h For the Development of the Rider
The classically trained horse presents himself proud and graceful in harmonious self-carriage, performing all movements with elegance and lightness. You can ride him by merely thinking the movement, with a "wrinkle of your bottom" and a nearly invisible play of your fingers because he is motivated and happy to perform for you.
This is neither magic nor achieved by a new "flavour of the month"-method but by the traditional art of classical horse schooling that is based on co-operation, not coercion.
"Anything forced or misunderstood can never be beautiful"
Classical dressage is suitable for horses of all breeds and sizes and not restricted to Baroque breeds like Andalusians, Lipizzaner or Friesian horses, as many believe.
Indispensable requirements though for a horseperson to become a good trainer are willingness to learn, discipline, humbleness and patience, the ability to concentrate as well as withstanding the temptation to rush progress. Only those who are ready to refine themselves sedulously will have a contented horse that collaborates like a friend.
Trakehner Luzi performing the Spanish Walk at liberty
The key elements of classical dressage:
v Sine qua non, the essential condition, for lightness and harmony is relaxation, meaning mental and physical balance - a condition that applies to the horse as much as to the rider.
v On this basis, systematically structured exercises eliminate the horse's physical weaknesses and asymmetries. Subsequently they promote his talents and develop these progressively to perfection.
v Preparing the horse from the ground first, from safe and sound training of the young horse up to the high-school movements of the advanced horse, allows him to understand the new task easier and gain the required physical balance and strength before he performs the movement with the additional weight of the rider.
The principal goal is to promote our horse's soundness and well-being in order to keep him agile, supple and powerful up to a great age.
We focus on training riding and driving horses of all breeds according to classical-Iberian principles. Unique in Australia in its comprehensiveness Schooling-on-the-Ground's elements comprise:
Nothing is worse for schooling horses than monotony and training strictly to rules. Our logical and systematic training concept is diversified and adjustable: Lungeing and double lungeing, in hand work, riding or driving, in the arena and in the bush, circus lessons and liberty dressage etc. The goal is a relaxed, balanced and motivated horse in harmonious self-carriage.
Work with a group of stallions: Answering the roll call
The features of Schooling-on-the-Ground:
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Kindness and patience combined with clear cues and consistency establish the basis for a trusting relationship. Step by step your horse will be introduced to new exercises that will be varied until he masters them with ease.
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Your horse is given the time he needs to develop into a physically strong and mentally balanced horse in lieu of being constrained into the desired frame, overriding all lightness and destroying his motivation.
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Your horse learns all movements from the ground first. With no additional weight to carry it is much easier for him to find his own balance, the rein and whip aids correspond to the rider's aids. This way he will be able to perform the movements under saddle later on without difficulty.
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Specific gymnastic exercises enable him to shift more weight from the forelegs to the stronger hindquarters. As he becomes more balanced, supple and stronger he will be able to collect and extend correctly while preserving and fostering soundness.
Schooling-on-the-Ground is based on the knowledge of classical riding masters like de la Gueriniere (inventor of the Shoulder-In) or Mazuchelli (inventor of the double lunge). These principles have a huge influence on modern riding.
To find out how you and your horse can learn Schooling-on-the-Ground
classical-Iberian horse training , please go to pages Tuition and Training. We welcome riders of all disciplines as well as carriage drivers!
For schooling horses purposefully, good quality equipment is all-important. After ample researches we finally decided to either import it from Germany or have it made to our specifications by carefully chosen Australian suppliers. Check out our online shop Steed and Rider:
Don't miss out our page Stallions. It describes our experiences of introducing stallions to each other, aiming at keeping them together in a herd. Photos and reports on this topic are extraordinary rare and therefore very special - surely interesting for all horsepersons, not only stallion owners.
"Only those who have the patience to do simple things perfectly
will acquire the skills to do difficult things easily"
(Johann Friedrich von Schiller)
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