Cousyn Dressage

Cousyn Dressage 40 years of international experience in 6 countries. Pierre is a licensed European dressage trainer; graduate of the National Equitation School, Saumur, France.
(8)

Offering coaching, training, & show prep. All levels to Grand Prix & flatwork for jumpers.

08/17/2024

The trickle of information over some blue tongue 'warnings' in Paris brings the vague disciplinary policy of dressage into focus.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y8_ROb0ZUk
07/24/2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y8_ROb0ZUk

CHARLOTTE DUJARDIN sensationally pulled out of the Paris Olympics in disgrace after a video emerged of her allegedly whipping a horse.Britain’s greatest hors...

07/03/2024

How can you tell if your horse is moving well?

Many riders will say they notice it when their horse feels good in their hands.

I'm not saying this is always bad, but a much better signal is how the horse's back feels under you.

Because even a horse that is ridden incorrectly can still feel pleasant in the hands.

But it will NOT move with a nice, relaxed back.

Below are some other signs that your horse is not being ridden correctly.

Do you recognize any of the following characteristics in your horse?

Your horse does not respond forward.
Your horse is quickly tense.
The walk is not always clear, a lateral walk.
Excessive movement of the front leg, while the hind leg lags and slows down (broken diagonal).
Your horse has a four-beat canter.
Your horse is behind the vertical.
Your horse slightly arches its back, the croup comes up, and the hind legs do not come sufficiently under the body.
An elevated, shortened neck with a kink between the 2nd and 3rd cervical vertebrae (false bend).

Then it might be that you are unconsciously making the mistake of not always riding from back to front into your hand.

Many riders think they are riding their horse well from back to front into the hand.

But in practice, I see that this is usually not yet happening sufficiently.

Often, the hand is still unconsciously working back and creating too much of a 'made' posture.

You want to ride your horse's entire body so that you can receive the energy from the hind leg into your hand.

This way, you will feel a connection that works throughout the whole body.

Pay attention in your next training session to whether, and how often, you unintentionally work back with your hand.

I'm curious to see what you find out!

PS. Ideally, you should end up with a count of 0, but don't be too hard on yourself. Awareness is the first step. 🙏


- Rien van der Schaft

RS Riding

05/27/2024

Pat them. Pat them pat them pat them. If your horse even thinks about thinking about how to think about the thing you want him to think about, PAT HIM. Praise every right thing, all of the time.

DO NOT ‘make the right thing easy and make the wrong thing hard’.

JUST MAKE THE RIGHT THING EASY, and forget about any botched efforts or wrong answers. Don’t take it personally if the horse doesn’t get it right first time. He doesn’t speak your language. He doesn’t understand your ambitions. He doesn’t understand conflict through the lens of human interpretation. He just knows how to horse, yet he is willing to learn, adapt and change for YOU. Make sure you do the same for HIM.

Horses are the only animal on the planet willing to try for us and to give us everything they have, for absolutely no return for themselves whatsoever.

If you do not foster the horse’s desire to try, you will lose this most precious gift.

04/20/2024

When you're training your horse, you're essentially focused on one thing.

Influencing the balance positively.

As you probably know, there are different stages of balance.

When you start with a young horse, it likely carries more weight on the forehand (which is natural for horses).

Through proper training, you aim to shift more weight towards the hindquarters.

This way, the hindquarters assume a supportive role rather than merely a pushing one.

An exercise I often use to improve balance is shoulder-in.

It's a commonly practiced exercise but not so easy to execute correctly.

Think for a moment, what do you do with your inside leg when riding shoulder-in?

Many people push their inside leg slightly back, but that's actually cheating.

You're pushing the hindquarters outward instead of having the horse place its forehand slightly inward.

This diminishes the exercise's gymnastic effect.

Because you want to position the shoulders inward, allowing the inside hind leg to bear more weight, resulting in an upward movement.

Next time, pay close attention—are you truly riding shoulder-in, or are you actually pushing the hindquarters out? 🤔

03/15/2024

You've probably thought this before when you were at a big competition.

'Wow, what a spectacular horse!'

But does this horse also meet the 3 basic principles? Is the horse not tense and does it have a good contact?

Of course, these can certainly go hand in hand, but often these spectacular movements come from tension.

A few weeks ago, we were filming a young horse for the Trainer's Club and I made the following statement:

The less spectacular and less difficult it seems in training now, the better the rider is doing.

This might sound strange because many people want to see those spectacular movements.

Let me explain what I mean by this statement.

When, as a rider, your main focus is on achieving grand, spectacular movements, especially with a younger horse, then your priorities are not in the right order.

Because the more you, as a rider, work to get your horse in a certain position or bring out certain extreme movements, the less relaxation and trust your horse is likely to have.

The main focus should actually be on the basic principles and the correct way of going of the horse.

Because the horse in question is also a very talented horse who will eventually move spectacularly for sure.

But this is very important...

These spectacular movements will not have arisen from tension.

But they will be spectacular because the horse has had the time to develop and has learned to use its body in an optimal way.

And that makes a big difference.

Rien van der Schaft

https://www.facebook.com/cousyndressage/photos/a.10155144747566081/10157856317631081/?type=3
01/09/2024

https://www.facebook.com/cousyndressage/photos/a.10155144747566081/10157856317631081/?type=3

As we get through the first week of 2020, I am reflecting on the many wonderful people and horses I have worked with... in my development as a trainer and a rider, I was blessed with many opportunities to train with top industry professionals in Europe. This included time in Switzerland, Germany, and of course France, where I earned my degrees in Moniteur and Instructeur (Trainer & Instructor for Professional Riders). In France, I trained with Philippe Blondel, Hugues Persyn, Tristan Chambry, Bruno Lostria, Patrick Lerolland, and Jacques Heny Menard, Margit Otto Crepin.... at the French National Riding Academy with Dominique Flament and Col Christian, Carde in Saumur. In Belgium & in Germany with Dirk Melemans, Holga Finken, Inge Schmetzer, Michael Klimke and Ulf Moller.... in Switzerland with Daniel Ramseier, Christine Stuckelberger, Peter Perlee... I read the classical French dressage volumes, and everything Nuno Olivera ever wrote. What a lifetime of educational opportunities, and so many lessons to learn. I am truly thankful.

10/12/2023
https://www.facebook.com/practicalhorseman/posts/pfbid05xn4XLcKcq6c1oV941NQgvoBgTXKVj8ZEob4bx2gK4KMNBKuRpBnxHUd1S9C2epBl
09/27/2023

https://www.facebook.com/practicalhorseman/posts/pfbid05xn4XLcKcq6c1oV941NQgvoBgTXKVj8ZEob4bx2gK4KMNBKuRpBnxHUd1S9C2epBl

If you depend too much on the reins and try to pull your horse into a frame …

Imagine the bit being in front of your horse’s mouth. Instead of pulling back, you want to push him forward into the bit for a softer, springier horse.—Phillip Dutton

Seven-time Olympic eventer Phillip Dutton won Olympic team gold medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics and individual bronze at the 2016 Games. He has competed in seven World Championships and won two U.S. team Pan American gold medals in 2007 and 2015. He is based out of True Prospect Farm in West Grove, Pennsylvania, and Buck Ridge Farm in Loxahatchee, Florida.

🎨: Sandy Rabinowitz

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsnVrWwjI_A
09/15/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsnVrWwjI_A

These are the red flags to look for when you go to look at a horse. I cover things like lameness, sedation, behavior, everything you need to be aware of when...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7hlPe-K_5o
09/11/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7hlPe-K_5o

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and her super mare TSF Dalera BB have done it again. With 92.818% which is a new European score record the pair also defended this ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7B5mO51BvE
09/09/2023

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7B5mO51BvE

It was the first showdown today at the FEI Dressage European Championships 2023 with team Great Britain securing the first gold medal. Charlotte Dujardin, C...

05/17/2023

Reiner Klimke told us:
"Contact does not mean that by pulling the reins we will have it. The horse should step into the contact and establish an outline corresponding to the respective pace; an outline within which it can best develop its power. This is the aim of stepping into the contact. The rider's legs, weight and hands bring the horse into a form within which it can carry itself so that it can move most comfortably. Then it will be able to move, when it is muscled up, to the best of its ability." Pic taken by Werner Ernst Read more on good contact:
https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2021/10/contact-what-is-good-contact/

04/30/2023
04/27/2023

The lie is that you can’t train your own horse.

Every single amazing rider out there started knowing nothing. They made mistakes. They made a LOT of mistakes along the way. And that is how they learned.

They learned from their mistakes. They learned from the best teachers they could find who would teach them in a way that made sense for them. They learned and learned and learned.

And they developed their knowledge. They built experience.

They built themselves and their ability to understand how to train.

They are not special. There is not something they have that you do not have.

But there is this lie out there that gets perpetuated. It is kept alive by both trainers and their students, like a codependent slippery slope that leads to nothing more than maintaining the ultra-cush status quo.

It is that the average rider just can’t learn to do this. They think they NEED their trainer. They NEED someone to hold their hand for them every step of the way. FOREVVVVVERRRRRR.

It is entirely untrue.

Yes, we all need good teachers along the way. But those teachers are failing you if they are not teaching you to gradually become more and more independent, more and more “your own trainer.”

The beautiful thing is that, as riders, we have soooo many learning opportunities available to us every single day, every single ride.

Every problem is an opportunity.

Every mistake gathers experience.

Every single observation you make gathers more data for your understanding.

Every horse and every trainer can be your teacher.

Hire the instructors who help you to learn better, to think clearly, to see the bigger picture. KEEP the ones who lift you up and cheer you on as you gain in skill and ability. NOT the ones who keep you small and under their thumb.

YOU are in control of your riding education. You are the one in charge of your horse’s training. You are the one who, ultimately, can make or break your riding dreams.

03/28/2023

Chris Hector talks to German medal winner, Hubertus Schmidt:“My system, is about the stretching in the warm ups. At the beginning, the horse should have a long neck, and be really going into the bit, and that I am able to always have steady contact with a willingness of the horse to go forward. They are a little down at the beginning when I do my warm up, it doesn't matter if it is a four-year-old or a Grand Prix horse, the first ten minutes are the same…”Read more: https://www.horsemagazine.com/thm/2018/01/hubertus-schmidt-at-frankfurt/

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Aiken, SC
29804

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