02/10/2023
What amazing notes 📝 saving these here to reflect on frequently!!
We went to the Jessica von Bredow-Werndl demo today at the lovely Addington Equestrian hosted by Equestrian Management Agency
The event was really well run (and a great Christmas present from Judy Fw )
💫Wow wow wow 💫
Jessica is a European, World and Olympic champion, so we definitely had high hopes for her demo.
It is safe to say that the day exceeded all expectations, Jessica's passion and joyful approach shone through whilst working with very talented horses and riders.
I thought I might share a few of my key notes from the day (maybe not all 10 pages on my phone...)
Some of what Jessica said really resonated with me, some points were a refreshing reminder, and others took an entirely new angle/solution to things.
✅️The Young Horse - it's all about good experience, creating the happy athlete. Although at times it's easy to hang on with a young horse, lengthen the rein, slow down, praise the horse, and breathe.
✅️ Give them no reason to run away, give them a moment, and let them look around (especially mares!). Over excitment is a good thing, it shows the horse loves to move. It's better than kicking around trying to create energy. Allow the horse to gain self-confidence, give them space in the contact, don't fear mistakes. Don't suppress them in their natural energy. Influence their character in a positive way.
✅️Warm-up time should be as short as possible and as long as necessary. If teaching a new movement, teach it at the beginning of the session after the warm-up. They are more focused at that time.
✅️ Centre line then leg yield into shoulder in. This is Jessica's exercise for all horses as a warm-up. The leg yield helps relax the horse, and it allows you to get your leg on and wrap around the horse ready for communication.
✅️Don't always praise with hand. It can be a shake in mouth. Use voice for reassuring.
✅️ Walk breaks are super important. How do they give you everything if they don't get a break regularly. It also sets you up for competition, practising switching the horse on and off.
✅️Medium canter, use travers before collecting the canter to engage the inside hind leg within the canter. This helps with showing the horse HOW you want them to collect (e.g, hind leg under).
✅️When asking a question (e.g, canter balance), don't be afraid to let the horse make mistakes, make the correction, and carry on. Having a mistake is a learning process.
✅️Suppleness is found behind saddle, not in the neck.
✅️Only go as much forward as you can do without holding them in contact as young horses. Choose a tempo that you can give the rein. Let them find their own balance.
✅️If they have a joy to move, thats what a grand Prix horse needs.
✅️Long neck- short body. Younger horses need a slightly more lifted neck.
✅️Always feel responsible for the exercise, if it doesn't work, change it.
✅️It is easier to explain horses to 'jump' more under with the hid leg by SLOWING DOWN. Explaining HOW we want them to move (e.g hind leg under). Listen to the footfall of the hooves, if it's loud in front it is often an indication of an unbalanced way of going.
✅️Less is more!
✅️Look for the big picture when training, how should it look? what is needed to make it look like this? If you want to change something you have to do it consistently.
✅️Always train long line of half passes with shoulder in. It's the in and out that teaches them how to carry themselves.
✅️Travers through corners helps activate the hind end through the corner.
✅️The neck follows the ribcage. It's all about the ribcage.
✅️Warm up/cool down is an easy jog, not an expressive jog. It's a stretching out for the back. You must still want the hindleg from the first movement (e.g when you first move off). Don't let the horse run away from the hindlegs and then try and explain later that you want them on the hindlegs!
✅️Slow down!
✅️Tell them how great they are and they will become greater!
✅️Don't train extended trot- it happens when the balance in the collection is better.
✅️With the changes, ignore the mistakes, praise the correct ones. Riding a circle with changes on makes the horse supple and even both ways within the change. On the circle, move the body away from the direction of change to open the side of the body for the change.
✅️If the horse paddles out behind in piaffe, add the sideways. Piaffe in shoulder in and then out in shoulder in. Focus just on the transitions in and out, not the piaffe itself. It's ok to be tense in piaffe, stay in it, work through it, explain it! It's not stressful, use shoulder in. Sideways (shoulder in) is a door you open (a vent) to allow the energy to positively go somewhere. This helps the horses find the right solution. Piaffe from ground first is essential. Then ask for it sitting on the horse, but still with someone on ground.
✅️Get them infront of your seat!
✅️Don't focus on the horses weaknesses, look for their strengths and use them to improve the weaknesses.
✅️Within canter Pirouette, flex to outside to connect with the inside hind leg. Don't train whole pirouettes, train them HOW to use their body.
💫These are a few of my notes💫
I think it was very clear from the way Jessica presented herself, although she is world number 1, it is all about the journey training horses to Grand Prix.
To sign off Jessica wanted to remind us that...
It's great to have goals, big goals. But more importantly is the how...how we interact daily with horses, how we act with our horses as partners, how we train.
When you win a gold.. it's a few moments of a high. What stays with you is the journey, the horse who did everything for you. We want our horses to be excited and happy to see us, happy to move. This is what it's all about. It's about the love. The joy. Is about the journey and we are privileged to spend our time with them.
💫💫💫
