Conrad Follow-up

I apologize for my post being so late tonight. I just got home from a weekend away.

I hope everyone enjoyed my posts on Conrad Schumacher. Now, a few months later, I find that this clinic has had a profound effect on my riding life. My trainer pointed out during my last lesson that I’d actually taken when I’d learned and utilized it in a productive way. My mare is no longer blowing through my half-halts. She’s actually listening more and sitting on her haunches rather than falling on her forehand and going faster.

Since I now have half-halts, suddenly everything is coming together. My mare is more forward, more obedient, and more willing. Thanks to good shoeing and better riding, she’s been sound for over a year. I’m pretty excited about that.

Regardless, I decided not to show her, at least not this year. Like many Americans, my limited expendable income is not well spent on $500-a-show entry fees, not to mention the other incidental expenses.

I’m wondering how many of you are feeling the pinch of the economy? How have you cut back? Have those expensive little ribbons become less important? Has your relationship with your horse become more important?

I’m enjoying my horse more than I ever have in the eleven years I’ve owned her. I miss the barn camaraderie at the shows, but I don’t miss the showing itself. I’m sure if I’d done better at it, I’d probably have a different opinion of its importance in my life.

Oddly enough, the shows in my area are still filling up. In some ways, I’m shocked, considering the economy. I suspect entrants are going without to pay those fees. As long as that happens, show fees will increase and no alternatives will be explored. Not to say that I’m indifferent to the problems that plague show organizers. Nor do I think they’re getting rich holding horse shows. Organizing horse shows has become a business. When I first started in dressage, everyone was a volunteer, no one was paid. Administrative costs were minimal. No more. Demands made by organizations for recordkeeping have made the costs go up and have required the hiring of show managers and secretaries.

Does all this mean I’ll never show again? Probably not. I find I’m more inclined to ride on a regular basis when I have something to work toward. Besides, I know my mare and I are vastly improved from a year ago when we last stepped foot in the show ring. So never say never, I may well be joining the ranks again next year.

Last Thursday several people at my barn were loading up trailers to head to a three-day show. To be honest, I didn’t wish I was going. In fact, I recently sold my camper, which means if I do show again, I’m back to staying in a hotel. It was my way of saying that I’m done doing this on a regular basis.

So stay tuned because heaven knows I could change my mind again. I’ll let you know.

Conrad Schumacher--Part 5 (Final Post)

This post concludes my notes taken at the Conrad Schumacher symposium a few months ago. I hope you've enjoyed this series.

Training the Upper Levels, Preparing for the Show

Classical riding enables us to work the in a horse-friendly way in harmony. Classical riding makes horses equal in temperment. Thoroughbreds and hot horses cool down, warmblood’s heat up. Dressage has nothing to do with head and neck position.

At horse shows, classical riding is not enough. You have to do quality preparation before and at the show grounds.

• Ride the test at home over and over.


• Train for the movements at home.


• Ride the horse other places.


• Put markers on the ground where each piece of the test is ridden.

Commitment

It takes a dressage rider twenty years to get there. You must have a lifestyle that you are on your horse every morning in the same mood. When you aren’t in the same mood every day, your aids are different in subtle ways, such as timing or intensity.

You need quality preparation. You must be secure in the saddle. The body part of the sport is the horse. The mental part is the rider. Everything is linked together by a training system.

Warm-up

Train at home with a warming-up concept and train it over and over. Make the horse ready for the work. The warm-up needs to make the horse excitable but controlled. You need to know what do I do, when and how.

Ride slowly in the warm-up. Ride for position first then ride for expression. The test at a show is not the place for schooling. You can only just “ride.”

Train the test until it’s perfect. Ride as good as you can.

The correct focus is mental fitness.

Wrists rotate in when ears come up at canter

Upper level Exercises to get the haunches under:

• To raise the head use only the snaffle, one sharp snap, then stop.


• Ride shoulder-in, move to inside track, still in shoulder-in, move back to track in shoulder-in (slowly almost reining back in trot to come back to rail).


• Do the same but in renver.


• Do the same in Canter shoulder-in


• Reinback then forward w/o halt


• Canter, make a square, (half-halt, turn).


• Diagonal in Shoulder-in, then change at wall.


• Changes: Four tempis: Say "1-2-3-I will."


• Do 4 tempis on a circle

Classical Structure of the Dressage Lesson

Warm-up, preparing for the work phase.
Put the horse on the haunches to make them controllably excited.

Phase 1: Warm up the Muscles

• Walk for 12 minutes first


• Move on and trot slowly


• Deep trot to help back for 2-3 minutes


• Canter—medium to working canter, back and forth then more precise (10 strides med. 10 collected).


• Back to trot, working trot to halt.

Horse should get in a more active mood.

Working Phase

Use the power of impulsion to achieve your goals.
When horses are relaxed in the minds, they can listen to the aids

• Turn on haunches, trot, med. Trot.


• Halt-RB-Canter


• Short canter, bigger canter, short canter. On the spot canter, med. Canter


• Medium canter. On the spot canter, medium canter.


• Down long side HP left


• Four tempis, start with collection finish with medium canter.
  


• Canter Pirouettes (the pirouette is a Half Pass in a turn):


• Ride half-pass around instructor. He taps hocks and croup with butt of lunge whip then let horse stretch down after about 3 or 4 of these.


• HP to Pirouette, ride back(wards) and turn.
  


• Down diagonal at medium trot. Halt @ X. Medium trot, Halt in corner.
  

Exercises for a big, lazy horse

Keep your hip in front for changes.
For a horse who is a bully and doesn’t listen, use shorter diagonals and bend/counter bend.
In half-pass point the neck where you need to go.

Exercises:

• Shoulder-in in medium trot.


• Haunches in, rein back on centerline, haunches-in.


• RB 5 steps, one step forward, pirouette immediately.


• Turn on haunches, immediate reinback (more control and improves walk).


• Trot, reinback, trot.


• Medium canter long side, halt.


• Medium canter to collected canter.


• Volte in corner, show diagonal, change at wall (keeps horse from running in the changes.


• Half-pass, correct bend and counter bend of neck in half-pass.


• Half-pass in canter, 8 strides in, straight strides, 8 back, change.

Q&A

How long do you ride your horses: 20 minutes of warmup, 20 minutes of work, and cool down phase.

At Conrad’s barn: We don’t turn out horses but give them chances to move. Go outdoors to ride whenever possible.

Stretching: You should be able to stretch whenever you want. A horse full of confidence takes the rider’s invitation to stretch.

Hips in Front: Bring your hips forward, without leaning back. Scoop with seat.

A horse with tongue out has a lack of throughness and not giving in the neck. A very few do it by nature.

A horse with an open mouth gives in the mouth, not the neck.

To straighten the canter ride shoulder-fore.

For flying changes the hip in front keeps the horse straight.

Wide hands: Should be as natural and easy as possible. Keeping hands together tightens the shoulders. An open upper body makes it easier ride without stiffness.

More Preparing to Show

Drive forward only when you have a rounded neck.

Two traps at shows:

• Open space makes the horse more forward than at home. Collect in warm-up more than needed.


• Two-minute before the test: Don’t just ride around. Do something.

Pre-warmup routine: What works best for his riders is to learn to mediate the test. Sit somewhere, shut your eyes and ride the test in your mind five times the hour before the test. Live in the feel of what you want in the test. Feel your leg on the horse, his back underneath you, etc. When warming up have a clear plan. Find out what works best for your horse.

The Way to the Grand Prix Level

The main differences in Grand Prix are the piaffe/passage and the one tempis.

Work from the ground: Don’t need to do as much as the Spanish Riding School as we aren’t training the airs above the ground. Start at 3rd level. Use side reins so the horse stays round. Take the outside rein over the poll and through the bit ring. Frame the horse next to the wall with your body and the whip.

Piaffe/Passage

In-Hand

Think of it like teaching a dog to sit down.

First start with a nice collected walk in hand. Moving backward is the sign of a blocking neck.

Practice 2-3 times a week but for not very long.

Under the rider:

Volte in walk
Flex to inside
Strighten and piaffe
Volte (volte is the reward)

Passage:

Walk, Leg Yield, Passage (Makes horse flexible in the spine)

One-Tempi Changes

Start with nice 2Xs
Counter Canter
Go down longside and do inside bend of the neck, outside bend, inside (get the first change in a corner, then change back in a corner)

Canter Pirouette

Canter Pirouette to Halt to Canter Pirouette

Unfortunately, as the symposium went on, I got more and more tired of writing notes. If none of this makes sense, let me know. I'll be glad to elaborate as best I can remember.

Conrad Schumacher--Part 4

Next up was a 2001 Arabian Stallion. This little horse was extremely talented and looked like a much bigger horse. If I was looking for an Arabian sport horse to breed my mare to, he'd be the one.



Conrad Quotes:


Don’t look on the horse like you’re a policemen.

When the horse is behind the vertical but comes up when the rider gives, that’s OK. If the horse drops behind the vertical and nothing is in your hand, that’s a problem.

It’s not good to always have the neck in the same outline. It makes horses stiff. Have them a little up, a little down, etc. Move their necks around.

______



Next was another large warmblood on the lazy side.


Big horses must be trained carefully and need to come more over the back.

Exercises for big, lazy horses that like to run:

• Go down the long side in medium trot, walk just before the corner, turn on haunches (immediately), and go into medium trot. Repeat in every corner. This gets the horse in front of your leg. Works well for a lazy horse. Repeat many times until the horse is forward and coming over the back.


• Trot—reinback—trot.


• Shoulder-in—Half Pass—Shoulder-in---Half Pass (Makes the horse work on the spine)


• Start the diagonal at the walk, then trot, half pass on diagonal (same direction as first turn on diagonal).

PREPARING FOR THE SHOW

• Over-prepare for the horse show so that the show movements are easy. Many riders ride about 70 percent at a horse show. This doesn’t mean you drill the show movements, it means you ride movements that are more challenging so show movements are easy to ride.

Develop working patterns: These patterns are more difficult than what a test would require or what you’d encounter on the show grounds. Start three weeks before a show.

Practice riding corners: Put a cone about 2.5 meters from corner and ride between cone and the wall. A properly ridden corner gives you more horse when you come out of it.

Exercises:

• Put a cone about 2.5 meters from each corner and ride between cone and the wall. Add two more about 18 meters out to make a 20-meter square.
• Ride a square in the walk, trot, and canter, riding outside the cones.
• With the cones in the corners, circle in a counter canter. Don’t go between cones and the wall when in counter canter. Do a flying change, then ride between cone and wall in true canter. Do a flying change to counter canter, repeat. Don’t cross between cones and wall in counter canter. After changing to the correct lead go between cones. (Prevents horse from running away after changes).

Training Mental Fitness

How do you become more confident on the horse? Not through riderless pursuits or through working out. Mental fitness must be trained on a moving horse without wearing out the horse.

Next came a woman who rode preliminary-level eventing on a large Hanoverian (Is there any other kind?). Only 1 percent of the riders in Germany are eventers, yet Germany does really well in eventing because of the dressage background.

A rideable horse can be brought to the outside rein, not held onto it. If you can bring the horse to the outside rein, he is rideable.

The German system works for everyone because it is based on the experiences of thousands of riders and horses. The French and other systems were based on what worked for one rider and certain types of horses. Not everyone can ride like that one rider.

Conformation

A dressage horse needs to be a rectangle not a square, but not because of a long back. Instead because of a huge front part and long lines. A short back is a stiff back. A rectangular type of horse is easier to corner, like a Porsche. Too long a legs, such as a square horse make it difficult to corner. The neck should come out of the shoulder at a 90-degree angle.

The horse should have a good, natural connection from mouth to hindquarters.

Headbone should not be higher than the first bone of the neck. The horse should have a wide jaw for freedom in the neck. You should be able to put a fist in the space underneath the jaw. You can tolerate the absence of one of these characteristics, but not both.

The mouth needs to be big enough to accommodate a double bridle.

The horse needs natural active hind legs.

Tail which moves easily indicates a flexible spine.

Joints need to be big and stable, with straight feet.

The end of the withers should be the middle of the horse.

In Germany they say look at the horse at 3 days, 3 months, and 3 years to determine how it’ll turn out. If not, you’ll get the wrong impression.

Temperament: A good temperament is 85 percent of the battle. You can’t put it in, it must be there. Look for quiet eyes.

Conrad doesn’t go by bloodlines too much, unless it to avoid a bloodline.

Each year in Germany there are 80,000 mares, 55,000 offspring, and 5000 elite horses. Too many buys and not so many good horses.

Starting to Work on the Upper Levels

Avoid trouble in the changes by training everywhere, not just on the diagonal, or the horse will connect a problem with changes with the diagonal.

There is a solution to every problem.

The next horse was an older mare built downhill with a flat croup. She was brought out in the conformation section as an example of very poor conformation, yet a horse who can do the work with proper riding.

If you have an horse with an active hindleg and willing to go into the hand, you can overcome conformational issues.

Walk/canter transitions get a horse better balanced. When riding the canter, think about reining back. Work to get haunches under in the reinback.

Exercises

• 10 canter strides, 5 walk strides, repeat.
• Center from reinback: I walk step, RB, Canter,
• If changes are croup high, circle in the corner, go to next arena letter, change, immediately volte.
• Trot down the long side, shoulder-in to renver. At the end of the arena, circle 20 m. and hold renver, keeping bend with body and not hands.

I hope you're all enjoying these posts. I have a few more weeks to go. I'll try to post next Sunday.

Part 3--Conrad Schumacher

A young rider on a tense schoolmaster was the subject of the next segment: How to deal with a tense horse. Since I'm a tense rider myself, and I've made my horse tense, I found this part especially helpful.

To relax a tense horse, in the trot stretch down on the long side then gather back up in corner. In counter canter, stretch on the long side, retake in corner, etc. Counter canter is a great exercise for horses that have a tendancy to run thorugh the aides. A horse can’t run in counter canter. The stretching over the topline helps disodedience.

Make sure you ride your changes with a straight neck. Don't bend the next back and forth.

Ride with quietness and determination.

In the reinback, take horse back with hauling on the reins. Turn one wrist inward, once the horse steps back on step, give with the wrist. Only do a reinback using one hand. Reinback is a good influence on the horse when done properly and without tension.

Recommended Exercises:

• Mark off a 20-meter circle with four cones (one to the inside of each circle point). Put markers (Conrad used a handful of shavings) in 2 long human steps from each cone, then two more steps. Ride between cones and marker 1 for one circle then ride on marker 1, then ride between markers 1 and 2, then on marker 2. Then go back out doing the same thing. This really helps accuracy and helps the horse listen to the outside rein.
• Half pass in walk then half pass in trot.
• Half pass a few strides of walk then a few strides of trot, repeat to the end of the arena.
• Half pass right, Volte left, half pass left.

At each lunch break, Conrad answered questions from the audience. I found this question and answer especially interesting.

Q: Why are so many horses ridden in this clinic with the poll low? Shouldn’t the poll be the highest point?

A: In the old classical school, the poll was always the highest point because the horses were built downhill and on the forehand and needed to be ridden up. The rider avoided taking the horses down to keep them off of the forehand.

This is not necessarily true with modern horses. Some horses need to be ridden behind the bit and over round to loosen their backs (this is very interesting as my trainer rode my horse yesterday in a clinic with a German trainer, and that's how he wanted my horse ridden in order to get her back up). As long as there is feel in the reins and horse hasn’t dropped behind the bit, this is fine.

Conrad did comment that the "current trend for the head between the legs is rubbish."

Some Misc. Notes:

When warming up, work the stiff side on the circle, go large for the hollow side.

Walk/halt or trot/halt on both sides. Walk/canter, flex neck to inside before asking for canter.

Get the neck really round to stop the bullying horse.

For half pass training, the renver is a good exercise.

Believe it or not, this concluded only the first morning. I'll try to post next Sunday the next installment. I hope you're enjoying this and that you might find some of his exercises useful.

Conrad Schumacher---Part 2--The Rider's Education

I am so sorry. It's 70+ degrees here, and I've been working outside all day. I just logged onto the internet for the first time and realized I hadn't posted my blog entry yet.

For this next part, Conrad had several riders demonstrate the importance of the proper seat. He started with a rider being lunged and went over several beneficial exercises. I apologize that I didn't write any of these down. Instead I bought Conrad's new DVD which covers this part. Mostly what I wrote down are quotes, so here goes.

The Rider’s Education

In dressage everything depends on the rider. The best horse in the world means nothing if the rider can’t ride.

The rider needs to understand what it means to sit on the horse in harmony. She must be connected to the horse. The rider's hips must move with the horse. The legs should not grip, but be there on the horse's sides.

The rider's body is like a shock absorber. The body takes the motion and gives it back to the horse (recycles it).

Body awareness is essential. You must be trained to feel each body part as you’re riding, such as your big toe, your little finger. (Conrad does believe feel can be trained, while many instructors don't.)

You must have the right lunge horse. You cannot sit on a piece of wood. The horse must go like a dressage horse.

Mental fitness is very important. Being able to sit quietly and handle your body is a prerequisite for mental fitness.

There was a question about why many riders in symposium rode with wide hands. Riders need to have an open body position. The hands together position came about because of the military and the need for the horses to be ridden eventually with one hand. This is not necessary now. The hands together position fosters stiffness in the shoulders. (I can vouch for this. I'm very stiff in my shoulders. I found that keeping my hands a little wider really improved my ability to ride with a soft, following hand.)

A good riders has a natural springing down of ankle. The body is flexible. The rider maintains the same seat now matter how big the gaits. World class riders must do it by feel and mental fitness. Feel comes out of the seat.

There is no such thing as an ideal seat. It all depends on the person’s body type and abilities. Some riders have a good seat but don’t look so good on a horse. Others look good on the horse but really don’t have a good, effective seat.

Feel must be trained and can be trained. Timing and how we do it is what’s important.

Principle of giving aids:

• Prepare (flex neck to inside)
• Do
• Reward—such as stretching which opens the back

For a halt, flex neck to inside (prepare), close legs (do), and reward (release pressure).

Horses anticipate, so control anticipation by warning them that something is coming.

The weakest rider in the world is stronger than the strongest horse if you can bend the horse.

Conrad used a support rein for one rider: Use only one rein, fasten to girth between front legs, run through flash. Do not use to pull down the neck. Put it on the horse’s hollow side.

The biggest problem riders have is if it doesn’t work, do it harder.

A good excercise to increase mental fitness and body awareness:

Volte in walk, canter at wall, go large, volte at end of long side and walk.

Part 1--Conrad Schumacher--Training of the Young Horse

Here's the first of my notes from the Conrad symposium I attended last month in Redmond, Washington. I apologize if my notes aren't complete, but it was in the thirties and freezing making it hard to write.

The symposium started with the basic training of the young horse. Included in the demonstration: a 4-year-old horse 6 months under saddle and a 6-year-old warmblood.

Conrad stressed the young horses need three things:

1. Patience
2. Patience
3. Patience

How Conrad starts his young horses: A dressage horse is at its peak at 14-16 years old, and pretty much done at 21-22. He starts them at 3, puts them out to pasture, then brings them back at 4. The best work starts at 5. He doesn’t show his horses in the young horses classes at 5 as they aren’t ready.

A horse never makes a mistake on purpose. There is no reason for punishment, except in dangerous situations. Convince the horse by being nice to them. WB’s can be a bit of bullies when they’re young.

In the beginning of the ride, let them move in a big, regular forward trot. Keep the neck long so the horse can come over the back.

American type horses (non WB) can’t necessarily get over the back by going more forward. They go a little crazy, fall on the forehand and begin to run. A WB needs to be ridden into the hand.

A horse is only honest in the neck when he learns to push against the hand (when they give in and push away from the bit). You can ride bigger when the neck is softer. Make horse’s neck round with the inside leg. Turn on forehand works on spine and should make horse softer in neck.

Good exercises

• Leg yield on the wall then turn on forehand (makes horses that are strong in the hand soften). In 5 minutes, the horse will go longer in the neck.
• Trot, stop, turn on forehand, trot in the opposite direction. Horse should give in neck.
• Setup trotting poles on one half of a 20-meter circle. Canter half of the 20-meter circle then trot over poles on the other half of the 20-meter circle. Repeat until horse trots over poles without changing speed or head and neck position.
• Do lots of transitions when warming up. Mouth starts to foam and horse starts moving better. Do both sides. Let him stretch down and come to walk.
• Before trotting, give the horse a warning: Inside leg at girth, flex neck slightly to inside, move haunches out. When he gives in the neck, trot as a reward. Inside flexion makes neck rounder.
• Turn on forehand—softens the neck position.

The Dessage Epiphany

I've had an epiphany. Yes, it's true.

Merriam Webster defines an epiphany as: an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure; a revealing scene or moment.

After 30 years of riding dressage, I finally get it. Giving credit to my past and present dressage instructors, I've gotten it before in bits and pieces. I understand the theory and how it's supposed to work. I understand what it feels like to have a horse through and moving freely underneath me. I understand what I need to do to get my horse going correctly.

I just didn't do it.

Oh, maybe I'd do it in a lesson or after a particularly inspiring clinic, but it never lasted more than one ride then I was back to my familiar routine of circles, going large, and transitions to get my horse round, listening to half-halts and coming through. Those are all the things you're supposed to do, right?

Well, yeah, right.

Only it didn't work. Not for me. It didn’t take long before my big, opinionated mare started pulling, and I started pulling. She dumped on her forehand and went faster. I pulled harder. I'd go back to my repertoire of corrections. And things would get worse.

On paper I was making the classical corrections. On horseback it was a different story.

So what was this epiphany?

I was doing the right things but not in the right way with the correct amount of variety and difficulty. I was making it too easy and too boring. There is an exercise to fix every type of problem.

How did I come to reach this epiphany?

After fourteen hours of listening to Conrad Schumacher at a symposium last weekend, it hit me like a sledgehammer. The man is a master, and I bow to the master. Normally, I go to something like that and leave thinking: That was wonderful, but I could never repeat it at home. Not so with Herr Schumacher. He made everything simple and easy with his basic instructions and his exercises.

Most of what he said I'd heard or read before. It was a combination of watching several talented horses and riders and listening to what he had to say about systematic training that finally sank into my thick skull, and I knew I had it.

So how has this changed my riding? I stopped doing endless 20-meter circles. Now I do something on a 20-meter circle. I shoulder-in, halt, reinback, turn on the haunches, change directions, etc. I do lots of things and think about how those things affect my horse’s way of going.

So for the next few weeks, I’m going to post my notes from the symposium. If you ever get the chance to see Conrad in a symposium format move heaven and earth to go. It’ll be worth it.

I'm off to ride right now.

Conrad Schumacher

I'm just dropping by to let everyone know that I just spent two days at a Conrad Schumacher dressage symposium. It was the single most educational and incredible experience I've had in my 30 years of riding dressage.

I took 60 pages of notes and will be posting them here in future blogs. So stay tuned.