Last week my dad made a surprise visit from Canada. He stayed for one week. During this time I managed to have two days off from work. One day we made a day trip to Munster, one and a half hours from where I live and work. We got to see the Westphalian stallion licensing and auction. It was a very neat experience. The auction was also very interesting. Several horses sold for over 100.000 Euros. There were some very nice horses. We ran into fellow Canadians Jennifer and Armin Arnoldt. What a small world it is. Just when you think you are the only Canadian in the country you run into another. Two days later we drove over two hours to Kassel, the home town of my father. I actually got to see the very house he was born in. We also went to an old castle called Herkules, Very cool. Then we went to the “Zentrum” (aka city centre) for a little souvenir shopping. By the time we were finished it was time to drive home and have dinner. All in all, the entire visit from my dad was very refreshing. Finally I could speak proper English again and have a nice visit from home.

As for Focus she is continuing to work hard. She is getting more and more spunk as she gets fitter and fitter. The big lesson this week was more for me than the horse. It sounds so simple and easy but let me tell you it’s easier said the done, How to Use the leg properly. Instead of using both legs simultaneously use one leg a fraction of a second faster than the other. So the rhythm of your legs becomes right then left or vice versa. This way, your legs still encourage the forward movement of the horse, but also work to establish lateral suppleness. When both legs come at the same time they counter act each other and the rib cage cannot bend either way. The only thing the legs can promote is the forward movement of the horse. Timing is everything, and when this way of working the leg is used you achieve forward movement, lateral suppleness and also longitudinal suppleness with the raising of the back and the hind legs coming more under the horse’s center of gravity (schwer punkt). Also the leg should be used in Impulses rather than with steady pressure.

When one wants to achieve collection, never should it be done for long periods of time, especially on a young horse just learning it. Instead take the horse FORWARD into a very collected gait for a few moments or even strides and then let them out again. Proper collection is reflected in a good medium or extended. The transitions within the gait make the horse have to sit and develop the push power needed for the upper levels where steady collection is required. When the horse runs through the medium, slow the horse and make a volte using the outside leg. The outside leg collects the horses outside hind leg. When the collection is good let the horse go out into the medium. If you had the horse collected properly the movement should just roll out of the horse and the rhythm of the horse should not change. Just because the wind in rushing past your ears and you have to work more to sit does not mean the horse is in the proper medium gait. The only thing that should change is the tempo, but only because the stride length has increased. Use the mediums to check that the collection is correct.

This week I also started to teach. There is a lady here who spent one year riding in Whales. So her English is very good and she is able to understand me. Teaching is very fun but can also be very frustrating. The most difficult thing is to put what you know the rider is feeling into words fast enough for the rider to make the correction. Your mind must always be working thinking of new ways to make things happen when the other way no longer works. Teaching riding is not something that you can learn by having someone tell you how to do it. You must physically be able and mentally understand exactly what you are trying to convey to the students in words. It is an activity for the quick minded person. It no wonder some of the best teachers in the world have had years of experience. Teaching a lesson is about trial and error. You must look at each rider with fresh eyes and each time you teach them. You should also keep the previous lesson in mind, but also start a fresh page. A bad lesson should not impact your teaching for the next lesson.

Christmas is fast approaching. Next week is the barn Christmas Party. As part of the celebration eight riders from the stable will be riding a quadrille, one of the riders is myself on a boarder’s horse. We have already had two practises and only have two more before the actual performance. Let me tell you it is not easy to ride with so many other riders, especially when your success is dependent on each of the other riders. Hopefully everything will come together and we will all have the routine memorized by the 15th of December.

Next week on Monday “Focus” will be a photo report of everything that has been happening in Germany thus far, including the quadrille happening on Saturday, day trips made to various places and horses and riders from the stable.

Until next week, Cheers.
Erika and Focus