Clinic with Christoph Hess, part 2

This is part two of my notes from the clinic I attended with Christoph Hess, head of the training dept at the German equestrian federation, and international dressage judge.

You can find the first post here.

Please again note that these are just my personal notes from the seminar, and take it only as that.

Pictures are not of a good quality I am afraid, I had only my cell phone...

#5. Intermediate, talented horse, worked in hyperflexion by rider.
Now, I guess that you know what I mean about hyperflexion, and consequently what I felt when watching this rider warm up her very tense horse, rider consistently napping on the inner rein.
Not good.
I was wondering what Mr Hess would do here.
He started out to ask her to let out the reins to work the horse in a longer and deeper frame, to “make the horse happy and relaxed”, and told her that the horse “needed confidence”.
They started to work with loosing up the horse in shoulder fore, with soft rein. The rider got constantly reminded to give rein and “überstreichen” (move both hands forwards towards the bit for a couple of strides). He kept asking for the rider to give on the inner rein, and instead start to work with outer aids.
The work got better, and the rider improved, but when they finished I still wished that he had taken a more thorough approach to address the rider’s way of working her horse.
BUT.
Day 2, people.
This rider turned up with such a completely different approach in her riding, that I am convinced that Mr Hess had taken a private tête-a-tête with her the evening before.
I assume he did not want to approach her like that in front of the audience the previous day.
Day two we saw a profound difference, already from the beginning.
The rider started to warm up the horse low and long. When they started the work, it continued in the same way. Supplying work in a long and low frame, to get the horse to relax. Much work with shoulder in and transitions.
I was very happy with what I saw, and I believe the horse was happy too.

#6 Iberian (PRE) stallion, PSG-level?
When the horse started to work, Mr Hess said it was not in front of the aids, it was short in the neck and behind the vertical, and did not react enough on the leg aids. The rider was told to be soft on the hands, and to keep them still.
She was then told to work the horse in posted trot on the track and to give both reins and just ride forward.
Mr Hess wanted a relaxed horse in front of the leg.
She was told not to sit down to the trot until the horse was supple enough in the back. He wanted her to keep the long reins until the horse opened in the back and was actively seeking the bit.

She was to take him into a 20 m circle, still with loose reins. The horse was to stay on the circle and not to enlarge it. Mr Hess commented that the horse was either running or was behind the leg.
From the work on circle, he directed them out to the 2nd track to do some extended trot, still posting. The rider was told not to ask for too much extension which would result in the horse opening too much in the hind legs and loosing the balance.

Mr Hess commented that PRE/Lusitanos often were a bit stiff over the back, and needed

supplying work where they stretch forward/downward to loosen up.
The rider was asked to shorten the stirrups.
After this they went back to the circle where they worked with leg yield to get the horse to loosen up a bit more in the back.
Then back to the track and work with shoulder in at trot and canter, still on longer reins and in forward tempo. Back on the circle, reducing the circle only by using seat and legs. The horse was to stretch and keep the balance and rhythm. Medium canter, increase the circle again, followed by a reduction of diameter again and collection, only by seat and legs. After a few rounds, a transition to posting trot, long reins.
The horse was now relaxed and in front of rider.

#7 DWB, GP debut that weekend.
When this horse entered the arena I am afraid I thought it a bit pluggy and uninteresting being a GP horse. More of a schoolmaster type of horse, doing the exercises but lacking the flair.
They started out with transitions walk-trot-walk to get more impression in the trot, and improve the hind leg activity. Mr Hess told the rider (as he did to several others) to shorten the stirrups two holes.
As they moved on to more collected movements we got quite another impression of the horse.
It had a marked talent for the more difficult movements, and a very good passage-piaff, all which made Mr Hess so enthusiastic as to exclaim “London 2012” several times, lol!

The horse was a spitting image to one of my friend’s horses, which instantly made me call and tell her that she now had no excuses not to make it to GP (evil laughter)

#8 Younger horse, 4-5 yo?
The horse was running off a bit to start with, so Mr Hess asked them to work with shoulder in and to try and slow down. They then started to work with serpentines, again to try and reduce tempo and concentrating to keep the balance. He asked the rider to make the serpentines shaped like S-es, to watch the outer side with outer leg and to sit down in the saddle in the middle of the S, otherwise posting trot.
Followed by canter on a circle; medium canter on the open part, collection on the other half, keep inside rein soft.
Mr Hess stressed the importance of working also younger horse at shoulder in so they get straight. Sometimes you have to accept a shorter neck to help a youngster to keep the balance, as long as the horse is taking contact on the bit and is round over the back.
On the transitions from trot to walk he on the other hand, he commented to the rider that she had to watch that the horse did not shorten the neck.
After being initially a bit unbalanced (like a gangly teenager) the horse got more balanced and between the aids as the work proceeded, and also concentrating more on the rider.

My notes is mainly from day one where the work was to concentrate on the German educational scale, and was interesting as much was of a general approach, concentrating on the basic, but so very important work. Having a relaxed horse that is in front of the aids.
Day two was more preparations for the show to follow in the weekend, also interesting but aiming more on how to show each horse at its best.

All in all it was two very interesting days.

Clinic with Christoph Hess

"A relaxed and happy horse" – that might have been the heading.

I have been a spectator to a two days seminar/training with Christoph Hess.
Mr. Hess is head of the training department of the German National Equestrian Federation, and an international dressage judge.

Being the dressage nerd I am, I try to get to all seminars within an acceptable distance.
I’ve been to clinics with Salzgeber, Ingrid Klimke, Kyrklund, Helgstrand, Hoyos, Balkenhol and more – but I wonder if not this clinic was the best.
Hess is a very sympathetic and knowledgeable trainer. I envied those riders that got the chance to train for him these two days!
But being a spectator was not bad either. It was definitely cheaper, lol!

Each day 8 riders participated.
The first day was “The training scale in practice” and the second day was “Program riding”.
I believe the first day was the most interesting one.
If I should do a sum up Mr. Hess' philosophy, it was that the base requirement was a relaxed and happy horse, which he always kept coming back to.
He worked much with stretching the horses in a deep form but with contact to the rein, to loosen the back (and no, no overbending!) and to always keep the horses truly in front of the leg.

I will try and share my notes of the sessions.

Please bear in mind that these are just my personal, subjective impressions, and take it just for that.

#1. Was a very beautiful, good moving “International small tour horse”
They started to work much with transitions halt-walk, and then halt-trot.
The horse was to answer forward, and the rider to soften the hands when doing upwards transitions.
Canter work. Medium canter along the long side, followed by shoulder-in in medium canter while giving the rein, both hands. Using medium canter as a tool to keep a true three-beat rhythm in the canter and to get the horse in front of the leg. He wanted the rider to stay up in a light seat in between, to facilitate more forward action with three beat canter and to get the horse’s back up.

Then they started collected work in canter, with some pirouette work.
The rider was to take both reins in the outer hand, and decrease the circle gradually.
Mr. Hess did not worry about keeping the bend, the most important was self balance in the horse. He kept repeating “give both reins”. The rider was to look towards the centre of the circle to keep correct body posture.
Less hand, and get the horse truly in front of leg and in self balance was the goal.

#2. Was a GP horse, making the debut this year.
Not the best mover, but steady in the exercises.
It was not truly in front of the leg, so Mr Hess wanted more activity here.
They started out with warming up in trot and canter work at a forward tempo. Then shoulder-in at the long sides, still in a forward tempo with soft contact on the reins. Starting with half-pass and flying changes, Mr. Hess noted that problems with half-pass left and being one behind in one of the changes had the same cause, the horse did not truly respect the leg.
To solve this they started to work on diagonals, changing between half-pass, ride forward medium canter - half pass – medium canter. He made the point that this horse did not have a truly collected canter, just a slower one, and that this exercise would help.
Over to flying changes, one-tempi.
The horse was still one behind back in one of the changes, so he put them to this exercise: Medium canter through the short side, then going on the diagonal – 3 off three-tempi changes, medium canter again – new diagonal – 3 off tree-tempi changes.
He summed up that the horse needed to go more forward, and asked the rider to take off the spurs to next session. (Which was interesting)

#3. Junior/advanced level horse, 17 yo.
Started out tense, and tensed up against the rider’s hand.
They started to work for quite a while in a long and low form, to get the horse to be “happy and relaxed”, with improved contact to the bit and better hind leg activity through a supple back. When starting canter work Mr. Hess wanted a transition to medium canter from the rider’s inside leg, but the horse did not react on this. He wanted the rider to soften on the contact on the inner rein, but pointed out that the horse must accept the aid from the inner leg.
He asked the rider to straighten up and look forward, and then proceeded to work with long and low form, collection by opening up the body in front without using reins. Transitions trot-canter-trot on the circle, again without touching the reins.
Mr Hess thought that the horse did not accept inside/outside leg enough, so they started to work with increasing/decreasing the circle to improve this.
The horse got more and more relaxed during the work, with much better hind leg activity/swinging more through the back in the end.
They continued same kind of work day two.


#4. Talented 8 yo GP-debuting horse
This horse and rider were working quite well, so Mr. Hess mainly concentrated upon seat and position. He wanted the horse to be a bit quicker behind, and that the rider should shorten the reins so the hand came more in front of him. He also wanted him to think of keeping the small fingers towards each other as the rider had a tendency to place the hands like riding a bike instead of holding a glass. In the work with half pass the rider had a tendency to sit to the outside, so they also worked on keeping the weight into the inside leg, and look in the direction of motion. When working with the flying changes the rider also was giving the signal with the leg placed too far back, this was also corrected.

Will be continued....(but without a murder)