Six years ago I decided to fulfill my dream and buy a Friesian horse.
I decided to buy a four-year-old KFPS 2premie Ster gelding.
His uniqueness was his extraordinarily mild nature and height at the withers of 170 cm,
which is very rare in the Friesian breed. At the time, I could never imagine that it
would be these qualities that would be a real challenge (test) for me as a professional
horse rider and trainer. For many years practicing dressage in Belarus, the Czech Republic,
and Portugal, I never saw any obstacles in training a new horse.
However, when I started training from the ground, on the lunge and later under the saddle,
I was confronted with a complete lack of flexibility in the hind legs, a catastrophic lack
of energy, and a complete reluctance to perform dressage exercises. None of the techniques
I had known before seemed to work. I turned to other trainers for help. I often heard from
them that it is best to sell the horse and buy another one. I eventually I found myself at
a dead end. When I realized that no one could help me, I frantically began looking for a solution.
Here are four principles that allowed me to achieve good results and that have changed me as a horse
rider, trainer and as a person.
*The first principle:
there are no lazy horses. There are just horses that are not interested in their rider!
*The second principle:
to achieve the result (successful horse training) there is only one effective system
of interaction with the horse, i.e. the “pupil-teacher” system. The horse is the pupil, and the trainer (rider)
is the teacher. If your aim is to train a horse up to a high dressage level, then avoid a "friend-friend"
or on the contrary an "employee-subordinate" system.
*The third principle:
the effectiveness of your methods can be seen on the exterior of the horse.
Develop a training system and provide the horse with the nutrition and regime to build up the muscles needed
to prepare it for further exercise.
*The fourth and most important principle:
include training tricks in the program in every stage of horse
training. The fourth principle will help you to arouse the horse’s interest, to make very close
contact with the horse, to actively engage the horse during training, to accelerate the formation
of the necessary muscles, to improve the horse’s balance, to solve any issues of disobedience or
distrust.
