FAQ
Where do you give riding lessons?
Which level should rider and horse have?
Do you train horses with behaviour problems like rearing or bucking?
Do you take part in competitions and/or shows?
Do you also train competition riders?
Do you school just special exercises like the piaffe?
Why do you ride your horse bitless?
Do you use side reins, tie downs or similar equipment?
Where do you give riding lessons?
Most of my regular students are from the Rhein-Main area. To be precise, I'm busy in the following districts:
- Rosbach v.d.H.
- Bad Homburg
- Main-Taunus-Kreis
- Karben
- Gießen
- Frankfurt
- Ober-Mörlen
Please contact me to clarify additional call-out-charges.
Of course you can also book me for clinics and/or workshops outside these areas. For further information please check my
Conditions.
Which level should rider and horse have?
For riding lessons the rider should be able to ride his horse in walk and trot. For lunging training or work in-hand there are no minimum requirements.
Do you train horses with behaviour problems like rearing or bucking?
No, unfortunately I can't offer that since I don't have enough time for this kind of correction.
When training such horses a lot of time, patience, and short learning units are required due to the negative experiences these horses have gathered in their past.
From my experience I can say that having lessons once or even twice a week is not sufficient if you want to get those horses mentally and physically strong and stable.
Do you take part in competitions and/or shows?
None of that. First and foremost I enjoy riding and teaching, and I have no ambitions to present my work to a crowd of people or to compete with others. During shows or competitions I often miss the lightness and pleasure, because the different exercises have to be performed at precise spots and the horse has to obey. Preferably I want to keep the freedom to quit a certain exercise when I have the feeling that it was not well prepared. Furthermore I want to spare my horse the stressful situation of such events.
Do you also train competition riders?
Of course, provided that the horse's well-being comes first instead of success. As long as a horse is not downgraded to just being some kind of "material", there is nothing to say against that. Some of my students compete successfully in horse riding tournaments (dressage and eventing).
Do you school just special exercises like the piaffe?
No. The classical dressage exercises are not an end in themselves but are based and mutually dependent on each other. Certainly it is possible to school a horse the piaffe with just a little preparation. However this is not the classical way but devalues the piaffe to a mere trick.
Before a horse can perform the piaffe correctly, a good preparation during the training is necessary to make the horse flexible, mobile, and reactive to light rider's aids. You can't achieve these aspects within just a few training units for it requires months or even years to get there.
Why do you ride your horse bitless?
I'm not a huge fan of riding bitless. If I have the choice, I always prefer a simple snaffle bit. But since my horse suffers from Melanomas (some sort of skin tumor, which is non-painful and quite common with grey horses) inside his mouth, I decided to use a bitless bridle for medical reasons. A bit would constantly rub on the affected areas, which could probably activate the tumors' growing.
Do you use side reins, tie downs or similar equipment?
I don't use any of these items when schooling horses (the one and only exception might be when the focus is on correcting the rider's seat). All these different reins and lightness don't go together in my opinion.
My aim is to teach a horse how it can relax and move in a healthy position. For that purpose it is essential that the horse always has the chance to reposition its own body. All the different constructions available in shops and stores more or less prevent that since they always force the horse to stay in a predetermined position.
Fixing the horse surely is easier than searching for the true cause of the occurring problems but when using side reins or the like you won't come to deeply understanding the horse and its individual difficulties.
For me problems are nothing negative but rather challenge me to find the missing part in the puzzle.
