Natural Horsemanship

I teach horses and riders according to the principles of the Natural Horsemanship (NHS) and the Ecole de Légèreté (EDL). 

In this context, Love – Language – Leadership are the essential points that my Natural Horsemanship-instructors conveyed to me.

 

1. Ground work

Ground work with an attached rope is a basis for communication with the horse. At the beginning, we use a short rope to learn the basics. In the course of the training we will learn to combine the exercises versatilely to increase the space between us and the horse and to communicate finely tuned with the horse from different positions on the ground. The objective of ground work is to support the horse emotionally, mentally and physically, so that it will be optimally prepared for a subsequent ride.

 

2. Free work

The free work will show us whether we did a good job with ground work: if the horse is feeling fine, it will want to stay with us even without a rope. Furthermore, free work is particularly suitable to check and refine our body language, as we cannot fall back upon the ’safety rope’ any more.

 

 

3. Riding on the Long Rein

Being independent from bridle and riding style, rider and horse learn to trust each other and to ride relaxed on the long rein at all paces in the riding arena and on the premises. Just like with ground work, certain patterns and exercises are used to help to relax, motivate, slow down or accelerate the horse at will. In this way, the relevance of reins as means of communication becomes less and less important, so that in case of advanced training, riding can take place exclusively via body signals.

 

 

4. Contact Riding

For advanced riders and horses contact riding will be added. A finely tuned communication at ground work and freestyle riding are the basis for this further training step. Apart from that, an independent rider’s seat is needed to dose rein- and seat aids precisely. Thanks to my Alexander Technique-training I will be able to support you optimally in developing a fine seat. In regard to contact riding I rely on the Ecole de Légèreté of Philippe Karl. The focus here is on the acquisition of finely tuned communication and lightness, just like it is with NHS.

It is beneficial for my students to develop in all four fields. That is why I am always happy about students who undertake further training in Natural Horsemanship and other horse-friendly methods via courses (also with other instructors) or learning materials.