Christoph Hess: Dressage is harmony and balance
Report: Chris Hector & photos: Roz Neave Christoph Hess retired from his position as Head of Training at the Warendorf Training and Riding Center in Germany in 2016.
He continues to be active at various levels.
Share some of his views.
In the sometimes dry and formal world of dressage, Christoph Hess is like a breath of fresh air — no, a storm of fresh air.
He is one of the most passionate people I know, and fortunately for the world’s dressage horses, a large part of that passion is devoted to improving their condition, not only in how they are ridden but in how they are bred, raised, and cared for.
And fortunately for horses, Christoph is a very influential person.
At every opportunity, he promotes a horse-friendly training system — a dressage system that truly helps the horse’s mental and physical well-being.
Christoph concluded a passionate tour of Australia, starting in the west, stopping in South Australia and Victoria, and ending in New South Wales, and everywhere he had the same message: dressage must make sense, dressage must promote a happy horse: “That is our highest goal, a happy horse, a happy athlete.
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” he told the audience at the clinic for judges, trainers, and dressage riders at the Werribee Equestrian Centre.
Christoph first held a theory session, where his photo really set the tone, a photo of a loose horse in a paddock.
“In the past it was terrible, all the horses were always in stalls.
The more we see horses outside, the more we realize what we should do with them under saddle when training them.
” “Many of today’s horses have no contact with other animals.
It is important to understand that a horse was not born for a stable, a horse wants to run in fields.
It is not good if a horse is alone, horses need contact with other horses.
What is ideal is for a horse to be able to go out in a group of two or three horses, as it would have when it was growing up.
” Christoph repeatedly emphasizes that we must work with the horse: “The horse always tries to escape; this is part of its nature.
When the rider uses the reins to stop the horse, that is the rider’s first mistake.
We must always give the horse an open door.
When we hold the horse with our hands, we take the horse out of its mental and physical balance, and that is the beginning of the mismatch between horse and rider.
” “Give the horse a feeling of freedom when you sit on it, always the feeling that it can move forward.
Most riders around the world use their hands to control the horse, the neck begins to shorten, and then everything goes wrong.
” Another photo of Christoph, which shows a rider carrying another rider on his shoulders, opened the second topic of his clinic: the rider’s responsibility in riding correctly.
He said: “The better the rider’s balance in the saddle, the better the connection will be.
There are two things the rider must have — balance and flexibility.
The worse the rider’s seating position, the more he goes to the saddlery to buy a new saddle and stirrups.
The rider must find his balance in the saddle, not be held in position by a saddle in which you cannot move.
» Christoph, as an eager student in the field of breeding dressage horses, aligns his philosophy with the emergence of modern dressage horses: «The better the horse’s movement, the better a rider you must be.
If you think that by simply buying a horse with beautiful movement in Europe you do not need to learn riding, you are mistaken.
Bigger paces are harder to ride, piaffe is easier than extended trot.
» He said: «I see top horses that, after a few years, weeks or even days with a rider who lacks balance or suppleness, deteriorate.
Riders often do not realize that they use the reins to maintain their body balance.
» He added: «Bill Roycroft from Australia could ride the show jumping course in Rome with one hand.
The best exercise is to do all the movements with one hand; then you can easily judge whether you are riding correctly or not.
I tried to bring a one-handed movement into our dressage tests, I failed, but if you feel that the rider can ride with one hand, that is a good horse and rider - excellent!
» He said: «Can the rider let go of both reins?
Often this leads to a complete disaster, the horse simply runs away.
» He continued: «Can the rider do all the movements on a long rein, a long rein with contact, and then as long as possible?
It is possible to do piaffe on a long rein when the rider rides 100% with a balanced body and the horse is under his control.
» He said: «These are the principles of good riding spirit.
» He added: «Grand Prix is basics, basics, basics.
This is not show riding, but basic work.
The principles may seem easy, but in fact they are complex - you need someone to help you from the ground.
Someone who says, too fast or too slow.
» He said: «Is the horse correctly seeking contact with the reins?
Some of the top-class horses are light in the neck and head, but always behind the reins.
You must always have the feeling that the horse is learning to stretch its body.
Not just the stretching of the neck and front of the body, but the whole body.
The horse needs its neck to balance its body - it does not matter whether the horse’s nose is in front of or behind the vertical, as long as the horse is stretching.
If the horse does not stretch, it cannot bend.
First stretch, then bend.
» He said: «Why do we ride the horse long when we want it to carry itself well?
Because this self-carriage is the result of stretching.
» This is the movement the horse must make; this is the feeling we need when training, we must feel how the horse moves.
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He said: «One of the first things in riding is to get the horse to accept the inside leg.
The rider’s inside leg guides the horse, regulates the speed and the line of travel, but this is only effective in combination with the correct use of the rider’s outside hand and outside leg, which should be five to ten centimeters back, closer to five than to ten.
» As expected of someone in Christoph’s position, the axis of his lecture was the German training scale, and especially its first three elements.
He said: «Rhythm, this is very important, walk is four-beat, trot is two-beat, and canter is three-beat.
Many judges do not pay enough attention to three-beat canter.
They look at the walk, and if it is two-beat, they give a score of 1 and lose it forever, but they look at the four-beat canter and say, “collected canter.”
The rhythm must include tempo – you can ride very fast or very slowly the whole time.
The strides must be active, but not hurried, and they must show enough swing in the back; the back is the bridge between the hind and forelegs.
The better the tempo, the more suppleness the horse will show in the strides.
A good rider has an amazing sense of timing in the saddle.
The goal is to make the lazy horse more active and the over-energetic horse calmer.
» he said: « calmness is very important.
All over the world we see riders who can control tension and present a spectacular test, but are unable to show a supple horse.
» he said: « contact means tension throughout the body.
Does the movement start from the back, pass over the back, and reach the horse’s mouth?
The rider should feel the horse’s hind legs in his little finger.
» he said: « the rider’s hands listen to the horse’s mouth.
Is the horse happy?
Does it have stretch?
Is it in front of the aids?
Does it accept the bridle?
The most sensitive part of the horse is its mouth; this is an opportunity for the rider to feel what is happening.
This is where we speak with the horse, our sensitive contact with the mouth.
» he said: « some people think the looser the contact, the better, but the horse must seek the contact.
Sometimes it is better to have a stronger contact than a loose one.
Often horses are born with a tendency toward a loose contact – we must be very careful in selecting stallions not to look for beautiful horses with very long necks and very soft contact – these horses are “loose” but mostly overbent and do not have the proper inclination forward.
First we want a steady contact, then as soft as possible.
» never work without a stable contact.
He said: « people say that today’s horses are much better, but the riders are not better.
Today’s horses are always in frame, but often do not properly seek the contact.
» he added: « it is suppleness.
Many people think that you should turn the horse’s head as far left or right as possible, so the horse says good morning.
No – that is not what we want; we only want to see a little of the horse’s eye and nose.
Do not throw the horse off balance.
» he continued: « the goal in dressage is to have a horse that is harmonious and in front of itself.
This is an incredible connection; the horse trusts the rider to leap – both horse and rider are calm, positive, and forward.
Dressage is not movement, movement, movement because it says so in the rulebook; it is to make the horse obedient, make the horse supple, put the horse in front of itself.
Happy athlete.
» Ingrid Klimke shows.
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Source: The Horse Magazine