The Academic Art of Riding

When in 2004 I found the book by Bent Branderup, it, or more it's subtitle "For the ambitious leisure rider", totally changed my approach to riding: suddenly it was thinkable even for me, an ordinary spare-time rider, to actually get near the lessons of the high school of riding!

Suddenly there was not solely the way over the traditional academies Vienna, Saumur, Jerez or Portugal, but from now on I could hope to learn some pieces like the best did for centuries myself . Beside my work and all the other duties, in my own limited speed, with the simple means I only had at my disposal! Thus it became for me the most valuable book of my lifetime!

The most important lessons I learned during the last years:

Reading my account of the potential the Knabstrupper owns, one might be astonished that this horse is suitable for nearly everything (naturally only for home-use as a recreational horse as it is naturally not capable for high-end disciplines: he would never win a high-jumping show or a trotting race championship!).

If one owns such a diversely suitable horse, it naturally is very tempting to use it in every direction: one time as carriage puller, another time as show jumping horse, the next for a fox hunt with not to big barriers, next as dressage horse and again as a distance horse (so as a real multipurpose horse).

But in spite of all these theoretically possible kinds of usage, you should always keep in mind, that some of them might bring (sometimes nearly unrepairable!) disadvantages for the others with it.
Should somewhere along the road I might decide the ultimate aim for me will be dressage or even the academic art of riding, I might have to change my horse severely and might regret producing some mistakes hard to correct.

The biggest mistake is a hard hand or bit: any usage with relies on producing great push evocates a massive force of the hand on the Horse's mouth: I don't know of any show jumping or hunting rider who in his way of riding can direct his horse with his seat alone and without significant force in the mouth! Carriage driving creates massive forces on the mouth, too!

A soft and unmolested mouth will enable the rider to reach the desired lightness and comfort in dressage much more easy and earlier!

A special bonus for the recreational rider is the substantial rise of quality while riding cross-country in form of security-gain, comfort and calmness. A horse which doesn't react on the rider only from fear but is begged softly by his rider to cooperate as the academic art of riding teaches us, will in a case of emergency turn to it's rider trustfully for help and guidance and not give in to the possibly greater fear of other things than the the rider's violence and run away.

A turnable, schooled horse allows the closing of gates from the saddle, is very comfortable to sit, and its “durability” is far higher due to the enormous safety in footing as result of putting more and more weight on the hind legs.

Should in an emergency the necessity arise to overcome a barrier, a high schooled horse has got much more power and precision in the hind legs to perform a jump providedit is not to high or wide for its shape and educational stage.