2009 Australian Classical Dressage Clinic with Sylvia Stössel. Another clinic of Classical Dressage with Philippe Karl's fully endorsed instructor Sylvia Stössel.

Sylvia Stössel is coming to Australia from Switzerland for two weeks, giving sixteen participants a full, intensive, four day clinic on Philippe Karl's system in Classical Dressage, also known as Philippe Karl's School of Lightness or Ecole de Légèreté.

Philippe Karl's motto is riding with a Philosophy of Ease, creating harmony, balance and understanding with his system with any horse, teaching them clean, correct flying changes, half pass, piaffe and passage. Philippe Karl takes even an ordinary horse and teaches it the Grand Prix movements.

Dates: Thursday 5^th to Saturday the 14^th of November, 2009.
Location: Brookleigh Equestrian Estate, Upper Swan, Western Australia, 6069.
Contact: Pip Easton or phone 0407 08 77 99.

Lessons commence at 8:30 am and continue through to approximately 5:00 pm with eight riders each having a private forty five minute lesson. On the second night in each group you can delve into the deep meanings of traditional, classical Dressage when Sylvia answers your questions in a theory evening which is included in the cost. ALL are welcome to attend, ask questions, listen and learn about weight aids, how to balance your horse and how to create lightness and true self carriage.

All spectators are encouraged and welcome to join in the discussions with Sylvia Stössel by completing the attendance form. Please contact Pip Easton if you wish to fence sit and observe the system. See the improvement in horses and riders over four days for yourself!

Learn more about Sylvia Stössel.

 

Australian Classical Dressage Clinic with Philippe Karl's fully endorsed instructor Sylvia Stössel. 5 ~14 November, 2009 at Brookleigh Equestrian Estate, Swan Valley, Western Australia.

Only six weeks after the Master Philippe Karl had made his Australian debut, riders and spectators in Perth, Western Australia were spoilt with the brilliant and intricate training style of Sylvia Stössel, one of only two level four instructors in Philippe's School of Légèreté.

Under Sylvia's calm, observant eye she showed sixteen riders how to feel the mobilisation of the horses' jaw in their fingertips. In riding and feeling each horse firstly in walk, then trot and canter, Sylvia quickly ascertained what each partnership needed to establish balance, lightness, softness and harmony.

Day two's lessons flowed into an evening theory lesson where all riders (and some privileged spectators) had the opportunity to feel the movements of the bit by using a bridle to demonstrate. With one person holding the bit in their hands acting as the horse, Sylvia operated the reins, pretending to be the rider. From slight rein aids and minimal use of the hand, we started to understand what the bit is actually doing in the mouth and why. The chance to be the horse and react to certain rein motions was enlightening in really getting a realistic view from the horse's mouth. By swapping the bridle positions so that Sylvia was the horse and we the rider, we learnt how to correctly and consistently apply the hand in clear circumstances for the results we were trying to achieve. For example, there are four main rein aids in Philippe Karl's system:

1. Action reaction. For horses who are ewe necked, above the bit or contracted in the neck, behind the vertical, behind the contact and also to teach all horses, especially young horses, a correct neck extension (round back, horizontal neck and the nose in front of the vertical).

Teaching action reaction starts on the ground with the reins over the neck and right behind the ears, over the poll. Standing on the horses' near side you hold the ring of the bit in your left hand, gather the excess right rein in your right hand and beside the cheek straps of the bridle slowly and gently bring your hands towards each other so the horse feels a slight uncomfortable pressure, evenly in the corners of his lips.

For example ~ left hand moving upward, right hand moving downwards so the hands are approaching each other. If he resists, you apply slightly more pressure, as well as if he doesn't react at all but as soon as he drops his head and takes his nose forward, you give and reward him.

Gaining perfection in this technique requires you to allow the horse to drop his head whilst opening his poll (taking the nose forward can be encouraged by the fingers in the ring of the bit asking his nose to go forward). The time he stays in the lowered position is a few seconds with gradual lengths of time being achieved daily. In the beginning remember that you gradually increase the pressure until the horse understands what you want, as if you start the exercise with too much hand, his over-reaction will show you used too much. As Philippe says, "A secret is to treat every horse as if he is already trained."

Once in the saddle, Sylvia says, "The aids begin with a smooth open and lift with a relaxed arm in a slow movement so as not to disturb the horse." By simply opening the wrists outward with fingernails to the sky (a horizontal wrist), we learnt and felt that just this is already an aid. By widening the bit in the horses' mouth, the horse takes notice and listens already, then by widening and lifting gently upwards and outwards in a smooth V shape (actioning the horse to react), the answer given by the horse is to take the reins down and forward.

Paramount in all of Philippe's training is, "The tendency for your hands to go towards the mouth." We learnt that when the horse responds, our hands follow down and forward, straightening the wrists in a fluid motion so the thumbs are returned to their top neutral position and the fingers then open to relax the hands and maintain the softness.

The action reaction aids are soft and elastic. Neck extension, when both horse and rider are fully trained in the aids can be done nearly invisibly with a slight turn and lift of the wrists.

2. Demi-arrêt. For horses who naturally balance on the shoulders, horses who lean on the bit or have been driven onto the forehand using the riders hand as a fifth leg.

The demi-arrêt, explains Sylvia, "Is to lighten a horse or to lift up the head with a vibrating, lifting hand, quickly dropping and returning to a soft and neutral contact, so you're explaining to the horse what you want to have."

The concept of the demi-arrêt is to be only a slight wrist action in small upward vibrations so that when the horse is fully conversant in this aid, the only thing the rider needs to do is move the wrist vertically (keeping the lower arms and elbows still) bringing the thumb toward the shoulder in small vibrations, mostly unseen but very much felt by the horse in the corner of the lips. Due to most of us being in the learning stage of this training, our demi-arrêts are visible and sometimes with a high hand to actually get the horse to understand that we're asking for him to lift his head and neck, take the weight off the shoulders AND to, most importantly, open the poll.

3. Bending and Flexions. Sylvia shares, "Bending a lot is just a stretching exercise. It also makes the horse balance to the shoulder you want and it stretches muscles to gymnastically correct the balance of your horse. The more you bend, the more energy you have flowing through the horse which then enables straightness. And bending gives you flexibility for correct shoulder-ins and sideways movements."

Firstly you reach for the inside rein half way shorter than normal and gently open and lift it (bringing the hand toward your shoulder), allowing the outside rein to slide through your fingers. Then bring the inside hand down to soften it but stay in the bend. If the horse bends and over flexes at the poll, lift the outside rein to match the inside and open the poll, then drop both hands keeping the bend and softness.

Bending is done equally at halt, in hand, under saddle and then gently in walk, trot and eventually canter. If the horse bends and drifts to the outside shoulder, close the outside rein with your hand in the neck as a neck rein, while your inside hand still asks for the bend. If the horse bends and falls to the inside shoulder, open the outside rein as a leading rein and put your body weight to the outside.

"Always sit in the other direction to where the horse is falling," Sylvia says. Counter bends to the outside of the circle helps to create balance if your horse consistently weights one shoulder or leans.

4. Rounding the Poll. The FINAL one is always using the following principle ~ first the mouth, then the neck, then the poll. Sylvia states, "Flexion of the poll is the final thing when there is no balance nor contact problem anymore."

You keep a low outside rein, down and soft, in the same line as the mouth. The contact is relaxed, just the weight of the arm into the rein. By bringing the inside hand up, you mobilise the lower jaw so the horse relaxes and plays with the bit, this is a triangular action.

Firstly you relax the horse with the inside hand, by bending a little and then put contact on the outside rein. As soon as you feel flexion of the poll, you give down and forward and relax and soften. If the horse over-flexes, demi-arrêt, vibrate gently and try again. Note: bending doesn't mean to go down and over-flex to the inside.

After such in-depth consideration of these clearly different and very important rein aids, we understood so much more of the system and uses of our hands to co-ordinate the mouth, head, neck, shoulders and body of the horse. As Philippe Karl says, "What you need is a brain and a good hand."

Sylvia went on to give us an enlightening thought into the world of high school. Number five on her list is "Inviting the horse to dance… by simply and slightly moving your hands evenly to the left or the right depending, as a lead dancer would move his partner around the floor."

When one can understand all of this, the total comprehension of self-carriage and lightness, softness and balance comes to the ultimate peak of controlling the horse with barely a thought and a light touch of the reins to move his shoulders and a shift in your body weight to flow with your horse with ease.

The lessons with Sylvia gave the riders unbelievable insight to the feel, the calmness in the training and the achievable lightness which is what we're all doing in the School of Légèreté.

We can't wait to have Sylvia back here again in May 2010! All clinics are open to spectators where the learning is intense, real and honest. Be sure to contact Dressage World to register your interest.

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