What an incredible day! It's still seems unreal that we are finally here.....in Germany!! Our plane landed in Dusseldorf a little after 6:00 a.m. and it wasn't long before the rental car was packed and we were on the way to our first destination of the Olympic Dream Program! We arrived at Jan Bemelman's stable at 9:30 a.m. after a scenic drive through the German countryside. It was an absolutely beautiful day! The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze blowing as we walked up the stone path to meet the dressage coach of the Spanish Olympic Team.
Jan was just finishing up schooling a gorgeous stallion when we walked up to the ring. We followed Jan back to the barn for a tour of the facility. Jan's stable is actually a public riding club where he currently rents 15 stalls. He explained that since he has retired from competition, he spends a great deal of his time traveling and giving clinics. By renting, he has the freedom to travel and does not have the responsibility of keeping the facility maintained. Jan employs one rider and two grooms, and when he is away, they keep his horses on schedule.
One of the first things that I noticed was that today, other than his wife, Jan was working alone. He did not have a team of grooms preparing horses and handing them off to him. Jan tacked and untacked the horses that we watched him work. Another thing that was apparent was Jan's genuine character. His love for horses and dressage was evident in the way that he trained them. He was very patient and took all the time need to develop the horse's relaxation and looseness. Jan stated that he believes that it is only possible to work 5 to 7 horses a day successfully. When the training stable becomes too large, it is unable to offer enough attention to each individual horse. Then, both the horse and the trainer become stressed.
We had the opportunity to watch Jan work two horses today. They were relatively young, and did not perform everything perfectly--but they were happy in their work! If they made a mistake, they didn't completely fall apart because Jan was right there to show them again. One of our chaperon's, Ashley, pointed out that it was very clear when the horse understood Jan's correction and learned from the mistake. Jan discussed how important "feel" is to understanding how much to ask of the horse. It is critical to know what you are actually capable of teaching the horse each day. Two things that Jan said are certain about training: One: every horse is different. Two: Horses must be trained gymnastically.
Finally, after the horses were put away, we all sat down to discuss Jan's methods and viewpoint on training. When asked about training horses, Jan trains as if every horse will be a Grand Prix dressage horse. When asked what a young dressage rider should focus on, Jan replied "body control". "It is impossible to try to teach a horse how to use its body, if you have not first learned to control yours." He explained that every rider should strive to develop "feel", and ride without disrupting the horse. After a lovely lunch and some more wonderful horse talk, we said goodbye and headed straight to our next stop. We checked into a nice hotel in Borchen to rest up for Day 2 of the Olympic Dream Program!
What an incredible day! It's still seems unreal that we are finally here.....in Germany!! Our plane landed in Dusseldorf a little after 6:00 a.m. and it wasn't long before the rental car was packed and we were on the way to our first destination of the Olympic Dream Program! We arrived at Jan Bemelman's stable at 9:30 a.m. after a scenic drive through the German countryside. It was an absolutely beautiful day! The sun was shining and there was a cool breeze blowing as we walked up the stone path to meet the dressage coach of the Spanish Olympic Team. 
Jan was just finishing up schooling a gorgeous stallion when we walked up to the ring. We followed Jan back to the barn for a tour of the facility. Jan's stable is actually a public riding club where he currently rents 15 stalls. He explained that since he has retired from competition, he spends a great deal of his time traveling and giving clinics. By renting, he has the freedom to travel and does not have the responsibility of keeping the facility maintained. Jan employs one rider and two grooms, and when he is away, they keep his horses on schedule.
One of the first things that I noticed was that today, other than his wife, Jan was working alone. He did not have a team of grooms preparing horses and handing them off to him. Jan tacked and untacked the horses that we watched him work. Another thing that was apparent was Jan's genuine character. His love for horses and dressage was evident in the way that he trained them. He was very patient and took all the time need to develop the horse's relaxation and looseness. Jan stated that he believes that it is only possible to work 5 to 7 horses a day successfully. When the training stable becomes too large, it is unable to offer enough attention to each individual horse. Then, both the horse and the trainer become stressed. 
We had the opportunity to watch Jan work two horses today. They were relatively young, and did not perform everything perfectly--but they were happy in their work! If they made a mistake, they didn't completely fall apart because Jan was right there to show them again. One of our chaperon's, Ashley, pointed out that it was very clear when the horse understood Jan's correction and learned from the mistake. Jan discussed how important "feel" is to understanding how much to ask of the horse. It is critical to know what you are actually capable of teaching the horse each day. Two things that Jan said are certain about training: One: every horse is different. Two: Horses must be trained gymnastically.
Finally, after the horses were put away, we all sat down to discuss Jan's methods and viewpoint on training. When asked about training horses, Jan trains as if every horse will be a Grand Prix dressage horse. When asked what a young dressage rider should focus on, Jan replied "body control". "It is impossible to try to teach a horse how to use its body, if you have not first learned to control yours." He explained that every rider should strive to develop "feel", and ride without disrupting the horse. After a lovely lunch and some more wonderful horse talk, we said goodbye and headed straight to our next stop. We checked into a nice hotel in Borchen to rest up for Day 2 of the Olympic Dream Program!
Awesome!!!
ReplyDeleteSo jealous! Can't wait to hear more. I am curious why the coach of the Spanish team lives in Germany? Any input?
ReplyDeleteThere will definitely be more to come! Hopefully they will be as interesting as our days have been in Europe. Jan is a citizen of Germany and travels to Spain as needed by the team. They also come every now and then to Germany to train with Jan.
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