Day 5!

Day 5 we spent a second day Denmark! We arrived at Morton and Sarah’s barn, Dressage Arvé, at 9a.m. where we had the opportunity to watch several horses being trained. It really is incredible to be able to watch several horses going at one time, all ranging in their level of training. When we first arrived, Morten was training a Grand Prix gelding that was sent to him to confirm the piaffe. The horse had just arrived at Dressage Arvé the day before, so Morten kept things simple, riding forward and stretching the horse down towards the bit. When he put the horse together, he continued to ride forward. When he came to the piaffe, he didn’t drill anything, just simply rode very forward half steps.

The next horse was a Grand Prix Andalusian stallion that definitely had talent for the piaffe and Spanish walk! It was incredible! Then the highlight of the day came when Sarah allowed us all to do a little bit of in hand work with a couple of 4-year-olds!! It was so great to get a mini lesson on this specialized type of training. She kept it really simple, letting us feel the timing for asking the horse to lift its leg.

§  First, she had us touch the horse’s fetlock lightly with the bamboo stick. As soon as he lifted his leg, we clucked. It was important to time the cluck right, because if you cluck too early while the leg is still on the ground, the horse will become confused. Only when the leg is in the air, and the horse hears the cluck, will he then associate the cluck with lifting his leg.

§  Second, she had us ask the horse to lift and hold the leg until we took the stick away. If the horse kicked out, we kept the stick near the fetlock until he continued to lift his leg. When he held it, he was praised. At first, it doesn’t matter if a young horse holds the leg behind. But the goal should be to get him to lift the leg and hold it underneath his body.

§  Third, we moved to the front legs and repeated the same methond. First to lift, then asking to hold.

§    Fourth, she had us ask the horse to walk forward and lift the inside hind leg higher ever 2^nd stride. We did this until we were able to get the timing down. Then we asked the horse to lift the inside hind every stride. The timing is tricky, and you must be quick and accurate in order not to confuse or aggravate the horse.

§  Then next step was to ask the horse to halt, and from there quickly switch back and forth from one hind leg to the other. Once that was consistent, the horse is ready to move onto the next step.

§    Finally, the horse is ready to play around with some half steps now that he understands some aids. By tapping the hind leg lightly in time with the half step rhythm and clucking, you let the horse go a little forward until he begins to offer a few half steps. As soon as he does, he is praised and allowed to walk forward normally. This is continued in short sets at a time, and never forced if the horse becomes too nervous. It is also important that the horse does not lean on the bit and pull against the handler. Sarah said that if this happens, stop, and back the horse up.

   

   Around lunch time we said goodbye to our friends in Denmark and headed back to Germany to attend a Foal Auction in Verden. We arrived at 7p.m. and were blown away by the enthusiastic crowd. The auction workers were extremely good. The ran beside the mare, keeping the foal on the inside so that it was always visible. Boy, were they cute! Super fancy too! We all     joked about sitting on our hands that way we didn’t have to make room for a foal in the van! The auction was a blast! The atmosphere was so much fun, and we got to observe some of the sport’s highest quality breeding. 

DeNiro colt that sold for 48,000 euros

 The highlight of the evening was getting to see the last foal of the night being bid on. There was something obviously very special about this little colt, because everyone started battling over him! Within 10 seconds, the bids had gone over 10,000 euros! That continued until the price got up to 48,000 euros—which is $57,600 American dollars!! It was insane! The little colt was an exceptional mover, but what was really special was that his father has sired the most Grand Prix horses today. His dam line was pretty impressive as well, with Rubenstien bloodlines. 

What a way to end a terrific day! Day 5 of the Olympic Dream Program was awesome!