Day 8: Wolfram Wittig

We arrived at Wolfram Wittig’s stable early Monday morning at 7 a.m. The grounds and barns were absolutely beautiful. We were greeted by Mr. Wittig who was very kind. First, he showed us his famous stallion Breitling, who is 21-years old and still in great shape. Then we walked over to the field where some 3-year-old stallions were turned out. It was great to see how Wolfram is not only a great trainer, but also very knowledgeable about producing quality horses. After words, Wolfram showed us to the outside ring where his wife Brigitte was schooling a horse. At their farm they keep an average of 40 horses, and out of those only a maximum of 12 belong to clients.

The horse that Wolfram rode was a 10-year-old stallion named Bertoli. Although Bertoli is an amazing Grand Prix horse, today he didn’t do too many upper level movements. He focused on getting the horse to be supple and stretch over its back. Wolfram also spent a lot of time in the walk, especially in the warm up. He spent fifteen minutes in the walk stretching the horse down. He worked there patiently until the horse was stretching easily. Wolfram explained that the walk is the most important gate to ride well. Since it counts for double and can cost you to lose two to three percentage points. He said that making sure the walk was good was so important to him that sometimes he will spend almost the entire training session on the walk.  Then Wolfram continued the stretching work into the trot and canter. He allowed the

In the warm up, Wolfram didn’t push the horse’s rhythm in the walk. To get Bertoli to open his stride in the extended walk, he adjusted the walk by collecting and then allowing him to take longer steps. He stated that for a walk to be good, the horse must have three things: Relaxation, good rhythm, and a good attitude. He was very insistent that the both horse and rider should be happy when training. 

When asked for any tips on handling stallions, Wolfram gave some helpful things to keep in mind. First, he said that it was critical not to let too many people handle a stallion. His reasoning for this was that when a lot of people handle a stallion, there is a higher chance of the horse developing bad habits. He said that stallions always test their handlers, and if too many people handle them, they get into the habit of “testing” everyone all the time. Secondly, Wolfram emphasized the importance of education stallions and being very clear with your aids. Third, he said to be sure not to pick at a stallion too much and never punish a stallion a lot because this will eventually encourage them to fight back. “It is better to make a strong correction and leave them alone”, said Wolfram.

If the stallion has already developed serious problems, he said that it can be very difficult to fix and that it should be handled by an experienced stallion trainer. The first step is to figure out where the problem is coming from and make appropriate changes in how that horse is being handled. Another thing Wolfram stressed was the importance of treating stallions like normal horses as much as possible. He said that if they are always isolated from the other horses, they will eventually become even more difficult to handle. It is better to keep them around other horses as much as possible, but always have safety in mind.

Wolfram stated over and over again how important it is not to try and control every single thing that the horse does. “They are animals, not soldiers.” When he was riding, the horse kicked out a little, but he didn’t punish him. He said that the horse was feeling good, and they shouldn’t be punished for that. However, the horse should always be under control.

It was wonderful getting to meet this amazing trainer, and it was very interesting to see his training philosophy in action! Before we said goodbye, Wolfram gave us some great words of wisdom. “Dressage isn’t about miracles. Its hard work, every day. Success is easy. Reproducing success year after year is difficult. But most important, we should never for get to enjoy life with our horses.”